Fuji X-T20 Performance


Timing and Performance

Very good performance in the lab.

Startup/Play to Record

Power on
to first shot

~1.4 seconds

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. Play to Record wasn't bad, but we had to press the shutter button again to get a shot. These are similar results to the X-T10, and High Performance mode only shaved 0.1 second off of both values.


Shutter Response (Lag Time)

Full Autofocus,
Single Point (center) AF mode

0.069 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

0.158 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture with built-in flash enabled in Auto mode.

Manual Focus

0.057 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

0.047 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Fuji X-T20's single-shot full autofocus shutter lag was much faster than average for a mirrorless camera in our lab tests. The Fuji X-T20 produced a full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) of only 0.069 second using Single Point AF mode (center) with the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 Macro lens. Note that High Performance mode was enabled for the above results (it speeds up AF and increases display frame rate at the expense of lower battery life). With High Performance mode disabled, full AF shutter lag increased to 0.147 second, but that's still quite fast.

As expected, manual focus shutter lag was lower than full AF, with an average of only 0.057 second. Prefocused shutter lag was very low at only 0.047 second. These results are faster than the X-T10's, but of course not as fast as the X-T2's.

Note: Mechanical shutter was used for these measurements. The X-T20 also offers an electronic shutter, but shutter lag is usually a bit slower with e-shutter.

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

0.64 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
(8.2 fps);
49 frames total;
7 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 49 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.20s or 5.0 fps when buffer is full.

Continuous High
Lossless RAW
Mechanical Shutter

0.12 second
(8.1 fps);
29 frames total;
9 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 29 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.39s or 2.5 fps when buffer is full.

Continuous High
RAW + L/F JPEG
Mechanical Shutter

0.12 second
(8.1 fps);
26 frames total;
15 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 26 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.59s or 1.7 fps when buffer is full.

Continuous High
Large Fine JPEG
Electronic Shutter

0.07 second
(13.7 fps);
32 frames total;
7 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 32 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.22s or 4.6 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.

Continuous High
Lossless RAW
Electronic Shutter

0.07 second
(13.7 fps);
25 frames total;
9 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 25 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.40s or 2.5 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.

Continuous High
RAW + L/F JPEG
Electronic Shutter

0.07 second
(13.7 fps);
21 frames total;
14 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 21 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.62s or 1.6 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.

Flash Recycling

3.8 seconds

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 so fast with either the mechanical or electronic shutter when shooting JPEGs 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. When shooting RAW+JPEG files, cycle times increased to an average of 0.64 second, though that's still pretty fast. (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-T20'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 and matching its higher-end sibling, the X-T2.

Fuji rates the X-T20's top burst speed at 14 frames per second using the electronic shutter. In the lab, the camera managed just over 13.7 fps, which is pretty close to the spec. Performance here also essentially matches the X-T2.

Full-resolution buffer depths were quite good at 8 fps, though as expected not as good as the X-T2's as unlike that camera, the X-T20 does not support faster UHS-II cards. With our SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I card, buffer depths were 49 best quality JPEGs, 29 losslessly compressed RAW files, and 26 lossless RAW+JPEG files before the camera slowed in our tests. The buffer-full rate when shooting JPEGs wasn't bad either, at about 5 fps, but RAW and RAW+JPEG slowed down to 2.5 and 1.7 fps respectively.

Unsuprisingly, buffer depths fell in the faster 14 fps electronic shutter mode, but were still good at 32, 25, and 21 frames respectively, only slightly shallower than the X-T2.

Buffer clearing wasn't as quick as the X-T2 because of the slower card type, taking between 7 to 15 seconds to clear after a max-length burst depending on the mode and file type. The Fuji X-T20 lets you adjust settings while the buffer is clearing, but unlike the X-T2, you cannot view just-shot images.

Recycling the built-in flash after full-power discharges took an average of 3.8 seconds, which is not bad.


Bottom line, the Fuji X-T20's performance is very good with a decent startup time, fast autofocus, low shutter lag, fast cycle times, and very fast bursts modes. As expected, buffer depths and clearing times aren't as good as the X-T2's due to a lack of UHS-II support, but they are still better than average.

Battery

Battery Life
Average battery life for a mirrorless camera.

Still Capture
with XF 35mm f/1.4 lens
Battery Life, Shots
Standard / High Performance
Electronic Viewfinder
350 / 260
LCD Monitor
350 / 260

The Fuji X-T20 uses a custom NP-W126S 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, as well as for Standard and High Performance modes. CIPA-rated battery life is about average for a mirrorless camera in Standard mode, but no where near a typical DSLR when using its optical viewfinder. As is usually the case, we strongly recommend getting a second battery for your X-T20 if you plan any extended outings or shoot a lot of video.

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))

 



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