Fujifilm X-T3 High ISO Tests with Sample Images

With its smaller APS-C-sized sensor, it’s hard for the Fujifilm X-T3 to compete with full-frame competitors like the Sony a7 iii, Sony a7R iii, or Nikon Z7. And to be frank, it doesn’t threaten to — if you’re putting a priority on low-light shooting, those are hard to beat when it comes to mirrorless bodies.

That said, the cameras in the X-T range have been steadily improving in their low-light performance (the X-T2 is pretty good in this regard too — here are some examples). And even if there are full-frame cameras that perform better at high ISOs, I’ve been impressed with the X-T3’s performance in this area and a little surprised that it comes as close to something as the A7 iii as it does.

So I thought it might be useful to post some real-world examples for anyone looking to judge for themselves whether the X-T3’s high-iso performance is up to snuff for what they want and expect.

The X-T3 has a native ISO range of 160 through 12800. If you use the Auto ISO setting on the top dial, it will work within that range (you can also set a lower limit — more on that below).

But you can go higher than 12800 by moving into the extended ISO range of 25600 and 51200 (there’s also an extended option at the bottom end, down to 80). At these settings, it is moving beyond the native capabilities of the hardware, and the image is boosted by software. That’s why you’ll see a momentary flash of the “processing” indicator on the screen when you’re shooting and the frames per second between shots slows slightly. You’ll also notice the image quality will drop off markedly, which is why these aren’t enabled by default. Accessing these extended ISOs is pretty straightforward — move the dial to the “H” marking — although it’s not self-evident how to get the 51200 option; I’ve put together a separate explanation on how to enable the maximum ISO setting.

The original RAW files for the images in this post are available to subscribers to my newsletter on the RAW file downloads page. The page is password-protected; the password is in the newsletter’s welcome email. The JPG versions linked in the captions stay free.

These were all shot as RAW. They were processed in Lightroom, but I haven’t applied any extra noise reduction beyond the default Lightroom setting (amount: 40; radius: 1.0; detail: 25; masking: 0). If you’re shooting JPG (or previewing the original embedded JPG thumbnail for the RAW file), the X-T3 has some noise reduction tools built-in, but I’ve deliberately bypassed those by re-rendering directly from the RAW data.

You can click on each image to open a full-size version for a closer look, and there’s a link in each image’s caption where you can download the original RAW file (NB: they’re about 56MB each).

Related: Fujifilm X-T3 Memory Card Recommendations

Sample photos taken at high ISOs with the Fujifilm X-T3

Here’s a more general sampling of various images I’ve shot with the X-T3 at ISOs from 3200 to 51200.

ISO 3200

ISO 4000

ISO 5000

ISO 6400

ISO 8000

ISO 10000

ISO 12800

ISO 25600

ISO 51200

Fujifilm X-T3 high ISO side-by-side sequence

Here’s a sequence I shot at each ISO step to give a sense of how moving up the ISO increments affects image quality.

Here’s another sequence:

Auto ISO settings on the Fujifilm X-T3

When using the Auto ISO setting on the X-T3, you have a few options for customizing how it behaves.

You can set the default sensitivity. The default is the lowest native ISO (160), and in many situations, that’s going to be ideal in that it starts at the lowest native ISO and only goes higher if it needs to. But there are also situations where you might want to make sure it’s using a high ISO.

There are three presets (Auto 1, Auto 2, and Auto 3) that you can set to maximum sensitivity limits. So, for instance, if you’re shooting portraits and don’t want it to go over, say, ISO 800, you could set that as the maximum for Auto 1 and use Auto 1 when shooting portraits. But if you want to switch to shooting run and gun low-light street scenes, you might want to set Auto 2 to something like ISO 6400.

You can also designate the minimum shutter speed, including using a dynamically calculated Auto function that is based on the focal length of the lens. One thing to note, though, is that if you set the minimum shutter speed manually, it isn’t a hard floor. That is, the camera will override it if the image is still underexposed even when using the maximum ISO that you’ve set in the Max Sensitivity setting.

Fujifilm X-T3 price & availability

You can find the X-T3 in various configurations, from body-only to kits with lenses.

Buy new

Check the current price and availability at:

• B&H Photo
• Adorama
• Amazon

Buy used

Now that there are newer models out to replace it, you can often find good deals on used X-T3s. Stock levels of used gear are always in flux, but these places are well worth checking:

• B&H Photo
• KEH
• MPB

Related

• Best SD Cards for the Fujifilm X-T3

Fixing image quality problems in post

The general rule of thumb in photography is that it’s better to get the shot right at the time of capture rather than trying to fix it later.

That’s a great aspiration, but it’s not always possible to do if you’re shooting in especially challenging conditions or bumping up against limitations or flaws in gear, conditions, or technique.

But it’s worth mentioning that there are some excellent tools available to help address common image quality issues with digital images. And they’re getting better and better all the time as the power of AI machine learning ramps up.

They can deal remarkably well with anything from sensor issues like high-ISO image noise to lens issues like distortion, softness, vignetting, and chromatic aberration. (Note: I’m focusing here on corrections related to image quality, not image enhancement tools — that’s a different kettle of fish.)

All-round image processing apps like Lightroom Classic and Capture One have solid tools built in that are very good places to start.

But it’s also possible to take it much further with more specialized tools.

If you shoot in challenging conditions regularly and find room for improvement in the image quality coming out of the camera, these might well be worth a look (and they have free trials). Some are stand-alone apps; some integrate into image editing suites such as Lightroom Classic.

Some of these work only with RAW files, and those are the ones I’ve had the best results with. But there are also good options if you’re working with JPG or TIFF files.

Fixing image noise & high ISO artifacts

The newest generation of tools can do some pretty remarkable improvements to image noise. These are some of the best tools for reducing image noise in photos. Most of them include a free trial to test out the results for yourself.

• Lightroom Classic’s Denoise tool. This was quietly added to recent versions of Lightroom Classic, and you can find it in the Develop module’s Detail panel. It only works on RAW files. It doesn’t have some of the more advanced features and more granular controls of some of the other apps here, but if you’re already using Lightroom, it’s a great option to have available.
• DxO PureRAW 5. Like Lightroom Classic’s Denoise tool, it only works on RAW files. It has become my go-to app for this kind of thing. I’m consistently amazed at how it can rescue photos with otherwise dodgy image quality from noise. It can also help with lens distortion, lens vignetting, and lens softness.
• DxO Nik Dfine. This product originated with the Nik Collection, and it focuses on the more traditional approach to digital image noise reduction. Something that’s especially notable about Dfine is that you can use U-point selections for precise application of different settings to different parts of the image.
• ON1 NoNoise AI. Its “deblurring” features are particularly notable, with an emphasis on restoring sharpness that is often a casualty in denoising operations. It works on JPG and TIFF files, and you can create sophisticated masks to apply corrections to specific parts of an image.
• Topaz Labs Photo AI. Topaz Labs used to offer its NoNoise AI as a standalone product, but it has now been integrated alongside several other image improvement tools in its Photo AI app.

Fixing lens-related optical issues

• DxO PureRAW. Again offers an impressive suite of automatic fixes that are applied before you start editing the images.
• DxO ViewPoint. Correcting for lens distortion and geometry skews. Lightroom Classic and Capture One also have excellent built-in tools for this.
• Topaz Labs Photo AI. Topaz Labs used to offer its sharpening tools as a standalone product, but it has now been integrated alongside several other image improvement tools in its Photo AI app.