Buying a traveler's favorite: FUJIFILM X-T20 diagnostics

The FUJIFILM X-T20 is the smaller brother of the flagship X-T2, inheriting its superb 24MP sensor and great color, but packed into a lighter and more compact body. The camera was incredibly popular among enthusiasts, travel photographers and those who wanted Fuji quality at a reasonable price. The lack of bulkiness made it an ideal companion on vacations and daily walks.

Unlike professional models, the X-T20 is not protected from moisture and dust. This means that sand from the beach or high humidity in the tropics could have found its way inside the case. In addition, amateur cameras are often resold, changing three or four owners during their lifetime. Buying such a device blindly means you risk purchasing a beautiful piece of plastic with a faulty shutter. Checking the mileage here is mandatory.

Specifics of the mechanical resource in the amateur X-T series

The shutter mechanism in the X-T20 is simpler than in the older model. It is not designed for machine-gun series of sports reporting (the memory buffer is also smaller) and has a lower declared resource - about 100,000 guaranteed operations. The mechanics work great, but they are more sensitive to rough handling and dirt.

Most X-T20s at flea markets have ranges from 20 to 50 thousand frames. These are good, working options. However, if the camera was used to shoot long time lapses of the starry sky (which is very popular among enthusiasts), a mechanical counter can fly past 100 thousand in just one season. Replacing the shutter in an amateur camera is often not economically feasible.

Fujifilm honest log: find out mileage using EXIF ​​online

Users of the Fujifilm system are incredibly lucky: the manufacturer does not divide cameras into classes in terms of access to technical statistics. The X-T20 processor records every mechanical shutter operation just as honestly and meticulously as in flagship models.

This information (Image Count tag) is written into the MakerNotes service block in EXIF ​​format for each image taken. The data is protected from being reset by the user. To find out the exact mileage of the camera, you do not need to go to a service center - just get the original photo file (RAW/RAF or JPEG) directly from the memory card.