The higher-end XT100 has the advantage here as its screen can fold out sideways to face the subject, leaving the hotshoe and tripod thread clear for use. The X-A5 is the first camera to ship with the new 15-45mm power zoom lens, and you can read more about it in our review. I also checked the start-up time with the 35mm F2, a combination that netted a quicker 2.1-second time. Image quality suffers noticeably at ISO 25600 and 51200, but they can be useful in very dim light. You can now adjust exposure compensation across a wider +/-5 stop range. Seen side-by-side here you can see that theres little to separate the X-A5 and E-PL9 in terms of size and weight, at least as far as the body goes. What's the Difference Between CMOS, BSI CMOS, and Stacked CMOS? Due to the way it works, however, its not suitable for fast-moving subjects; instead it's designed to allow you to use wide lens apertures for a shallow depth of field even in bright light. And while 4K video is a decided disappointment for video shooters, in other respects the Fuji X-A5 does have some improvements. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. There is also an option to shoot at 15fps, but not in Raw format and not at 24MP. The Fujifilm X-A5 beats its main rivals by asmall margin for colour error, though the results will depend on your choice of Film Simulation mode. Again in 1080 / 60p mode, and with the stabilisation on, this low-light indoor pan looks good in terms of the noise quality. At the more common 1080p setting the camera supports 24 and 60fps capture, but oddly there's no 30fps capture option. You also get a touch-sensitive rear screen that flips through 180 degrees forquick and simple selfies. When shooting JPGs the X-A5 does an excellent job curbing image noise, keeping it under 1.5 percent through its top standard ISO 12800 sensitivity. It does have a stabilisation mechanism, though, and in our tests the AF system and stabiliser between them produced a really high hit rate ofsharp images in a wide variety ofshooting conditions. The X-A5 adds Bluetooth to the wireless bag of tricks, supplementing Wi-Fi to keep the connection between camera and phone active. There was a problem. The sister print publication to this website, Digital Camera Magazine (opens in new tab) is Britain's best-selling photography publication and it can also be purchased outside the United Kingdom as Digital Camera World. Shift the X-A5s mode dial to the Motion Panorama position and you can shoot panoramas with the camera in portrait or landscape orientation, rotating as you hold down the shutter release. Current page: You'll need to dive into the menu to configure the camera and perform tasks like formatting the memory card, but many more common adjustments are made via the Q menu. New York, If you're shopping for an entry-level mirrorless camera, look at the Sony a6000 ($549.99 at Dell Technologies)(Opens in a new window) , our longtime Editors' Choice first. This is the angle of view with the lens zoomed to its maximum 45mm, or 69mm equivalent focal length. As youd expect the exposure and colour are good and the stabilisation keeps things reasonably steady, though the horizontal pan has a jitter that Im not entirely sure is all my own doing. The extra angle of view makes it handy for cramped interiors and narrow city streets, and you can always get the Fujinon XC 50-230mm f/4.5-6.7 OIS II telephoto zoom for when you need something a little longer. PCMag Digital Group. Although it's a nice-looking camera, I found a few downsides to its design. As with stills focus will adjust when recording video, but can be slow to adjust to subject movement. Gordons used the Bluetooth on the X-T100 to embed updated locations as he shot and this feature should also work on the X-A5. It can only keep that pace for 6 Raw or Raw+JPG captures or 22 JPGs, and it can take between 3 seconds (JPG) and 10 seconds (Raw+JPG) to write a full burst to your memory card. The camera is available in three colors in the US market, all of them silver bodied, and varying only in the color of their black, brown or pink faux-leather trim. Announced in February 2018 it comes roughly a year and a half after the previous XA3 and no, youre not going mad, there wasnt an XA4 in-between. The bundled zoom lens measures 1.7 by 2.5 inches (HD) and weighs 4.8 ounces, putting the kit at just a bit over a pound. Its a bit trickier to balance the camera for selfies than it is with a smartphone, particularly one-handed, but youd expect that. This is a big audience that's as deserving of good camera kit as anyone else, and the X-A5s features need to be looked at with this audience in mind. Unlike other Fujifilm cameras, it uses a standard Bayer color filter, rather than the more complex X-Trans color filter, a technology that is exclusive to Fujifilm cameras. As you'd expect of a Fujifilm camera, the X-A5 includes a generous selection of 11 film simulation modes that replicate the look of classic Fuji emulsions. It's reasonably compact and lightweight. On the right of the body is a door to the mini HDMI and USB ports the latter can be used to charge the battery in-camera and on the left, under the flash button is a 2.5mm mic socket. (, Read Great Stories Offline on Your Favorite, You have to give credit to Fujiflimit knows how to design a camera that will turn heads, even at the entry level. Round the back theres a second control dial which is operated with your shooting finger. Compare this with the a6000, which is just $50 more when bought with a lens and manages to keep moving subjects in focus at 11fps. New York, All cameras in this comparison were shot with our very sharp reference lenses. The Fuji X-A5 still draws power from an NP-W126S battery pack, but battery life has been improved by around 10% to some 450 frames. Raw capture is also an option for more advanced photographers. The slogan in the X-A5 brochure is Whenever, Whatever, Whichever, However, Wherever and Forever!, and youve got to admit thats pretty catchy. All of the rear controls are located to the right of the LCD. In a word: consistency, Nikon Z lens roadmap: full schedule for Z5, Z6, Z7, Z6 II, Z7 II, Z9, Z50, Z30 & Z fc, 10-year-old DSLR gets firmware update! As ISO sensitivity rises, we see only sublet increases in noise and drops in detail. The resulting JPG is 8MP, fine for social sharing or small prints. Thats equivalent to around 23-68mm in full-frame terms, so its a little wider than the average kit lens, and a little shorter at its longest focal length. The Olympus PEN E-PL9 gets around this problem by flipping the screen forward underneath, rather than above the camera body, although this in turn blocks the tripod thread. The Fujifilm XA5 is an affordable entry-level mirrorless camera aimed at beginners and social photographers, sporting a 24 Megapixel APSC sensor, tilting touchscreen, Bluetooth and Wifi. published 10 September 18. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. It's not a brand new model, but it's still current and is priced the same as the X-A5 when bought with a lens. Every issue we also bring you a selection of great gifts which are designed to help you get more from your photography everything from tips cards and cheat sheets to free software and bookazines. The Wifi connection allows you to remote shoot, browse images on the camera card and download them to a smartphone or computer. You will receive a verification email shortly. However, the X-A5s new powered zoom is substantially larger than the 14-42mm powered zoom on the E-PL9, making for a bigger overall package as you can see in the comparison a little further below. That allows the addition of a hybrid autofocus mode, a first for an X-A-series camera and a noticeable step forwards from the earlier contrast-detection system. JPEG buffer depth has improved, however raw filebuffer is still only six frames. If you're attracted to the X-A5 because of the Fujifilm lens system, think about spending a bit more and stepping up to an X-T20 ($899.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) or X-E3 ($896.97 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) instead. Best Fujifilm cameras in 2018 (opens in new tab), Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access, Enjoy your first month for just 1 / $1 / 1, *Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription. But it's on the inside where the most important changes can be found. Keep an eye on your inbox! ISO settings above 12800 are not available when shooting in Raw format. Is the Nikon Z8 coming next month and will it kill the Nikon Z7 II? You have to give credit to Fujiflimit knows how to design a camera that will turn heads, even at the entry level. But it doesn't always work, even when the focus area is set to the central portion of the frame. The Fujifilm X-A5 is an attractive mirrorless camera with very strong image quality, but it's held back by inconsistent autofocus performance. However, the APS-C-sized, Bayer-filtered CMOS image sensor is actually a new design featuring on-chip phase-detection autofocus pixels. It can record at 2160p, but only at 15 frames per second. Because of its physically larger APS C sensor The X-A5s X-system lenses are a little larger than the E-PL9s Micro Four Thirds lenses. Display/Back, Play, Q, and Record buttons are below it, flanking the four-way directional pad's corners. The magazine is captained by Editor Niall Hampton (opens in new tab), with Technique Editor Alistair Campbell (opens in new tab) adding his own expertise. The real story here is the kit lenss size and weight: when fitted to the X-A5, the all-up weight of this camera-lens combination is just 496g. Weve seen this before on Fujifilms entry-level models, and wed be surprised if anyone but a photography expert could spot the difference in image quality. The only externally-obvious changes from the earlier camera are a new cover on the left side of the X-A5's plastic body -- behind which you'll find a new 2.5mm mic / remote jack -- and the lack of a focus mode switch on the front deck. The sensor might be just a regular CMOS type, but it enables the X-A5 toproduce shots of terrific image quality, with good dynamic range and great colours. Fujifilms retracting kit lens design might not sound like a particularly big deal, but it suddenly makes the X-A5 a whole lot more appealing as a take-anywhere camera, and pitches it right up against the best of its rivals. The XC 15-45mm has a quoted close focus distance of 13cm at its 15mm wide angle setting, but I was able to shoot as close as 45mm from the subject as you can see from the shot above. You will receive a verification email shortly. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/fujifilm-x-a5, Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. Just one stop down, at ISO 6400, JPG image quality is very strong, almost as good as it is at the camera's lowest ISO 200 setting, and at ISO 3200 the difference is nearly indistinguishable. But the quality of its images and its colour and tonal reproduction is first-rate and despite having lens-only stabilisation, not in-body stabilisation, it gets sharp shots timeafter time, in all sorts of conditions. Please refresh the page and try again. May not be used without permission. Like all Fujifilms mirrorless models, the X-A5s design has a timeless classic look about it. There was a problem. This isnt going to get you close to distant sporting action or wildlife, but its a good focal length for portraiture. This frame rate delivers sharp, but choppy footage. Let's see how the X-A5 fares in the field. The XA5 is the smallest and lightest body in Fujifilms X-series, measuring 117x68x40mm and weighing 361g including battery. Thank you for signing up to Digital Camera World. (That'll take you up to ISO 12,800 by default, or ISO 51,200 with expansion enabled.). TechRadar is supported by its audience. Admittedly, with a clip length of just five minutes and a capture rate of just 15 frames per second for ultra high-def capture, you're not going to want to use it as a video mode unless you're a fan of slideshows or quick-motion video. Nikon D7100 owners rejoice, Tamron 50-400mm mega telephoto zoom for Sony mirrorless is set to arrive this fall. There are 120 and 180 degree options which, with the camera in landscape orientation, produce files measuring 64001440 pixels and 96001440 pixels respectively. with the camera held at arms length (and the screen flipped forwards so you can see what youre doing) you can fit yourself in head and shoulders quite comfortably. It features a new 24 Megapixel CMOS sensor that like the XA3 before it may not sport Fujifilms X-Trans technology, but now at least includes embedded phase-detect autofocus, allowing it to more confidently refocus than its predecessor. There's a standard SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot, located in the bottom of the same compartment as the removable battery. 07/03/2018: Review Conclusion posted. For this vlogging clip the Fujifilm X-A5 is again in 1080 / 60p mode, with the lens set to the 15mm maximum wide angle and the screen flipped into the forward facing position. On the front deck of the 24.2-megapixel Fuji X-A5, you'll find a Fuji X-mount on which to attach the bundled Fujinon XC15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens, an optic which replaces the earlier 16-50mm OIS II kit lens that shipped with the X-A3. On the top panel the mode dial has the usual PASM positions, as well as SR+ auto mode, scene modes, Advanced filters, some dedicated scene mode positions and Motion panorama. The X-A5 utilizes its 4K video capture mode to shoot a movie, from which the camera can extract any frame. The 14-42mm lens on the E-PL9 has a 35mm equivalent range of 28-84mm so it doesnt go as wide as the X-A5s lens, but it can go a little longer. The Fujifilm X-A5 gives entry-level buyers access to the excellent X-mount lens system and brings very strong image quality to the table thanks to its 24MP image sensor and Fuji's processing engine. The Fujifilm X-A5 is aimed at a very different market to their high-end X-mount cameras. The on/off switch surrounds the shutter release and in front of the top control dial is the X-A5s single reprogrammable function button. The front panel is uncluttered with only the AF LED to break the smooth lines and theres a comfortable grip on the right, though your little finger will dangle off the bottom. It's where you'll be able to choose your preferred Film Simulation modea feature unique to Fujifilm cameras that mimics the look of many films. The mirrorless X-A5 ($599.99 with 15-45mm lens) is very attractive, with a silver body and your choice of black, brown, or pink leatherette. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). With the camera in portrait orientation its 2160 pixels rather than 1440. Preview posted: 01/31/2018 Here are crops from our laboratory Still Life target comparing the Fuji X-A5's image quality to its predecessor's, the X-A3, as well as against several competing entry-level mirrorless cameras at similar price points: the Canon EOS M6, Olympus E-PL9, Panasonic GX850 and Sony A6000. Camera body and design PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Last updated: 07/03/2018, Updates: Unlike pricier models, the buttons on the X-A5 don't have a premium feel. The X-A5's Raw output shows strong detail through its entire ISO range, and while there's some noise at higher ISO settings, it's not overwhelming. All words, images, videos and layout, copyright 2005-2022 Gordon Laing. Details in video are soft and muddy, in stark contrast to the camera's excellent still image quality. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. The Menu/OK button is at the center. You will need the Fujifilm Cam Remote app, free for Android and iOS, for file transfers and remote control to work. Its a shame the screen prevents you using the hot shoe when its facing forwards as that rules out fitting an external flash or mic in it. Like its predecessor, the Fuji A5 includes a Wi-Fi radio for wireless image transfer, but this is now supplemented with a Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy radio for quick-and-easy pairing as needed. Once the Bluetooth radio is used to establish a Wi-Fi connection, you can use the Android or iOS-compatible Fujifilm Camera Remote app to transfer images and control the camera remotely. The new power-zoom kit lens produces great image quality, but theelectrically-operated zoom feels alittle vague and unresponsive. The default setting is Provia, and thats what youll see in all my sample images unless otherwise stated; it delivers a good balance of contrast and colour without being too punchy or saturated. Still, the Fuji X-A5 makes for a great entry-level camera and is a solid bargain when it comes to image quality. There is a second control wheel on the back of the camera, handily placed just above the thumbrest. So if youre looking for an entry-level mirrorless camera, read on! With simplified, user-friendly controls, a compact body and kit lens combination, and an affordable price tag, itsaimed at smartphone upgraderschoosing their first interchangeable-lens camera. The new Olympus E-PL9, for example, is faster. Digital Camera Following in the footsteps of the affordable X-A3, the Fuji X-A5 is aimed at entry-level photographers wanting a reasonably capable camera on a tight budget. (If you look more closely, you'll also spot a new Motion Panorama position on the mode dial, replacing the earlier camera's Custom position.). You can select the SR Auto mode to let the camera take care of everything, select a scene mode manually from the 14 available, experiment with Advanced Filters like Fog Remove, CrossScreen, Dynamic Tone, Soft Focus, Low-key, Toy Camera, HDR Art and POP Color, or switch to the regular program AE, aperture priority, shutter priority or manual modes when you want to take control yourself. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, And with the camera held at arms length and facing you its fairly easy to press the movie record button with your index finger. The X-A5 may not have the X-Trans sensor found in more advanced Fujifilm cameras, but it does have fast phase-detection autofocus, offering a variety of focus patterns including a Wide/Tracking mode, Zone AF over a smaller area and Single Point AF, all using various combinations of 91 individual AF points that extend almost to the edges of the frame. Fujifilm has a long history of making film, as well as cameras, and it does trade heavily on the film-like look of these Film Simulation modes. Testing the new 15-45mm lens onFujifilms original X-A1 model revealed that the X-A5s autofocus isfaster, but not by much. It's an ostensible upgrade from the pure contrast system used by the previous entry in the series, the X-A3. It doesnt have a viewfinder, but what it does have is a new compact 15-45mm retracting power zoom kit lens to help make the X-A5 the kind of camera you can carry anywhere. And while serious photographers might not be impressed, the X-A5 isnt designed for them its designed for smartphone upgraders who are used to touchscreen interfaces and dont mind that kind of arms-length photography. In practical terms this means you can comfortably fit the E-PL9 with its powered kit lens in a coat, or even jacket pocket, but the X-A5 is more of a handful. However, despite the low price, the little camera packs quite a punch when it comes to image quality. The Fuji X-A5 with 15-45mm lens retail kit as tested contains the following items: Imaging Resource 1998 - 2022. You can also stack 4K images with variant focusing distances in multi-focus mode, again for an 8.3-megapixel final result. Your subscription has been confirmed. The camera also has some new tricks up its proverbial sleeve compared to the predecessor, including a new sensor with on-sensor phase-detect AF as well as a new image processor. What elevates it above the ordinary, however, is its excellent image quality and the fact that you can capture sharp, well-exposed shots without really trying. Physical connections include micro USB (which is used for charging the battery), micro HDMI, and a 2.5mm microphone input. Interestingly, its the two MFT cameras that take the lead here. According to Fuji, this new processor coupled with the hybrid AF system has allowed autofocusing times to be slashed in half, however in our lab tests, the X-A5's AF speed was only slightly improved over the X-A3's. We still recommend the Sony a6000 as our Editors' Choice entry-level mirrorless camera. You can find me on Instagram @jamespfisher. And if you like to shoot raw but want an occasional JPEG after the fact, you'll be happy to hear that you can still process raw files in-camera, a feature added in the X-A3. And if you're concerned about your selfie appeal matching up to the X-A5's image quality, you'll be happy to hear that you can add a three-step portrait enhancer effect for more attractive results. The buttons on the camera are also loud when pressed. Composition is entirely with the screen which can angle upwards by 180 degrees to face you for selfies or vlogging, although doing so will block the hotshoe, preventing you from mounting an external microphone. Battery life has been extended to around 450 shots per charge, 4k video is now available, albeit pretty limited at 15fps and for only five minute clips, while 1080p is available up to 60p for 14 minute clips. The Fujifilm X-A5 follows 2016's X-A3 and is one of Fujifilm's most affordable X series interchangeable lens cameras. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. 1996-2022 Ziff Davis. As you see 15 frames per second isnt fast enough to give the impression of smooth continuous motion and the footage looks very jumpy. The body includes a built-in pop-up flash, at the left side of the top plate, and it has a hot shoe if you want to add an external flash or microphone. Both models are in the $1,000 ballpark when bought with a lens, but they're also better performers. Perhaps the first thing to note about the X-A5 is that this is another (yes, another) beginner-friendly mirrorless camera with no electronic viewfinder, just an LCD screen on the rear for composing photos. 05/14/2018: Performance posted06/12/2018: Field Test posted Slower-than-average AF speed; 4K video capped at 15fps; Very slow startup to first shot time with new power-zoom kit lens; Sluggish single-shot cycle times. Our print quality analysis answers the important question: "Just how big can I print my photos at higher ISOs? Using the Fujifilm Cam Remote app with the X-A5 wasnt entirely a joy-filled experience.