Valhalla, N.Y. — Fujifilm North America unveiled Tuesday its X30 premium compact fixed-lens camera.
The camera, which Fujifilm will release at a $599 suggested retail in late September and targets enthusiast and professional photographers, includes what Fujifilm called a new real-time viewfinder and dual manual control rings.
The viewfinder is said to be bright, fast and high resolving for the class of camera. The magnification measures 0.65x while the display lag time is just 0.005 seconds.
Other features include a 12-megapixel 2/3-inch X-Trans CMOS II sensor, EXR Processor II and a new Classic Chrome film simulation mode that is said to produce muted tones and deep color reproduction.
The camera includes a large tilting 3-inch 920K-dot premium clear LCD monitor, increased battery performance, and a strong, lightweight, die-cast magnesium-alloy body with retro styling accents.
High-definition Live View is offered with a new 2.36-million-dot organic EL viewfinder and dedicated lens that improves visibility by automatically controlling the viewfinder’s brightness according to the ambient light levels.
The Live View display can also be set to reflect shooting conditions, or offer a natural view close to what is seen with the naked eye, while the viewfinder’s eye sensor automatically switches the visible information when the camera is positioned vertically or horizontally.
The Fujifilm X30 uses the company’s X-Trans CMOS II sensor with phase-detection AF and the EXR Processor II for high-speed and low noise images. The phase-detection AF system focuses in 0.06 seconds, has a startup time of 0.5 seconds, shutter time lag of 0.015 seconds, and shooting interval of 0.5 seconds.
The built-in 4x manual zoom lens has a F2.0-2.8 brightness capability, and is made up of 11 glass elements in nine groups, including three aspherical lens elements and two ED lens elements.
Additionally, seven diaphragm blades produce a high quality “bokeh” effect for natural portrait framing.
The camera includes a new image stabilization mechanism that shifts five lens elements to compensate for camera shake by up to four stops.
The system also effectively prevents motion blur while stopping vignette and loss of image resolution from camera movement.
Two rings are added on the lens to control manual zoom and exposure control.
The control ring is positioned behind the manual zoom control and allows the immediate change of aperture and shutter speed settings while fine-tuning image composition.
Functions such as ISO sensitivity, film simulation, white balance and continuous shooting can be assigned by pushing the control ring setting button at the front.
Two top-plate dials and six function buttons positioned on the back of the body also offer faster access to regularly-used features for a more instinctive operation.
In addition to the aforementioned new Classic Chrome film simulation effect, the camera will offer 10 other traditional Fujifilm film effects. These include color reversal film effects (Velvia/Provia/ASTIA/Classic Chrome); professional color negative film (Pro Neg.Std/Pro Neg.Hi); monochrome filters (monochrome, Ye filter, R filter and G filter); and sepia.
The X30 will capture video in up to FullHD 1080/60p with a bit rate of up to 36Mbps, and with manual focus available during video recording.
Fujifilm is also supplying a free Camera Remote application and Wireless Communication function to enable remotely shooting images from smartphones and tablets.
