The Sony a6700 and the Fujifilm X-H2 are two of the best crop sensor mirrorless cameras for photographers today. One’s styled a bit like a rangefinder, while the other maintains a traditional DSLR look. Both have comparably good image results but vary quite differently in other areas. We go over the salient points in this comparison article.
Sony’s a67xx series has been keeping other manufacturers on their toes for nearly a decade now. The cameras in this series offer users features and specs often found exclusively in full-frame cameras. I used to own their a6400, and it had some of the best autofocus I’d ever seen in an APS-C camera. The a6700 is the latest model in this series. During our tests, we found it to be a competent camera, but we did feel Sony was holding it back from being great:
“Make no mistake, the Sony a6700 is a good camera — and that’s the problem. It’s only just good. If you’ve used the full-frame cameras that Sony makes, it feels like them in a rangefinder-style camera body. But that’s the problem — I believe that Sony is mistreating the Sony a6700 still by making it live in the shadow of the Sony a7r V and the Sony a1. Instead, I believe that Sony could’ve done much more to make it stand out besides giving it a smaller sensor.”
The Fujifilm XH-2 is the one APS-C camera that gives even full-frame cameras a run for their money. Their color science is legendary, and the versatility of the raw files of the Fujifilm XH-2 makes it one of their most popular cameras in recent times. In our review, we noted that it’s not their most retro-looking camera, and we observed some autofocus issues. But their image quality more than makes up for these drawbacks, making it a standout performer:
“I think any photographer who has loved Fujifilm’s colors is going to love the XH2 if coming over from another camera system. However, everyone I know who’s jumped ship to Fuji has told me that they do it for the ergonomics. And those ergonomics fundamental to Fujifilm’s identity are missing here. As a tradeoff, you get a lot of great things like subject detection, improved autofocus, and the most beautiful photos I’ve ever seen from a Fuji X-series sensor.”
Table of Contents
Innovations
The Sony a6700 and the Fujifilm X-H2 bring nothing excitingly new to the world of photography. One point of note though, is that at the time of publication, the Fujifilm X-H2 has the highest resolution sensor of any APS-C camera on the market.
Ergonomics
A look at the ergonomic highlights comparison between these two cameras.
Not Your Everyday Camera Design
The A7C camera wasn’t the first camera that Sony introduced with this form factor. They introduced rangefinder-style bodies in their a67 series of cameras in 2014. There’s a fair bit of design fine-tuning this in the a6700. A much more comfortable grip has been introduced, and as a whole, the camera feels quite comfortable to use.
Call It Chunky
This camera is a marked departure from the sleek, classic-looking models for which Fujifilm’s X-series of cameras is known. The ISO dial has disappeared from the top of the X-H2, and three buttons are now placed there. One for white balance, another for ISO, and a 3rd one that’s customizable. The joystick at the back is new in design. It’s more DSLR-like than what mirrorless cameras have come to become known for.
Build Quality
We take our build-quality tests at The Phoblographer seriously. Very seriously
Better Than Average Weather Resistance
We’re absolutely not fans of the buttons on the back of the Sony a6700. They don’t feel up to the mark compared to the rest of the camera. We also wish Sony had finally introduced a focus point control joystick here. Still, weather resistance tests turned out okay, as it braved some rains reasonably well. However, we observed a considerable amount of dust accumulation on the sensor. This could have come from Sony’s decision to not give the a6700 a shutter-down option, which ensures that the sensor is protected during lens changes.
Performs Very Well
The Fujifilm X-H2 doesn’t have an officially announced IP durability rating, but it worked great in the rain when we used it with some WR series lenses. We also tested it with some weather-resistant lenses from Tamron, which it performed greatly with. The camera almost feels like a small version of a Fujifilm GFX model. Some of you may love that, while others will wish it felt and looked more vintage in nature. For fans of the latter, Fuji already has a plethora of camera models to choose from.
Ease of Use
Despite being the 7th camera in this series, the Sony a6700 still doesn’t have a joystick. This can make adjusting the focus point quite cumbersome when shooting fast-moving subjects like birds. You could argue that the subject detection mode in the camera should take care of this. But there are scenarios, such as when objects tend to partially obstruct the view, where you need to manually move the focus point. Not having a joystick at the back makes this task all the more difficult.
We have to admit that the Fujifilm X-H2 is among the most complicated digital cameras they’ve ever released. Being unable to quickly change the subject detection mode makes us feel this way. Then there’s the awfully labyrinthine method of setting their Pre-Shot ES mode. But Fujifilm does redeem itself in some ways by having 7 custom setting options in the PASM dial. And an incredible 1/180,000 electronic shutter speed option.
Autofocus Comparison
Most good cameras these days produce images of very high quality. Things like autofocus performance are what make you choose one brand over another.
Fast, But Not The Best
If you want to get the best out of the Sony a6700’s AF performance, we highly recommend you disable the Live View (exposure preview) setting. That kills the main WYSIWYG appeal of why someone would buy a mirrorless camera today. We were also upset with how the autofocus performed when paired with Tamron lenses (a company partially owned by Sony). And the lack of a joystick added to this frustration. It’s not that the pictures were bad; it’s just that experienced birding photographers won’t find this combination appealing.
Street photography however is a very different playing field, one that the a6700 finds itself home at. Turn on human detection AF mode and find it almost always focusing exactly where you expect it to – on faces and eyes.
Still Lags Behind Canon And Sony
Things have improved in the AF department on the Fujifilm X-H2 compared to previous models. What we can’t quite put our finger on is why there are so many more misses with face detection mode. It also can’t keep up with continuous autofocus like other brands do. Read the AF section of our review to understand more about why we say this. The Fujifilm X-H2 isn’t a camera you’d buy for the AF performance alone.
Image Quality
Do you see a clear winner?
a6700 – High ISO Class
Crop sensor cameras have been doing so well in the last few years, giving very clean outputs in low-light scenarios. Sony’s a6700 does exceptionally well here, making it hard to spot noise at high ISOs at 3200 and above. And even in well-lit scenarios, you can confidently shoot jpegs without worrying about too much post-processing. We love the VV2 creative look mode, which gives sharp, bright, and contrasty photographs. Take a look at the images we took with Sony a6700 here.
Fujifilm X-H2 – Gorgeous Colors
Don’t fret over the high-resolution sensor of the Fujifilm X-H2. There’s a fantastic amount of information that you can pull from the RAW files this camera produces. It’s not as good as the Sony a6700 at high ISOs, but you can’t help but fall in love with the colors when it comes to low ISO photos. You also get the amazing film simulations, which led many photographers to jump ship. Portrait photographers will enjoy the Skin Smoothing effect. See more images taken with the XH-2 here
Conclusion
Sony a6700 – Three Stars
It’s their best APS-C camera for now, but we still feel like Sony held back from producing a great camera with the a6700. Many whys and whynots crossed our minds while we reviewed this camera. Like why isn’t there still a joystick that could make the photography experience so much better? Or why isn’t there more than one card slot? It’s a decent, affordable choice of camera if you’re a Sony user with a much older NEX camera or something from their initial a67xx models. But if you already use their full-frame Alpha cameras, we’d recommend waiting for the next in this series.
Fujifilm X-H2 – Four Stars
Barring some temperamental autofocus behavior and a departure from its retro styling, the Fujifilm X-H2 is a highly capable camera for photographers. The colors it produces from the X Trans CMOS sensor help it match any contemporary full-frame sensor camera. This camera nails the colors in the photos it creates, possibly the best of any X-series camera. And even more so when you shoot RAW with it. Portrait, landscape, and studio photographers will enjoy the 40-megapixel resolution this camera offers.
Tech Specs Comparison
Sony a6700 | Fujifilm X-H2 | |
Sensor | BSI-CMOS | BSI-CMOS |
Megapixels (effective) | 26 | 40 |
ISO Range | 100-32000 (expandable 50-102400) | 125-12800 (expandable to 80-51200) |
Max shutter speed | 1/4000 sec (manual) 1/8000 sec (electronic) | 1/8000 sec (manual) 1/180000 sec (electronic) |
Exposure Compensation | +5 to -5 EV | +5 to -5 EV |
Continuous Shooting (stills) | 11 fps | 15 fps |
Autofocus Points | 759 | 425 |
Viewfinder Resolution | 1,036,800 dots | 1,620,000 dots |
LCD size | 3 inch | 3 inch |
Card slot(s) | UHS-II SD | 1 CFexpress Type B 1 UHS-II SD |
Dimensions (W x H x D) | 4.8 x 2.7 x 3″ (122 x 69 x 75.1 mm) | 5.4 x 3.7 x 3.7″ (136 x 93 x 95 mm) |
Weight (Body Only) | 0.9 lb / 411 g | 1.3 lb / 579 g |