Fujifilm X-A3 Performance

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Fuji X-A3 Performance

Timing and Performance

Mediocre performance for a mirrorless camera.

Startup/Play to Record
Power on to first shot	~2.0 seconds	Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.
Play to Record, first shot	~1.5 seconds	Time until first shot is captured.

Power on to first shot was slower than average for a mirrorless camera these days, at about two seconds. Switching from Play to Record mode and taking a shot was also a bit sluggish.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus, Single Area (center) AF mode	0.374 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting. (*All timing performed with the Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS II kit lens.*)
Full Autofocus, Single Area (center) AF mode Auto Flash Enabled	0.434 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting, TTL Auto flash enabled.
Manual Focus	0.194 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".
Prefocused	0.048 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Fuji X-A3's full autofocus shutter lag was slower than average for a mirrorless camera, though there is a "Pre-AF" option which should help by continuously focusing even when the shutter button is not pressed half way (that does however reduce battery life). The Fuji X-A3's full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) was 0.374 second using Single Point AF mode (center) with the kit lens (without Pre-AF enabled). With the built-in flash enabled, the X-A3's full AF shutter lag increased to 0.434 second to account for preflash metering.

Manual focus shutter lag was also a bit slow for a mirrorless camera at 0.194 second, but prefocused shutter lag was quite quick, at only 0.048 second.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large/Fine JPEG	1.01 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over a few frames (we no longer test for buffer depths in single-shot mode).
Single Shot mode RAW + L/F JPEG	0.98 second	Time per shot, averaged over a few frames (we no longer test for buffer depths in single-shot mode).
Early shutter penalty?	Yes	Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous High Large Fine JPEG	0.17 second (5.93 fps); 9 frames total; 7 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 9 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.72s or 1.39 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous High RAW	0.17 second (5.75 fps); 6 frames total; 5 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 6 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.67s or 1.5 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous High RAW + L/F JPEG	0.17 second (5.81 fps); 6 frames total; 6 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 6 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.86s or 1.16 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Flash Recycling	3.4	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Single-shot cycle times were also slower than average at about one second, and the X-A3 has a pre-press penalty (if you press the shutter button too soon after a previous shot, the camera ignores it and you need to press it again).

The highest speed "Continuous H" burst rate was decent, measured at about 5.9 frames per second for best quality JPEGs, which is pretty close to Fujifilm's 6.0 fps spec. The frame rate dropped just slightly to about 5.8 fps for RAW or RAW+JPEG files. The Fuji X-A3 also offers a "Continuous L" mode rated at 3.0 fps, but we didn't test that mode in the lab.

Buffer depth was a meager nine frames for best quality JPEGs which is quite shallow and just short of Fujifilm's ten frame spec. When shooting RAW or RAW+JPEG files, buffer depth dropped to a paltry six frames. Buffer clearing was a reasonably quick seven seconds after shooting a max-length burst of JPEGs, five seconds after a RAW burst, and six seconds after a RAW+JPEG burst, though keep in mind the very shallow buffer depths.

Recycling the flash after full power discharges took an average of 3.4 seconds, on the slow side of average.

Bottom line, the Fuji X-A3's performance was mediocre for a mirrorless ILC, with slower than average startup, mode switching, autofocus and cycle times. Burst speed was decent for its class, however buffer depths were very shallow. Prefocused shutter lag was pretty good, though. While performance should still be adequate for a wide variety of subjects especially when prefocused, the Fuji X-A3 was clearly not designed for sports or fast action.

Battery

Battery Life
Good battery life for a mirrorless camera.

Operating Mode	Battery Life
Still Capture, (CIPA standard)	410 shots

The Fuji X-A3 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with a single battery and an AC adapter for charging in-camera via the USB port. The CIPA rated 410 shots per charge is above average for a mirrorless camera, but much lower than most DSLRs. As is usually the case, we recommend getting a second battery for your X-A3 if you plan any extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))