Fujifilm X-S20 First Look
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Maarten reviews the features and functions of the Fujifilm X-S20 in this unsponsored video. No ads, no interruptions.
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#NOTSPONSORED
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I have not received compensation in exchange for posting this review.
ABOUT ME
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I do read and respond to all comments, which are moderated. If you leave a relevant question or civil comment without links (which are filtered by youtube) it will be posted, I will reply.
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WEBSITE/BLOG: maartech.com
CONTACT: maartendotheilbronatgmaildotcom
DISCLOSURE
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I am not sponsored or compensated by any manufacturer, I have not accepted payment to review this or any product. The camera, lens and accessories were on loan from Fujifilm Canada, but they did not review the script or video prior to posting.
I am compensated by Google Adwords, who place videos before and after my videos.
I encourage you to visit and support your local photo/video retailer.
It's great to see you reviewing a new camera again. It was worth the wait. Nobody does a better review on TH-cam.
That's very kind of you to say, thanks for taking the time to comment.
Always a pleasure to watch your videos.
Although I was not very interested in Fujifilm's gear, nor in producing videos, the whole approach to features and functionalities, in the right measure to be enlightening and informative without being excessive, and the inflections in the speech, held my attention until the end.
That is, even if the content is not the most relevant, for our particular preferences, the session retains all the interest.
Something that few vloggers have. By the way, nice shirt
Two votes for the shirt - thanks! And thanks for your kind words, it’s always nice to know that viewers appreciate my style as well as my content.
Excellent as always. Not sure if I'm ready to trade in the XS-10 quite yet, but Fuji has done an admirable job in keeping this form factor relevant.
Thanks!! Although there are some specific needs the S20 addresses, it’s a long way from making the S10 obsolete.
I'm also somewhat tempted... But no
Maarten, may I suggest "Button Bumps"? Search B&H, for button bumps, and choose Fuji X-mount. I have used them on pretty much every camera I've owned except the OM-1 and the A7RV who's buttons seem adequate. They saved the RX10IV for me, who's buttons were very similar to those 2 you pointed out on the X-S2. They not only raise the button up, but they have that tactile feel of your silicone baking mat. No mistaking them. I'v never had one come off. They have clear ones so you can still see the markings on the buttons. I am totally baffled why manufacturers insist on flush buttons, but these will eliminate the problem. Give them a try. $12 well spent.
Great tip! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks!
Thanks for your kind word and support, both are appreciated.
Thanks!
That is very kind of you, I appreciate your support and kind word.
You are the GOAT of camera reviewers.
I appreciate the compliment, glad you enjoy my videos.
Another informative video. This looks like the ideal camera for video. Will sit comfortably alongside my X-T4.
Thanks for the kind words. I hope it will be comfortable. I’ll finish the vlog/video review in the next day or two.
That’s wonderful-that you get to test that equipment. That says a lot. Fuji is very pleased with you. Some other TH-camrs-they do not like.
That is, sadly, the nature of reviewing cameras in 2023.
You are one of the best dressed TH-camrs I watch. Nice shirt and great introduction to the X-S20
Always interesting when viewers consider content less important than attire, but thanks.
@@MaartenHeilbron lol I'm trying to be a TH-camr myself so I try to observe it all when I watch videos from other content creators.
Thanks
Thank you, that was kind, generous and greatly appreciated.
Thank you Maarten, I was hoping that you would do a review of this camera.
I need a very capable little camera that can do most things well and will fit into a backpack when I fly abroad. Your review confirmed that I made the correct decision to pre-order an X-S20.
Always nice to know that my videos are useful and appreciated, thanks for commenting.
I’m so tempted but I’d need trade however the size and weight really appeal. Enjoy your camera
Thanks
Now you've got the perfect vlog camera... I'm now looking forward to seeing your vlogs ☺️
I'm just completing the two additional videos in this series. I'll post the vlogging one next.
So glad to see you active again
Thanks, I appreciate your interest and support.
Good to see you back in action!
Glad that you appreciate what I enjoy. Thanks for your kind words.
Hey Maarten! Good to see you back! 😊
Thanks, always nice to have a camera manufacturer who’s willing to lend a camera for review. Wish it wasn’t so difficult.
Maarten, appreciate the straight-forward approach balancing technical detail with usability. Also, brilliant timing to coincide with shipping date which helps me over the decision hump.
Going to deploy as a backup to the X-T5 which will be my stills creative tool with primarily primes. Being relatively new to video creation, I feel the XT-20 has enough headroom to grow and serve as a dedicated video tool with the Sigma 18-50 attached full-time. Plan is to trade in the X-E4, so this will also serve as a travel and casual family camera. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing your kind words and thoughtful comment - sounds like a good p lan.
Pleasant surprise to see a new review.
Thanks for the kind words - Fujifilm were willing to lend me a camera, so that enabled me to do a review.
thank you for that info. I am thinking to switch from XT-3 to XS20.
Always nice to read that viewers find my videos useful, thanks!
Me too. 5 axis inbody IS, bigger batt, faster processor, new film sims, better grip, lighter, 26mp is perfect... I don't want 40mp files sizes. Shame the EVF is a lower spec though.
I was waiting for your take on the XS20. Thank you. As always, brilliant! ❤ from India.
Always my pleasure, thank you for your kind words.
I always love your detailed and honest reviews! Even though I am invested EF and M4/3 lens mount systems, I may be adding the X mount soon. There are just too many great Fuji cameras and lenses.
Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. Always nice to know that I’ve provided useful information.
Another useful and down to earth review. I'm seriously considering this for travel, as an alternative to my trusty X-E3 travel companion. My H1 gave me a taste for more video creation and the S20's relatively small size compared to the T5 and H's hits the sweet spot.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for your kind words, appreciated!
@@MaartenHeilbron my X-S20 arrived yesterday. So far I'm impressed, it ticks all the boxes. It's practically the same size as the X-E3 and has IBIS and all the video features I was after, offering even more than my H1. Even the viewfinder, which seems to garner the most criticism in reviews, it certainly usable.
Nice review, thanks! The X-S20 looks like a valuable and well thought upgrade to the X-S10, especially the larger battery. A small(?) misfeature are the HDMI ports on the same side to which the screen opens, so if you want to control yourself onscreen, the cables will be in the way.
Yes, that’s clearly a drawback, as I mentioned when I needed to close the vlog menu.
Thanks for the overview Maarten. If the X-S20 stabilization is improved over the X-T4, I will have to give it serious consideration.
I appreciate the kind words. While it is improved, I wouldn’t call it a dramatic improvement.
Good to see another great review from you Sir. Thank you.
Thank you kindly, a pleasure to read your kind comment.
You're looking great Maarten. Wow, cooling fan for a camera. I understand the problem all too well, but a cooling fan seems an odd solution. I just normally wouldn't equate cameras with requiring fans, lol.
Really like the straight out of camera jpegs you put together. I prefer to shoot straight out of camera due to laziness. I love what I've seen of fuji's jpeg abilities across multiple cameras of theirs
Take care Maarten and enjoy the summer
What's interesting is that during the entire review period, while it's been quite warm in Toronto and I did several longer shoots, I did not see the overheating icon once. For many, this camera may not even need the cooling fan. Nice to have the insurance though.
thanks Maarten as usual
I'm thinking about getting this camera as a gift for my daughter. she likes photographing birds and nature in general and it will be a huge step up from her X-T100 I feel, with the subject detection being really useful as well as app integration. the grip is plus too, as she uses the 70-300 mainly and it'll be better balanced on this camera I'd imagine.
I'm sure she'll be pleased, thanks for your kind words.
From X-T100 to X-S20 should be a huge jump.
That may depend on the features that are important to you.
Just found your channel Maarten. I like your honest reviews and really good use of UI overlays in your editing. Looking forward to your review of the improved Fuji X app. My SX-20 is on-order and I'm on a month-long wait list.
Thanks for your kind words, they are appreciated.
Would've been nice to see a uptaded version of the viewfinder on this small body. I know that is a big request, considering the avarage user of this model, but i've recently began using the viewfinder a lot more on my XS10 and it is only "ok". I think probably i'll have to go to a camera in the X-H2 line up to get what I want, in the future. Thanks as always for the great videos Maarten
Good analysis. Thanks for your kind words.
Hi greetings from the UK.
Thanks for sharing another great video review full of useful information and so well presented.
Glad it was helpful! Always a pleasure to read kind words, thanks!!
Great video. I saw it to the end even I’m not interested in Fuji cameras!!
i do Like your style. Thanks
How kind, always nice to know that viewers appreciate my videos for whatever reason. Thanks!!
Very close to ordering one. I welcome the upgrades over the X-S10. Hoping the tracking and autofocus have improved. Have the 150-600. Recently took pictures of an Eagle and I will say user error was the biggest obstacle I think I could have gotten a higher hit rate. Got a few nice shots though.
The only tip I have is to always use boost with the highest refresh rate, otherwise hard to follow moving subjects. I often feel that way too - I should practice more to improve my skills.
Rock solid content well delivered. Thank you!
Much appreciated! Thanks for taking the time to comment with your kind words.
Great review as always!
I appreciate that, thanks for posting your kind comment.
Always love your reviews! I may have missed it, but which lens did you use to film the portion shot on the XS-20? Image quality looked amazingly sharp and clean!
That was the 8mm lens. Thanks for your kind words, stay tuned for more on video.
welcome back. another nice video from you. Looking foward to see another xs20 videos.
Should be able to get the video/vlog one done in the next day or so. Then stills probably next week.
Masterfully done. Thank you sir
Thank you kindly, always nice to read appreciative words from my viewers!
Hi Maarten! Curious to know how you felt about the size of the EVF? Specifically for stills. Did it feel too small or did it reduce your enjoyment of taking photos vs using a camera with larger magnification?
I’m torn between this and the X-H2. I don’t need the higher end features of the latter but the viewfinder size makes me hesitant to go for the X-S20. I appreciate your work and look forward to your future videos 😊
If you’re hesitant - make sure you do a side-by-side comparison, otherwise this will inhibit your enjoyment of the camera.
Great video! One thing I will say is, on the fujifilm specification website for the X-S20, they say there is a 1.18x crop on all 4k 10 bit recordings, regardless of frame rate. Is that true? I wonder why they did that when the other cameras with the same processors can do 4k 24 10 bit with no crop.
No explanation is offered for these kinds of decisions, but I suspect that it's a processing decision - they're using a easier factor to get video to the appropriate aspect ratio and resolution.
Sir, your presentation is spot on. Need your advice, should I buy Nikon Z50 or Fuji XS20. I am a hobbyist. Will XS20 be an overkill ? I love the film simulations and hope Fuji will release a simple entry level camera with these simulations for hobbyists like me.
Thanks for your kind words. I'm sure that either would suit your needs and provide lots of opportunity for growth. If the film sims attract you, then any Fujifilm model would provide those.
@MaartenHeilbron Thank you sir.
Nice video, thanks, very instructive. Which zoom lens would you choose please for general use, especially travel/outdoor : Fuji 18-55 F2.8-4 or 16-80 F4?
If the 16-55 is out of contention, then the 16-80 is likely the better all around choice.
@@MaartenHeilbron Thanks
Thank you Maarten!
Always my pleasure, particularly when my viewers post such kind comments. Thanks!!
Nice review. Could you post a short video how you color grade f-log footage?
Thanks for your kind words.
This video may help: th-cam.com/video/46f-zrAIgwc/w-d-xo.html
In essence, adjust the exposure to restore the dynamic range to the output format (SD or HDR) and then adjust the colour to suit your artistic intent.
@@MaartenHeilbron Thanks Sir
Thanks very much.
You're welcome! A pleasure to read your kind words.
Brilliant, thanks, your videos are great. Have helped me loads. I have a s-x10 and am thinking to upgrade based on AF only. I only shoot stills really, and the only time i find AF challenging is shooting my 2 yr and 5 yr ild kids (they dont stay still... Ever). 35mmf2 and 18-55mm f2.8-4 are ok, but the old 56mm f1.2 is a rral challenge (i enjoy, but with kids hit rate is abismal).
I know most of this is skills, but do you think the AF on the s-x20 or xt-5 is better for fast kid portraits?
I think you'd be better to work on your skills and positioning to improve your hit rate. Lighting and a smaller aperture might help also. I assume you're using continuous, wide area (tracking) and spotting them?
@@MaartenHeilbron thanks for the nudge in the right direction. Actually I was using zone and eye-af. C1 was for stationary (AF-S, auto iso with min 1/250th and increasing max iso with auto iso level), c2 for moving (Af-c, same auto iso, min 1/500th). C3/c4 same but acros. Kind of a bodge as I find I was slow changing/seeing current settings on the x-s10. So the c settings give a known base to work from.
I will try the wide tracking and focus AF-c priority as focus. Thanks 👍
Btw thanks for all the time you put into this. It really helps me learn. 😊
Hope it helps, keep us posted.
Great informative video. What size uhs-ii card does this camera use. I keep hearing everyone say it can shoot 4k 330mb read or write speed, but all I can find are uhs-ii sd cards with a max 300mb speed.
It is confusing. The camera's video recording bandwidth is given in Mbps (lower case "b", indicating "b", indicating "bits". Card speeds are generally given in MBps (the capital "B" indicates bytes. As 1 byte = 8 bits, a card with recording speed of 50MBps would be sufficient. Acccording to Fujifilm, the V60 type card is appropriate. Thanks for your kind words.
@@MaartenHeilbron wow! I’ve never heard it explained like that, so easy to understand the conversion factor. Thank you so much for your time.
I only shoot stills. Would you recommend this camera? or a different Fuji? I would get this one because the AF is faster than the XT4
I like the form factor (and resolution) of the X-H2, but can recommend this one. If you can wait a few days I will post a more detailed video about stills features.
@@MaartenHeilbron excellent thanks you
I love watching your videos. Happy you continue. I hope to get my X-S20 this week as an update to my X-T20.
Thank you for your kind comment, appreciated.
Where did you buy it?
Hello, I have an X-S20 camera. I am very happy that e.g. the camera also recognizes birds. But if I turn on this option, the Photometry mode cannot be changed. However, in some cases it would be good, e.g. spot metering. However, you cannot use the AF RANGE LIMITER. However, this could greatly increase the number of well-focused images of flying birds. I could send pictures of the problems, but it is not possible to attach a picture here. The FUJI developers have no intention of changing this? How do these things work with the Fuji X-H2S?
Yes, as you've discovered, any subject detection setting disables photometry. However, the identified subject will also be the target for the exposure. Agreed, the range limiter can be frustrating, but tracking is likely the best way to keep moving subjects in focus.
Which lens you should recommend for sx20, i own a 18-55mm fuji kit lens
Is the 15-45mm new? I thought this was a very old lens?
Old, and not very impressive lens.
Maarten, I still believe that XH1 is the best camera Fujifilm ever made. OK AF sucks but I manually focus.
hehe, not selling my X-H1 either.
1:57 what camera is that young woman using? Wild design!
It's a Fujifilm Instax camera
I always enjoy your videos.
But I have an unpopular opinion. Fuji, and APSC overall, do not impress me.
In my opinion if you want to go crop, go MFT. Cheaper overall and smaller especially on long zooms.
Fuji and APSC bring you neither the quality of the FF (with even almost similar price), nor the weight & size, and price savings of the MFT.
It's like a 35mm lens. Not wide enough not long enough. Achieves nothing on both sides. Still, I understand many people love Fuji, APSC, and 35mm focal length. I don't understand why, never will in fact.
Have a lovely day sir!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. As you say, yours may be an unpopular opinion.
Good point. I think I agree with you
Good point, Fujifilm does offer some features not found elsewhere like film sims and support for manual focus.
@@pepe_pupu there's even better dynamic range on full frames for less price. Nikon Z5, Z6, Lumix S5, Canon R6, Sony A7iii or even a7riii. All those are for less than the Fuji's.
Do you see where I'm coming from or not yet?
Hi Maarten, aren't you going on trips anymore?
Yes, but the X-S20 wasn’t available when we left.
NICE shirt! best thing of the video
Thanks, I too love interesting shirts.
As usual, very informative. Rather unfortunate that, tired of waiting for Fujifilm release an X series body with market competive AF, I purchased the still excellent XS10, less than a month before the release of this camera. I will survive and have no intention to drop money to purchase this newer iteration.
That said, it really does remain a mystery why Fujifilm has ,against all the market competition I have seen, appeared indifferent to AF.
I don't think that's true, when we identified some issues with continuous AF on the X-H2/X-H2S they were quick to recognize the issue and release firmware updates.
Designed primarily for vloggers so it's a no buy for me.
Thing is, I think it’s bad marketing. It’s a great stills camera also. You’ll see in the upcoming video about stills.
I think that’s just the marketing due to the great video features added. It’s still a stills camera and from what I’ve seen a damn good one, it just happens that because of the video features a lot of people have concentrated on that in their videos. I would buy it as a great sized stills camera and use on odd occasions maybe for video because I have no clue about video!
Entirely correct, the stills video about this camera will be along next week.
@@MaartenHeilbron look forward to it
Just wanted the X-S10 with a bigger battery, I don't care at all about video.
You don’t need to care about video - but the new bigger battery delivers what you’re looking for. Of course, just buying a second battery would be quite a bit less expensive!
You’ve got it - and more 😂 better stabilisation and autofocus however as Maarten said you could just buy another battery 😉 I know what you mean about the small batteries, I have an x-t30 and really need to buy a spare. The battery in the x-s20 is so great as it’s the same as the x-t4 onwards I believe which lasts a long time.
Thanks for supporting my comment.
A PSAM Wheel, no AF Switch. No Buy.
Please watch more carefully. This is a camera with a PASM dial.
How do we change from S single, C continuous focusing modes please? With S C M switch removed... thanks
Use the Q menu or assign focus mode to a function key (I use the video record button).
It’s starting to look cheap like Sony is now doing…..
That was not my impression.
@@MaartenHeilbron they start by turning the dial into cheap plastic with No Description I just bought the A7R3 because it’s really the last good Sony build and I’m thinking about heading back to the original Fuji Xt-1 as it was perfectly fantastic
Right. Not trading in my X-H1 either.
Thanks!
Thank you very much for your generous support, it is greatly appreciated!!