Fujifilm X-S20: What’s new and how does it compare?

Fujifilm’s X-S20: What’s new and how does it compare?

Recently, Fujifilm upgraded its midrange ‘X-S’ model from X-S10 to X-S20. The new camera doesn’t look like much of an upgrade at first – its design is super similar to the X-S10 – but under the hood are greatly improved processing and a much bigger battery.

Although the sensor remains the same 26MP chip as in its predecessor, a new processor takes its abilities up a new level, adding the improved autofocus and subject detection algorithms from Fujifilm’s higher-end cameras. These include faces/eyes for people, animals, birds, insects, bikes, automobiles, trains, airplanes and drones.

In-body stabilization has also been upgraded – 7 stops now instead of 6. And the new processor makes it a much better camera for video, able to shoot at higher resolutions and higher frame rates.

Let’s take a closer look at the Fujifilm X-S20 and how it compares to other cameras in the Fujifilm X-mount family.

Vlog mode

The marketing materials for the X-S20 put a lot of stress and attention on its new Vlog mode, proudly represented on the Mode dial. In reality, we’ve seen this functionality in a bunch of other cameras and Fujifilm isn’t reinventing the wheel.

When you turn the dial to the ‘Vlog’ setting, you get a slightly tweaked interface, with touch-friendly controls intended to make video easier for beginners. These controls let you blur the background, put focus priority on products that are placed in front of a host, and turn high-speed recording on. The X-S20 also has standard UVC webcam support, so streamers can use it as a recording device for capture software like OBS.

Finally, vloggers might make use of the compatible TG-BT1 tripod grip. This $199 accessory attaches to the camera with the tripod mount, and can control the X-S20 via Bluetooth. In one mode, it can be used to hold the camera out like a selfie stick, and when the legs are unfolded, it keeps the X-S20 upright on a table.

Ports a-plenty

Even though the X-S20 isn’t positioned as Fujifilm’s highest-end hybrid camera, what it packs in for $1299 is nevertheless impressive. This model makes its intentions clear when you take a look at its port selection. USB-C PD charging is always welcome on a midrange model (we’ve dinged some recent cameras for sticking to the less flexible and slower micro USB). Also included is micro HDMI, which lets the X-S20 use an external video recorder like an Atomos Ninja; but more on that later.

The left side of the camera includes a 3.5mm jack for a microphone, too, and Fujifilm tells us that the software is clever enough to ask the user whether they’ve plugged in a mic or a remote. The newest port is around the other side of the X-S20, which we’ll get to next.

Get a grip!

Compared to the X-S10, the X-S20 has a slightly bigger, easier-to-hold grip. And the grip isn’t the only part of the camera to grow, with bigger more pronounced buttons all around and larger dials too.

The X-T20’s grip is also where the 3.5mm headphone jack sits, underneath a small rubber flap. This jack replaces the need for a fiddly USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, which the X-S10 required if you wanted to monitor audio. Furthermore, this will let you monitor audio while powering the camera, something that was impossible even with the more expensive X-T4.

Where does it fit?

The X-S20 makes clear that the X-S cameras are to be in Fujifilm’s DSLR-like design, with a pair of command dials to set key exposure parameters rather than the dedicated shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation dials on the X-T models. This is the approach the rest of the industry has settled on over the past thirty or forty years, so it makes sense for the company to offer some models that work this way. Fujifilm still offers the midrange X-T30 II, for those photographers who prefer to shoot a digital camera like an SLR from the 1970s.

With the X-S10, design style was almost the only differentiator: the only major spec difference between that and the X-T30 II that the X-S model included image stabilization, and their pricing was similar. The X-S20 makes the two models more distinct, bringing higher video specs, more sophisticated autofocus, a bigger battery and a larger price difference. So where does that now put the X-S20 in Fujifilm’s lineup?

Is this the successor to the X-T4? Or a baby X-H2s? Or neither?

One thing that struck us as we learned more about the X-S20 is that while there are a few noteworthy new features for stills (autofocus enhancements chief among them), its the video features that put it into a higher class of camera, hence its 30 percent higher retail price.

The X-S20 has been upgraded to X-T4 levels of video ability, with 10-bit internal capture and 4K/60p, and it then adds some features from the X-H2 family for good measure. A surprise addition is compatibility with the X-H2’s FAN-001 cooling accessory, which gives the X-S20 longer video running time in hot and temperate climates alike.

What you don’t get from either the X-T4 or the X-S family are a better viewfinder (it’s worth noting that the X-S20 has an EVF with low magnification, making it appear smaller than competing models), weathersealing or rugged build. For external recording, the fiddlier micro HDMI is far from ideal compared to the full-size HDMI that the X-H2S has.

You say you want a resolution? Well, we all want to film the world

A brief glance at the Fujifilm X-S20’s video spec sheet looks great. 4K/60p, 4:2:2 10-bit? Open-gate 6.2K up to 30p internal? Great, let’s go! Hold your horses, though – it’s not quite that simple, unfortunately.

The X-S20 has a few limitations, compared to the higher-powered models in the Fujifilm lineup. First off is that if you want 4K/60p you’ll take a slight crop as a penalty, in this case 1.18x. This is the same as on the X-T4 and stems from the fact that the sensor can’t read out its full width fast enough to capture 60 fps. The camera’s other 4K modes apply the same crop when in 10-bit mode.

If you’re going for a more cinematic look, UHD and DCI 4K are both crop-free at 24 and 30p in 8-bit mode. The max bitrate in all of these modes internally is 360Mbps. All of the high-quality 10-bit modes are captured in H.265, which does a better job of compressing video without losing as much detail.

Then there are the new 1080p ‘LP’ modes, which can do either 16:9 or 17:9, all with a crop down to 1.29x. Fujifilm says that these modes can keep rolling for longer (with or without the fan accessory).

With an external recorder plugged into its micro HDMI port, it’s possible to get up to 6.2K/30p in either Apple ProRes or Blackmagic RAW or 5.2K 16:9 footage (a 1.18x crop) in up to 60p. Fujifilm’s F-Log and F-Log2 come along for the ride, which could make color grading alongside other Fujifilm cameras more consistent and easier during post-production.

We like big batts (and we cannot lie)

The X-S20 supports its upgraded processing and better video capabilities is partly with more power. Fujifilm moved this model to the much bigger NP-W235, used in the company’s higher-end models like the X-T5 and X-H2. This has almost double the capacity of the X-S10’s battery (16Wh vs 8.7Wh), doubling the number of stills captured with a single charge: from around 325 shots in the X-S10 to 750 in the X-S20’s standard power mode, or even to 800 in the new economy mode.

In practice this is a significant difference: it not only gives the X-S20 much greater endurance for video shooting, it also means not having to recharge during an intensive stills session, or being able to take a longer trip before you have to worry about topping things up.

And another thing – the X-S20 gets an SD slot speed upgrade, and can now support the far faster UHS-II standard. This means higher sustained burst rates, letting you shoot over 1000 JPEGs at 8 FPS according to Fujifilm.

Summary

The X-S20 looks a lot like its predecessor, but the closer you look, the more different it is, both in terms of who it’s for and what it’s trying to achieve.

A lot of the upgrades are clearly video focused, but the larger battery and improved autofocus mean it’s at least as credible a stills camera as the outgoing X-T4 was. And that appears to be the point: it’s a more expensive camera than the X-S10 but also fills the hybrid shoes of the discontinued X-T4 very well.

It’s 30 percent more expensive than the X-S10’s $999 launch price, but in some respects it brings you more bang than the formerly $1699 X-T4 did.