Fuji X-T10 Walkaround

by William Brawley | Posted: 05/18/2015

The Fujifilm X-T10's design borrows heavily from the X-T1 with its deeply retro-inspired aesthetic complete with sharp lines and angles as well as numerous controls and dials. The body construction is compact and lightweight with both the top and bottom plates made from die-cast magnesium, and the three main dials along the top plate are made from milled aluminum. Although unspecified, presumably the middle body section is polycarbonate.

Starting with the top deck of the camera, on the right hand side, you have the main control cluster. The large shutter speed adjustment dial provides a range from 1/4,000s down to one second, plus Time, Bulb and Auto. As on the X-T1, there's also a specific marking for the 1/180s second flash sync speed. Apart from the manual shutter speed dial, you can adjust the shutter speed down to 30s, and up to a whopping 1/32,000s if you enable the electronic shutter, by using one of the command dials.

You'll notice a new lever jutting out next to the shutter speed dial. The X-T10 features a one-flick shortcut switch to Advanced SR Auto Mode. In this fully automatic mode, the camera will automatically choose the optimal exposure and autofocus settings for a particular scene. Using the rear command dial, users can scroll through the 58 different scene presets to pick the most appropriate one for the moment. This new switch makes it very convenient to switch back and forth quickly between the standard PASM shooting modes and an easy automatic shooting mode that's great for beginner photographers or when you just want some quick snapshots.

The large exposure compensation dial sits off in the far right corner of the top plate and offers +/-3EV adjustments. Sandwiched between this and shutter speed dial are the on/off switch and shutter release button, as well as a single programmable Function button, which by default initializes the camera's Wi-Fi connection capabilities. Also, above the exposure compensation dial is the small video recording start/stop button.

Moving further left on the top deck, the X-T10 has a standard hot-shoe mount for external flashes and other accessories, however, unlike the big brother X-T1, the X-T10 includes a pop-up flash built into the top of the EVF housing.

And finally, on the left hand side of the top plate, the X-T10 does away with the ISO adjustment dial altogether -- that's adjusted via the menus -- and instead, presents a single a drive mode dial for quick adjustments between single-shot, continuous burst shooting, bracketing and more, including a sweep panorama mode. The pop-up flash lever is located next to this drive mode dial.

Moving to the rear face of the camera, there are again a lot of similarities to the X-T1. With its four-way control pad with central menu/OK button and small thumb-rest protrusion, the basic button and control layout is practically identical to the earlier X-T1 apart from the slight sizing differences between the two cameras. The only omission on the X-T10 is the Focus Assist button near the top right corner of the LCD screen. Also, the View Mode button is moved next to the EVF eyepiece instead of on the right side of the EVF housing as on the X-T1.

As for the rear LCD screen itself, the X-T10 features a 3.0-inch, 920K-dot LCD display with tilt articulation. The X-T10's LCD has a slightly lower resolution than the 1,040K-dot screen on the X-T1, but both cameras offer a full 100% coverage of the frame.

Flipping over to the front face of the camera, we can see a very clean, simplified design. Like the X-T1, the camera's middle section is covered in a leather-like textured coating for some grip and added style. In terms of buttons and dials, the X-T10 is notably cleaner with only a single front forefinger command dial and a focus mode selector dial on the lower corner (at about the 4 o'clock position next to the lens mount). There is a subtle forward-facing ridge along the front right face of the camera that provides a simple handgrip contour.

The X-T10 does not have a programmable front-facing function button between the "hand grip" area and the lens mount, nor does it have the flash sync socket on the opposite side like the X-T1 does. Below the "FUJIFILM" logo, on either side of the lens mount, are two small holes which house left and right microphones for stereo audio recording. And finally, to the right of the front command dial is the AF-assist lamp.

The left-hand side has a small door covering the Type-D Micro HDMI port, Micro USB 2.0 port (also compatible with the optional RR-90 remote release cable), and a 2.5mm stereo microphone jack (which unfortunately means you'll need a 2.5-3.5mm adapter to connect standard microphones). The mic jack also acts as a shutter release input.

The right side of the Fuji X-T10 is devoid of any ports, controls or a card slot, unlike the X-T1 which has its memory card slot behind a door here. Also notice the exposed screws on the left and right of the X-T10, unlike the fully weather-sealed X-T1.

The Fuji X-T10's combined battery/memory card compartment door is on the bottom right (when viewed from the back), right next to the metal tripod socket. The off-center tripod socket can make it difficult to change batteries or cards when the camera is mounted on a tripod, and isn't ideal for panorama shooting on a tripod either. A grill for the speaker can be seen at the other end of the otherwise featureless bottom, as the X-T10 lacks the X-T1's vertical battery grip connector.

The Fuji X-T10 is powered by a rechargeable NP-W126 lithium-ion battery, the same battery pack as the X-T1. The camera is CIPA-rated for 350 shots per charge (tested using the 35mm f/1.4R with LCD monitor on). Though individual movie clips are limited to 14min. and 27min., depending on Full or HD resolution, respectively, the battery pack should be able to handle up to 124 total minutes of video recording per charge.

The X-T10's battery/card compartment door has a little cable channel cover to connect an AC adapter via a DC coupler (dummy battery).

The Fuji X-T10 supports a single SD, SDHC, or SDXC memory card, and although it doesn't support UHS-II like the X-T1, it can take advantage of UHS-I-type memory cards.