Fujifilm X-A5 Review

The Fujifilm X-A5 is the third generation beginner Fuji mirrorless, following the X-A2 with a upgraded 24 megapixels CMOS sensor that uses a traditional Bayer Color-Filter-Area, just like its predecessor yet unlike most X-mount mirrorless cameras. When Fujifilm uses a Bayer filter, they also place an anti-alias filter to avoid moire at the expense of sharpness.

The 1.5X-crop sensor in the X-A5 can capture full-resolution images at 6 FPS and 4K Ultra-HD vide at 15 FPS or Full 1080p HD video at 30 FPS, bringing 4K video into the entry-level range. This new sensor boasts a standard ISO 200-12800 range which is expandable to a very wide 100-51200 sensitivity range. Combined with a hybrid shutter which can freeze action at 1/32000s, the X-A5 is designed to handle a variety of lighting conditions.

This Fujifilm mirrorless offers a 3" LCD with 1 megapixel that tilts 180° upwards for taking selfies but has no EVF, nor a way to add one. This mirrorless supports all Fujinon X-mount lenses, plus third-party ones. It can use the rear control-dial to set aperture for those lenses without an aperture-ring. Manual focus is performed via a fly-by-wire ring on all Fuji lenses. Uniquely for an entry-level offering, the X-A5 features dual control-dials in Manual mode. In all other modes, one dial remains a control-dial while the other sets Exposure-Compensation.

The built-in WiFi function on the X-A5 makes sharing of images right from the camera a breeze while a built-in flash is included in place of where the EVF is on the X-E2.

This digital camera review analyses the usability, performance and image quality of the Fuji X-A5.

Fuji X-A5 Features

Although nearly identical in design and aimed at the same entry-level market, Fujifilm packed quite a few new features into the X-A5. Bracketing was expanded from 3 to 9 frames with steps now reaching 3 EV instead of 1. Plus, there is built-in HDR for those who want immediate results or avoid time merging frames by computer. The most significant additions though are Time-Lapse Video and Interval Timer.

The Fujifilm X-A5 has a relatively compact and conventional design, at least for a mirrorless camera. It offers an unusual mix of entry-level and advanced features. Like other entry-level models, it lacks any kind of viewfinder, yet it includes dual control-dials and a hot-shoe. There is no provision to add an EVF either, as it is possible with some competitors.

The largely rectangular body of this camera curves slightly outwards to provide a small grip on its textured front which help hold the camera steady. Using the provided neck-strap or, at least a wrist-strap, is highly recommended though, to avoid accidentally dropping it. Overall, the Fujifilm X-A5 feels light and not very solid except for the LCD metal hinge which quite sturdy. Although relatively new, the bottom of our review unit already was showing some cracks. Buttons have a sticky pasticky feel, so do not expect them to last long.

The front of this mirrorless is almost bare. Besides the requisite lens-mount and corresponding release button, there is an AF-assist lamp and lettering for the camera model. The top plate is fully-used. Starting at the left, there is a small popup flash, next a hot-shoe and the built-in stereo microphone.

As the top-plate curves downwards, its surface gets busy with a number of controls. A traditional mode-dial with 12 positions, including the usual PASM modes, has strong detents and will not move accidentally. To its right, and aligned with the front-edge of the camera, there is a smallish two-stage shutter-release surrounded by a rotating power-switch. The release is notably improved compared to the X-A2. It has moderate travel with a firm halfway point. There are now options in the menu to set the cameras as Release or Focus Priority.

At the front-right corner of the top-plate is the only customizable button on this mirrorless. In Playback mode, it initiates the WiFi function, while in Capture mode it can be assigned to one of 30 functions! That's twice as many as its predecessor. A logical choice is ISO. However, this is the only place to access Depth-of-Field Preview. At least Fujifilm makes it easy to change the assigned function. Just keep the Fn button pressed for 3 seconds and a menu of options appears.

The upper control-dial is found just behind the small Fn button. This one controls EC outside of Manual mode. Detents are sufficiently pronounced to prevent accidental changes. In Manual mode, it controls shutter-speed, with Bulb as the last option. Helpfully, the camera counts time during Bulb exposures, so a stop-watch is not needed.

All the remaining action is found on the back of this camera. A large 3" LCD with one megapixel dominates the view. It is mounted on a hinge so that it can tilt up 180° or down 45°. It also slides about 1cm (0.4') along the hinge to make it easier to see in selfie position. Part of it is still blocked by the top of the camera but it does help. The display is now a touchscreen with several options to control behavior. It may accidentally trigger and is best disabled since using it puts fingerprints on the only way to frame images with this camera.

The LCD is nice and sharp with an excellent viewing angle. Unfortunately, and truly incomprehensibly, the preview on the X-A5 does not show 100% coverage. This is a critical short-coming that negatively impacts usability of this digital camera. This display has a good refresh-rate and maintains a bright view even in low-light. There is an optional Live-Histogram which is based on the shown preview and therefore of little use. In Manual mode though, there is an option to make the preview Exposure-Priority, which is better than nothing.

There is no way to preview video framing with the X-A5. Since there is no video mode and the video capture area is taken from a recessed 16:9 crop of the sensor, even the optional HD guidelines are useless. This makes the X-A5 completely unsuitable for video.

Above the display there is a mechanical release for the built-in flash. It never pops up automatically which is exactly how it should work on any camera as flash-use should be decided upon by the photographer. That flash is rather small with a Guide Number of 7. A standard hot-shoe is available to accommodate an a more powerful and independently-powered unit.

To the right of the LCD, there are a good number of buttons for an entry-level mirrorless. High up on the body, there is a clickable control-dial which is vertically mounted. Turning it controls the main exposure-parameter in A, S or M mode. Clicking it activates MF-Assist during Manual Focus. It does nothing otherwise. A small textured area below the dial serves as a thumb-rest.

A Playback and Video-Record buttons are found just below the thumb-rest. The former toggles Playback mode while the camera is powered on. The latter starts and stops video capture. This button is recessed to prevent accidental use. It is worth noting that there is no Video mode on the X-A5. Recording starts at least two seconds after pressing the button. Oddly, it also drops the last second of recorded video.

The 4-way controller with central OK/Menu is made of 5 separate buttons. Each button is assigned a function in Capture mode:

• Up: AF point selection in Capture mode which only works if the manual AF-point mode is active. Prompts for deletion in Playback mode.
• Right: Presents a vertical menu of WB options. Pressing Right again from there enters the WB Fine-Tuning interface with a step to measure Custom WB.
• Down: Brings up a lengthy two-level menu to select Drive modes:
  • Still Image: Simple single shot capture.
  • Continuous: 6 FPS with maximum 10 frames and 3 FPS up to 50 frames.
  • 4K Burst: 15 FPS Burst of 4K images or Focus Stacking from a 4K Burst. Either way, there is a crop applied yet the image aspect-ratio is preserved.
  • AEB: No options right there but plenty in the menu. 3-9 Frames, Continuous or Single shot plus various ordering.
  • ISO Bracketing: ±1, 1/3 EV steps
  • Film Simulation Bracketing: 3 Frames with Film Simulation chosen in the Shooting menu.
  • White-Balance Bracketing: 3 Frames, 3 step sizes.
  • Dynamic-Range Bracketing: Always uses 100%, 200% and 400%, clamped to available options.
  • HDR: Built-in HDR image merged from 2 frames taken at 1-2½ EV apart, ½ EV step sizes.
• Left: Shows a vertical menu for the Self-Timer with positions for 2s, 10s, Face, Smile, Buddy with 3 levels of closeness, Group of 1-4 people or Off. These middle options trigger based on analysis of faces in the frame.

The last two buttons are DISP/BACK and Q right below the 4-way controller. The display buttons cycles over display modes with one being customizable. This mode offers a choice of grid lines, including those to mark the HD 16:9 video-recording area which is the only way to frame before filming.

Q brings up a status grid of 15 editable items among 16. This offers a relatively quick way to control the Self-Timer, Stabilization, Shutter-Mode and Flash mode. Note that enabling stabilization only works if the mounted lens is optically stabilized.

The bottom of the Fujifilm X-A5 has a metal tripod mount which is neither in-line with the optical axis nor with the center of gravity of the camera. There is also a single compartment door which gives access to both the SDXC card and the Lithium-Ion battery. Since the door is really close to the tripod mount, it is not possible to change memory or battery while the camera is on a tripod or even just fitted with a quick-release plate.

Although the Fujifilm X-A5 offers more controls and features than other entry-level mirrorless cameras, its usability leaves much to be desired. Having new features without more controls also means that many more trips through the menu system are required. The other let-down is the display rarely previews exposure correctly. For people who leave the camera mostly in one of the Automatic modes, it is fairly easy to use. Just be prepared to reshoot often due to a cropped view and visibility issues in bright light.

Performance starts with image quality, which is the criteria used as the foundation of our digital camera ratings. Ergonomic issues may get in the way, but in the end, image quality counts the most. For an ILC, image quality greatly depends on the lens used. While color, noise, exposure and dynamic-range are properties of a camera, distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberrations are properties of the lens. Sharpness and contrast depend on the weakest link. That is, a camera cannot capture more details than a lens lets through. Conversely, it is quite possible for a lens to transmit more details than a sensor can capture.

Image Noise & Details

Image-quality from the Fuji X-A5 is very good. With virtually the same sensor at those used on cropped-sensor DSLRs, it unsurprisingly produces highly comparable images. This mirrorless renders very good images with virtually no noise all the way to ISO 1600. It becomes barely detectable at ISO 3200 which where noise-reduction introduces a jump in softness. Inline with the target audience of this camera, noise-reduction is more aggressive than on other Fujifilm mirrorless.

ISO 6400 is very smooth, overly smooth actually which takes a toll on details. While noise-reduction manages to completely hide noise, it comes with a significant jump in softness. Image quality goes down progressively from there with ISO 12800 and even 25600 surprisingly both usable for small prints. The new ISO 51200 reach looks like watercolor, so it is not really usable.

Sharpness is controllable in 5 levels. Things start from a very soft to over-sharp, so each step is quite coarse. The default level is slightly over-sharpened yet quite acceptable for common print sizes. Noise reduction also comes in 5 steps with an aggressive default. Taking it down one or two levels improves things but it never turns off and always gets gradually stronger as ISO increases. The default setting of 0 is fine for low ISO sensitivities. When shooting above ISO 1600 though, one could turn it down to -1 to maintain slightly more details.

Color & White Balance

Color accuracy of the X-A5 is very good. Hues are realistic with different Film Simulation modes mostly affecting saturation. The standard Provia mode slightly exaggerates saturation without making colors unrealistic. The default tone-curve gives punchy results straight out of the camera. One can reduce the amount of clipping by adjusting Highlight Tone and Shadow Tone down. Setting both to -1 conserves more dynamic-range without making images to look flat.

Automatic White-Balance is dependable under typical conditions. It handles natural light relatively well yet struggles more than usual under artificial lighting, leaving a bluish cast. It really depends on the exact situation it rarely gets very pronounced. A Custom White-Balance option is there for difficult situations and is more accurate.

Exposure

The Multi-Segment metering system of the X-A5 is tuned to produce bright exposures. This causes more clipping of highlights than usual. Most time it only misses by 1/3 or 2/3 EV which is easy to correct. Keep in mind though that the LCD shows an even brighter image at the default brightness. So, some scenes may be exposed correctly although they appear over-exposed on-screen. Dialing down display brightness and reviewing images often is necessary with the X-A5.

Dynamic-Range of the X-A5 is good when increased to 200% starting at ISO 400 or to 400% starting at ISO 800 which is possible all the way to all the way to 12800 now. Unfortunately, the metering system is skewed to clip highlights which is too bad considering how much dynamic-range the X-A5 can capture. Dialing EC to -2/3 or -1 often restores highlights but that depends on the contrast in the scene.

Auto Focus

The Fujifilm X-A5 is the first X-mount entry-level mirrorless to offer Hybrid AF which combines Phase-Detect and Contrast-Detect AF at 91 points. These focus points are not very sensitive but aid the camera to find focus faster. Contrast-Detect is then used to refine focus and is very flexible in coverage and area-size. Although it struggles to lock in low-light, it gives up rather than missing focus. This can get quite frustrating after sundown.

The Hybrid AF system presents a choice of 91 areas with 5 area-sizes or 3 zone-sizes. In practice, it can focus nearly anywhere in the image with higher accuracy within a square area in the middle of the frame. The camera can use this to tracking a face or even a eye. The same system is used to trigger the multitude of self-timer options which detects smile, proximity and number of people, although less accurately than one would hope.

Autofocus speed is below average for a modern mirrorless. It can take anywhere from ½ to 1 for the X-A5 to lock focus or give up. Most times it locks in about 3/4s which is somewhat slow and certainly will not cut it for moving subjects. Tracking AF is sluggish and tends to lag behind movement.

Speed

The Fujifilm X-A5 is generally responsive. Most buttons and dials get a quick response except for the Video Record button which takes a full two seconds to react, which is way too long! There is no Video mode on the X-A5, so the camera is simply never ready to capture video. This lack of a video mode prevents it from previewing video framing. Even with the HD guidelines enabled, it is not accurate since those just mark the 16:9 ratio over the entire image area while video is taken from a crop of the sensor.

The X-A5 can shoot continuously at 6 FPS which is marginally faster than the X-A2. This slight increase in speed comes at the expense of buffer-depth. Mid-range DSLRs shoot at around this speed nowadays. The buffer is capable of handing just 10 frames, either RAW or JPEG, in a single burst. At 3 FPS though, the buffer keeps up with 50 JPEG per frames, though still about 10 RAW files. Exact numbers, depend on memory card speed.

The following measurements characterize the performance of the Fujifilm X-A5:

• Power-On: Just over 1s. Average. Longer with the kit lens that expands on power-on.
• Power-On to First-Shot: 2s. About average.
• Autofocus: ½-1, depending on the light. Below average.
• Shutter-lag: Immediate with slightly under ½s blackout. Good.
• Shot-to-shot: 1½s with AF. A little slower than average.
• Playback: ¼s to enter or exit. Very good.
• Power-Off: 1-1½s, depending if sensor-cleaning is performed. Good.
• Video: 2s to start. Very slow.

Those numbers are very mixed. While shutter-lag and changing modes is exemplary, autofocus and shot-to-shoot speeds are definitely slow. The rest of the performance is quite average, other than the previously-mentioned significant video-lag.

The Fujifilm X-A5 is powered by a small proprietary Lithium-Ion battery which provides 450 shots-per-charge. This is a little better than average. Still, another battery is highly recommended not to run out unexpectedly.

The Fujifilm X-A5 is the most entry-level mirrorless camera from Fujifilm, falling below all X-E and X-T family members, both in terms of price and performance. Just looking at images from the X-A5 though, one would be surprised these come from such a low-cost digital camera. The 24 megapixels APS-C CMOS sensor with Bayer Color-Filter-Array produces images with very low noise, good dynamic range and colors.

Of course, when Fujifilm decided to give this entry-level mirrorless such good image-quality, they had to cut elsewhere to avoid taking market share from their more pricey offerings. The most obvious area which took a hit is performance. While certain aspect are just average, autofocus, shot-to-short speed and video lag are noticeably slow. At least, the all-important shutter-lag is instant and the camera is generally quite responsive as not to users getting started with a mirrorless.

The usability of the X-A5 really justifies paying more for one of the more advanced X-mount cameras such as the truly remarkable X-E3
Fujifilm X-E3 which is just as compact and immensely more capable and usable. Although dual control-dials and a traditional mode-dial, plus an aperture-ring on most compatible Fujinon lenses make using this digital camera relatively efficient, the preview on the LCD is rarely correct and does not show 100% coverage, meaning things not previewed end up in images. Things are much worse for video which is simply impossible to preview correctly.

Fujifilm tuned this particular camera to the tastes of users who simply want to grab good quality images and share them instantly. Framing will often be off but the aggressive noise-reduction setting and metering system delivers smooth bright images that are ready for sharing. The X-A5 is also equipped with both WiFi and Bluetooth to make sharing quick and easy. This works particularly well. Add to that the 180° tilting LCD screen and it becomes quite convenient for certain people.

In the end, the price-point is the justification for the Fujifilm X-A5. It would be a challenge to get such high image-quality for the same price. Budget permitting though, one will certainly get better results from a Fujifilm X-E3
Fujifilm X-E3 or the recently released Fujifilm X-T100
Fujifilm X-T100.