Fujifilm X-T2 Performance

Camera Reviews / Fujifilm Cameras / Fuji X i Review

Navigate Review Jump to review page...

Fuji X-T2 Performance

Timing and Performance

Excellent performance in the lab.

Startup/Play to Record
Power on to first shot	~1.0 second	Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.
Play to Record, first shot	~1.0 second	Time until first shot is captured.

Power on to first shot was slightly faster than average for a mirrorless camera, but not as fast as most DSLRs. It's also difficult to accurately time, as there is a shutter pre-press penalty. Play to Record wasn't bad, but also had a pre-press penalty.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus, Single Point (center) AF mode	0.053 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 60mm f/2.4 Macro lens.* )
Full Autofocus Single-area AF mode Flash enabled	0.196 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture. (Bundled flash in Auto mode.)
Manual Focus	0.052 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	0.033 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Fuji X-T2's full autofocus shutter lag was much faster than average for a mirrorless camera in our lab tests. The Fuji X-T2 produced a full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) of only 0.053 second using Single Point AF mode (center) with the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 Macro lens. That's faster than most pro DSLRs! Enabling the flash in TTL Auto mode increased full AF shutter lag to 0.196 second due to pre-flash metering, but that's still very fast.

Manual focus shutter lag was just slightly lower than full AF without the flash, with an average of only 0.052 second. Prefocused shutter lag was very low at only 0.033 second. Excellent performance.

Note: Mechanical shutter and Boost mode were used for these measurements unless otherwise noted.

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 Mechanical or Electronic Shutter	< 0.3 second	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 Mechanical or Electronic Shutter	< 0.3 second	Time per shot, averaged over a few frames (we no longer test for buffer depths in single-shot mode).
Early shutter penalty?	Yes (Intermittent)	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 Mechanical Shutter	0.12 second (8.16 fps); 55 frames total; 5 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 55 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.20s or 5.03 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous High Lossless RAW Mechanical Shutter	0.12 second (8.16 fps); 48 frames total; 4 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 48 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.20s or 5.06 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous High RAW + L/F JPEG Mechanical Shutter	0.12 second (8.11 fps); 35 frames total; 7 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 35 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.25s or 4.07 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous High Large Fine JPEG Electronic Shutter	0.07 second (13.66 fps); 32 frames total; 6 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 32 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.22s or 4.55 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous High Lossless RAW Electronic Shutter	0.07 second (13.66 fps); 26 frames total; 5 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 26 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.20s or 4.97 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous High RAW + L/F JPEG Electronic Shutter	0.07 second (13.64 fps); 25 frames total; 7 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 25 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.29s or 3.45 fps when buffer is full.
Flash Recycling	3.2 seconds	Flash at maximum output (bundled flash).
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a 64GB Lexar Pro 2000x UHS-II SDXC 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 so fast with either the mechanical or electronic shutter that they were difficult to accurately measure as they depend on the tester's dexterity and ability to maintain an optimum rhythm, especially given the intermittent pre-press penalty. (Note that we no longer test single-shot mode with just RAW files, as the results are usually somewhere in between JPEG and RAW+JPEG.)

The Fuji X-T2's Continuous High burst mode speed with the mechanical shutter was quite good, at just over 8.1 frames per second no matter the file type, slightly exceeding Fuji's spec. With the optional VPB-XT2 grip and two batteries, Fuji rates the maximum frame rate with mechanical shutter at 11 fps, however we weren't able to test that in the lab.

Fuji rates the X-T2's burst speed at 14 frames per second using electronic shutter. In the lab, the camera managed just over 13.6 fps, which is pretty close to the spec and amazingly fast.

Full-resolution buffer depths were excellent at 8 fps with our fast 64GB Lexar Pro 2000x UHS-II SDXC card, with buffer depths of 55 best quality JPEGs, 48 losslessly compressed RAW files, and 35 RAW+JPEG files before the camera slowed in our tests. Buffer-full rates weren't bad either, at about 5 fps for JPEG or RAW files, and about 4 fps for RAW+JPEG.

Unsuprisingly, buffer depths fell in the faster 14 fps electronic shutter mode, but were still quite good at 32, 26, and 25 frames respectively.

Buffer clearing was quick, taking only 4 to 7 seconds to clear after a max-length burst depending on the mode and file type, and the camera lets you adjust settings as well as view just-shot images while the buffer is clearing.

Recycling the bundled flash after full-power discharges took an average of 3.2 seconds, which is good.

Bottom line, the Fuji X-T2's performance is excellent with a decent startup time, super fast autofocus, very low shutter lag, fast cycle times, and very fast bursts modes with generous buffer depths and fast buffer clearing when using a fast UHS-II card.

Battery

Battery Life
Fair battery life for a mirrorless camera.

Still Capture with XF 35mm f/1.4 lens	Battery Life, Shots Normal / Boost
Electronic Viewfinder	330 / 200
LCD Monitor	340 / 260

The Fuji X-T2 uses a custom NP-W126S (or lower capacity NP-W126) rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with both a single battery and a dedicated charger, although in-camera charging via USB is also supported.

Fuji provides battery life numbers for when using the electronic viewfinder and LCD monitor (without using the bundled flash), as well as for Normal and Boost modes. CIPA-rated battery life is fair for a high-performance mirrorless camera, but no where near a typical prosumer DSLR. As is usually the case, we strongly recommend at least getting a second battery for your X-T2, and suggest you consider purchasing the optional VPB-XT2 battery grip. The grip can roughly triple battery life by utilizing two batteries in addition to one in the body.

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))