Fuji X-T4 Review - Ken Rockwell

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Fujifilm X-T4

15 FPS, 26MP APS-C, DCI 4K/60p 10-bit, 2-SD slots

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

Black Fujifilm X-T4 (APS-C, 21.4 oz./607g with battery and card, two SD slots, $1,699) with Fuji XF 16-80mm f/4. bigger. I'd get my X-T4 at:

Silver X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

July 2020 Better Pictures Fuji Fuji Lenses Sony LEICA Zeiss Nikon Canon All Reviews

All Fujifilm Cameras Compared

Older X-T3.

Black Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

Silver Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

Sample Images top

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

(more at High ISOs)

These are just snapshots and there are many more throughout the review; my real work is in my Gallery.

These are all shot hand-held as NORMAL JPGs; no tripods, FINE JPGs or RAW files were used or needed. (the X-T4 can shoot raw files if you want them).

Golf Course, Palms and Distant Mountains, 6:50 AM, 04 July 2020. Fuji X-T4, Fuji XF 16-80mm f/4 OIS at 80mm at f/5.6 at 1/800 at Auto ISO 320, 200% Auto Dynamic Range (LV 12.9), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original 11 MB © JPG file.

Introduction top

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

New Good  Bad Missing

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

This Fujifilm X-T4 is a pleasant change from other brands of cameras because it's much better made out of mostly all metal, and it has real, dedicated single-purpose individually marked dials for each of shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, advance mode, STILL/MOVIE mode, as well as a dedicated autofocus mode switch and two more general purpose control dials. It feels great in hand to have a real metal camera with real dials rather than a plastic dog plop with a slew of mushy mode buttons.

Even the shutter sounds great, with a quiet, smooth sound as nice as a real 35mm LEICA, Nikon F6 or CONTAX G2 — as well as a completely silent mode if you prefer.

New in the X-T4 is in-body Image Stabilization (IBIS), with a record 6.5 stops of claimed stabilization, although I don't see it doing anything different than any other camera; the majority of my Fuji lenses are already stabilized.

Fujifilm cameras are different from all others because they have very different sensors which strongly optimize their colors and contrasts for people photos, with smooth skin tones and soft contrast. I'm not a fan of Fujifilm cameras for vivid photos of places and things, while they are the best you can get for people pictures.

Fujifilm's special sensors have unusual color-filter arrays that can increase their effective resolution and sharpness compared to other brands of digital cameras. The only downside to the special sensors is that it's more difficult to find software that can read Fujifilm raw files (I only shoot JPG).

Autofocus works great, finding eyes and focusing on them automatically.

Silver X-T4 with Fuji XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4. bigger.

Silver X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

New since 2018's X-T3 intro top

 In-Body Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization (IBIS).

 Stabilization rated 6.5 stops improvement, the most I've ever seen claimed.

 Bigger battery now rated 600 shots, almost double any other Fuji camera.

 Shutter speeds now set directly to as long as 15 minutes.

AF now rated down to LV -6 (old X-T3 was LV -3).

15 FPS, up from the old X-T3's 11 FPS.

 Quieter mechanical shutter (also shoots silently).

 New LCD mount allows 180º flips (old X-T3 only moved up and down a little, not left or right).

New optional VG-XT4 Vertical Battery Grip.

Optional Dual Battery Charger for NP-W235.

 1.3 oz (37g) heavier body than the old X-T3.

 With the bigger battery, the X-T4 and its battery weigh 2.4 oz. (68g) more than the old X-T3.

Same height, but now 3mm wider and 5mm deeper: 93 × 135 × 64 mm HWD (old X-T3 was 93 × 132 × 59 mm).

 Meter mode selector (under Shutter Speed dial) now becomes a STILL/MOVIE selector.

 AE, AF and Q button functions all rotate one position counterclockwise. (Same buttons, just in different places à la a Chinese fire drill)

 New LCD now has 1,620,000 dots (old X-T3 was 1,040,000 dots).

New "Eterna Bleach Bypass" Film Simulation mode.

USB-C 3.2, up from the old X-T3's USB 3.1.

EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash no longer included.

The "H" and "L" settings have been removed from the ISO dial. The dial now only goes from ISO 160 ~ ISO 12,800. To get ISO 80, 100, 125, 25,6000 and 51,200 you have to go back into menus or other unmarked dials— so why bother with an ISO dial?

 Removable side connecter cover replaced with two crappy rubber flaps.

No more headphone jack; use the included USB-C headphone adapter instead.

Black Fujifilm X-T4 and Fuji XF 16-80mm f/4. bigger.

Good intro top

 In-Body Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization (IBIS).

 Manual exposures settable all the way out to 15 minutes, no remote control or timers needed.

Four-way rear controller, as well as a thumb nubbin. Fuji must have heard our shouts of pain from having lost this controller in other new models.

Image quality highly optimized for fantastic people photos under any kind of lighting.

Brilliantly precise all-metal construction.

Dedicated single-purpose dials for each of ISO, Shutter Speed, Exposure Compensation, Advance Mode and STILL/MOVIE modes.

Shutter button threaded for a standard threaded cable release.

Optional EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash is powered directly from the camera's own battery.

Dedicated lever to select Continuous, Single or Manual focus.

Square (1:1) and 16:9 crop modes.

Magnificently quiet and refined shutter sound, also works completely silently.

Full 1/250 flash sync speed.

Locking diopter adjustment.

Wi-Fi.

Bluetooth.

Bad intro top

Flash doesn't fire in continuous advance modes.

Same bizarre menu system as other Fujifilm digital cameras.

The "H" and "L" settings have been removed from the ISO dial. The dial now only goes from ISO 160 ~ ISO 12,800, but the camera works from ISO 80 ~ 51,200. To get ISO 80, 100, 125, 25,600 and 51,200 you have to go back into menus or other unmarked dials— so why bother with an ISO dial?

Offshored to China; not made domestically in Japan.

Missing intro top

No built-in flash.

No color histogram available while shooting (playback only).

EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash no longer included.

The "H" and "L" settings have been removed from the ISO dial. To get ISO 80, 100, 125, 25,6000 and 51,200 you have to go back into menus or electronic dials— so why bother with an ISO dial?

Auto ISO slowest shutter speeds are manually adjustable, but the AUTO slowest-speed setting is always based on focal length with no way to shift the auto-selected speeds slower or faster than 1/focal length. Sony, Nikon and Canon all allow us to select an offset from this value.

No more headphone jack; use the included USB-C adapter instead.

No GPS.

Bluetooth, but no NFC.

No deeper detent at zero exposure compensation; instead of setting zero by feel you have to stop and look at it.

Specifications top

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

Silver X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Lens Compatibility specifications top

Black Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

It works with any of the Fujifilm Fujinon X-mount lenses, or lenses made for this mount.

You can get cheap adapters to let you use almost any brand of SLR or DSLR lens, however autofocus will not work and you will have to move the aperture manually and they offer questionable exposure accuracy. I don't suggest adapters.

Image Sensor specifications top

26 MP CMOS.

"X-TRANS 4," same as X-T3.

APS-C: 15.6 × 23.5 mm.

14-bit quantization.

3:2 aspect ratio.

1.53 × crop factor.

Ultrasonic cleaner.

Marketed as "back-illuminated X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor."

Film Simulation Modes

PROVIA/Standard

VELVIA/Vivid

ASTIA/Soft

Classic Chrome

PRO Neg. Hi

PRO Neg. Std

Black & White

Black & White + Yellow Filter

Black & White + Red Filter

Black & White + Green Filter

Sepia

ACROS B&W film

ACROS film + Yellow Filter film

ACROS film + Red Filter

ACROS film + Green Filter

ETERNA/Cinema

Eterna Bleach Bypass (new in X-T4)

B & W

Color balance adjustment: -9 ~ +9

Color Chrome Effect: Strong, Weak or Off.

ISO specifications top

ISO 80 (L) to ISO 51,200 (H2).

Auto ISO

Three AUTO ISO settings.

Each is adjustable for high and low limits from ISO 160 to ISO 12,800 in third stops.

Each allows the slowest shutter speed to be set anywhere from ¼ to 1/500 or AUTO, which varies it based on focal length. There is no way to shift the automatically selected minimum shutter speed in AUTO.

Image Sizes specifications top

6,240 × 4,160 pixels Large (native, 25.96 MP).

4,416 × 2,944 pixels Medium (13.00 MP).

3,120 × 2,080 pixels Small (6.5 MP).

Cropped Aspect Ratios

1:1 square and 16:9 HDTV.

Still Formats specifications top

JPG and/or raw.

sRGB and Adobe RGB.

Video specifications top

File Format

.MOV

Data Coding

Video: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 or HEVC/H.265. (DCI 4K at 59.94p or 50p doesn't work with H.264.)

Audio: Linear PCM Stereo; 24bits at 48 ksps.

Frame Sizes and Rates

All Intra/Long-GOP

All-Intra can be used with following settings: DCI 4K and 4K at 29.97p, 25p, 24p and 23.98p: 400Mbps.

2,048 × 1,080 or 1,920 × 1,080 at 59.94p, 50p, 29.97p, 25p, 24p and 23.98p: 200Mbps.

Maximum take lengths

Regardless of formats, the maximum video file size is 4GB. Go over that and the X-T4 simply starts a new file for you to import into your editor which will cut together with no loss.

DCI 4K 4,096 x 2,160 at 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 400Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps 59.94p/50p: up to approx. 20min. 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p: up to approx. 30min

4K 3,840 x 2,160 at 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 400Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps 59.94p/50p: up to approx. 20min. 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p: up to approx. 30min

2,048 x 1,080 at 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps up to approx. 30min.

1,920 x 1,080 at 59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps up to approx. 30min.

1,920 x 1,080 at 120p / 100p 200Mbps(recording) up to approx. 6min.

Card suggestions for video

Use at least a UHS Speed Class 3 card.

At 400Mbps (DCI 4K or 4K at 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p), use at least a Speed Class 60 card.

Audio specifications top

Recorded only along with video.

Stereo microphones built in.

Mic-in jack with plug-in power overrides built-in mic.

No headphone jack, but a USB-C to headphone jack adapter is included.

Stabilization specifications top

Rated an astounding 6.5 stops!!!

Autofocus specifications top

2.16M phase detection pixels.

Rated to LV -6.

Light Meter specifications top

Multi-Zone, Average, Center-Weighted or Spot.

Finder specifications top

0.5" 3.69-million-dot OLED.

0.75× magnification with 33mm lens (50mm equivalent).

100% coverage.

5 ms delay.

100 FPS refresh rate. 

23mm eyepoint from the eyepiece lens.

-4 ~ +2 diopters, locking.

38º diagonal angle of view, 30º horizontal.

Eye sensor selects EVF or rear LCD (VIEW MODE button on right side of finder hump for manual selection).

Shutter specifications top

45 ms lag.

Mechanical Shutter

1/8,000 ～ 15 minutes (900 seconds).

Silent Electronic Shutter

1/32,768 ～ 15 minutes (900 seconds).

Bulb

Up to one hour.

Remote Release specifications top

Standard $6 threaded cable releases

or

$40 RR-100 2.5mm electric release.

Continuous Frame Rates specifications top

Flash doesn't fire in any of these settings.

Continuous High

30 FPS with silent electronic shutter and 1.25x crop.

20 FPS with silent electronic shutter.

15 FPS with standard mechanical shutter.

Continuous Low

5.7 FPS.

Buffer (Burst) Sizes specifications top

At 30 FPS electronic shutter with 1.25x crop: 60 frames JPG, 35 frames lossless compression RAW or 33 frames Uncompressed RAW.

Pre-shot mode at 30 FPS electronic shutter with 1.25x crop: 20 frames maximum with shutter half pressed and 20 frames maximum after full press, total 40 frames.

At 11 FPS mechanical shutter: 145 frames JPG, 42 frames Lossless compression RAW or 36 frames Uncompressed RAW

At 5.7 FPS mechanical shutter: unlimited JPG, 62 frames Lossless Compression RAW, 43 frames Uncompressed RAW.

Flash specifications top

1/250 sync speed.

Built-in Flash

None.

External Flash

Dedicated hot shoe.

Standard PC (Prontor-Compur) flash sync terminal under a screw-in cap under the front "X-T4" marking as seen on the right below:

Silver Fujifilm X-T4 with optional EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash. bigger.

LCD Monitor specifications top

Silver Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

Silver Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

3.0" (76 mm) diagonal LCD.

1,620,000 dots.

3:2 aspect ratio.

Tilts up 90,º down 45º, 60º right, but not to the left.

Connectors specifications top

Fujifilm X-T4 Connectors. bigger.

From left: 3.5mm microphone, 2.5mm remote, HDMI Micro-D and USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 (which also can charge the battery).

WiFi specifications top

IEEE802.11b/g/n infrastructure.

WEP / WPA / WPA2 mixed mode encryption.

Bluetooth Low Energy specifications top

Version 4.2

2.402 ~ 2.480 GHz.

GPS specifications top

None.

Storage specifications top

Two card slots: Black Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

Two card slots.

Each works with SD (up to 2 GB), SDHC (up to 32 GB) and SDXC (up to 512 GB) cards, UHS-I, UHS-II and Video Speed Class V90.

Body specifications top

Bottom, black Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

Mostly metal.

Power specifications top

Battery

NP-W235 battery rated 600 shots per charge:

Fujifilm NP-W235 battery. bigger.

Fujifilm NP-W235 battery. bigger.

Charging

It charges via USB-C, or with the goofy included charger that has not a folding plug, but instead an idiotic modular plug.

Size specifications top

3.65 × 5.30 × 2.51 inches HWD.

92.8 × 134.6 × 63.8 millimeters HWD.

Weight specifications top

21.4 oz. (607g) with battery and card, 18.6 oz. (526g) stripped.

Operating Environment specifications top

-10º ～ 40º C (14º ～ 104º F).

10% to 80% RH.

Included specifications top

Camera:

Camera body.

Body cap (shipped on body).

Hot shoe cover (shipped in hot shoe).

Flash sync terminal cover (unscrews, shipped installed as you'd expect).

Vertical Grip connector cover (pulls-out, shipped installed as you'd expect).

Fujifilm NP-W235 battery.

AC to USB-C 5V 3A adapter, USB-C cord and US power plug adapter (for battery charging).

Shoulder strap.

Strap clip.

Clip attaching tool.

Cable protector.

Two printed manuals: one in English and one in Spanish.

Announced specifications top

12:01 AM, Wednesday, 26 February 2020, NYC time.

Promised for specifications top

Spring 2020.

Quality specifications top

Made in China: Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

Made in China.

Price, U. S. A. specifications top

February ~ July 2020.

Silver X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

Accessories top

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

Fujifilm X-T4 Vertical Battery Grip: $329.99:

Silver Fujifilm X-T4 with Vertical Battery Grip and 16-55mm f/2.8. bigger.

Fujifilm Twin Battery Charger for NP-W235: 69.99.

Fujifilm NP-W235 battery (included).

Compared top

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

See All Fujifilm Cameras Compared.

Performance top

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

Overall  Autofocus  Manual Focus Ergonomics

Finder Flash High ISOs Auto ISO

Auto White Balance Mechanics Stabilization

Playback  Data Power & Battery

Silver X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Overall

Performance top

The Fuji XT4 is a smooth and quiet camera that's a joy to shoot with its huge, bright finder and super-smooth and quiet mechanical shutter.

The autofocus system works wonders finding faces and eyes and just focussing on them automatically so you can concentrate on catching that fleeting perfect expression.

As always with Fujifilm digital cameras, colors and tones are highly optimized for superb people photos at the expense of the vivid, saturated colors I prefer for landscapes and photos of places and things.

Autofocus

Performance top

Autofocus is fast and sure. It finds and tracks faces and eyes extremely well — much better than the Nikon Z system, for instance.

With multiple faces, it finds the correct face automatically, no manual input required. Photographing groups of people? Just point and shoot. I can pay attention to people's expressions and not have to worry about fiddling with my focus system.

Manual Focus

performance top

Manual focus is even better than usual, as Fujifilm adds a default "nonlinear" option with brilliantly varies the speed of manual focus as you change distance. It's more precise at far distances where we need it, and speeds it up at close distances where we also need it. Fuji finally solved a 200-year-old problem which limited us in the days of mechanical focus.

Ergonomics

Performance top

Black Fujifilm X-T4. bigger.

The X-T4 excels here, at least mechanically, with the industry's best collections of dedicated knobs, levers and dials. Its little grips feels great; they're beefy enough to give me a solid grip for one-handed shooting.

The smooth, quiet and refined shutter makes every image a joy to shoot; using Silent mode would take the fun out of this camera.

It has both a thumb nubbin and a real 4-way rear controller, often missing on other Fuji cameras.

While the menu system is just as foolish as ever for Fuji (card format is hidden at MENU > Wrench > User Setting > Format for instance), once you set your menus, in-field or on-set shooting is perfect because all our settings are made on real dedicated dials.

There is no need for an exposure mode dial. Just set the lens' aperture ring or shutter speed dial to A and that function is set automatically. Set both to A and you're in program mode. Set either ring to a set value, and you're in aperture or shutter priority, or set both to a marked value and you're in manual. Easy, and FAST as you're shooting rapidly developing events.

The biggest two weirdnesses are the lock buttons on the ISO and shutter speed dials. They toggle between locked (pushed in), or unlocked (popped up with a gray band around the bottom) each time you press them. This is very weird when you first get the camera, and makes sense as soon as you realize that this is how it works.

It takes a moment longer to wake up than I'd expect for a premium camera.

The electronic finder's auto brightness control only seems to have two levels: too bright or too dark, which can get in the way of trying to shoot.

The DISP/BACK button isn't marked on the button, it's marked to the side, so in dim light the button itself is invisible.

The rear dial often works backwards at the Q screen (have to turn it left to increase a function).

The PLAY button is on the wrong side, requiring a second (left) hand to press.

The exposure compensation dial is easy to use, but lacks a deeper zero detent so you have to look at it to find the zero setting.

The ISO dial only goes from ISO 160 ~ ISO 12,800. To get ISO 80, 100, 125, 25,6000 and 51,200 you have to go back into menus or other unmarked dials— so why bother with an ISO dial? Likewise the dial has but one A position, but to select among the three Auto ISO settings again you're back in the menus or the front dial.

If you do set the ISO dial to "C" to set ISO with the front dial, oddly the AUTO ISO settings are only found off the deep end after ISO 51,200 (H2), not off the low end near the rational ISOs we most often use.

The finder focus control (dioptometric adjustment) is tiny and hard to find to pull out to unlock for adjustment.

The SD card slots are backwards; slot #1 is on the bottom and #2 is on top.

The flimsy card door is fidgety to open, and requires concentration and a fingernail — you can't just slide it back to open.

The red "A"s (automatic) are too dark. They aren't florescent, so they usually look much darker than the white markings. My photos of my X-T4 are greatly enhanced so the As stand out; they're more like burgundy As on the actual camera, hard to see indoors on a black camera.

Finder

Performance top

The finder is excellent: big, bright, sharp and colorful. It feels much larger than most mirrorless cameras, which makes it fun to shoot all day even if it doesn't make the pictures any different.

It's big and bright, and sharp from side to side, even if the focus (diopter) adjustment has a typical amount of astigmatism as you twiddle it.

Unlike DSLR optical finders where you're just looking through the lens at the actual image and subject, electronic finders like this have to work at calculating the correct brightness to make the finder look right.

The biggest differences between current finders from Sony, Fuji, Canon and Nikon is how well they handle auto brightness control. The X-T4's auto brightness control doesn't work as well as it does on Sony (no other brand does), but otherwise this Fuji's finder is superb.

All are about as sharp and have the same color rendition; but only Sony EVFs always are at the perfect brightness automatically. This Fuji is at the perfect brightness about 75% of the time. Nikon's Z7 is only at the perfect brightness about 70% of the time, and Canon's EOS R has no auto brightness control for the finder at all. When automatic control doesn't get it right, the finder is too dark or too bright and is very distracting or illegible.

The diopter adjustment locks. Pull out the tiny knob to adjust, which is hard to use because it's so small.

Flash

Performance top

There is no built-in flash, and Fuji no longer includes the great little EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash.

Poo!

High ISO Performance performance top

Complete Images

As seen at normal image sizes below, the X-T4 pretty much makes the same images from ISO 160 to ISO 12,800. ISO 25,600 (H1) has duller colors and gets a little blotchier, and ISO 51,200 (H2) gets much blotchier with the same duller colors, but still quite usable if I need it for normal-sized images.

ISO 80 (L) is a pulled ISO and has higher highlight contrast.

This is pretty good performance on a absolute scale, but not competitive with the incredibly good performance of cameras from Sony, Nikon and Canon. While it's the same as the X-T30's High ISO Performance (they use the same sensor, and oddly the inexpensive X-T200 has much better High ISO performance than either of this X-T4 or the X-T30).

Click any for the camera-original © LARGE NORMAL JPG files:

Click any for the camera-original © JPG files (about 10 MB each).

600 × 450 Pixel Crops (10.4× magnifications)

What we see at the crazy-high magnifications below is that fine details go away as the ISO increases. This happens with all cameras and is an artifact of the noise reduction working harder as the ISO increases.

In the X-T4 the most detail is at ISO 80 (L) and becomes softer at every higher ISO. This is normal and how noise reduction works in every camera.

ISO 80 is a "pull" ISO, and thus has more highlight contrast. This usually increases perceived highlight detail, and can lead to clipped highlights if you have too much subject contrast, as in the case of the window reflection in the glass of the clock face.

By ISO 800 most of the detailed scrollwork between the clock numbers is gone.

By ISO 51,200 all the detail is gone from the clock face, leaving only the numbers.

Click any for the camera-original © JPG files:

Click any for the camera-original © JPG files (about 10 MB each).

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same high magnification would be about 21 × 31" (1.7 × 2.6 feet or 50 × 80 cm).

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 42 × 62" (3.5 × 5.2 feet or 1.05 × 1.6 meters).

If these 600 × 450 pixel crops are about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same insane magnification would be about 83 × 125" (6.9 × 10.4 feet or 2.1 × 3.2 meters).

Auto ISO

Performance top

Good is that Auto ISO has three programmable settings, AUTO 1, AUTO 2 and AUTO 3.

Each is adjustable for low limits from ISO 160 to ISO 12,800 in third stops, and in full stops from ISO 400 to ISO 12,800 for the high limit.

Each allows the slowest shutter speed to be set from ¼ to 1/500 or AUTO, which varies it based on focal length — but the AUTO (focal-length-based) slowest shutter setting isn't adjustable.

The AUTO (focal-length-based) slowest shutter speed setting is always based on focal length with no way to shift the auto-selected speeds slower or faster from 1/focal length.

Auto White Balance

Performance top

Auto White Balance is extremely good, especially in weird mixed artificial light where many auto white balance systems give up.

Mechanical Quality

Performance top

The X-T4 is nicer than most cameras from Sony, Nikon or Canon because it's almost all metal:

Metal: ISO dial, top cover, shutter-speed dial, shutter button, on/off switch, compensation dial, strap lugs, camera back and bottom cover.

Plastic: ISO and shutter-speed lock buttons, advance mode control, STILL/MOVIE mode control, M/C/S AF mode lever, LCD frame, side card door and bottom battery door.

Rubbery Plastic: Side connector covers, grip coverings, bottom grip connector cover.

Made in: China.

Image Stabilization performance top

Image Stabilization (OIS, IS or VR (Vibration Reduction)) is pretty good, but nowhere near 6.5 stops as rated.

I have to laugh, but under the same conditions I get better performance from Canon's $399 RF 24-105mm IS STM lens on my unstabilized EOS RP. So much for in-body stabilization.

"Percent Perfectly Sharp Shots" are the percentage of frames with 100% perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness I get when I'm shooting hand-held while standing with no support. Hand tremor is a random occurrence, so at marginal speeds some frames will be perfectly sharp while others will be in various stages of blur — all at the same shutter speed. This rates what percentage of shots are perfectly sharp, not how sharp all the frames are:

Fuji XF 16-80mm f/4 OIS at 35mm

% Perfectly Sharp Shots	1s	1/2	1/4	1/8	1/15	1/30	1/60	1/125	1/250
Stabilization ON	0	0	71	100	100	100	100	100	100
Stabilization OFF	0	0	0	0	0	25	50	75	100

I see a four- or five-stop real-world improvement. This is good, but nowhere near 6.5 stops as claimed.

Playback

Performance top

There's a big color histogram available in playback, hit DISP/BACK.

It moves among images very quickly as you hold the rear controller left or right to go forward or back, but sadly selected playback images are unsharp for the first half-second until they redraw sharply.

Data

Performance top

Cards are not formatted properly. They instead are titled as "Untitled," making it difficult to figure out which of many external drives is the card you shot in this camera when you're trying to download from card readers.

Power & Battery

Performance top

Battery life is excellent, rated 600 shots.

There is a well-hidden battery percentage readout, as well as the usual battery icon.

It charges via USB with the included external charger.

Charging via USB draws 815 mA and a green LED on the rear grip lets you know it's charging.

User's Guide top

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

Silver X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Charging user's guide top

Fuji includes its own 5V, 3 ampere AC-to-USB-C adapter and USB-C cord., but I use any USB-C cord and plug into any generic USB power source (wall adapter, airline/car seat source, solar panel, power bank, computer, etc.) to charge. You don't need a fancy "Power Delivery" standard USB-C charger, although those work great, too.

A green LED lights on the back as it charges, and turns off when done.

Battery Percentage Readout user's guide top

It's very well hidden. The battery percentage only appears on the rear LCD, and only appears when the camera is ready to shoot and you press the DISP/BACK button a few times to show an all-data screen.

The percentage never appears in the finder, never appears on playback and never appears in the menu system.

Tap the shutter to put the X-T4 in shooting mode (rather then Play or Menu), and press the DISP/BACK button to get the data screen on the rear LCD, and look at the tiny mark in the upper right: there's your battery percentage!

Card Formatting user's guide top

Card format is hidden at MENU > Wrench > User Setting > Format.

A shortcut is to hold the TRASH button a few seconds and tap the rear dial. The FORMAT menu pops up and you may release the buttons. Good luck, it takes some luck to get the timing of holding those buttons just right so the FORMAT menu displays.

Carry Strap user's guide top

I never use the included strap; I use LEICA's standard 14312 strap. It goes on and off fast without damaging the camera's finish or needing tools, and it's the perfect size for small cameras like this.

Dial Locks user's guide top

The lock buttons on ISO and shutter speed are weird. Each time you press them they toggle between locked (pushed in), or unlocked (popped up with a gray band around the bottom).

This is very weird when you first get the camera, and makes sense as soon as you understand how it works.

Diopter Setting user's guide top

The X-T4 has a locking diopter adjustment.

Pull out the tiny knob on the left of the finder to adjust, and push it back in to lock.

ISO Settings user's guide top

ISO is set on a dial, however a design flaw skips the high and low ISOs, which aren't on the dial.

Inexplicably Fuji forgot to include ISO 80, 100, 125, 25,600 and 51,200 on the dial, so to get them you have to set the dial to "C" and set them with the front dial.

Exposure Modes user's guide top

There's no need for PSAM selections or an exposure mode dial or button. All you do is set the aperture or shutter rings to A if you want the camera to select that value for you:

Mode	Shutter Dial	Aperture Dial
Program	A	A
Aperture-Priority	A	Choose Aperture
Shutter-Priority	Choose Shutter Speed	A
Manual	Choose Shutter Speed	Choose Aperture

Easy, and fast to set by feel without looking away from your subject as you're shooting rapidly developing events.

Flash user's guide top

The tiny but optional EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash has no battery. It is powered directly from the camera's battery.

The optional EF-X8 flash has no power or ON/OFF switch. Even easier, flip it up as shown to activate it, and flip it down (forward) to turn it off. Easy!

Be warned that this clever little flash has little power (range), and that it also takes several seconds to recycle after every shot. If you take a picture before it's ready you'll get a picture, just without flash.

Silver Fujifilm X-T4 with optional EF-X8 folding shoe mount flash. bigger.

Continuous Shooting user's guide top

By default, exposure doesn't track from frame to frame during continuous shooting.

To track exposure in continuous advance modes, be sure to set MENU > Wrench > Button/Dial Setting > Shutter AE > AF-C > OFF. It's ON by default, which locks the exposure even if your subject moves from light to dark.

To track auto focus, be sure to set the front AF mode selector lever to "C," continuous.

Continuous advance modes are fast, but they don't work with flash.

Recommendations top

Sample Images Introduction  Specifications

Accessories Performance Compared

User's Guide Recommendations

Fuji makes a lot of cameras. The X-T4 stands out as their top modern camera for its huge, bright finder and fit and finish, and it excels for how it sounds and feels. If you appreciate the very best, you want the X-T4.

The X-T4 isn't about how it performs in tests; like the LEICA, it's all about how it feels in your hand and how it feels as it fires. It's a joy to shoot; it just sounds and feels so good.

The smooth, quiet and refined shutter makes every image a joy to shoot; using Silent mode would take most of the fun out of this camera.

If price matters and you just want great pictures, also look at at the X-T30 which takes the same pictures with the same sensor and doesn't have quite as many dedicated dials, but adds a built-in flash and does it all for about half the price!

I use LEICA's standard 14312 strap. It goes on and off fast without damaging the camera's finish, and it's the perfect size for small cameras like these.

Silver X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4: $1,699 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/18-55mm: $2,099 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Silver X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

Black X-T4 w/16-80mm: $2,199 at Adorama, at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This 100% all-content website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Fujifilm does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, non-USA, store demo or used camera. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

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