Fujifilm X30 launched for $600: Advanced compact with high-res EVF and dual control rings

Fujifilm has announced a new entrant to the X-series - Fujifilm X30, its latest premium advanced compact camera aimed at both enthusiasts as well as professionals. The X30 is an update of the Fujifilm X20, and comes with a Real Time viewfinder (an electronic viewfinder) and dual-control rings around the lens. The X30 will be priced around $600 or approx Rs 36,350 (excluding taxes and duties).

Fujifilm X30 houses a 12MP 2/3-inch XTrans II CMOS sensor along with an EXR Processor II image processor

The Fujifim X30 comes with the same 12MP 2/3-inch XTrans II CMOS sensor that was seen on the X20 compact. This is again paired with the EXR Processor II. Fujifilm has also kept the same lens as the X20 – having an equivalent focal length of 28-112mm with the  maximum aperture range going from f/2.0-f/2.8. It comes with phase-detect auto-focus for quick focus-locking while shooting.

The Fujifilm X30 has a manual zoom ring and a control ring around the lens element

While the interiors are the same, Fujifilm has gone ahead with a new design element for the X30. You now have a more pronounced palm grip as compared to the X20. The biggest addition is on the viewfinder. While the X20 employed an optical viewfinder, the X30 uses an electronic viewfinder which it is calling as a Real Time Viewfinder – just another fancy name for an EVF. On the technical side, the EVF has a 2.36-million dot resolution and provides a magnification of 0.65x and has a display lag time of around 0.005 secs only. According to Fujifilm, this is the largest and fastest viewfinder in its class. We shall reserve that judgement till we test the camera.

Fujifilm X30 features a 2.36-million dot Real Time Viewfinder and a 960k-dot tiltable LCD screen

The rear LCD screen has also been upgraded from a fixed 2.8-inch LCD to a tiltable 3-inch 960K-dot LCD.  Fujifilm X30 now includes two rings – a manual zoom ring and a control ring. The control zoom ring is placed behind the manual zoom ring. It helps with adjusting the aperture, shutter speeds and one can also assign functions such as ISO sensitivity, film simulation, white balance and so on to the control ring.

Fujifilm has added a Classic Chrome film simulation mode to its famed film simulation library. It helps “reproduce warm skin tones, brighter blue skies and rich green trees”. It can record full HD videos at 6ofps at a 36Mbps bitrate. The NP-95 Li-ion battery it houses is rated at 470 shots on a single charge.

Fujifilm X30 will start selling from late September onwards for $600 or approx Rs 36,350.