Well, it’s got great output...

I will keep this short.

Just kidding. No I won’t.

I bought the X-T30 a few weeks ago. Right off the bat, the guy at the camera shop told me that it did not come with an external charger. Strange, but whatever. I bought one, along with an extra battery. Then, I noticed that it also didn’t come with a hot shoe cover. That seems like a really odd way to try and save a few pennies, but again, no big deal. Upon trying to use it, I immediately realized that the size, shape, ergonomics, and button layout just didn’t get a long with me. I’ve had smaller cameras that were easier to hold and use, so it’s not just the size. I’ve also had cameras with very similar ergonomics that were easier to use. It’s just an odd combination of the size, the ergonomics, and the button layout that come together in a way that makes the camera a bit frustrating and annoying to use. I adjust pretty quickly, but didn’t really adjust to this. So, I bought the optional grip. It helped a little bit, but I still didn’t enjoy the experience of using it.

I’m going to highlight what everyone already knows; That Q button location is the worst thing ever. I can’t tell you how many times I accidentally opened the Q menu and missed a shot. Yes, I did the firmware update. No, it didn’t seem to help.

As far as the output? Phenomenal. Simple as that. The video quality blew me away. Shooting video in Eterna, the straight out of camera footage was just beautiful and dreamy. The autofocus tracking in video is amazing. It didn’t miss, at least for me. The photo quality is also great, but it didn’t blow my mind. I compared the RAW files to the RAW files from my X-T1 and, though the X-T30 files did look better, it was’t actually that noticeable. In fact, the biggest difference I noticed was in the white balance. When I adjust the white balance from the photos to match, they actually looked very, very similar. Zooming in 1:1, I could see slightly more detail in the X-T30 files, but the difference was much less noticeable than I expected. I can say, for certain, that the X-T30 files were easier to work with during post processing.

‘The touch screen on the X-T30 is great. It’s actually very responsive and accurate. It felt just like using a cell phone. The viewfinder is too small, though. Simple as that. I remember the viewfinder of my E-M5ii (another non-flagship camera) being big, bright, and beautiful. Even the viewfinder on my X-T1 is very large and bright (which makes more sense). But, the viewfinder on the X-T30 felt downright tiny.

Battery life was better than I expected. WiFi is useless as long as Fujifilm keeps that same unusable app. The onboard mic is surprisingly good. Having USB-C is a huge bonus and is very useful. I was able to use the same charger for my phone and my camera! I was even able to charge my camera in my car as I drove from one location to the other. Very useful. The manual focus assist feature works “okay”. After tweaking it to my liking and learning some tricks with it, it was better. But, became very difficult and sometimes nearly unusable in any lighting that was less than ideal.

In the end, I decided that I loved the output, but I just could not adjust to the size/ergonomics and tiny viewfinder. I sold it and went straight back to the camera shop to buy the X-T3, with the idea being that I would have the same amazing output of the X-T30 (and then some) but with the improved ergonomics, controls, and viewfinder that honestly make a difference, to me. In the end, I didn’t get the X-T3, though, I got the X-H1! But that is a different story.

I think that if you have owned/used an X-T10 or X-T20 and enjoyed it, you would feel right at home and very happy with the X-T30. If you are used to bigger cameras with better ergonomics, you should really get some hands on time with the X-T30 before you commit to it. No matter who you are, I’m confident that you will be very happy with the output of this camera.