Fujifilm X-A2 Review

March 4, 2015 | Mark Goldstein |

Introduction
Ease of Use
Image Quality
Sample Images
Product Images
Rating & Conclusion
Main Rivals
Review Roundup
Specifications
Comment
More…

Introduction

The Fujifilm X-A2 is a new entry-level compact system camera designed to take better selfies, thanks to its 175° tilting LCD screen with face and eye detection. Key features of the X-A2 include a 16.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, newly-developed Eye auto focus (AF), Auto Macro AF and Multi-Target AF, 5.6fps burst shooting, built-in wi-fi, EXR Processor II, a pop-up flash and external hotshoe, a range of film simulation modes and creative effects, Classic Chrome film simulation mode, Full HD video recording capabilities at 30 frames per second, and a multiple exposure mode. The Fujifilm X-A2 is available in silver/black or brown bundled with the new XC 16-50mm II (24-76mm) F3.5-5.6 OIS zoom lens at a kit price of £449.99 / $549.95.

Ease of Use

The new Fujifilm X-A2 is virtually identical in appearance to the previous X-A1 model, the main physical change being the addition of a redesigned LCD screen that can now be tilted to the front for easier selfies.

As with all the other X-series cameras, the Fujifilm X-A2 is a classically styled interchangeable lens camera that recalls film rangefinders from the past, with a lovely retro design that draws admiring glances from everyone that sees it. At the same time Fujifilm have once again incorporated modern technologies that help ensure that the X-A2 isn't simply a blast from the past.

As with the X-M1, the X-A2 dispenses with any kind of viewfinder, either optical or electronic, and it doesn't accept a hotshoe mounted viewfinder either, making image composition a hold-at-arms length affair. While this is perhaps inevitable given the small size and weight, and is in-line with the X-A2's main competitors, it does feel rather strange using a Fujifilm X camera that you can't hold up to your eye, especially when Fujifilm have made such a big play of their innovative viewfinder technologies. On the other hand, given the X-A2's budget price-point, it's probably be better suited to its target market of compact-camera upgraders looking to take their first step into the world of interchangeable lens cameras, who are used to not looking through a viewfinder.

The X-A2's rear LCD screen offers the ability to tilt it up or down from a forward-facing 175° angle to a low 90° angle, perfect for selfies, overhead and low-down shooting. With a resolution of 920K dots, it has the same resolution as the screen on the X-A1, again proving to be a little hard to see in bright sunlight. When you flip-up the screen to 175°, the camera automatically detects both face and eyes to help ensure that the main subject is sharp, and there's a new Portrait Enhancer mode to make skin look brighter and smoother.

The X-A2 is the latest X-series camera to feature built-in wi-fi connectivity, although it's rather restricted in use as it has to be paired with a smartphone. Install the FUJIFILM Camera App and you can transfer your pictures immediately to a smartphone or tablet PC and then edit and share them as you wish, transfer stills and video onto the camera, and embed GPS information in your shots from your smartphone. Note that you can't control the camera remotely, only transfer images. The FUJIFILM PC AutoSave software provides a simple means to back up your photos to your home PC. You can also send photos directly to the instax SHARE Smartphone Printer SP-1.

Front of the Fujifilm X-A2

Despite its significantly low price on launch, the Fujifilm X-A2 is another well-built X-series camera, with very little no flex or movement in its chassis, despite having more plastic in its construction. It's actually much lighter than a first glance might suggest, weighing in at 350g body only with the battery and memory card fitted and measuring 116.9mm (W) x 66.5mm (H) x 40.4mm (D), almost exactly the same as the X-A1.

There are quite a few plastic buttons and controls on the X-A2, most notably the memory card / battery compartment door and the flap for the HDMI port, both of which wouldn't look or feel out of place on a cheap compact, and the rear controls, especially the second thumb-operated control dial. Otherwise the X-A2 is very well constructed.

The X-A2 has a subtle but fairly effective hand-grip at the front and a dotted space at the rear for your thumb, with your grip helped in no small part by the textured faux-leather surface that runs around the full width of the camera. Two small metal eyelets on either side of the body are used for connecting the supplied shoulder strap, which isn't quite as luxurious as the rest of the package. A metal tripod mount is positioned slightly off-centre from the lens and next to the memory card / battery compartment, so you'll have to remove the camera from the tripod to change either of them.

At the heart of the X-A2 is a 16.3 megapixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor, with APS-C being a size that's more commonly used by the majority of DSLR cameras than by compact system cameras - Sony's NEX range and Samsung's NX series are the others.

Helping to keep the image quality high is the new 16-50mm zoom lens. With a plastic mount, slower apertures and no aperture ring, at first glance it seems to be a poor alternative to Fujifilm's standard 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS optic, but its low weight and compact size are better suited to the smaller X-A2. It still offers the added benefit of built-in optical image stabilisation (3-stops) to help keep your images sharp, and most importantly doesn't skimp on image quality, making it a cut above the kit lenses that ship with most interchangeable lens cameras. The 16mm wide-angle setting of the new XC 16-50mm II kit lens provides a useful minimum working distance of 15cm from the sensor, and cleverly the Auto Macro function automatically switches the camera to the Macro mode for quicker focusing, making the X-A2 quite well-suited to close-up shots.

Rear of the Fujifilm X-A2

The 18-55mm lens' fairly fast maximum apertures in conjunction with the large APS-C sensor make it easy to throw the background out of focus and achieve some really nice bokeh effects. The combination of the fast apertures and the extensive ISO range of 100-25600 makes the X-A2 very well suited to low-light shooting, allowing you to hand-hold the camera in places where you'd usually be reaching for a tripod (if allowed) or other support. The clever ISO Auto Control setting allows you to set a maximum sensitivity (up to 3200) and a minimum shutter speed (1/30th is a good starting point), with the camera over-riding your ISO choice if it thinks you're being too ambitious whilst maintaining a shutter speed that won't introduce camera shake.

With its focal-plane shutter, the X-A2 has a very adaptable top shutter-speed limit of 1/4000th second in all shooting modes. Consequently there's no built-in ND filter as on the X100/S, so if you want to use, say, the excellent 35mm lens at f/1.4 in very bright sunlight, then it's a good idea to buy an actual glass ND filter (52mm), otherwise you'll have to stop down to achieve a correct exposure.

The Fujifilm X-A2's auto-focusing speed is quick, with a quoted fastest auto-focus time of 0.1 seconds, although it was slightly slower when using the 16-50mm kit zoom. DSLR owners accustomed to the quick reactions of their phase-detection cameras will likely find the still slightly perceptible delay of the X-A2 as it locks onto the subject mildly annoying, but it simply won't be an issue for the majority of owners. The X-A2 has 49 individual AF points laid out in a 7x7 grid, with the ability to change the size of the focus point via the rear command dial to achieve more precise focusing. When using the new Multi-Target Auto Area AF mode, the X-A2 employs multiple focusing points to identify and track your intended subject.

Manual focusing is activated via the Focus Mode main menu setting and then using the ring that encircles the lens to focus. The X-series lenses have an electronically coupled focus-by-wire manual focusing ring, rather than a physical one, which in practice is less responsive both in terms of feel and speed. We criticised the older X-E1 for taking a lot of turns to change the focus from 0.1m to infinity. Fujifilm have cleverly made the focusing ring more sensitive to how you use it - turn it slowly and the focusing distance changes slowly, but turn it more quickly and the camera quickly moves through the distance scale. It now takes less than 2 full turns and a couple of seconds to jump from the closest focus distance to infinity, a big improvement on the X-E1.

Tilting LCD Screen

The X-A2 offers two ways of manually focusing. Firstly, there's a handy blue distance scale along the bottom of the LCD screen, with a red bar indicating the the focusing distance and a white bar showing the depth of field, which actually changes in line with the current aperture - very clever. The X-A2 has another trick up its manual focusing sleeve in the shape of the rear command control (the dial which sits under your right thumb). You can press this in to magnify the view, making it much easier to judge precise focusing. The second method is the Focus Peak Highlight function, which displays a white line around the subject when it's in focus, something that Sony NEX users in particular have been enjoying for a while. Both of these make manual focusing on the X-A2 more of a pleasure than a chore, although the revised fly-by-wire manual focusing ring operation is arguably more important.

To make the camera less obtrusive there's a clever Silent menu option which turns off the speaker, flash, AF-assist lamp and most importantly the artificially-created shutter-release sound, instantly making the X-A2 perfectly suited to more candid photography.

In terms of operational speed, the Fujifilm X-A2 is actually quicker in some ways than the more expensive X-E1 and X-Pro1 models, thanks to the EXR Processor II. At 0.05 secs shutter lag is virtually non-existent on this camera, so once you have set the focus, you'll never miss the moment because the camera can't fire the shutter quickly enough, and the start-up time is only 0.5 secs. The write speeds from pressing the shutter button to recording to the SD / SDHC / SDXC memory card are perfectly acceptable. Shooting a single RAW + Fine JPEG takes about 5 seconds to record to the card, but you can take another shot almost straight away.

Continuous shooting speeds are also good, with a top rate of 5.6fps for around 30 JPEGs or 10 RAW files, depending on the speed of your memory card, with a slower 3fps speed also available for around 50 JPEGs or 10 RAW files. Note that both the focus and the exposure are set according to the first frame in each series, so it's not a particularly good system for tracking fast-moving subjects in varied lighting conditions, Thankfully the camera doesn't lock up completely for a long time if you shoot the maximum number of images in a burst, allowing you to continue shooting after just a few seconds.

Top of the Fujifilm X-A2

Located on top of the X-A2 are a small but responsive shutter release button, encircled by the On/Off switch. Alongside is the Wi-Fi / Fn button, which by default during shooting provides quick access to the ISO speeds, but can be customised to suit your own needs from 12 different settings. Further customisation is available via the Custom Menu option, which lets you create, save and recall a set of user-defined settings. There's an external flash hotshoe for suitable dedicated external units, and the handy built-in pop-up flash which has a guide number of 7 at ISO 200. This is released via the Flash button on the rear of the camera, and its clever hinged design positions it above the lens and helps to reduce red-eye.

There's an unmarked tactile control dial for changing the exposure compensation (+-2EV) or the shutter speed, dependent upon the shooting mode, alongside the ridged dial for selecting one of the 12 different modes. As the X-A2 is a consumer-focused camera, there's a smattering of scene modes alongside the beginner-focused Auto modes and more photographer-friendly P/A/S/M modes. The clever Advanced SR AUTO automatically optimizes the shutter speed, aperture and other settings, instantly recognizing 58 scene types and then choosing the most appropriate settings. Also available on the X-A2 is the Advanced mode, which offers a range of 13 different filter effects that can be previewed on the LCD screen (JPEG only).

The Fujifilm X-A2 can record full HD 1080p or 720p movies at 30fps with stereo sound, with a handy one-touch movie record button on the back of the camera. It's fair to say that the X-A2's movie mode isn't overly advanced. You can set the aperture and shutter speed before recording begins, but not during, and you can also set the Film Simulation mode, so black and white footage is possible. Continuous auto-focusing is possible, although it tends to hunt around a lot before locking onto the subject, and manual focusing is also available (with the same caveats as for stills). There is a HDMI port for connecting the X-A2 to a high-definition TV, although as usual there's no cable supplied in the box. Also missing is a paper copy of the otherwise helpful manual, which is supplied on CD-ROM instead, along with the consumer MyFinepix software the slow and rather unintuitive RAW converter (essentially a specially customised version of the commercial Silkypix application).

The X-A2 has a fairly logical rear control layout, with almost all the controls located to the right of the tilting LCD screen. Underneath the second control dial, there's a cluster of buttons for choosing image playback, one-touch movie record, the focus point, white balance, continuous shooting and the self-timer, plus a central button which accesses the Main Menu system. The Q button provides quick access to lots of frequently used shooting settings including the ISO speed, White Balance, File Size and File Quality, with the 4-way controller and control dial used to quickly change them. Finally the Disp/Back button is used for changing the LCD display or going back.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

The Fujifilm X-A2 produces images of outstanding quality. It recorded noise-free JPEG images at ISO 100 all the way up to 6400, with a little noise at ISO 12800 and more visible noise and slight colour desaturation at the fastest setting of ISO 25600, an amazing performance for a camera with an APS-C sensor. The RAW files were also excellent, with usable images throughout the entire range of ISO 200-6400.

The images were a little soft straight out of the Fujifilm X-A2 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds being long enough for most after-dark shots, and the Bulb mode allowing much longer exposures if required. The Dynamic Range settings subtly improve detail in the shadows and highlights, while the Film Simulation modes hark back to a bygone era. The Advanced Filters provide some creative control over your JPEGs bewfore taking the shot.

Noise

There are 9 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm X-A2 for JPEGs, and 6 for RAW files. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting for both JPEG and RAW files.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 100 (100% Crop)


ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)


ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)


ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)


ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)


ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)


ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)


ISO 12800 (100% Crop)


ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft and ideally benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Fujifilm X-A2 has 2 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

16M Fine (4.57Mb) (100% Crop)	16M Normal (2.88Mb) (100% Crop)


16M RAW (24.9Mb) (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Fujifilm FinePix X-A2 are Auto, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, Red-eye Reduction Auto, Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash and Red-eye Reduction & Slow Synchro. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (24mm)	Forced Flash - Wide Angle (24mm)


Suppressed Flash - Telephoto (75mm)	Forced Flash - Telephoto (75mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Forced Flash setting or the Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash option caused any red-eye.

Forced Flash	Forced Flash (100% Crop)


Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash	Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash (100% Crop)

Night

The Fujifilm X-A2's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds in the Manual mode, and there's a Bulb mode which allows exposures up to 60 minutes long, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 200.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Dynamic Range

The Fujifilm X-A2 has three dynamic range settings - 100% (on by default), 200%, and 400% - and an Auto setting if you want to let the camera take control. These settings gradually increase the amount of detail visible in the shadow and highlight areas, with the side-effect of more noise appearing in the image. Note that you can't actually turn this feature off.

100%	200%


400%

Film Simulation

The Fujifilm X-A2 offers 5 different film simulation modes to help replicate the look of your favourite film stock from the past.

Provia / Standard	Velvia / Vivid


Astia / Soft	B&W


Sepia

Advanced Filter

The Fujifilm Finepix X-A2 offers 13 different filter effects which can be previewed on the LCD screen.

Toy Camera	Miniature


Pop Color	High-Key


Low-Key	Dynamic Tone


Soft Focus	Partial Color (Red)


Partial Color (Orange)	Partial Color (Yellow)


Partial Color (Green)	Partial Color (Blue)


Partial Color (Purple)

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Fujifilm X-A2 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	5
Value for money	5

Number of effective pixels	16.3 million pixels
Image sensor	23.6mm x 15.6mm (APS-C) CMOS with primary color filter Total number of pixels: 16.5 million pixels Sensor Cleaning system Ultra Sonic Vibration
Storage media	SD memory card / SDHC memory card / SDXC (UHS-I) memory card^*1
File format	Still image JPEG (Exif Ver 2.3)^*2 / RAW (RAF format) / RAW+JPEG (Design rule for Camera File system compliant / DPOF-compatible) Movie Movie File Format: MOV Movie Video Compression: H.264 Audio: Linear PCM Stereo
Number of recorded pixels	L: (3:2) 4896 x 3264 / (16:9) 4896 x 2760 / (1:1) 3264 x 3264 M: (3:2) 3456 x 2304 / (16:9) 3456 x 1944 / (1:1) 2304 x 2304 S: (3:2) 2496 x 1664 / (16:9) 2496 x 1408 / (1:1) 1664 x 1664
Lens mount	FUJIFILM X mount
Sensitivity	AUTO / Equivalent to ISO200 - 6400 (Standard Output Sensitivity) Extended output sensitivity: equivalent to ISO100 / 12800 / 25600
Exposure control	TTL 256-zone metering, Multi / Spot / Average
Exposure mode	Programmed AE / Shutter priority AE / Aperture priority AE / Manual exposure
Exposure compensation	-2.0EV - +2.0EV, 1/3EV steps
Image Stabilizer	Supported with OIS type lens
Face detection	Yes
Eye detection	Yes
Shutter type	Focal Plane Shutter
Shutter speed (with mechanical shutter)	Advanced SR AUTO mode: 1/4 sec. to 1/4000 sec. All other modes: 30 sec. to 1/4000 sec. Bulb: max. 60 min. Synchronized shutter speed for flash: 1/180 sec. or slower * At S or M mode, 1/160 sec. or slower can be set.
Continuous shooting	Approx. 5.6 fps (JPEG: max. 30 frames, RAW / RAW+JPEG: max. 10 frames) Approx. 3.0 fps (JPEG: max. 50 frames, RAW / RAW+JPEG: max. 10 frames) * SD card class 10 or higher
Auto bracketing	AE Bracketing (±1/3EV / ±2/3EV / ±1EV) Film Simulation Bracketing (3 types of film simulation selectable) Dynamic Range Bracketing (100% · 200% · 400%) ISO Sensitivity Bracketing (±1/3EV / ±2/3EV / ±1EV)
Focus	Mode Manual Focus / Area AF / Multi AF / Continuous AF / Tracking AF Type TTL contrast AF, AF assist illuminator available AF frame selection Area AF (49 areas with 7 x 7), Changeable AF frame size
White balance	Auto / Custom / Preset (Fine / Shade / Fluorescent light (Daylight) / Fluorescent light (Warm White) / Fluorescent light (Cool White) / Incandescent light)
Self-timer	10 sec. / 2 sec. Delay
Flash	Manual pop-up flash (Super Intelligent Flash) Guide number: Approx. 7 (ISO200·m)
Flash modes	Red-eye removal OFF Auto / Forced Flash / Suppressed Flash / Slow Synchro / Rear-curtain Synchro / Commander Red-eye removal ON Red-eye Reduction Auto / Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash / Suppressed Flash / Red-eye Reduction & Slow Synchro / Red-eye Reduction & Rear-curtain Synchro / Commander * Red-eye removal is active when Face Detection is set to ON.
Hot shoe	YES (dedicated TTL Flash compatible)
LCD monitor	3.0-inch, Aspect ratio 3:2, Approx. 920K-dot Tilt type TFT color LCD monitor (Approx. 100% coverage)
Movie recording	1920 x 1080 30p, Continuous recording: up to approx. 14 min. 1280 x 720 30p, Continuous recording: up to approx. 27 min. * SD card or higher
Mode dial	Advanced SR AUTO / P / S / A / M / C (Custom) / Night / Landscape / Portrait Enhancer / SP (Scene Position) / Adv.
Film Simulation mode	PROVIA (STANDARD) / Velvia (VIVID) / ASTIA (SOFT) / CLASSIC CHROME / MONOCHROME / SEPIA
Dynamic range setting	AUTO / 100% / 200% / 400%
Advanced filter	Toy camera / Miniature / Pop color / High-key / Low-key / Dynamic tone / Soft focus / Partial color (Red / Orange / Yellow / Green / Blue / Purple)
Other photography functions	Auto Red-eye Removal, Setting (Color, Sharpness, D-range, Gradation), Multiple exposure, Depth of Field display, Histogram display, Framing guideline, Frame No. memory, Monitor Sunlight mode, Focus Peak Highlight, Date stamp, Fn button setting
Wireless transmitter	Standard IEEE 802.11b / g / n (standard wireless protocol) Access mode Infrastructure
Playback functions	RAW conversion, Image rotate, Auto image rotate, Red-eye reduction, Photobook assist, Erase selected frames, Image search, Multi-frame playback (with micro thumbnail), Slide show, Mark for upload, Protect, Crop, Resize, Favorites
Wireless functions	Geotagging setup, Image transfer (Individual image / Selected multiple images), View & Obtain Images, PC Autosave, instax Printer Print
Other functions	PictBridge, Exif Print, Language selection, Time difference, Quick start mode, Silent mode
Terminal	Video output - Digital interface USB 2.0 High-Speed HDMI output HDMI mini connector (Type C) Others Remote release terminal for RR-90 (sold separately)
Power supply	NP-W126 Li-ion battery (included)
Dimensions	116.9mm (W) x 66.5mm (H) x 40.4mm (D) / 4.6 in. (W) x 2.6 in. (H) x 1.6 in. (D) (Minimum depth: 32.1mm / 1.3 in.)
Weight	Approx. 350g / 12.3 oz. (including battery and memory card) Approx. 300g / 10.6 oz. (excluding accessories, battery and memory card)
Operating Temperature	0 - 40°C / 32 - 104°F
Operating Humidity	10 - 80% (no condensation)
Battery life for still images	Approx. 410 frames^*3 (with XF35mmF1.4 R lens)
Starting up period	Approx. 0.5 sec., when QUICK START mode set to ON Approx. 1.0 sec., when QUICK START mode set to OFF * Fujifilm research
Accessories included	Li-ion Battery NP-W126 Battery Charger BC-W126 Shoulder strap Body cap CD-ROM (Viewer software, RAW File Converter etc.^*4 ) Owner's manual

Fujifilm X-A2 Review

Latest Reviews

Introduction

Ease of Use

Image Quality

Noise

Sharpening

File Quality

Flash

Night

Dynamic Range

Film Simulation

Advanced Filter

Sample Images

Sample RAW Images

Product Images

Conclusion

Main Rivals

Review Roundup

Specifications

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