The Fujifilm X-E4 is a compact rangefinder-style mirrorless camera. It's very portable, which makes it easy to travel with, and it feels impressively well-built. Image quality is great out of the box, with minimal noise and very little degradation of sharpness even when shooting at moderately high ISO levels. It's capable of shooting 4k video at up to 30 fps without a crop, and video quality is good whether you're shooting in 4k or FHD. However, its minimalistic design can make accessing some core camera functions a little difficult and makes it a little uncomfortable to hold for extended periods.
The Fujifilm X-E4 is decent for travel photography. Image quality is impressive, with good noise handling capability and sharpness when shooting at moderate ISO levels, which is good for nighttime photography. It's also very compact and lightweight, making it easy to slip in and out of a pocket or carrying pouch. Its wide shutter speed range should also let you capture quick moments or take complex long-exposure shots. If you're shooting in JPEG, you can choose between 18 different film simulation modes for a bit of added flair, though we don't currently test the camera with those filters active. Unfortunately, the camera's autofocus system can struggle to track both subjects' faces as well as moving objects. Also, its minimalistic design can make it uncomfortable to use for long shooting sessions, with no actual handgrip and few dedicated controls for adjusting exposure parameters on the fly.
The Fujifilm X-E4 is great for landscape photography. It offers excellent image quality out of the box, and it has an impressively wide dynamic range to preserve more detail in high-contrast lighting conditions. Its compact, sturdy-feeling body makes it easy to bring with you to any remote shooting location. Its touchscreen display is also bright enough to be easily seen even under direct sunlight. It isn't rated as being weather-sealed, though we don't currently test for that. In addition, its minimalistic design, with no dedicated handgrip, can make it uncomfortable to use for long shooting sessions, especially when using heavier lenses.
The Fujifilm X-E4 is decent for sports and wildlife photography. You can use its electronic shutter to increase its maximum continuous shooting speed up to 30 fps, which should help capture clear shots of very fast-moving subjects, though it's worth noting that using that feature incurs a crop. Image quality is great, and the camera itself feels impressively sturdy. Unfortunately, its highly compact design can make it somewhat uncomfortable to use, and you may find it unwieldy in conjunction with a heavy telephoto lens. It also lacks any onboard image stabilization feature, making it challenging to capture clear images at extended focal lengths. Its autofocus system can also have a hard time tracking moving subjects.
The Fujifilm X-E4 is okay for vlogging. Its screen can tilt and flips up for selfies, and its lightweight design makes it highly portable. Video quality is also good whether you're shooting in 4k or FHD, and the camera's autofocus system does a superb job of tracking subjects' faces while recording video. It also features a wide complement of inputs and outputs, which is good if you plan on attaching an external recorder or an auxiliary microphone. Unfortunately, it lacks in-body image stabilization, meaning that you may observe some level of camera shake while shooting handheld, depending on whether or not your lens has an optical stabilization feature. It also can overheat during extended recording sessions, especially when shooting in 4k, though the severity of this risk can vary depending on real-world conditions.
The Fujifilm X-E4 is decent for studio video. Video quality in FHD and 4k is good overall, though you may notice a bit of noise when shooting in darker environments. Its autofocus system delivers superb performance in FHD and does a great job of tracking subjects when shooting in 4k. This camera also supports Log recording, yielding a wider dynamic range and allowing for in-depth color grading while editing, though we don't currently test this function. If you plan on shooting video with an external recorder, it's capable of outputting 10-bit 4:2:2 color video through its HDMI port, too. It features a wide variety of inputs and outputs, including a microphone jack and an analog to USB-C adapter if you plan on using a pair of headphones to monitor audio levels. Unfortunately, your recording may be interrupted by overheat warnings, though the frequency of these interruptions can vary in real-world conditions.
The Fujifilm X-E4 isn't for action video. While it's compact, lightweight, and well-built, it isn't meant to be attached to a chest or helmet rig. It isn't rated as being weather-sealed, though we don't currently test for that. It also lacks in-body or digital image stabilization, so you may notice some level of camera shake in handheld videos depending on if the lens you use has an optical stabilization feature. Still, this camera does have a dedicated slow-motion shooting mode in FHD and can shoot 4k video without a crop, though it's limited to a maximum frame rate of 30 fps in that resolution.
The Fujifilm X-E4 is available in two different color variants: 'Black' and 'Silver'. We tested the 'Black' variant in conjunction with the FUJINON XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R OIS lens, and you can see its label here. This camera can be purchased in a bundle with the FUJINON XF 27 mm f/2.8 R WR lens and is fully compatible with any other X-Mount lenses; we haven't tested it in any other configuration.
Let us know in the discussions if you come across another variant of this camera, and we'll update our review.
The Fujifilm X-E4 is almost like an interchangeable-lens version of the Fujifilm X100V, so one may suit you better than the other. Discounting the lens, the two cameras are similar in size and design, and they both use the same 26MP X-Trans 4 sensor, resulting in similar overall image quality. The X100V has a better hybrid electronic/optical viewfinder and feels a bit more comfortable in the hand thanks to its small handgrip and more physical controls and dials. It isn't as well suited for video work, though, due to poor heat management and a much shorter recording time limit than the X-E4.
Note: This camera came bundled with the FUJINON XF 27 mm f/2.8 R WR lens, but we didn't test the camera with it, and therefore it wasn't included in the 'In The Box' picture.
Note: The only lens that you can purchase this camera with as part of a bundle is the FUJINON XF 27 mm f/2.8 R WR lens. However, we didn't test the camera with it, as our current test methodology isn't designed to test lenses with fixed focal lengths. As such, we tested this camera with the FUJINON XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R OIS lens to achieve comparable results to other interchangeable lens cameras like the Fujifilm X-S10 or Fujifilm X-T4.
Note: This camera can frequently interrupt your recording sessions by shutting down due to overheating.
Note: Using the electronic shutter allows you to fire at up to 30 fps, but doing so incurs a crop on your image. Also, shooting at 20 fps with the electronic shutter lowers the JPEG buffer size to 59 shots and increases the buffer clearing time from '0s' to '8s' compared to the results shown, which we achieved with the mechanical shutter.
Note: This camera's image stabilization performance was also evaluated with the FUJINON XF 27 mm f/2.8 R WR lens. The result for the 'Minimum Shutter Speed Achieved' test is 1/50s.
Note: This camera can shoot at ISO 100, but only as an extended minimum. ISO 25600 and ISO 51200 are considered extended ISO maximums. The aperture was set to f/9.0 for the ISO 25600 sample image and set to f/13.0 for the ISO 51200 sample image. Results of images taken at those ISO levels may not be fully comparable to other cameras that we've tested.
Note: This camera is capable of recording high-speed FHD video in 120 fps and 240 fps, but it only allows for playback of this footage in 10x, 8x, 4x, or 2x slow-motion speed. It can't actually playback this footage at normal speed. Audio isn't recorded in this shooting mode either. This feature is available in the 'Full HD High Speed Rec' menu. Enabling this feature also incurs a crop.
Note: When recording at 60 fps, 30 fps, or 24 fps, the camera has a recording time limit of approximately 30 minutes. When recording at 120 fps, this drops to six minutes. While shooting at 240 fps, you can only record continuously for three minutes.