The Fujifilm X-T5’s Hidden High-ISO Settings, Explained

The Fujifilm X-T5 has an ISO range from 64 to 51,200. But it’s not necessarily self-evident how to access all of it.

The dial only goes up to ISO 12800. And if you’re using Auto ISO, it will only go to a maximum of ISO 12800 (and maybe lower, if you’re using either the Auto1 or Auto2 presets in their default configurations).

But the X-T5’s ISO range goes higher than that, up to ISO 25600 and 51200. Those higher values are in the extended range, so image quality will suffer (more on that below). But there might be situations where you want to access them (after all, the camera wouldn’t have them otherwise, right?)

So how do you access the extended ISO on the Fujifilm X-T5? That wasn’t immediately clear to me, and I had to go hunting for the answer. So I’m posting the solution here in case it helps someone else out.

Step 1: Set the ISO sensitivity dial to C

The sensitivity dial is to the left of the viewfinder as you’re shooting. There’s a close-up of it at the top of this post.

You’ll see values like 125, 800, 3200, and so on. And there’s an orange A for Auto.

This dial needs to be set to C to access the extended ISO range.

1. Press the button in the center of the dial to unlock it.
2. Rotate the dial so that the C is pointing to the little marker on the top of the camera.
3. Lock the dial by pressing the button again in the center of the dial.
   

Step 2: Use the front command dial to change the ISO

To change the ISO now, you use the front command dial. That’s on the front of the camera immediately in front of the shutter and power switch. When you’re holding the camera to shoot, it falls naturally where your right forefinger sits.

Now, when you rotate that, it will change the ISO setting. In addition to the specific values, you can also cycle through the presets Auto1, Auto2, and Auto3.

The C position is also how you reach the settings below the camera’s native base ISO of 125. Keep turning the front command dial down past 125 and you’ll find ISO 100, 80, and 64. Those are extended settings too, and they’re not free — pulling below base ISO costs you dynamic range headroom rather than adding noise, so ISO 125 is still the cleanest place to shoot.

Things worth knowing

You can adjust the settings in the Auto ISO presets, but even those won’t let you set an upper limit above ISO 12800.

There’s one other setting that quietly moves your ISO around: DYNAMIC RANGE. DR200% only works at ISO 250 or above, and DR400% at ISO 500 or above — one and two stops above the X-T5’s base ISO of 125, because that underexposure is exactly how the camera holds back highlight headroom. So if DR200 or DR400 is grayed out in the menu, or the camera refuses to sit at ISO 125, that’s the reason.

You can see some of the photos I’ve taken with the Fujifilm X-T5 is these posts:

– Fujifilm X-T5 Sample Images (a general collection of photos taken under various conditions)
– Fujifilm X-T5 High ISO Sample Images (focusing specifically on high-ISO images under low-light conditions)
– Fujifilm X-T5 ISO Range Sample Images (sequences taken through the ISO range to help with assessing image quality at different ISOs)

Why not just use high ISO all the time?

So if a higher ISO lets you use a faster shutter speed and/or a narrower aperture (a higher f-number), why not just use that all the time?

It’s because there’s always a compromise, and in this case, higher sensitivity comes at the cost of image quality. And that becomes especially pronounced once you start getting into the extended ISO range — I’ve put up a gallery of X-T5 high ISO samples if you want to see how the top settings actually hold up.

The three most noticeable aspects are:

• Image noise. Or “mottling,” as Fujifilm calls it. This is the digital equivalent of larger film grain when shooting with film.
• Lower dynamic range. The higher you go in ISO sensitivity, the lower the dynamic range. That means that the sensor isn’t capturing details in shadows and highlights as well, so you can end up with a blocky, blotchy image in those areas.
• Shifting colors. Color fidelity suffers, so you might see color shifts or washed-out colors.
  

Fujifilm warns:

High values can be used to reduce blur when lighting is poor, while lower values allow slower shutter speeds or wider apertures in bright light; note, however, that mottling may appear in pictures taken at high sensitivities.

That, of course, doesn’t mean you should never use them, though modern denoise tools can help recover quality from noisy high-ISO shots. Sometimes it makes the difference between getting the shot and not getting the shot. But it’s worth knowing that the image quality will suffer.