Review: Content Creation Using The Fujifilm X-T100 Mirrorless Camera

I may be blogging for 9 years but I’m still far from a digital and tech guru – this field requires me to be enough of a jack-of-all-trades as is. I’ve taught myself what I need to know to get by or what I want to know to create effects I like, I know what I like, what works for me and what doesn’t. Photography and digital content creation can be intimidating already, whether you’re shooting just for yourself or to publish online. So this isn’t going to be the kind of overly complicated review that’s going to use lingo you don’t understand, and I won’t assume you’re a pro!

I’m going to tell you what’s great about this camera, what I hate about it, who should get it, and who shouldn’t. I’ve only had it for around 10 days so I’m sure there are more things to discover, but for now, this is my experience. There are lots of things I love about it, but also many things I’d change. Ready? Let’s get into it!

Intro Info:

Fujifilm created this camera as an entry-level mirrorless camera that would be easy, compact, accessible and affordable, considering what it can do (R9995 at Orms). In an age where the self-published digital creator is continuously on the rise, this was definitely necessary, and the power and features they packed into this little body is pretty impressive.

It shoots at 24.2 megapixels with an APS-C CMOS sensor, shoots 4K and HD videos, has a flip out touch screen, bluetooth and wifi so yes, you can send pictures to your mobile phone and post high quality images online and on the go, without having to load it onto your computer first!

Taking Photographs – My Experience & Early Impressions

The image quality of this camera is so incredible, it’s almost unbelievable. We took full-length outfit images on our full-frame Canon 6D camera using a 24-70mm lens (in simple terms: the kind of set-up professionals use with a new-purchase total value of R40 000) and compared it to images shot on this camera with its kit lens, and couldn’t believe the results. In many cases, the Fuji’s images were actually far better! The focus is so quick and accurate, the images are so sharp, so detailed and look so high-end it blows my mind. I bought my tiny Canon G7xii almost two years ago to be my vlog camera but also my on-the-go camera for photographic content. However, at this point my iPhoneX’s images are better than the G7xii, so I now only use it for vlogging. That being said, in the battle of the tiny cameras, my Canon G7xii and iPhone X are putrid in comparison to the image quality of the Fujifilm X-T100. I can’t wait to take this along with me in the times when Malick isn’t around. I often have to go up to Johannesburg with brands and feel like my content quality suffers a bit, because people get intimidated to help me with my massive camera and lens and/or I get lazy to carry it around. This is so compact and powerful, so I’m excited not to have to deal with that issue anymore!

Another feature I loved is that it shoots burst photographs like an iPhone does. So basically, you can get movement/action shots with a variety of options. You have to select your chosen images on the actual camera though, if you load it onto your computer the burst will show up as a video.

The camera shoots in both jpeg and RAW format. If you’re unfamiliar what that means; jpeg is a standard picture file, while shooting in RAW format means the camera captures way more data which you can bring out in post production editing, thereby giving you a higher quality image.

There were very few things I didn’t like about photography on this camera, but they aren’t dealbreakers. The first is that the camera is only moderately good in low lighting. It does come with a flash, but generally I’m not a fan of flash photography. Also, there is no automatic shooting mode, but there are AV & TV (semi-auto) modes. I just feel like there may be times you want to take a quick snap for the sake of it, without wanting to over-control the details or be artsy about it. For this I feel like auto is necessary. With that being said you’ll need some basic camera setting knowledge (understanding ISO, aperture, shutter speed etc) to work the camera. I also don’t like that the Fuji RAW file mode is called a RAF file, and we had to download a special plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom in order for it to work in those programs.

These are a few images we shot with the camera and edited with my lightroom presets:

Taking Videos – My Experience and Early Impressions

I have quite a few issues with video mode on this camera. Firstly, while the flip screen is handy, I don’t like that it goes to the side, instead of upward and above the lens. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but as a vlogger, coming from years of loving the Canon G7xii, I like the screen to flip up on top of the lens, because if I look into the screen instead of the camera, it still cheats the viewers perception to make it look as if you’re looking into the camera, mostly at least. While it also has tracking auto focus, it wasn’t always accurate.

I HATE that I need to buy an adaptor for the mic jack if I want to vlog with it. It’s just painfully inconvenient. I can’t understand why they’d put in a tiny mic jack instead of the global standard one most vloggers would use with Rhode mics? 

Then finally, I think it’s cool that it shoots 4K video since none of my other cameras do that. BUT, it’s only at 15 frames per second! And I just feel like I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that? The usual minimum is 24 frames per second, and I only ever shoot on 30 frames+ to get buttery smooth footage. As a result, I found the 4k video setting too shaky (the more frames per second, the smoother your footage will be, and the more you can slow it down). It does also shoot 1080p HD at 60 frames though, but still, I’m not too mad about the quality here, in this case my Canon G7xii is still my favourite by far. Canon videos just have this crisp, smooth, glowy thing about them, and something about this feels gritty in comparison. 

YouTube has a good couple of reviews available of this camera where they show video examples and you can decide for yourself if it’s the kind of footage you’d like. Maybe you’ll like it and feel I’m just being a Canon Snob!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This camera is incredible if you’re mostly a photo-taking creative. I highly recommend it for content creators, be it fashion blogging or food styling, travel blogging etc. The flip screen and high image quality can make it great for photography-focused beauty bloggers too, since you’d be getting an incredible selfie mode. I’d also highly recommend this for amateur photography lovers or travellers. Instead of investing in a bulky and overcomplicated DSLR, this can give you fantastic images while remaining compact. It comes with a standard 15-45mm kit lens, but you can buy other lenses too if you want to broaden your style.

If you’re planning on getting heavily into videos and are fussy about the quality, I don’t recommend this camera. To begin vlogging with, or for personal-use/home videos, it’s more than fine, but if you start taking content creation for self-publishing purposes more seriously, you may want to get something a bit better.

When it comes down to it all and deciding whether or not to purchase, it’s really about if you’re a photography or video person. On that note, if you reckon this camera may be for you, use my code ‘FASHIONBREED10’ on orms.co.za when you purchase any Fujifilm X-T100 kit up until 4 March 2019, and you’ll get 10% off!

What do you think of this camera and the images it produces? Do you prefer it over my usual quality?

xx

Disclaimer: This post is not commissioned by Orms or Fujifilm, but the camera was given to me as a gift by their suggestion, ie: I didn’t choose it. All opinions are my own.