Typical for Fujifilm is the X70, of which we were already able to try out a pre-series model that almost corresponds to the final series, in retro design. In black somewhat more inconspicuous, in silver-black somewhat clearer. Like the Ricoh GR II or the Nikon Coolpix A, it is extremely compact and doesn’t have much in common with the much larger X100T sister. The X70 has neither an optical nor an electronic viewfinder, but instead a modern foldable touch screen. However, an optical viewfinder that can be plugged onto the flash shoe is available as an accessory, covering 21 mm and 28 mm focal length with illuminated frame.

As the little sister of the X100, the Fujifilm X70 offers an APS-C sensor with 16 megapixels resolution and an F2.8/28mm lens. It is thus in direct competition with the Nikon Coolpix A and Ricoh GR II. [Photo: Fujifilm]

The built-in lens has a fixed focal length of 18.5 millimetres at a speed of F2.8. In the 35mm equivalent, the image angle corresponds to that of a 28mm lens, i.e. a classic wide-angle lens for street photography, for example. Thanks to the compact, unobtrusive housing, the X70 is also ideal for this very world of motifs. Thanks to the compact housing (113 x 64 x 44 mm, 340 grams ready for use), it can always be there without any problems and, for example, takes much better-quality photos than a smartphone. The high-quality lens, whose optical design comprises seven lenses in five groups, certainly contributes to this. Two aspherical high-performance lenses and the HT-EBC coating are used. Nine aperture lamellas ensure an almost circular aperture and a beautiful bokeh. Thanks to the close-up limit of ten centimeters from the front edge of the lens, great freestanding effects with beautiful bokeh can be achieved, especially at close range.

The lens of the X70 does not extend when switched on. The lens cap is an inverted cap, which is advantageous for an automatically opening protective curtain in robustness, but not in practicality. When we used the camera during a shor trip, we usually had it without a lid in the well-padded compartment of the photo bag in order to be able to pull it out quickly. The camera is switched on at a fixed speed, and focusing is as fast as with an X-system camera, except that the shutter release is almost inaudible thanks to the central shutter.

Two adjusting rings crowd together at the short lens tube end. The two “ears” of the aperture ring have proven to be extremely practical, so that the aperture and the sharpening ring can be used equally well. Unfortunately, the aperture ring doesn’t have a latching automatic position, so you have to be careful not to suddenly shoot with F16. This shortcoming runs through the entire X-System lens program and was unfortunately not eliminated. The sharpening ring works purely electronically and can also be assigned other functions, such as ISO sensitivity, film simulation modes (including our favourite “Classic Chrome”) or a digital zoom. Thus, the X70 also offers an equivalent of 35 and 50 millimeters. With the latter, however, physically only a measly five megapixels remain. By the way, those who want more wide angle will find a good possibility with the wide angle converter, the image angle then corresponds to that of a 21mm full format lens. If you really want to use the focus ring for manual focusing, the digital split image indicator, focus peakking and magnification function provide a number of useful aids. In addition, the selector lever on the front of the camera allows quick switching between AF, AF-C and MF.

Those who often work with Panasonic cameras, as we do, might be disturbed by the lever next to the exposure wheel. Because at the same place the switch on lever is with some Panasonic. However, the X70 is switched on ergonomically conveniently located at the switch on the shutter release. The release itself has good pressure points, but does not have a remote release connection thread like the X100T. The exposure time wheel and the exposure compensation wheel are flat, but they are easy to use. Thanks to the auto lever, the camera, which is actually a classic camera, can be set to a pure automatic mode including subject and face recognition at any time. Practical for a quick snapshot, if the setting would take too long or someone without much idea should take a photo with the camera.

In addition to the four wheels mentioned so far (two on the lens, two on the top of the camera), there is a rocker on the back, which at first glance you might think of as a thumbwheel. This allows further settings to be made or, for example, the exposure times to be adjusted in finer steps than using the wheel on the top. If you expect a rotating wheel, however, the rocker is a little unusual to operate. The rocker can also be clicked, for example to confirm a setting. The eight programmable function keys and the quick menu with 16 entries, which is also adaptable, allow a very individual adaptation of the X70.

The 7.6 centimeter touch screen of the Fujifilm X70 can be folded down and up. The latter even by up to 180 degrees for Selfies. The Fujifilm X70 doesn’t have a viewfinder, but the 7.5 centimeter screen has a resolution of 1.04 million pixels and can be folded down 45 degrees and up 180 degrees[Photo: Fujifilm]

The 7.6 centimeter screen at the back cuts a very good figure. The resolution is fine enough with 1.04 million pixels. Thanks to the folding mechanism it is also possible to take good pictures close to the ground or from overhead perspectives. The screen is extremely thin, but like the rest of the camera, it makes a robust impression. The folding mechanism even allows the screen to be folded 180 degrees upwards or forwards, so nothing stands in the way of a selfie if you like it. The touch function also turns out to be an advantage. But even classic photographers benefit from being able to quickly set the autofocus point on the display using a fingertip. Once you get used to it, you won’t want to miss it again, with the exception of the fingertaps on the screen. In addition, it can be triggered by finger. In playback mode, the recorded images can be wiped, and even enlargements can be made intuitively using finger gestures, just like on a smartphone. By the way, if you think the touch function is a trite, you can completely deactivate it. Although it makes operation more convenient, it is not essential; all functions can also be operated with buttons.

Inside, Fujifilm has installed the 16 megapixel X-Trans CMOS II sensor in APS-C size. This has Fujifilm’s own color filter arrangement, which not only prevents color artifacts and moirés, but also eliminates the need for a resolution-reducing low-pass filter. The EXR II image processor provides fast image processing including compensation for any optical and physical errors such as edge darkening, distortion, edge blur or even diffraction blur. Up to ISO 51.200, the processor is supposed to provide low image noise. The phase autofocus is integrated directly on the sensor and, according to Fujifilm, focuses within 0.1 seconds. In addition, there is a very short release delay of only 0.01 seconds. According to Fujifilm, the recording interval and the switch-on time are also extremely short at 0.5 seconds each. We haven’t been able to measure these values yet, but they can be understood in practice – Fujifilm doesn’t promise too much. In contrast to the previous generation of the sensor, the phase autofocus now works from 0.5 EV light instead of the previous 2.5 EV. Together with the contrast autofocus, a powerful hybrid autofocus is formed. Thanks to face recognition, the X70 can even focus on the eyes.

The Fujifilm X70’s hybrid autofocus focuses within 0.1 seconds thanks to a combination of phase AF sensors integrated on the sensor and contrast autofocus. The focus can also be adjusted at seven continuous shots per second. The 18.5mm lens (28mm corresponding to 35mm) of the Fujifilm X70 has a large diameter, but a tiny front lens. The aperture and another freely assignable function can be set with the two lens rings. [Photo: Fujifilm]

 

By the way, the Fujifilm X70 also has a Full-HD video function (24 to 60 frames per second) with stereo microphone, which allows you to capture the sound and images of street musicians, for example. Video recordings can also be manually exposed if desired. Thanks to the video recording button on the top of the camera, a video recording can be started at any time, only the image trimming from 3:2 to 16:9 should be observed beforehand. However, the X70 reacts somewhat sluggishly to this button, which is not optimally accessible so close to the exposure correction wheel, both when starting and stopping recording. It remains to be hoped that the responsiveness will be improved until the final series. If you don’t like video recording, you can assign a different function to the button. The missing image stabilizer, however, is especially noticeable in video recordings. While the videos are very sharp, camera shake is very annoying and makes a small tripod recommendable for video recordings.

The Fujifilm X70 also features a time-lapse function, multiple exposures, continuous shooting and bracketing. In continuous-advance mode, the camera can still autofocus at seven frames per second. If the film simulation modes including the black-and-white films with colour filter effects are not sufficient for you, you can also activate creative filters such as “pinhole camera” or “miniature”. The WLAN function is almost standard for a modern camera. This allows the X70 not only wireless image transfer to smartphones and tablets, but also the automatic backup of images on a PC in the home network. With the help of Fujifilm’s free app, the X70 can also be remotely controlled from a smartphone or tablet, including live image transmission.

The Fujifilm X70 is very easy to operate manually thanks to the aperture ring and focus ring on the lens and the exposure time wheel as well as the exposure correction wheel on the top. Exposure time and exposure compensation on the Fujifilm X70 are classically set via wheels. If desired, a small lever moves the camera in a fully automatic mode with scene recognition.[Photo: Fujifilm]

Ergonomics and workmanship

The Fujifilm X70 is quite small with 113 x 64 millimeters, but not quite as compact with a case depth of 44 millimeters. This makes it almost one centimetre thicker than the comparable Ricoh GR. Fujifilm’s weight of 340 grams is also a good 90 grams heavier than its direct competitor. But the X70 has a (in our eyes) more pleasing design and offers with its metal housing a very high-quality workmanship. At a good 700 euros, it is also 100 euros cheaper than the GR. However, the X70 doesn’t have much in common with the clumsy case in the retro design of its larger sister, the X100T. In comparison, the X70 looks downright dainty. Even though the lens has a large diameter of five centimeters, the 15 millimeter small front lens looks almost lost in it.

The Fujifilm X70 offers a large APS-C sensor in its extremely compact housing, which only resolves 16 megapixels and thus promises good performance at higher ISO sensitivities.

The 7.6 centimeter touch screen of the Fujifilm X70 can be folded down and up. The latter even by up to 180 degrees for Selfies. The Fujifilm X70 doesn’t have a viewfinder, but the 7.5 centimeter screen has a resolution of 1.04 million pixels and can be folded down 45 degrees and up 180 degrees[Photo: Fujifilm]

The Fujifilm X70 is very easy to operate manually thanks to the aperture ring and focus ring on the lens and the exposure time wheel as well as the exposure correction wheel on the top. Exposure time and exposure compensation on the Fujifilm X70 are classically set via wheels. If desired, a small lever moves the camera in a fully automatic mode with scene recognition.[Photo: Fujifilm]

The metal housing of the Fujifilm X70 is high-quality painted and has large rubber applications as a thumb cavity and handle, which makes it safe to hold. In view of the 15 millimeter lens protruding out of the housing, the handle should have been even more voluminous. The lens has two adjusting rings, a universal electronic one in the middle and behind it a mechanical locking aperture ring with two “wings” for better grip, which reach over the adjusting ring in front. In fact, however, the aperture is adjusted purely electronically and follows the changes to the aperture ring with minimal delay. The aperture can be adjusted from F2.8 to F16, and an automatic position is also available. Typical for Fujifilm, however, this does not have any locking mechanism. The latter also applies to the exposure time wheel and exposure compensation wheel located on the top of the camera. The classic operating concept is very reminiscent of analog cameras or the X-system cameras from Fujifilm. The upper adjustment wheels lock nicely, even if the mechanics (lock) of the exposure time wheel, which is made of metal, doesn’t look quite as high quality. At the very front of the lens there is a decorative ring. If you unscrew it, you can either mount the optional LH-X70 sun visor with 49mm filter thread or the WCL-X70 wide-angle converter, which reduces the 35mm equivalent focal length to 21 millimetres and has a 62mm filter thread.

The operation is complemented by the focus mode switch on the camera front, the function button on the left side of the housing, which sets the function of the front lens ring by default, the auto lever as well as the video and function button, the drive button on the camera top and nine other buttons and a rocker switch with confirmation function on the camera rear. Also some of these keys can be freely assigned functions, as well as the Quick menu is customizable. So Fujifilm attaches a lot of importance to the X70’s customizability, and almost no wish remains unfulfilled.

The rear screen can be folded 45 degrees down and 180 degrees up with the Play and Delete buttons. Not only overhead and ground-level recordings are possible, but also Selfies. Thanks to the 28-millimeter fixed focal length, they look similar from the perspective of smartphone selffies, but offer a much higher image quality. The monitor is a touch screen where you can not only focus on the detail of the subject with a fingertip, but also trigger the X70 if you wish. The screen is pleasantly large with a diagonal of 7.5 centimeters and has a resolution of 1.04 million pixels, which is fine enough.

The live image offers both a preview of the exposure and a preview of the depth of field. White balance, live histogram, grid and spirit level are other useful inserts. Thanks to the many buttons and the quick menu, most functions are in direct access. Nevertheless, the menu offers numerous other settings. A maximum of seven items are displayed on a menu page, with the menu pages displayed in tabs on the side. Thus the menu remains somewhat clear despite numerous setting possibilities.

An electronic viewfinder, however, is neither built into the X70 nor optional. But if you like, you can plug the purely optical VF-X21 viewfinder into the flash shoe, which is located in the axis of the lens. The viewfinder covers both the 21mm and 28mm image angles. Fujifilm placed the tripod thread unfavourably. It not only sits outside the optical axis, but also directly next to the battery and memory card compartment. This blocks it when using a tripod and even the smallest quick-release plate. The supplied lithium-ion battery remains in the camera for charging. It is charged via USB, whereby any mobile phone charger can also be used instead of the one supplied by Fujifilm. For 330 pictures a load according to CIPA standard should suffice. The SD memory card is inserted in the same compartment as the battery, with the X70 also swallowing SDHC and SDXC cards and supporting the UHS-I standard.

The Fujifilm X70’s hybrid autofocus focuses within 0.1 seconds thanks to a combination of phase AF sensors integrated on the sensor and contrast autofocus. The focus can also be adjusted at seven continuous shots per second. The 18.5mm lens (28mm corresponding to 35mm) of the Fujifilm X70 has a large diameter, but a tiny front lens. The aperture and another freely assignable function can be set with the two lens rings. [Photo: Fujifilm]

The tripod thread of the Fujifilm X70 could not be placed more unhappily. It is not only located outside the optical axis, but also in the immediate vicinity of the battery and memory card compartment, so that it is blocked during use. [Photo: Fujifilm]

The lithium-ion battery of the Fujifilm X70 is sufficient for 330 shots according to the CIPA standard. The SD card slot also swallows SDHC and SDXC cards and supports the UHS-I standard. [Photo: MediaNord]

The Micro-USB interface is hidden behind a plastic flap on the right side of the camera next to two other connectors. A micro HDMI cable can be connected here for playback on flat-screen TVs, and the 2.5mm jack can also be used to connect a remote release cable or a stereo microphone.

Equipment

Although the Fujifilm X70’s operating concept is clearly aimed at ambitious users, thanks to the auto lever it can be set to a fully automatic mode at any time, in which the photographer only has to press the shutter button. A little caution, however, is called for. Although the camera switches most functions, such as focusing, to automatic regardless of the previous setting, this is not the case with the camera. However, exposure compensation or continuous-advance mode, for example, remain active. Another tricky feature is the almost silent central shutter, because the shortest exposure times are not available with every aperture. If you want to expose 1/4,000 seconds for a short time, you have to dim at least F11, for 1/2,000 seconds you need at least F5.6, for F2.8 only 1/1,000 second can be set as the shortest shutter speed. This interferes a little with bright ambient light, so that you may only be able to make limited use of the cropping options under certain circumstances.

The electronic shutter, which permits short exposure times of up to 1/32,000 second, provides a remedy, at least for subjects that are slow or not moving at all. In the case of fast-moving motifs, however, the rolling shutter effect is annoying. Further limitations are that the flash and ISO extension (100, 12,800, 25,600 and 51,200) cannot be combined with electronic shutter. Even the longest electronic shutter speed is limited to one second.

Regarding the flash: The small built-in lightning should have a guide number of five. However, it always synchronizes at the beginning of the exposure and can’t be used at the end, which limits the creative possibilities somewhat. A flash exposure correction is available, but not a purely manual flash control. However, the X70 has a TTL system flash shoe on which both Fujifilm TTL flash units and center contact flashes can be used. Continuous shooting is not possible with the flash. Without it, the X70 manages an impressive eight continuous shots per second in Raw or JPEG, but only for quite a few shots in a row. After that, the continuous shooting speed is halved in JPEG, in Raw the continuous run is even slower with 1.6 frames per second.

After all, the hybrid autofocus focuses very quickly within 0.21 seconds. The shutter release delay after focusing is even ultra-short with 0.01 seconds. If desired, the X70 also tracks the focus or even pursues motifs. Thanks to the hybrid autofocus as a combination of phase measurement sensors integrated on the sensor and the contrast autofocus for fine tuning and focusing in poor light, it is even able to do this quite appropriately. With manual focusing, the X70 not only supports the photographer with a focus scale including depth of field display, but also with a focus magnifier and focus peaking if desired. If you wish, you can even switch on a digital split image indicator that uses the phase measurement sensors. At the touch of a button, the Fujifilm automatically focuses with manual focusing thanks to the AE-L/AF-L button.

The X70 records videos with full HD resolution and a maximum of 60 frames per second in good quality. The stereo microphone can also be heard, not least thanks to the optional level setting. An external microphone can also be connected. The video recording button, on the other hand, is not in the right position and is therefore difficult to operate. Those who want to use the good video quality should definitely use a tripod, as the X70 offers neither an optical nor an electronic image stabilizer. Freehand videos become an unsightly nail-biter with it. However, the X70 adjusts the focus quietly and precisely during shooting.

The small button on the side of the Fujifilm X70 can be freely assigned. At the factory it adjusts the function of the freely assignable lens ring.

The interfaces of the Fujifilm X70 are hidden behind a plastic flap. The small rubber grip gives the necessary grip when photographing.

The Fujifilm X70 can be charged with any USB charger via the Micro-USB connection. It also displays images on flat-screen TVs via HDMI and allows the connection of either a cable remote trigger or a stereo microphone (2.5 mm jack).

Furthermore, the Fujifilm X70 offers numerous bracketing modes, e.g. for exposure or white balance bracketing. It even has a pan panorama mode. HDR, on the other hand, is a foreign word for the X70; the purely software-based dynamic range extension is not a real replacement. If, on the other hand, you like to take interval shots, the X70 will do the job for you. The typical Fujifilm film simulation modes are of course not missing, and various filter effects can also be activated. Apart from a reduction of red eyes, rotating, trimming and shrinking, there are no image processing functions. Instax printers and a photo book order are supported directly by the X70. However, raw images can be adjusted more extensively thanks to the integrated converter.

The built-in WLAN offers the possibility to automatically save photos via a WLAN network on a PC set up for this purpose. In addition, the Camera Remote App, which Fujifilm offers for Android and iOS, allows the transmission of images and the remote control of the camera including live image transmission.

Picture quality

With its 28mm fixed focal length and 16 megapixel X-Trans CMOS sensor, the Fujifilm X70 offers ideal conditions for outstanding image quality. The lens, of course, has a real focal length of 18.5 millimetres, but the APS-C sensor, with its 1.5 times smaller diagonal in comparison to the full-format sensor, ensures the image angle in the 28mm film equivalent. The X-Trans technology, on the other hand, is intended to provide a higher image quality through the special color filter arrangement, because not only can the resolution-reducing low-pass filter be dispensed with without the risk of moiré formation, but the three primary colors red, green and blue also occur in each row and column.

However, with a maximum of 48 line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm), the resolution is somewhat lower than that of a 16-megapixel sensor, which by no means means means means that this resolution is low. The Lens Modulation Optimizer from Fujifilm is supposed to reduce the edge accumulation of the resolution as well as diffraction blur by selective sharpening. First of all it seems to be not so well tuned at F4 or to intervene too strongly at F2.8. In any case, F4 has a small kink downwards in the resolution curve. Overall, the resolution in the image center oscillates between 40 and 48 lp/mm, so it never gets bad. At the edge of the picture there are 35 to 42 lp/mm in it, whereby the maximum resolution drop is 24 percent, thus still within the acceptable range. We were not able to measure colour fringes and distortion in the laboratory, the edge darkening remains low with a maximum of 0.6 EV or 35 percent loss of brightness.

The signal-to-noise ratio from ISO 100 to 400 lies in the good range of over 40 dB and only falls just below the critical 35 dB mark at ISO 3,200. The noise is fine-grained and only becomes more visible above ISO 6.400 as brightness noise, color noise plays no role. Above ISO 1.600, noise reduction reduces the finest details, above ISO 3.200 the images begin to appear much softer and lose details such as fine wood grain or hair. The input dynamic is somewhat disappointing, oscillating up to ISO 12,800 in the range of 8.9 to 9.6 f-stops, that’s just fine. With the exception of ISO 100, where the signal is somewhat dampened, the tonal value curve is slightly divided for crisper picture results. The output tonal range is very good up to ISO 400 and good up to ISO 1,600.

The Fujifilm X70 is not only available in black, but also in silver. [Photo: Fujifilm]

The optional wide-angle converter WCL-X70 shortens the equivalent focal length of the Fujifilm X70 to 21 millimetres. [Photo: Fujifilm]

On average, the Fujifilm X70 reproduces colours quite true to the original, even the deviations in individual colour tones for a “more beautiful” image reproduction are not too strong. According to laboratory measurements, the manual white balance is extremely accurate. But the automatic white balance is also convincing for most lighting scenes. The actual color depth is good with over four million colors up to high ISO 6,400. Even the flash illumination is convincing, the brightness drop to the edge of the picture is only twice as high as the already existing edge darkening that is included in the measurement. In practice, the backlight insensitivity of the lens and the soft bokeh are also convincing.

Bottom line

All in all, the Fujifilm X70 convinces as a camera. It is fast, compact and of high quality. It can also be used as a travel camera for small luggage, especially as it can be charged with the smartphone charger via USB. The operation appeals above all to ambitious photographers and leaves almost no function missing. The many buttons and setting rings allow very direct operation, the folding touch screen offers the necessary flexibility for the shooting perspective. The only thing some photographers will miss is a viewfinder. Videographers, on the other hand, don’t really get their money’s worth because of the unfortunate placement of the video recording button and the missing image stabilizer. The image quality of the Fujifilm X70 knows how to please. One could most likely criticize the somewhat low input dynamics, but the pictures themselves have a quite natural, not too crisp, but pleasing character. Especially up to ISO 400 the image quality is excellent and up to ISO 1.600 very good, ISO 3.200 also offers good image quality reserves.

Fujifilm X70 Datasheet