Body & controls

The X-T4 looks a lot like an X-T3, certainly more like an X-T3 than the X-H1 did. But, as usual, Fujifilm has taken the opportunity to provide small tweaks and improvements.

Key takeaways:

  • Fully articulated touchscreen
  • Reworked buttons and rear dial (but customizable to match X-T3)
  • New NP-W235 battery brings 500 shot-per-charge rating

Updated menu system

As with previous Fujifilm cameras, the main menu is pretty well laid-out, with icons down the left-hand side that break most of the options into logical sections. The Setup tab at the end of the menus is somewhat long and congested but is, at least, broken into named sub-sections to help you find the setting you're looking for. There's a customizable 'My Menu' tab if you find yourself regularly needing to access settings that you've not assigned to a button or the Q menu but we rarely found this necessary.

This is partly because the X-T4's new Video/Stills switch means you get either a stills-focused menu or a video-focused one, rather than all the options being bundled together in a single place. This helps simplify the menu structure, since the 'Flash' and 'Mic' tabs don't appear if you're shooting in a way that doesn't use them.

Recent Videos

The Q.Menu is also the latest iteration. This means it's customizable, with a choice of how many options appear on screen: 4, 8, 12 or 16 and the option of the background showing the live preview behind the menu. Separate stills and video menus can be configured, so the two don't have to fight for space or act as clutter when shooting the other type of content.

Fully articulated screen

Although the addition of in-body image stabilization benefits both stills and video shooters, it's arguable that its impact is more profound for video work: IS may not have a big impact on photos shot in good light, for instance, but it benefits every video clip you shoot away from a tripod.

As a result, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that the X-T4 has a more video-friendly fully articulated rear screen, rather than the two-direction hinged screen on the X-T3. We loved the X-T3's screen for both waist-level shooting and portrait orientation shots, but the T4's fold-out fully articulated screen is a definite plus point for video shooters and vloggers.

Revised ergonomics

The closer you look, the more differences you'll find between the X-T4 (left) and the X-T3 (right)

The X-T4 has a slightly deeper grip than the X-T3 did, taking it a little further away from the 1980s SLR theme, but making it that little bit more comfortable to use with larger lenses.

The back of the camera has been slightly rejiggered, with the Q button moving to the top right, and AEL moving into its spot above the joystick. This frees up the position next to the viewfinder to act as an AF-On button. This button is now more rounded, making it easier to detect by feel and easier to operate. As usual with Fujifilm cameras, you can reconfigure all the buttons to match existing camera layouts if you prefer.

The core specs of the viewfinder are unchanged, but it now has a larger, slightly more securely attached eye cup.

The rear dial, immediately next to the AF-On button has been made more prominent, extending further from the back of the camera to make it easier to operate.

Perhaps the biggest change, though, is the movement of movie mode to its own switch underneath the shutter speed dial. This makes it much easier to access than it was on the X-T3, where you needed to precisely rotate the drive mode control by multiple positions to move to and from movie shooting mode. This does, however, come at the expense of the physical metering mode control.

No headphone socket

The X-T4 has no dedicated headphone socket. A USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter is provided in the box.

One change that slightly undermines the X-T4's credentials as a video camera is the omission of a headphone socket for audio monitoring.

A dongle is provided in the box to allow headphones to be connected via the USB-C socket, but this is another component to lose or forget on what could otherwise operate as a self-contained video device. Like the older X-T2 (and X-H1), a headphone socket is provided on the optional VG-XT4 battery grip.

Stacked SD slots with removable door

The X-T4 has twin UHS-II slots behind a removable door. Although this body was made in Japan, we're told they will be built in more than one country and to the same standard

The decision to omit a headphone socket seems all the more strange when you look at other hardware changes on the X-T4. For instance, the card slots have been re-arranged so that they're vertically stacked up the side of the camera, meaning you can remove a card while recording without the risk of accidentally ejecting the active card, as could happen with the X-T3's overlapping slots.

In another thoughtful touch, the card door has a release catch on the inside, allowing it to be removed, so that the cards are still accessible if the camera is mounted in a rig that would impede the door's opening.

Auto ISO behavior

The X-T4's Auto ISO behavior carries over from previous models: you can specify three Auto ISO responses and access them via the menus or a custom button.

Each of these banks lets you specify upper and lower ISO limits and the shutter speed threshold at which the camera increases the ISO. This threshold can be set to be a specific shutter speed or 'Auto' which uses a shutter speed related to the current focal length. There's no option to choose faster or slower speeds that relate back to the focal length, though.

Auto ISO continues to work in manual exposure mode, with exposure compensation, in both stills and video modes.

Battery

The X-T4 becomes the first X-mount camera to move away from the W126-type battery, introduced back with the X-Pro1. Instead, it uses a new NP-W235 battery.

It's a 16Wh unit that looks a lot like the packs used in enthusiast-level DSLRs. That's enough to power the X-T4 to a CIPA rating of 500 shots per charge in 'normal' performance mode. It's pretty normal to get significantly more shots than the CIPA rating suggests: sometimes around twice the number possible, depending on your shooting style.

We tend to find 500 shots is enough for a full day's fairly committed shooting or a weekend with plenty of photography throughout. It's enough that for many photographers there'll be no need to worry about how or when they'll be able to recharge their battery.

The X-T4 is now compatible with higher-powered USB PD chargers for fast charging. It doesn't, though, come with an external charger: video shooters who want to have spare batteries ready-to-go will need to buy the optional BC-W235 dual charger.

Performance modes

The X-T4's battery has over 80% more capacity than the X-T3's does, yet you don't see an 80% increase in battery rating. This is partly because the X-T3's 'Normal' performance mode sees it darken its screen and drop the refresh rate after 12 seconds of inactivity: something that only occurs in the X-T4's 'Economy' mode.

The camera now has three performance boost modes, which you can choose to suit whatever you're shooting.

Economy Normal Boost
Low Light Priority		 Boost
Resolution Priority		 Boost EVF
Frame Rate
Priority
AF Speed 0.08 sec 0.08 sec 0.02 sec 0.02 sec 0.02 sec
LCD rate 30 fps 60 fps 30 fps 60 fps 60 fps
EVF rate 60 fps 60 fps 30 fps 60 fps 100 fps
Auto Power Save 12 sec No No No No
Battery life LCD 600 500 480 480 480
Battery life EVF 570 500 450 450 450

Worth noting is that, for less than a 10% decrease in battery life, you get a noticeable increase in the promised AF speed, which is worth knowing when you're shooting action.