The Fujifilm X-S10 after the X-T4

Just after I'd bought the Fujifilm X-T4 in early October, 2020, Fuji announced the release of its X-S10. This caused me a bit of "buyer's remorse," as I would probably have opted for the X-S10 if I'd had the choice at the time. The main reasons for that would have been the price ($700 less) and the size (considerably smaller and more compact), although I prefer the manual-control dials of the X-T series, the X-T4's Still/Movie mode switch could not be more convenient, and its mechanical shutter could not be smoother nor quieter. Just over five months later, I was wanting a second, smaller camera body, for more casual shooting, and when the purchase of an X-E3 kept falling through, I realized that I could go for an X-S10 if I were to sell-off some gear to defray it.

Using the X-S10 does make me wish that I'd waited the extra month or so, or had known about its upcoming release. I hate to say that I prefer it, for the most part, to the X-T4, although I appreciate the privilege of owning both. Although I shoot a lot of video, I do not need internal 10-bit/4.2.2 footage, and 200mbps is as high as I'll ever need to go. The X-S10's grip really is as nice to hold as the annoying YouTubers with constant pronunciations of "the" and "a" with long vowels claim that it is. The X-S10 even truly did warrant several by Maarten Heilbron (whose command of English couldn't be more masterful, despite that he's Canadian). The PSAM dial does feel like a bit of a step down or back, but its C1–C4 custom-setting slots are incredibly useful, although I wish that they could be set for video, not just for stills. There is more control over the IBIS, with settings accommodating motion, although they apply only to stills shooting. The X-S10 and the X-T4 could use a firmware update to further improve their IBIS while panning and tilting during video shooting, although an update on the X-T4's did accomplish this to a degree. The only significant complaint that I have about the X-S10's mechanics is that the focus lever (joystick) doesn't return the focus position to the center when double-pressed. (You'd think, huh?)

Although I had had trepidation toward the X-S10's shutter, being not as quiet nor shockless as they X-T4's, I find myself confident about shooting at 1/4 second with it. This is a big deal, since I like to shoot stills in low-light situations. One thing I've noticed about the X-S10 in comparison to the X-T4 is that the former's buffer seems to be smaller, which results in errors in writing 4k video files to a card (UHS-1, U3, circle-10) that had worked in the X-T4. But, my fault: I don't know why I'm using a dang Lexar card, when I have SanDisk Extreme Pro cards at my disposal.

I rate the X-S10 4.5 stars, with half a star deducted from 5 because of the stupid "flippy" screen, which all the annoying YouTubers have convinced Fuji's R&D department that "everyone" wants. People who take photos and videos of themselves enough to warrant such a thing have a problem for which they should seek counseling, and not try to impose it upon everyone else in order for their neurosis to be normalized.

Here are some casual shots from last evening, my first usage of the X-S10, walking around downtown Austin, Texas, taking photos of what a bazillion other people with cameras were also shooting – all with the 16-80/4 zoom lens, at ISO 800, with DR setting of 400, and NR set to "0."