Fujifilm X10 Optics

Zoom
Very good far-field performance with the 4x optical zoom.

The Fujifilm X10 features a 4x, 7.1-28.4mm f/2.0-2.8 zoom lens, with a 35mm equivalent focal range of about 28-112mm. Far-field optical performance was quite good at 28mm equivalent, with very good detail across the frame. Coma distortion in the trees is low, and chromatic aberration is only slightly noticeable, with some minor flare around bright highlights. Results were also good at 54 and 112mm equivalents, with good sharpness across the frame and minimal chromatic aberration. See below for comments on distortion, corner softness, chromatic aberration, etc. The X10 also offers a 2x digital zoom, which actually did a pretty good job of holding onto detail despite the digital enlargement.

Macro
A larger-than-average minimum coverage area, with bright exposure but good detail in normal mode. Flash was partially blocked, and somewhat dim. Super Macro mode gets a lot closer.

The Fujifilm X10's standard macro mode captured a larger-than-average minimum area measuring 3.83 x 2.87 inches (97 x 73 millimeters). Sharpness is very good throughout most of the frame, with only minimal blurring in the extreme corners. (Most lenses show some softening in the corners at macro distances.) The flash was partially blocked by the lens at closest focus, and throttled-down a bit too much, making a dim, very uneven exposure. The X10's Super Macro mode captured a much smaller area measuring 1.15 x 0.86 inches (29 x 22 millimeters), albeit with a dark and uneven exposure due to the very close distance of the lens to subject.

Geometric Distortion
Moderately low to very low distortion at wide-angle and telephoto in JPEGs, much higher in uncorrected RAW files.

The Fujifilm X10's 4x zoom lens produced moderately low barrel distortion at wide-angle in camera JPEGs, only about 0.5%. At full telephoto, distortion was very low, with less than 0.1% pincushion barely visible. This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto).

Uncorrected RAW files showed much more distortion, as expected. We measured about 2.2% barrel at wide-angle, and 0.4% pincushion at telephoto. This isn't unusual, though, but be aware that the image "stretching" performed to correct for distortion can lead to artifacts and reduced resolution in the corners, as can be seen in the X10's corners at wide-angle. Note that RAW converters that fully support the X10 automatically reduce distortion, though the camera does a pretty poor job at wide-angle, not only leaving behind noticeable barrel distortion, but also producing images with noticeable anamorphic distortion, where the horizontal axis looks compressed compared to the vertical. Compare for instance the in-camera JPEG and the conversion made with the bundled Raw File Converter EX below.

Mouse over the links above to compare thumbnails, and click on the links to load the full resolution images.

Notice how the red vertical edges of our 4:3 Multi Target are well within the camera JPEG image, while the horizontal edges are not. Also notice the round starburst targets are not as round as they should be in the camera JPEG (though the RFC version is perhaps slightly over-corrected). We've seen this issue with other Fujifilm cameras at wide-angle such as the FX550EXR, though it's a little surprising to see it occur on a premium camera such as the X10.

Chromatic Aberration and Corner Sharpness
Slightly soft corners at wide angle, with more apparent blurring at full telephoto. Chromatic aberration is moderate at wide angle, less noticeable at telephoto.

Chromatic Aberration. Chromatic aberration in the corners with the X10's 4x zoom lens at wide-angle is moderate in terms of the number of pixels, and also fairly bright. At full telephoto, chromatic aberration is not as noticeable.

Corner Softness. The Fujifilm X10's 4x zoom lens produced some soft corners in a few shots. Wide-open at full wide-angle, blurring isn't too strong, and details remain fairly sharp in the corners, though what blurring there is extends far into the frame. At telephoto, blurring is much stronger in the corners of the frame, extending noticeably in toward center. In fact, details at center are also just a hint soft.

When stopped down to f/5.6 (f/8 induces too much softening due to diffraction), chromatic aberration and sharpness improved a bit in the corners, though corners at telephoto were still soft.

Chromatic Aberration Suppression
CA is higher in uncorrected RAW files.

From the above crops, you can see the Fuji X10 is suppressing CA in its JPEGs, as uncorrected RAW files contain higher amounts. Note that RAW converters that fully support the X10 automatically reduce CA similar to in-camera JPEGs.

Accuracy
Fairly good accuracy with the LCD monitor, though optical viewfinder proved quite tight and inaccurate.

The Fujifilm X10's optical viewfinder showed only 84-87% frame accuracy at wide-angle and telephoto zoom settings, with large offsets due to parallax error (which will vary with subject distance). The poor accuracy is no surprise for a non-TTL zooming optical viewfinder, though, and the X10 actually does better than most. LCD coverage was much better, but not great. Vertical coverage was about 99% at both wide-angle and telephoto, but horizontal coverage was only about 96% at wide-angle, due to the anamorphic distortion mentioned previously.