Older X-T10 or a newer X-T100? Help decide please

NextShowForSure wrote:

Threaded wrote:

NextShowForSure wrote:

Threaded wrote:

If it has to be between these two, I would go with the XT100 because the XT10 has some issues, as an older camera its AF will be slower, and it suffers from a common problem with X-Trans II cameras of having over aggressive JPEG noise reduction on skintones at ISOs over 1600, and you did say JPEGs were important to you. The play button fault is also well known.

That said, personally I don't like the XT100 either - I'd save and look elsewhere in the current range. XT20s will be getting more affordable now. The XT100 although "newer" was built down to a price and has a sub-par processor inside, and while there are those (here) that like to vehemently disagree whenever this is mentioned, the overwhelming view of reviewers is that it doesn't perform well. They might all be wrong of course, but they probably aren't.

The X-T100 is not the fastest thing on earth but the reviewers are constantly dropping down from high end kit and are always going to find a camera like the X-T100 frustrating which is priced down on reduced processing clout with no compromise on image quality.

In the current trend a processor that was fine 2 years ago will be sub-par now so you can chase the curve but will never catch up with it as in 2 years time it is all sub par again.

I had an X-T10 and certainly would not swap my X-T100 for one. I also have a X-A3 which works OK and considering some reviews think the improved X-A5 is almost unusable I take these reviews with a pinch of salt. Not having to buy the camera themselves takes a big lump out of the equation. Nikon Zee not Zed mirrorless at £2,000 enrty level. No problem.

The X-T100 was not built down to a price but built at a price. It works fine for what it is but the modern constant kit comparison fever always muddies the water on the particular merits of any kit in its own right. A lower cost camera being 'crippled' is also a popular term in the assessment of affordable stuff.

I understand what you're saying but the processor in the XT100/XA series isn't just a chip from the last generation, in truth we don't know what it is at all (it has no name and apparently hasn't featured in any other Fuji) - the only thing we do know is that it's slower. If you look at video quality of the XT100 (I'll avoid harping on about the 4K being "crippled") even the 1080 is decidedly poor, and that's a good indication that the processor isn't really up to the job. I'd argue Fuji's have had pretty good autofocus and very good video since the generation started with the X-Pro2 - and that was more than three years ago now - so the XT100 is stepping back quite a way. Genuinely I think Fuji pinched a few too many pennies in its design.

I get my money's worth out of the X-T100 and am not seeing any image improvement in the X-T30. We are talking £549 with the 15-45 for the X-T100 against £899 for the X-T30 so this is hardly penny pinching.

But there you're really talking about at least a two generation jump in overall performance - the XT20 is a fairer comparison and a lot closer on price.

The deep cut in price has to come from somewhere and the 4K focus stacking is all I really need in 4K so handy it is there. The X-T20 being dumped at present is a good prospect but that may not last. If the chip has no name that is sad but I will live with that.

The OP is buying right now and there are bargains to be had on the XT20 right now, not to mention other models on the used market.

The X-Pro2 is a £1,200 body only camera even now so can Fuji really churn this level of technology out at half the cost in the affordable stuff in only 2 years time?

The X-Pro2 is still expensive because it's niche, and better built, and has the OVF etc. The core technology from the XP2 (same sensor and processor, and at the time better video and autofocus!) went into the XT20 one year later at a more affordable price point, and that's gotten a lot more affordable since.

Moore's law is well and truly dead in technology and with the high end stuff in electronics cost is not being absorbed over a short time in the way it was 10 years ago. Also Fuji is a pretty low volume seller against the competition so this makes it even more difficult for them recouping development costs.

Fuji have two main tactics to recoup those costs - firstly they use the exact same sensor and processor across multiple camera lines (eg X-Pro2, XT2, XT20, XE3, X100F, XH1 all exactly the same camera under the skin - even the two GFX medium format bodies use the same processor) and secondly they elongate the competitiveness of older hardware through firmware. The X-Pro2 from early 2016 would look dated now, but a 2019 X-Pro2 has added 4K video, flicker reduction, some big improvements to autofocus, and a stack of other added features to keep it current - and the R&D for those improvements all came from the development of other models from the same shared hardware.

The XT100 is out of step with all of this due to the steeper cost cutting approach Fuji took and the fact that it doesn't really share anything with anything other than the even lowlier XA models. It's a cul de sac. I guess it's "priced to sell" as they say, but has it?