X-T5 vs X-H2s & X-H2 Initial Impressions (Store demo)

I happened to be passing by my local camera store today (figured I'd salivate over the X-H2s) and saw they had received a demo X-T5.

As they weren't busy, I decided to give them a brief go back to back in the store.

X-T5:

1. Autofocus is quite good. Noticeably more responsive than my X-T3.

2. Face detection is much faster, more reliable, and stickier at longer distances.

3. 15FPS burst fine but ES is limited to 13FPS (full resolution burst slower than X-T3)

4. Classic Fuji control scheme is great(!)

5. Buttons feel good, and the camera feels good to hold & use.

X-H2s:

1. Feels slightly more responsive (no just AF in general) than the X-T5?

2. Autofocus & face detection are on a different level than the X-T5. Both shooting at 18mm, the X-T5 would struggle to or not recognize faces that were very small in the frame, while the X-H2s Just. Didn't. Care. found & stuck to them like glue.

3. 40FPS(!) is... wow! Really nice!

4. PSAM control scheme... Bleh... usable but IMHO inferior to the X-T5

5. Grip is nice, but buttons feel mushy and less premium/tactile than X-T5. Also it's... large.

X-H2:

Basically a midpoint between the other two.

Summary:

Overall... for me I don't know that I'll be upgrading, but... putting the X-T5 and X-H2s in my hands definitely reinitiated my G.A.S. Came home, tried the face tracking on X-T3 and came away thoroughly unimpressed.

Anyway I'm hoping to head back in a few days with some SD cards so I can test image quality, buffer size/clearing speed, etc. I'll post an update when / if I can. If I had to choose between the two ATM, I'd probably still go for the X-H2s but its tough... I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

TL:DR Try them both out if you can before making a decision.

Studio_Melon wrote:

I happened to be passing by my local camera store today (figured I'd salivate over the X-H2s) and saw they had received a demo X-T5.

Nice...lucky day for you!

As they weren't busy, I decided to give them a brief go back to back in the store.

X-T5:

1. Autofocus is quite good. Noticeably more responsive than my X-T3.

2. Face detection is much faster, more reliable, and stickier at longer distances.

Definitely huge improvemnt...anything from the previous generations were unusable for me...I had them turned off mostly.

3. 15FPS burst fine but ES is limited to 13FPS (full resolution burst slower than X-T3)

4. Classic Fuji control scheme is great(!)

5. Buttons feel good, and the camera feels good to hold & use.

X-H2s:

1. Feels slightly more responsive (no just AF in general) than the X-T5?

Interesting...not many people seem to have compared these new cameras side by side.

2. Autofocus & face detection are on a different level than the X-T5. Both shooting at 18mm, the X-T5 would struggle to or not recognize faces that were very small in the frame, while the X-H2s Just. Didn't. Care. found & stuck to them like glue.

Haha good to know that...that's where the stacked sensor comes in!

3. 40FPS(!) is... wow! Really nice!

Indeed!

4. PSAM control scheme... Bleh... usable but IMHO inferior to the X-T5

Agreed but the C1-C7 is the real benefit here. If you don't use it, the Fuji way is more intuitive.

5. Grip is nice, but buttons feel mushy and less premium/tactile than X-T5. Also it's... large.

I love the grip & handling of the XH2s.

X-H2:

Basically a midpoint between the other two.

Exactly...makes it a bit boring imo.

Summary:

Overall... for me I don't know that I'll be upgrading, but... putting the X-T5 and X-H2s in my hands definitely reinitiated my G.A.S. Came home, tried the face tracking on X-T3 and came away thoroughly unimpressed.

Haha XT3/XT4 face tracking is terrible in comparison.

Anyway I'm hoping to head back in a few days with some SD cards so I can test image quality, buffer size/clearing speed, etc. I'll post an update when / if I can. If I had to choose between the two ATM, I'd probably still go for the X-H2s but its tough... I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

Nice...you're lucky to be able to do that. I went with the S and have nothing to complain about. I also have no doubt it will be improved even further with future firmware updates (especially the S version).

TL:DR Try them both out if you can before making a decision.

Yes...if you can.

Have fun.

Studio_Melon wrote:

I happened to be passing by my local camera store today (figured I'd salivate over the X-H2s) and saw they had received a demo X-T5.

As they weren't busy, I decided to give them a brief go back to back in the store.

X-T5:

1. Autofocus is quite good. Noticeably more responsive than my X-T3.

2. Face detection is much faster, more reliable, and stickier at longer distances.

3. 15FPS burst fine but ES is limited to 13FPS (full resolution burst slower than X-T3)

4. Classic Fuji control scheme is great(!)

5. Buttons feel good, and the camera feels good to hold & use.

X-H2s:

1. Feels slightly more responsive (no just AF in general) than the X-T5?

2. Autofocus & face detection are on a different level than the X-T5. Both shooting at 18mm, the X-T5 would struggle to or not recognize faces that were very small in the frame, while the X-H2s Just. Didn't. Care. found & stuck to them like glue.

3. 40FPS(!) is... wow! Really nice!

4. PSAM control scheme... Bleh... usable but IMHO inferior to the X-T5

5. Grip is nice, but buttons feel mushy and less premium/tactile than X-T5. Also it's... large.

X-H2:

Basically a midpoint between the other two.

Summary:

Overall... for me I don't know that I'll be upgrading, but... putting the X-T5 and X-H2s in my hands definitely reinitiated my G.A.S. Came home, tried the face tracking on X-T3 and came away thoroughly unimpressed.

Anyway I'm hoping to head back in a few days with some SD cards so I can test image quality, buffer size/clearing speed, etc. I'll post an update when / if I can. If I had to choose between the two ATM, I'd probably still go for the X-H2s but its tough... I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

TL:DR Try them both out if you can before making a

Argg..You're making my life difficult. I didn't need to hear that AF is much better than my XT3. I'll never get this past the household budget committee.

Studio_Melon wrote:

Summary:

Overall... for me I don't know that I'll be upgrading, but... putting the X-T5 and X-H2s in my hands definitely reinitiated my G.A.S. Came home, tried the face tracking on X-T3 and came away thoroughly unimpressed.

Anyway I'm hoping to head back in a few days with some SD cards so I can test image quality, buffer size/clearing speed, etc. I'll post an update when / if I can. If I had to choose between the two ATM, I'd probably still go for the X-H2s but its tough... I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

TL:DR Try them both out if you can before making a decision.

Resist the G.A.S.

Wait for X-T6/H3 maybe then you'll have 40MP stacked!

c0nfund0 wrote:

Studio_Melon wrote:

Summary:

Overall... for me I don't know that I'll be upgrading, but... putting the X-T5 and X-H2s in my hands definitely reinitiated my G.A.S. Came home, tried the face tracking on X-T3 and came away thoroughly unimpressed.

Anyway I'm hoping to head back in a few days with some SD cards so I can test image quality, buffer size/clearing speed, etc. I'll post an update when / if I can. If I had to choose between the two ATM, I'd probably still go for the X-H2s but its tough... I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

TL:DR Try them both out if you can before making a decision.

Resist the G.A.S.

Wait for X-T6/H3 maybe then you'll have 40MP stacked!

Honestly speaking that may be what I end up doing. I was using an X-Pro 2 until last month when I picked up a new/demo XT-3 at an another local big box store’s closeout fire sale.

As amazing as the new cameras are, I honestly can’t believe just how big of an upgrade the X-T3 is over my X-Pro 2. So far it’s handled everything I’ve thrown at it like a champ, including (lower intensity) sports.

I really WANT the speed/accuracy/confidence of the XH-2s, but I’m beginning to have the sinking suspicion that I may not NEED it at this time. The whole reason I avoided X-Trans 4 was that I wanted a “real” sensor upgrade along with better AF, so technically this applies to the 2s as well…

But we’ll see, if the price is right I may bite…

Studio_Melon wrote:

I happened to be passing by my local camera store today (figured I'd salivate over the X-H2s) and saw they had received a demo X-T5.

As they weren't busy, I decided to give them a brief go back to back in the store.

X-T5:

1. Autofocus is quite good. Noticeably more responsive than my X-T3.

2. Face detection is much faster, more reliable, and stickier at longer distances.

3. 15FPS burst fine but ES is limited to 13FPS (full resolution burst slower than X-T3)

4. Classic Fuji control scheme is great(!)

5. Buttons feel good, and the camera feels good to hold & use.

X-H2s:

1. Feels slightly more responsive (no just AF in general) than the X-T5?

2. Autofocus & face detection are on a different level than the X-T5. Both shooting at 18mm, the X-T5 would struggle to or not recognize faces that were very small in the frame, while the X-H2s Just. Didn't. Care. found & stuck to them like glue.

3. 40FPS(!) is... wow! Really nice!

4. PSAM control scheme... Bleh... usable but IMHO inferior to the X-T5

5. Grip is nice, but buttons feel mushy and less premium/tactile than X-T5. Also it's... large.

X-H2:

Basically a midpoint between the other two.

Summary:

Overall... for me I don't know that I'll be upgrading, but... putting the X-T5 and X-H2s in my hands definitely reinitiated my G.A.S. Came home, tried the face tracking on X-T3 and came away thoroughly unimpressed.

Anyway I'm hoping to head back in a few days with some SD cards so I can test image quality, buffer size/clearing speed, etc. I'll post an update when / if I can. If I had to choose between the two ATM, I'd probably still go for the X-H2s but its tough... I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

TL:DR Try them both out if you can before making a decision.

Thanks for posting your impressions.

You didn't mention the difference in EVF. That is what would push me away from the X-T5. My eyes aren't so good anymore, so that EVF in the H-series really comes in handy.

I'm also wondering whether you noticed the ON/OFF switch on the X-T5. To me, it seemed worse than prior T-series bodies. Minor gripe, but something I did notice.

I had a chance to go back to the store today with an SD card and some more experience with the X-T3 under my belt.

First, I want to begin by saying that my initial impressions overstate the degree of improvement in autofocus at least as far as the X-T5/XH-2 are concerned vs the X-T3 and X-T4.

Coming from almost six years with an X-Pro 2, vs only about a week with the X-T3, I was still fairly unfamiliar with the autofocus options available on that camera. In the intervening time, I spent some more time getting to know the camera, did a large photoshoot (20+ people, multiple poses, ~4 hours) with it, and also took it on a brief, two day vacation. With the correct settings (that better approximate how the X-T5 and X-H2S were set up in store), the X-T3 holds up much better than I thought for AF, face detection, tracking, pre-AF, etc. The X-T5 is still a clear improvement, but it may well be a smaller one than I initially led myself to believe.

Next, I want to discuss burst speeds and buffer depth as I feel like this is a real issue with the X-T5, and an area where it is noticeably worse than not only the X-H2s and X-H2, but also the X-T3. In a lot of ways the X-T5 reminds me of the X-T10: A relatively fast, lower priced camera with flagship features, hobbled by an inadequate buffer.

Seemingly no matter what the settings, when shooting full resolution raw, the X-T5 can only burst for about 1.5 seconds (~22 frames) before it slows down significantly. It then takes a significant amount of time to write out to the SD Card. While it will likely benefit from faster SD cards here (I ended up having to test the burst speed with a slower card), as someone who shoots action on occasion, I feel this cut hurts the camera a lot. However, I have some ideas for workarounds here which I will discuss in the next section.

Next up, I want to discuss file size and lossy compressed raw, something I have not really seen discussed here or elsewhere (such as in reviews) at all despite it being super relevant to a camera like the X-T5, and honestly to anyone who shoots action and needs more flexibility than JPEG but doesn’t necessarily need the full range offered by lossless compressed RAW. Lossless compressed RAW files shot on the X-T5 can clock in anywhere from around 39MB to a whopping 60(!)MB per file at high ISO. Compressed RAW files by comparison seem to land between 28.5MB to 30.5MB per file, cutting file size in half in the most extreme cases. Now, I haven’t had time to process any of these files yet, so I can’t comment yet as to what you’re losing, but what I can say is that this does seem to extend the X-T5’s paltry buffer by around 0.5 ~ 1 second (~30 frames with JPEG, ~37 frames without JPEG) at low ISO. This can be further extended by another ~1.2 seconds (~57 frames) using the 1.29x crop mode (or presumably/hopefully by lowering the resolution by a similar amount, although I did not test this.)

The X-H2S obviously has much better burst depth even when shooting with the same relatively slow SD card, maintaining 40FPS for ~3.5 seconds (146 frames) before slowing down (albeit by not nearly as much). From what I have read online, the burst depth is even deeper when using a CF card for RAW. That said, the XH-2S can also benefit from smaller file sizes (lossless RAWs are ~30-40MB, slightly larger than X-T3, compressed RAWs by contrast are ~20MB.) I’d imagine you can get an even deeper buffer using compressed RAW but didn’t have enough SD card space left to test it out by that point. That said, on the X-H2S the file size difference isn’t quite as dramatic, so I’d imagine this is really only useful if for some reason you’re not using the CF slot (for example if its full and you’re left shooting on SD) or if you’re really tight for storage.

Another quick note, HEIF can save a fair bit of space compared to JPEG (20~30%) although I didn’t have time to test in detail.

I can’t say anything too definitive about image quality yet although I tried to take a fair shot between ISO125/160 to ISO 6400~12800. Hopefully, I’ll have time to spend playing with the files over the next few days to get a better feel for resolution/flexibility on the X-T5/X-H2. That said, while the X-T5 is obviously higher resolution but I’m not sure I can really judge how important that is with pictures taken inside the store.

A few final things of note for this update. At least so far I'm still really not a fan of the ergonomics on the X-H2 series. The joystick is larger and more tactile yet somehow feels less precise (easier to move the AF point two stops when I only meant to move it by one for example,) while the lack of physical controls is just really annoying. Also by moving the joystick, Fuji has made it hard to go back and fourth between an X-H2 body and an X-T body. Not. Great ( performance sure is though!) Also, I stand by what I said last time. The X-H2S feels faster in general operation (menus, etc) although this may be because the X-T5 is on beta firmware (1.0).

Studio_Melon wrote:

I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

Well perhaps the XH3 will be a stacked version of the 40 mp sensor. Currently in one interview a Fuji guy told that it was too expansive. But next time, more pixels won't make much sense (it's already great) and the major cons of the XH2 is the slow read out of the sensor.

Powerdoc wrote:

Studio_Melon wrote:

I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

Well perhaps the XH3 will be a stacked version of the 40 mp sensor. Currently in one interview a Fuji guy told that it was too expansive. But next time, more pixels won't make much sense (it's already great) and the major cons of the XH2 is the slow read out of the sensor.

Have a feeling it won't be until X-H4 for stacked sensor at 40MP. X-H3 will be a refinement of the current new sensor.

c0nfund0 wrote:

Studio_Melon wrote:

Summary:

Overall... for me I don't know that I'll be upgrading, but... putting the X-T5 and X-H2s in my hands definitely reinitiated my G.A.S. Came home, tried the face tracking on X-T3 and came away thoroughly unimpressed.

Anyway I'm hoping to head back in a few days with some SD cards so I can test image quality, buffer size/clearing speed, etc. I'll post an update when / if I can. If I had to choose between the two ATM, I'd probably still go for the X-H2s but its tough... I really want 40MP AND the stacked sensor :/

TL:DR Try them both out if you can before making a decision.

Resist the G.A.S.

Wait for X-T6/H3 maybe then you'll have 40MP stacked!

Nah, the X-T6 will be for noobs. The X-T7 will have Brain Detect AF, and will compose the shot for you using the Famous Photographer Simulations built-in.

Today I was at a camera store (probably the biggest one in Tokyo) and handled both cameras (X-H2s and X-T5). Being an X-H1 user myself, I was sure that if I should upgrade, it will be the X-H2s. And while the X-H2s camera body itself feels more comfortable to hold than the X-T5, the buttons are really very mushy. For me, that alone is a dealbreaker. I don't know what it is, but even the build quality feels inferior to that of the X-T5. In fact, I would say that my X-H1 feels more premium than both of these new models. But if I would have to pick one, it would be the X-T5. It feels very compact and yet comfortable enough to hold. The grip is obviously much smaller than the X-H2s', but it is suprisingly comfortable to hold. I also put the XF100-400mm on the X-T5 (because that's the lens I currently own) and it felt like a very nice and compact combo. (Personally, I do not have much interest in the XF150-600mm due to its f/8 aperture on the long end. The XF200mmF2 on the other hand... is an entirely different story. What a fantastic lens!)

aronimages wrote:

Today I was at a camera store (probably the biggest one in Tokyo) and handled both cameras (X-H2s and X-T5). Being an X-H1 user myself, I was sure that if I should upgrade, it will be the X-H2s. And while the X-H2s camera body itself feels more comfortable to hold than the X-T5, the buttons are really very mushy. For me, that alone is a dealbreaker.

Maybe its an abused demo model - the buttons on my X-H2S are certainly not mushy

That certainly is possible. Unfortunately I have no other way of getting a feeling of these cameras.

1. aronimages wrote:

Today I was at a camera store (probably the biggest one in Tokyo) and handled both cameras (X-H2s and X-T5). Being an X-H1 user myself, I was sure that if I should upgrade, it will be the X-H2s. And while the X-H2s camera body itself feels more comfortable to hold than the X-T5, the buttons are really very mushy. For me, that alone is a dealbreaker. I don't know what it is, but even the build quality feels inferior to that of the X-T5. In fact, I would say that my X-H1 feels more premium than both of these new models. But if I would have to pick one, it would be the X-T5. It feels very compact and yet comfortable enough to hold. The grip is obviously much smaller than the X-H2s', but it is suprisingly comfortable to hold. I also put the XF100-400mm on the X-T5 (because that's the lens I currently own) and it felt like a very nice and compact combo. (Personally, I do not have much interest in the XF150-600mm due to its f/8 aperture on the long end. The XF200mmF2 on the other hand... is an entirely different story. What a fantastic lens!)

I got the opposite impression. The XT5 demo copy I handled seemed to have lesser quality feel vs. my XH2S. Probably because it was not new production product.