Fujifilm X-T3 Performance

Camera Reviews / Fujifilm Cameras / Fuji X i Review

Navigate Review Jump to review page...

Fuji X-T3 Performance

Timing and Performance

Generally excellent performance.

Startup/Play to Record
Power on to first shot	~1.1 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, though 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) Mechanical / EFCS / Electronic Shutter
Full Autofocus, Single Area (center) AF-S mode	0.064/0.088/0.096 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 56mm f/1.2 lens.*)
Full Autofocus, Single Area AF-S, Flash enabled	0.161/0.178/N.A. second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture. (Bundled flash in Auto mode.)
Manual Focus	0.060/0.081/0.084 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	0.051/0.068/0.071 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Fuji X-T3's full autofocus shutter lag was very fast for a mirrorless camera. The X-T3's full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) was 0.064 second using single point (center) AF-S mode using the mechanical shutter. Note that Boost mode was enabled and Release/Focus Priority was set to Focus Priority (unlike most cameras, Fujis oddly default to Release Priority even in AF-S mode).

With the bundled flash installed and enabled, the X-T3's full AF shutter lag increased to 0.161 second to account for preflash metering.

Manual focus shutter lag was also fast at 0.60 second, and Prefocused shutter lag was quite quick, at 0.051 second.

We retested the X-T3's lag times using electronic first-curtain shutter and electronic shutter modes to see how using them impacts performance. As you can see they both increased lag times, but not dramatically. Interestingly, EFCS mode was slower than the purely mechanical shutter, while on most cameras it's faster.

With Boost mode disabled, Full AF lag was a bit slower at 0.081/0.096/0.102 second, but that's still quite fast. Boost mode had little effect on manual focus and prefocused lag.

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 Shutter	0.39 second	Time per shot, averaged over a few frames (we no longer test for buffer depths in single-shot mode).
Single Shot mode Lossless RAW + L/F JPEG Mechanical Shutter	0.40 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 Mechanical Shutter	0.09 second (11.1 fps); 187 frames total; 15.3 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 187 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.16s or 6.1 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous High Lossless RAW Mechanical Shutter	0.09 second (11.0 fps); 36 frames total; 12.3 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 36 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.37s or 2.7 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous High Lossless RAW + L/F JPEG Mechanical Shutter	0.09 second (11.1 fps); 34 frames total; 16.0 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 34 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.52s or 1.9 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous High Large Fine JPEG Electronic Shutter	0.05 second (20.0 fps); 64 frames total; 14.3 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 64 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.14s or 7.2 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous High Lossless RAW Electronic Shutter	0.05 second (20.0 fps); 36 frames total; 8.9 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 36 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.28s or 3.6 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous High Lossless RAW + L/F JPEG Electronic Shutter	0.05 second (20.0 fps); 34 frames total; 11.4 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 34 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.62s or 1.6 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous High 16.6MP JPEG Electronic Shutter 1.25x crop mode	0.03 second (30.0 fps); 72 frames total; 11.1 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 72 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.10s or 9.8 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous High 16.6MP LL RAW Electronic Shutter 1.25x crop mode	0.03 second (30.0 fps); 33 frames total; 6.2 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 33 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.34s or 2.9 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Continuous High 16.6MP Lossless RAW + JPEG Electronic Shutter 1.25x crop mode	0.03 second (30.0 fps); 33 frames total; 11.6 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 33 frames. Then slows to an average of 0.38s or 2.6 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
Flash Recycling	4.8 seconds	Bundled flash at maximum output.
*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 fast -- below 0.5 second for both JPEG and RAW+JPEG frames. (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 X-T3 offers no fewer than seven full-resolution continuous modes consisting of Continuous Low at 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 5.7 fps, and Continuous High at 8.0, 11 and 20 frames per second. In addition, there are three 1.25x crop modes rated at 10, 20 and 30 fps. Note that speeds above 11 fps use the electronic shutter.

The Fuji X-T3's top Continuous High burst mode speed with the mechanical shutter was excellent, testing at just over 11 frames per second no matter the file type, and without needing the optional battery grip like the X-T2 did.

As mentioned, the X-T3's top full-resolution burst rate is 20 frames per second using the electronic shutter, and our lab results exactly matched that spec no matter the file type. The X-T3's 30 fps 1.25x crop mode (which produces 16.6-megapixel files) also exactly met spec in the lab. We did not test the lower-speed modes.

Full-resolution buffer depth was excellent for JPEGs at 11 fps, with a tested buffer depth of 187 best quality JPEGs. When shooting losslessly compressed RAW and RAW+JPEG, the buffer depths dropped to 36 and 34 respectively which is still pretty good. Interestingly, RAW and RAW+JPEG buffer depths didn't change when shooting at 20 fps, remaining at 36 and 34 respectively, though when shooting just JPEGs it fell from 187 to 64 frames, though that's still pretty good. In the 30 fps 1.25x crop mode, buffer depths were still quite good at 72 best quality JPEGs, 33 lossless RAW and 33 lossless RAW+JPEG frames.

Buffer clearing was reasonably quick given the generous buffer depths with our fast 64GB Lexar Pro 2000x UHS-II SDXC card, taking between a best-case of 6.2 seconds and a worst-case of 16 seconds to clear after max-length bursts 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 4.8 seconds, which is a little slow.

Bottom line, the Fuji X-T3's performance is excellent with a decent startup time, super fast autofocus, low shutter lag, fast cycle times, and incredibly fast bursts modes with generous buffer depths and reasonably quick buffer clearing when using a fast UHS-II card.

Battery

Battery Life
Decent battery life for a mirrorless camera.

Still Capture with XF 35mm f/1.4 lens	Battery Life, Shots (Normal / Boost)
Electronic Viewfinder	370 / 260
LCD Monitor	390 / 310

The Fuji X-T3 uses a custom NP-W126S rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with a single battery and a dedicated battery charger, though in-camera charging via USB is also supported. The CIPA-rated battery life is about average for a mirrorless camera in Normal mode, but it's lower than average in Boost mode, and much lower than most DSLRs. We recommend getting a second battery for your X-T3 if you plan any extended outings, and using the optional VG-XT3 vertical battery grip can almost triple battery life with three batteries (one in the body and two in the grip).

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))