We recently reported about the first third party alternatives to the original NP-W235 batteries for Fujifilm X-T4.
Now more options are joining, among them arguably the most used and loved Fujifilm third party battery in North America, Blue Nook Wasabi, with the Wasabi NP-W235:
The price on the Wasabi NP-W235 is great, especially if you buy two of them along with the charger. It will cost you the same as buying one single original Fujifilm battery. It all comes with a 3 year manufacturer warranty.
I have used my X-T4 during my mini trip in Tuscany. Battery life was rock-solid, and since I own two original NP-W235 Fujifilm batteries already, I do not really see any need to add a third one in my bag.
It’s done, I made it. An unreal school year is over.
It was A LOT of work for me, to teach online, but I took it also as an opportunity to explore new creative ways of teaching.
And surely it came to my help, that I can use Final Cut Pro X, I have several tripods and cameras etc, as this allowed me to have the tools and skills to translate into video my creative ideas.
But in a part of Italy, where a German minority lives (video of my province). This is why I speak both languages, Italian and German, fluently.
Also, I am a primary school teacher, so I teach German to kids that belong to the Italian language group. Hence German is their second language.
And since my “customers” are kids, I’ve tried to always throw something fun into my lessons, just to put some lightness into a situation that was very hard for them.
For example, in one video, I triplicated myself and made up a fun conversation between three Patrick’s during Grammar lesson, as you can see from the screenshot here.
That’s something I could have never done in the classroom, and only the online teaching allowed me to do.
I started by filming everything with my X-E3, but once I got the X-T4, I switched to it as my main camera, and it has surely served me better than my X-E3, because:
the selfie screen was useful and practical
ETERNA was glorious
longer recording times
better video quality
more creative tools (like super-slow motion)
IBIS for when my wife had to film me handheld for stable footage
solid battery life
So, my first impact with the X-T4 was pure love! Everything I needed, it did it better than my X-E3.
But life is not only video…
X-T4 for my Passion
Last weekend I drove down to Tuscany with my wife (it’s a 4 hours drive only from my home), as a little reward for a frankly extremely busy time.
On that trip, I used the Fujifilm X-T4 only for photography.
Here is what I liked, and what not.
Loves
overall performance… it’s a beast
shutter sound is so buttery smooth
battery life: it just kept running, and running, and running… awesome!
I have my ISO dial back
oh… a D-Pad, how nice is that
Hates
no more one handed operation (on my X-E3 every button and dial is on the right side of the camera and can easily be operated with the right hand only)
bigger and heavier (although with some lenses this is actually better)
for reviewing images on LCD, I always have to flip screen out. On the other hand this helps to review images less, like with the hidden X-Pro3 LCD
And the Selfie Screen?
Well, the selfie screen deserves a special chapter.
I found some unexpected love for it, as well as one hate.
Loves
keep it tilt inwards protects the screen
keep it tilt inwards makes the camera look so wonderful vintage
keep it tilt inwards and you’ll review images way less, like on X-Pro3
keep it tilt inwards and you won’t accidentally activate the touch screen, which happens to me now and then on the X-E3 (I keep the touch LCD always deactivated on my X-E3, but it activates if I accidentally touch the upper right part of the screen)
for my video lessons, I just loved it
unlike the X-T100 screen, the X-T4 can tilt also in portrait mode
Hates
I use the Peak Design Leash camera strap, and when I tilted out the screen, sometimes the strap covered the screen, so I had to move the strap behind the screen. Hence, not only it takes a bit more time to tilt out the screen (as opposed to only flip it out on X-T3), but then also fiddle around with the strap. This was probably the most annoying aspect of the selfie screen. So much so, that I think I am considering to get Peak Design Cuff camera wrist strap and solve the “problem”
Conclusion?
Well, if it wasn’t for the selfie videos I had to do, I’d still consider the X-T3 and X-H1 screen design superior for my needs. But on the other hand the selfie screen has some advantages, that you can’t get with X-T3 screen, especially if you use mostly the EVF and want to keep the LCD tilted inwards.
Hence, I am happy with the X-T4 screen.
Images Anyone?
So, how was my Tuscany mini-trip?
Awesome!
And although we had only one day of good weather, and the other two were rainy and misty, I had lots of fun to be simply out and photograph again.
I shared one image on my Instagram page already, where I tested Classic Negative.
Classic Negative is great. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all, but when it works, it’s just awesome. In street photography it will surely shine, but also in landscape photography, as you can see below, it can give lovely results.
Now I have to get some paperwork done for the end of the school, and after that, I might share more images of my trip on Instagram… and bring you with me on my summer holidays, where so far I have planed nothing actually, except to climb my beloved Dolomites.
take care and have fun with your photography,
Patrick
Yesterday Fujifilm updated several Fujinon lenses that have OIS (optical image stabilization).
The only information Fujifilm gave us was “fix of minor bugs“.
According to information we have received, though, it might be a rather important firmware update for those of us, who own either a Fujifilm X-T4 or a Fujifilm X-H1, hence Fuji cameras featuring IBIS (in body image stabilization).
In fact, the new firmware improves stabilization performance of these seven OIS lenses when used with the IBIS on X-T4 and X-H1.
In USA, you find them available branded as DIGIeye NP-W235 at AmazonUS here. For the same price of a Fujifilm original battery, you’ll also get the dual charger on top of it.
We will soon be flooded with third party options, but not all of them are really good.
Thanks to the NP-W235, battery life on the X-T4 has been substantially improved over X-T3.
On my first hike on the Dolomites I came through the day with one battery quite comfortably. Frankly, I don’t think I will ever need more than 2 of these batteries. And probably most of the time, the second battery won’t be even used and stay in my bag just to give peace to my mind.
Hence, I am not in the market for another battery, for now, and that’s good, as those nice NP-W235 batteries aren’t exactly what I would call “affordable”.
But if I’d get a third one, it would probably be a third party battery.
I know a much used (and appreciated) third party battery among Fuji shooters are the Wasabi branded Fujifilm batteries and we already reported here, that Wasabi is working on batteries for Fujifilm X-T4.
At the moment, the batteries seem to be available only in Europe at AmazonDE here. But it’s probably just a matter of short time now, until a wide variety of third party options will hit the market.
They now offer also the X-T4 hand grip and new X-T4 L-Bracket without that wooden grip part, which many did not like. Also, the new version also does not extend, so it is cheaper than the wooden L-grip version.
Many of our Fujifilm X-T members already own it. Check out their feedback here.
Andrew comprehensively tested the IBIS on the Fujifilm X-T4. It’s a 30 minutes video.
Just so you know, when below we talk about “scientific test”, it means Andrew placed the cameras on a massage gun. That way, he was able to induce the same amount of vibration to all the cameras he tested.
Down below you will find the video and the summary in a nuthsell, for those who can’t watch the full video right now.
