Fujifilm X-T30 II Camera Review

The Fujifilm X-T30 II is quite portable, with nearly identical dimensions to the Fujifilm X-T30. The body is narrow, if a little tall, but it has a slim profile that makes it easy to carry on the go or slip into a camera bag. It also doesn't weigh much, so it won't cause much fatigue on long shooting days.

The camera feels well-built. Like the Fujifilm X-T30, it's made of metal and plastic and feels sturdy and high quality. Inputs are covered by a rubber flap, while the battery and SD card slots are covered by a hinged door.

The Fujifilm X-T30 II has three command dials, which also have press functionality to control different settings. There's a front command dial, a rear command dial, and a dedicated shutter speed dial on top.

On top of that, the camera has an exposure compensation dial and a dedicated drive mode dial, so you can easily switch from single to continuous shooting to movie mode and more. On the front of the camera, you also have a focus mode toggle to quickly switch between single autofocus, continuous autofocus, and manual focus. Many of the buttons and dials are customizable as well.

• Fujifilm X-T30 II camera body
• Fujinon XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R OIS lens
• Front lens cap
• Rear lens cap
• Sensor cap
• Shoulder strap
• 1x NP-W126S battery
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• User manual and documentation

The Fujifilm X-T30 II has mediocre ergonomics. The small size of its hand grip and body make it feel a bit cramped to hold for those with larger hands. Because of its size, it's also easy to press buttons accidentally, particularly the 'Q' menu button because of its placement near the back thumb rest. That said, the camera feels well-balanced with the Fujinon XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 kit lens attached, and having a dedicated shutter speed dial along with two command dials gives you full hands-on control over your exposure settings. The thumbstick on the back is also intuitive to use for menu navigation or AF point selection.

The electronic viewfinder (EVF) has a fairly high resolution, giving you a sharp view of your subjects. However, it's quite small, and the plastic eyecup isn't very comfortable.

The screen is bright enough to overcome glare in sunnier conditions, and its tilting design is ideal for waist-level shooting. The screen also has a notably higher resolution than the original Fujifilm X-T30, giving you a sharper image and making it easier to review your photos on the monitor. The screen's touch capabilities are limited to selecting focus points, use as a touch shutter, and enabling AF tracking.

The menu system from the Fujifilm X-T30 remains unchanged, and it's easy to navigate using the thumbstick. There's a bit of a learning curve, but all submenus and settings are clearly labeled and logically organized. There's also a guide function to explain certain settings.

This camera is also compatible with Fujifilm's XApp, which Fujifilm claims to offer smoother wireless connectivity between X series cameras and smartphones than the older Fujifilm Camera Connect app. You can use it to transfer files or control the camera remotely.

Like other Fujifilm cameras of its generation, including the Fujifilm X-T4, the Fujifilm X100V, and the Fujifilm X-S10, the Fujifilm X-T30 II uses a variation of the same X-Trans 4 sensor and X-Processor 4 as its predecessor. It's a high-resolution APS-C sensor with a backside-illuminated design for more efficient light gathering and a fairly wide native ISO range.

The camera's battery performance is okay. It has a 390-shot CIPA rating, which is slightly better than the original Fujifilm X-T30, rated at 380 shots. That's a fairly average CIPA rating for a mirrorless camera, though these ratings don't necessarily align with real-world usage, so your mileage will vary depending on your shooting habits and settings.

You also get about an hour of battery life in video mode when shooting continuously in 4k, which isn't great. Thankfully, it supports external power delivery via USB-C, which is handy if you have a portable battery pack.

The camera has an okay continuous shooting speed. It maxes out at 8 fps when using the mechanical shutter, which is decently fast for capturing burst shots of moving subjects and action. When using the silent electronic shutter, it can shoot at up to 10 fps, which is great for capturing sequential bursts when you need to be discreet or when taking photos of skittish wildlife, though using the e-shutter can also cause rolling shutter distortion with quicker subjects. Unfortunately, if you're shooting in RAW format, the camera's image buffer fills up very quickly. If you do fill it up, it also takes a little while to empty, which can interrupt your shooting at a critical moment. That said, you can shoot JPEG files indefinitely.

The Fujifilm X-T30 II uses a hybrid autofocus system. Unlike the Fujifilm X-T30, the Mark II uses Fuji's updated tracking system, the same one found on the Fujifilm X-T4. It's a little more intuitive, with a single tracking box that locks onto your target rather than the busier interface of the older model.

The camera supports face and eye detection, but it isn't especially reliable. It's easily confused with multiple faces in the frame, often switching the focus away from the intended target. While it isn't bad with slower subjects, it can quickly lose track of subjects that are moving more quickly or erratically.

If you don't want to rely on tracking, using a center focus point is a lot more effective. If you can keep your intended target under the focus point, the autofocus keeps up with little to no trouble.

The Fujifilm X-T30 II doesn't have in-body image stabilization. However, you can use optically stabilized lenses if you need to shoot at slower shutter speeds without a tripod. With the XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 kit lens, which has optical image stabilization (OIS), the camera does an excellent job of stabilizing handheld shots.

The Fujifilm X-T30 II has good usable dynamic range, capturing a fairly wide range of detail in high-contrast scenes. Overall, it performs well for an APS-C sensor, and RAW files have pretty good exposure latitude, allowing you to adjust your exposure by a few stops without introducing too much noise.

The camera does a great job of resolving fine detail. While this is most apparent when punching in, it means you have a bit of leeway to crop in your photos without losing too much detail.

The sensor's RAW noise handling is decent. It doesn't compare to cameras with full-frame sensors, but you can get relatively clean files at moderately high ISO settings, allowing you to shoot in dimmer lighting conditions without worrying too much about sacrificing quality.

The Fujifilm X-T30 II can record video in FHD and both UHD and DCI 4k. It also supports F-Log recording to get a wider dynamic range. However, it can only shoot in 8-bit internally, giving you less latitude to color-grade Log footage. It can, however, output 10-bit 4:2:2 video to an external recorder via HDMI if you need more flexibility with grading.

The Fujifilm X-T30 II can record 4k video at up to 30 fps, which is good for a range of video styles, but the camera lacks any high frame rate options for smooth action video or slow-motion recording in 4k.

4k internal recording capability is adequate. The camera can capture video at fairly high bit rates, resulting in higher-quality video files. However, it suffers from severe overheating issues when continuously recording in the highest quality settings. So, despite having a significantly longer 30-minute recording time limit than the ten-minute cap on the original Fujifilm X-T30, your recording time may still be limited, depending on your settings.

Autofocus performance is excellent overall when shooting 4k video. The general subject tracking does an amazing job of keeping moving subjects in focus, and the camera supports both face and eye detection. The face tracking works quite consistently, doing a great job of maintaining focus on moving faces, though it can lose track if subjects turn around or move very quickly, and it sometimes has to hunt to find its target. Overall, it's good for most situations but isn't as consistent as other AF systems like Sony's.

4k video quality is impressive, especially in more controlled lighting conditions. Footage looks sharp and detailed, with great out-of-camera colors. The camera also does a good job in low light. Shadows are preserved pretty well, and there isn't an overwhelming amount of noise.

Unfortunately, the Fujifilm X-T30 II has a slow sensor readout speed, which results in a very noticeable rolling shutter effect. With faster camera movements, vertical lines look heavily skewed.

The Fujifilm X-T30 II has a wide range of frame rate options in 1080p. In its regular video mode, it can shoot at up to 60 fps, so you can capture smooth action or slow things down slightly for cinematic-looking slow-motion. It also has a high-speed recording mode, like other Fujifilm cameras, that records slow-motion footage at up to 240 fps in 1080p, with no audio. That's an improvement over the 120 fps limit of the Fujifilm X-T30. However, this mode incurs a slight crop.

Internal recording is good in 1080p. It captures relatively high bit rates, resulting in videos with more visual information and detail. As with 4k, the recording time limit is 30 minutes, improving upon the Fujifilm X-T30's 15 minutes. You're also less likely to experience overheating in 1080p.

Autofocus is still excellent in 1080p, though, like with 4k, it can sometimes lose its target or hunt a little before finding it. Overall, it still does a great job tracking moving subjects and supports both face and eye detection.

1080p video quality is great in more controlled lighting conditions. It looks relatively sharp, and colors are pleasing straight out of the camera. In low light, video looks decent, though you'll inevitably see some noise and lose detail.

There's less rolling shutter distortion in 1080p, but you'll still see skewing or wobbling with faster camera movements.

There's just a single UHS-I SD card slot, so you can't take advantage of the faster UHS-II cards. The slot is located inside the battery compartment on the bottom of the camera, making it tricky to switch out cards when using a tripod.

The Fujifilm X-T30 II has a wide array of inputs and outputs, including a USB-C port for charging, power delivery, and file transfer and a Micro HDMI port to connect to an external display. While there's a mic input, the camera doesn't have a headphone jack to monitor your audio while you record. Unlike the Fujifilm X-T4, this model doesn't come with a USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter in the box.