Note: I have not seen the camera in person or shot with it. This is just a first impressions post about what I like or dislike about the camera specs. I always recommend renting from a place like LensRentals.com before investing in new gear.

Fuji newly-announced X-T2 camera is a major update to the original X-T1, which was released over 2 years ago in early 2014. I’ve been looking at buying a Fuji camera for about 6 months now and I was waiting to hear the specs for this camera before pulling the trigger. Here are some things I’m looking forward to.

Megapixels

The X-T2 sports 24.3 megapixels, which is exactly what I’m looking for in a camera. It’s more than the 12mp Sony A7s Mark II and 16mp Panasonic GH4, but less than the 36mp Nikon D810, 42mp Sony A7r Mark II, and the 50mp Canon 5DsR. I think 24mp is the sweet spot.

Autofocus

Fuji has expanded the autofocus area by 230% compared to previous models to cover more of the frame, which means there are up to 325 autofocus points (as opposed to 49). There’s even a new AF-C Custom Settings page that lets you refine the AF-C focusing system. I almost always shoot in AF-C, so this is a big plug.

Video Features

This little camera shoots 4K video. Now it’s not new that little cameras shoot 4K (looking at you Sony A6300), but it’s the first Fuji camera to shoot 4K. At this point, any camera I’m investing in needs to shoot in 4K. It doesn’t shoot high-frame rate slow motion, but it does shoot about 60p in 1080.

Vertical Power Booster Grip

The new grip for the X-T2 adds 2 extra batteries, meaning we can shoot nearly 1,000 photos without changing a battery. There is battery-charging functionality built into the grip, and is capable of fully charging two batteries in two hours. A special “boost mode” enables the X-T2 to pull power from all 3 batteries at the same time, increasing the frame rate to 11fps instead of 8fps and gives the EVF a refresh rate of 100fps decreasing lag. On top of all that, the grip also increases the 4K record time to 30 minutes.

Articulating Screen

I like how the screen tilts up and down, but I am very curious to see how well the screen tilts out. This could be useful or it could be downright awful. The screen doesn’t swing around the camera…only pivoting at the center of the camera, not the edge like you’d expect. It does offer a different perspective, but I still wonder if it’s useful or not. Either way, I’m excited to test it out.

Dual SD Card Slots

Yes, finally we have dual SD card slots in a mirrorless camera. This has been one of my pet-peeves. I like being able to walk around all day and not have to worry about changing cards. The X-T2 accepts cards up to 256GB UHS-I / UHS-II.

Other features include Wifi for transferring images to your smartphone, geotagging and 4K movie output via HDMI.

The Fuji X-T2 starts selling in September 2016 for $1599.00. The Vertical Power Grip sells for $329.00. Learn more by visiting the Fuji website.