Fujifilm X-A2 Performance

Mixed performance from the Fuji X-A2.

Power on to first shot was slightly faster than average for a mirrorless camera, but not as fast as most DSLRs. Play to Record wasn't bad, but required two shutter button presses to capture an image.

The Fuji X-A2's full autofocus shutter lag was slower than average for a mirrorless camera these days, but still not bad. The Fuji X-A2 produced full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) of 0.357 second using Area AF mode (center). With the built-in flash enabled, the X-A2's full AF shutter lag in single (center) AF area mode was 0.472 second to account for the preflash metering.

Manual focus shutter lag was quite fast though, at 0.082 second, and prefocused shutter lag was quick, at only 0.057 second. This is faster than most DSLRs and faster than many CSCs as well, though not as fast as some models.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Single-shot cycle times were about average, but difficult to measure accurately because of the pre-press penalty (if you press the shutter button too soon after a previous shot, the camera ignores it and you need to press again). Best case, we measured about 0.8 second for large/fine JPEGs or RAW+L/F JPEGs. (We no longer test single-shot mode with just RAW files, as the result is usually somewhere in between.)

The highest speed "Continuous 5.6 fps" burst mode was mediocre these days, measured at about 5.5 frames per second no matter the file type. The Fuji X-A2 also offers a "Continuous 3.0 fps" mode, but we didn't test that mode. In both modes, focus and exposure are locked at the first frame.

Full resolution buffer depth was only fair at 16 JPEG frames with our difficult to compress target. You'll likely do better with typical subjects. When shooting RAW or RAW+JPEG files, buffer depth dropped to 12 and 11 frames respectively. Buffer clearing was a fairly quick 6 seconds after shooting a max-length burst of JPEGs, 6 seconds for a RAW burst, and 8 seconds for a RAW+JPEG burst, though buffer depths weren't very deep.

Recycling the flash after full power discharges took an average of 3.5 seconds, on the slow side of average.

Bottom line, the Fuji X-A2's performance was mixed in our testing, with slower than average autofocus speeds, a pre-press penalty, mediocre burst speeds and shallow buffers. On the other hand, manual focus and prefocused shutter lag were pretty good. Overall, the X-A2's performance is fair for an entry-level model, and should do fine for a wide variety of photography as long as it's not sports or fast action.

Battery Life
Good battery life for a compact system camera.

The Fuji X-A2 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with both a single battery and a dedicated charger. The CIPA rated 410 shots per charge is above average for a Compact System Camera, but lower than most DSLRs. As is usually the case, we recommend getting a second battery for your X-A2 if you plan any extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))