Fujifilm X-T30 mirrorless bets on nostalgia to challenge Sony and Canon

Fujifilm is a master of retro camera design, and it's continuing its trend of capitalizing on that to challenge the leaders in its class, the new Sony A6400 and last year's Canon EOS M50. 

Its new X-T30, the step-down enthusiast model from the powerhouse X-T3 and successor to the X-T20 , inherits a lot of capabilities from the more expensive X-T3 and an updated version of the X-T20's body. Plus, Fujifilm throws in some refinements to the autofocus operation that should improve the experience.  

Priced to directly compete against the M50 and the A6400, it serves up a similar set of features to both, though it hews closer to the better A6400 when it comes to performance cred. 

Fujifilm's retro style really does make it stand out compared with Canon's and Sony's more mundane body designs, but even devoted enthusiasts can be put off -- or scared off -- by the intimidating array of dials intended to trigger warm fuzzy feelings associated with old-school film cameras and miss the fact that you don't really have to use them if you don't want to. You can go full auto and still look cool.

The X-T30 will become available in the US near the end of March -- June for the snazzy new Charcoal Silver model -- at $900 for the body, $1,000 for a kit with the XC15-45mm f3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens or $1,299 for the kit with the XF18-55mm f2.8-4 R LM OIS lens. Along with the camera, Fujifilm's rolling out a new fast prime lens, the $400 XF16mmF2.8 R WR.

We don't have pricing for availability for other regions, but the US prices directly convert to £700 and AU$1,270 for the body, £780 and AU$1,410 for the 15-45mm lens kit and £1,010 and AU$1,835 for the 18-55mm lens kit. The lens translates to about £310 and AU$565.

Fujifilm X-T30 mirrorless still rocks the retro look

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The biggest updates to the operation are enhancements to the accuracy of the face and eye detection autofocus, including the ability to spot faces that are farther away (i.e., smaller in the scene). You can now select a face via the touchscreen when there are multiple people in the scene, and there's improved autofocus speed because the AF processing can now walk and chew gum at the same time -- it doesn't have to stop using the on-sensor phase detection in order to measure the exposure again, for example.

These enhancements will make their way into the X-T3 via a firmware update coming this month, along with improvements to the responsiveness of the touchscreen. The company will also be releasing a new version of its mobile app.

The grip's thumb rest has been redesigned, and I'm not sure I like it -- the Quick menu button is now way too easy to hit with my thumb and the front grip still feels a little shallow. But the Focus Lever takes over navigational duties without a hitch, though it's a little twitchy like many of the multiway joysticks. The new touchscreen is a bit thinner than before, which let Fujifilm shave a little off the depth of the body. 

Otherwise, the camera uses the same sensor (so the same on-chip hybrid phase-detection/contrast-detection AF) and metering systems as the X-T3, has the same continuous-shooting speed but a smaller buffer (so fewer shots), slower flash synchronization speed, lower maximum video bit rate and so on. Those differences are subtleties that tend to distinguish between professional and enthusiast cameras.