Fuji X-Trans = Bad Dog
Photographers love the Fuji APS-C cameras for many good reasons. Their size, form factor, traditional-style control dials, and price make them a joy to use. From a haptics standpoint, Fuji makes some of the best cameras. They are very much a “photographer’s camera” in terms of how you interact with the controls. So, it frustrates me to no end that the X-Trans sensors in these cameras fall far short of what other cameras are capable of producing. The X-Trans sensor is a horrible decision that Fuji keeps doubling down on. Let me explain.
In the early days of dSLR, there was a lot of experimentation regarding the best approach to sensor design. The most common approach was to use a Bayer filter, where the sensor has alternating rows of red and green and then green and blue pixels. This has become the dominant approach in digital imaging that most of our cameras use. But Fuji didn’t want to follow along. They wanted to do it their way, so they started creating sensors with a different pattern of RGB pixels.
The X-Trans sensor arranges the red, green, and blue pixels in a different layout. Fuji thinks it has advantages, but I think it is a horrible choice. It reduces resolution of detail, and I don’t see it producing better color to outweigh that downside. I process countless files every year from every camera brand imaginable, and I am continually frustrated that the X-Trans files cannot achieve the same results I am used to seeing from the other major camera brands.
Fuji X-Trans files look like someone ran a watercolor or brush stroke filter on them, with strange little squiggles where I should see sharp detail. Once you see it, it can’t be unseen. And that lack of detailed resolution spills over into color and tonal resolution. Fuji claims it improves these areas, but I see the opposite.
If I had to guess, I’d say it cuts the effective resolution almost in half, so a 24mp X-Trans file behaves like a 12mp file from another camera brand.
If you don’t believe me, you need to look at some high-quality photos made with a Bayer filter and compare them to the detail and resolution on X-Trans files. My Maple Leaves file is a great benchmark to use for this, and you can download it for free.
I have not discovered a way to fix the problems caused by the X-Trans sensor, and there probably isn’t a fix because it is an artifact of the X-Trans pixel layout. If this quality issue bothers you, the only fix is to switch brands.
Ironically, Fuji uses Bayer filter sensors from Sony in their excellent Medium Format cameras. If Fuji wanted to, they could immediately improve their APS-C cameras by switching to Bayer filter sensors. That is what they should do, but I’m not holding my breath. All camera companies have a culture and design philosophy that leads them to the decisions they make, but some of those are wrong turns. Fuji has done a lot of things right over the years, but X-Trans is a bad decision, and I am not willing to accept the degraded quality it produces.