Fujifilm X100 VI: X-Trans sensor... Feature or Bug? + Sharpness Impressions
Related: digital sensor, Fujifilm, Fujifilm APS-C, Fujifilm mirrorless, Fujifilm X-Trans sensor, Fujifilm X100VI
re: Fujifilm APS-C
re: Fujifilm X100VI — 40 megapixels in Compact Form Factor
Fujifilm apparently has a hit on its hands, with extreme demand for the Fujifilm X100 VI pushing prices to 50% over list price or so over on ebay.
Its 40 megapixels along with 6K video, built-in flash, IBIS, etc make this a standout compact camera for go-anywhere walk-around shooting at an aggressively low price vs the competition.
Compare Fujifilm X100VI to the $6000 Leica Q3 and you’ll see the outstanding value and thus the high demand needs little explanation: at about 1/4 the price the X100VI offers 90% of the utility. Maybe 100%. UPDATE: maybe not—the lens falls way short of what the sensor requires.
I was hoping to get one on loan a few weeks ago, but so far nothing has showed up. OTOH, sharpness looks pathetic so I think I may just bail.
Fujifilm X100VI at Fujifilm-X.com, see also Fujifilm X100VI User Manual (idiotioc search does the web, not the manual, WTF)
- 40.2MP (7728 X 5152) 23.5mm x 15.7mm APS-C X-Trans CMOS 5 HR Sensor
- Base ISO 125
- X-Processor 5 Image Processor
- Fujinon 23mm f/2 Lens
- 23mm lens (35mm Full-Frame Equivalent)
- Focus bracketing feature for focus stacking.
- 6-Stop In-Body Image Stabilization
- 425-Point Intelligent Hybrid AF System
- Hybrid 0.66x OVF with 3.69m-Dot OLED EVF [diglloyd: decent but not great]
- 3.0" 1.62m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen [diglloyd: mediocre]
- Built-in flash
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Connectivity
- 20 Film Simulation Modes with REALA ACE
- 1.1 pounds
Note: optional lens shade Fujifilm LH-X100 is not included, and is IMO essential for outdoor usage to protect the lens physically, as well as its marginal function of shielding the front lens element from stray light.
What it does NOT have:
- Frame averaging. It has an HDR mode but apparently not for RAW.
- Multi-shot High-Res mode or pixel shift.
- ETTR metering (no other camera does either).
- Color space other than sRGB (“sad” RGB) for HEIF format.
- Multiple exposure mode is as brain-dead as GFX100S (button press required).
BTW, will Sony ever update the Sony RX1R II to a Sony RX1R III with 60MP sensor?
Sharpness falls WAY short of expectations
UPDATE 2024-03-22: I have done further analysis of sharpness performance from multiple sources and including an aperture series from f/2 to f/8. I rate the X100VI as having at best 24 megapixels of detail capture, and that’s being generous to the outer zones. Also, the X-Trans rendering of fine detail is hideously ugly, at least with Adobe Camera Raw and the X-Trans sensor degrades fine detail capture where the lens can deliver (center only).
...
I downloaded half a dozen RAW/RAF files to assess, all at f/5.6 and at reasonable distance. I checked them carefully for focus, etc. Sharpness at f/5.6 is DISMAL with or without Enhance Details. Clearly the lens is just adequate for 18-24 megapixels and little more. Sharpness fails to persuade even when downsampled to 24MP. Overall look of images is very nice, but do not buy the X100IV expecting to capture sharp images—I rate it as a 20MP camera in terms of detail, captured on a 40MP sensor. Sad to see Fujifilm use such an inadequate lens—same bad judgment as with Leica Q3/Leica Q2/Leica Q.
Here’s how one coin-operated reviewer describes the lens performance:
...lens appears to acquit itself well in these circumstances [a lot of words and qualified ones to say a simple thing, so you know BS is coming]. In the JPEGs it's comparably detailed near the center as the X-H2's results... (though the X100VI is possibly having to apply more sharpening to deliver this result). Things get a little softer towards the corners and exhibit (easily corrected) lateral chromatic aberration and some vignetting in the Raw conversion, but overall the lens appears to be doing a good job in front of a high-resolution sensor.
“appears to”, “in these circumstances”, “a little softer”, “overall... appears... good job” = an odiforous fly-buzzed dung heap of equivocation that is obvious propaganda to not displease the vendor or fankiddies.
Sensor size and pixel pitch
Hasselblad X2D, Fujifilm GFX100 II, Sony A7R V/IV, Leica SL3 all have a pixel pitch of 3.76 microns.
With a pixel pitch of just 3.04 microns, diffraction dulling will be a limiting factor by f/5. Even at f/5.6, brilliance (micro contrast) will be visibly reduced vs f/4, by a degree similar to the dulling seen on 60MP full-frame cameras at f/8 vs f/5.6—very noticeable. Manageable but not ideal.
The 23.5 X 15.7mm 40-megapixel sensor suggests a 93 megapixel full frame sensor is feasible. Or a 155 megapixel sensor for Fujifilm medium format. That IMO is the sweet spot for both 35mm and medium format for a long long time.
X-Trans sensor — feature or bug?
Why does Fujifilm provide only low-resolution JPEG examples? Perhaps because full-res sharpness sucks from what I see when processing with my best technique in RAW.
Fujifilm-X.com: XTrans CMOS “X-Trans controls moiré while achieving high resolution without the use of a low-pass filter”. [diglloyd: solution in search of a problem at this pixel pitch, an absurdity. All it does is to create unnatural looking image rendition.]
I was never a fan of the X-Trans sensor with its plasticized “Pac Mac” fractalized look to fine image details. Extremely digital looking, ironic given that is what it is supposed to address. But maybe things have moved along after some years now.
UPDATE: nope! the same unnatural jittery fractalized look is seen on the X100V. The results are incredibly ugly out of Adobe Camera RAW. PhaseOne Capture1 Pro looks somewhat better.
Apparently Adobe Camera Raw *does* support both Enhance Details or AI Denoise with X-Trans, and since those technologies are the biggest advance in image quality in ten years, which keeps the 40MP images from the X100VI in a league with other cameras of its genre (at least in general terms).
Thus while the X100VI image quality should be superb and together with the Adobe goodies, it might be able to deliver results comparable to the 45MP cameras from Nikon and Canon (who still lack 60MP offerings). There are no other-brand 40MP APS-C cameras yet, but Fujfilm does have the Fujifilm X-T5 and Fujifilm X-H2.
Below: solution in search of a problem? With 3 micron pixels, moiré is not likely to be much of an issue excepti in rare circumstances. IMO, the cure is worse than the disease based on what I saw with X-Trans some years ago. But maybe the demosaicing process has improved.
