Fujifilm X-T4 vs Sony A7III vs Panasonic S1H, Fuji X-T4 from a Sony User Perspective, X-T4 for Wildlife Photography & Much More

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Fujfiilm X-T4

The Fujifilm X-T4 hit the market a few months ago, but overall passed a bit unnoticed, as, you know, the world was busy handling with other issues in the last few months.

But the X-T series is and remains the one camera line, that gives Fujifilm the biggest financial success, and as a consequence the camera line most X shooters own.

So, today we dedicate a roundup to the Fujifilm X-T4, a camera that is giving great satisfaction to owners (me included).

In today’s roundup, we have:

  • X-T4 feedback we received from FR-reader Tom
  • comparisons with Sony A7III and Panasonic S1H
  • a review from a Sony user perspective
  • a review of X-T4 for wildlife photography
  • and much more

Some of the videos come with handy FujiRumors-made summary ;).

FujiRumors is on Patreon, Facebook, Instagram, RSS-feed, Youtube, Flipboard and Twitter

→ Top X-T Community: Fujifilm X-T facebook group
→ Top X-T Page: Fujifilm X-T Page

The Big Roundup

  • digitalcameraworld – Fujifilm X-T4 review
  • dpreview – Fujifilm X-T4 vs X-H1: should you upgrade or hunt for a bargain?
  • findingrange – Fujifilm X-T4 Mirrorless Camera First Impressions
  • engaged – Fujifilm X-T4 review: The best APS-C mirrorless camera, for a price

FR-reader Tom from Montana wrote me the following email about his experience with the X-T4

All bullet points. Can’t share pic samples now due to privacy stipulations with my contract but I can in a few weeks once they are processed.

I am a fulltime pro photographer. Primarily commercial and business work. Used Canon 5D series for many years until summer 2019 when I bought full fuji system. Before that I used X100F and/or XE2/XE3 as my fun/travel camera. When I started to prefer results from fuji and saw the pro level XT line was so affordable I decided to switch.

I recently bought two new Fujifilm XT4 cameras to replace my two XT3s.

Main lenses are 16mm f1.4, 35mm f2, and 50-140 f2.8.

Big education portrait companies are shut down due to COVID-19. I was hired by my local school district Last minute to make highschool graduation photos for 4 different schools. 625 students total. The ceremonies were spaced out every few hours for two days. Weather is variable. Sometimes hot and sunny. Sometimes rainy and cold.

Main camera is XT4+50-140. Backup is XT4+35mm f2. Prefer 35 for portraits but social distancing dictates telephoto zoom.

I tested different settings for each ceremony and have been very impressed with the XT4s.

I brought 6 new batteries and two chargers but only needed one half of one battery for two days and 2500 photos! Seems a waste to have bought 4 spares. My XT3 would have eaten 8 batteries by now. I did not use a battery pack with usbc as some people do because that is cumbersome and could overheat.

For this big of a contract reliability and easy good photos are critical. One mistake can ruin everything.

Ceremony 1: tested economy mode with eye AF on a tripod with no ibis or ois. Worked very well but not as snappy AF. Some missed focus shots but very few. The dimming screen was annoying too.

Ceremony 2: tested normal mode. Better eye AF- pretty much perfect. Did not use tripod and enabled ibis+ois. Battery life was the same but cool morning.

Ceremony 3: battery life was so good I put on boost mode. Perfect eye AF and no difference In battery drain even with OIS+IBIS. Hot too. Handheld again no tripod.

Ceremony 4: Same settings as ceremony 3 but even hotter. Still same battery. Still no problems.

On my XT3, the 50-140 would eat batteries fast due to OIS. I am seeing at least 3–4x the lifespan with new batteries in XT4.

Camera never overheated and eye AF and IBIS made getting great portraits easy. I did not need to worry about batteries or the camera at all.

I will leave the camera in boost mode + ibis always and will leave chargers at home. 6 batteries is plenty and could get me through a week or more at this rate. Very amazing! My camera bag has been in the sun all day too.

I normally shoot RAW only but for this project I did JPEG due to the number of students. JPEGs look sharper to me in lightroom than the raws so I am considering using jpeg more. Maybe the worming is why.

Coming from Canon before, the Fuji system is very affordable and allows me to have two identical cameras for the price of one canon fullframe. I copy settings to both using XAcquire on Mac. This is very handy. I dont like to be slowed down by fiddling with settings.

Fuji have proven reliability and have my complete trust. My XT3s were great too and very rugged but the batteries were very bad.

Fujis make amazing portraits and helped me level up my game in that field. Much easier for this situation with less editing.

I use my 16 1.4 with my XT4 and ibis for real estate and architecture. The stabilization means I dont need a tripod and the great dynamic range means I dont need to bracket or use HDR. In camera HDR did not work well for me and lightroom could not use the file. In this scenario I underexpose to get good highlights and then raise shadows. HDR and bracketing seem pointless now.

I have 400 more younger students next week and will try the same battery to see if I can do 1025 students or 3000 photos on one battery.

Kai reviews the Fujifilm X-T4 (video below), and tells you 5 reasons why you would not get one:

  • body feels better than the Sony A6600, as it is bigger and feels more substantial
  • A6600 has still a better battery life and better eye/face AF, although it’s very good also on X-T4
  • X-T3 best APS-C IBIS
  • far superior rolling shutter control on X-T4
  • reasons not to get it:
    1) it’s not Sony enough
    2) X-T3 is good enough
    3) X-H1 is a bargain if you can find one
    4) if you hate flip screens
    5) X-T3 is big on price, more expensive than A6600. X-T4 is competing with mid-range full frame

Zach Mayfield compared the Sony A7III with Tamron 28-75mmF2.8 vs the Fujifilm X-T4 with Sigma 18-35mmF1.8 (adapted using the Fringer EF-FX Pro ii adapter).

  • Sony IBIS is shaky overall
  • Fuji IBIS is stable when you don’t move too much [filmed before X-T4 firmware 1.02]
  • when walking, both of them are shaky. The Fuji IBIS seems like it is catching up to what you are doing. Not at Olympus or Panasonic level
  • he used adapted lenses with smart adapter, but AF worked well on X-T4 (would be surely better with native lenses, though)
  • LDC and EVF on Sony suck
  • 240 fps slow motion on X-T4 is still very usable
  • Fuji colors have a delicious vibe to it
  • S-Log vs F-Log: when color grading the Sony, he sometimes got some color blotching on his face, probably due to the fact that the Sony can do only 8bit and not 10bit like the Fujifilm X-T4
  • 4K/60p on the X-T4 internally is just glorious to have

Picture Pulse switched from the Sony A7III to the Fujifilm X-T4. Why? The video is below.

  • he is a Sony shooter since 3 years now
  • he never used a Fuji before the X-T4
  • he needed to get used to the controls, for him more complex to use than a Sony
  • he does not make vlogging, but he uses the X-T4 for video. He found it annoying that the screen flips out to the side, and causes a strange weight distribution
  • continuous AF works surprisingly good. Sometimes it lost the focus, but in majority of shots it locked on the model’s face. Not on par with Sony, but has about 85% of Sony performance
  • he shot the video with ETERNA, and colors look pretty good out of camera, but (obviously) maintaining the highlights on ETERNA is not as easy. You have to work with F-Log, but he didn’t test F-Log
  • Sony HLG 3 profile offers awesome dynamic range with base ISO 125
  • Fujifilm offers also an HLG, but with base ISO 1,000. You can use F-Log for lower base ISO
  • Fuji offers everything he wishes: a hybrid camera with 4K/60p with reliable autofocus in video. It’s a light setup that can easily be handled one-handed on a pistol grip gimbal
  • he does not see a need for 6K or 8K. Heavy files and slow to handle
  • he already invested a lot in Sony glass, and Sony autofocus is still a bit better
  • he waits for Sony A7SII
  • But if the next Sony A7 comes out and Sony does not improve anything video related, he will consider the switch to Fujifilm again

Andrew compares the Fujifilm X-T4 with the Panasonic S1H.

  • hybrid shooters will probably appreciate the Fujifilm X-T4 more
  • in terms of price the X-T4 is much more affordable
  • professional video shooters probably go for S1H
  • Lenses for the S1H are more expensive and bigger
  • you save more money with the Fujifilm X-T4 system
  • S1H is the most powerful cinema mirrorless machine
  • S1H is massive big compared to X-T4
  • S1H is also substantially heavier
  • S1H has built-in fan to keep it cool
  • more weight can allow to be more stable while filming
  • in his experience, the bigger the camera, the less you want carry it with you
  • S1H has the flip screen of the Fujifilm X-T100, which Andrew considers the best solution for hybrid shooters
  • S1H has more high resolution and brighter LCD screen
  • X-T4 has a clear autofocus advantage, thanks to phase detection pixels, whereas S1H has only contrast autofocus
  • Panasonic has a Bayer filter, whereas X-T4 has X-Trans
  • in the past moiree was a big deal, but sensor became better, and now it does not matter anymore. X-Trans has still a slight advantage, but not that much anymore
  • IBIS performs generally better on S1H, but when combined with OIS, X-T4 works better
  • he is going to sell his S1H, and keep the X-T4

 

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