There's no doubt that the X-T1 (review) is the culmination of all of Fujifilm's hard work on its mirrorless range, sitting comfortably as its flagship shooter. Unfortunately it also carries a flagship price (about R15k body only), which should explain the release of the new X-T10, which comes in about 35% cheaper than its bigger brother.

Fujifilm retains the retro design of the X-T1, although no black version of the camera is available, only silver. It contains the top dials we love (speed, EV, and mode selection), as well as the much vaunted electronic viewfinder found on its bigger brother. With a magnification of 0.62x, a display lag time of 0.005sec, and 2.36M-dots resolution, the OLED viewfinder might just persuade a few die-hards that there’s more to life than an optical viewfinder.

The X-T10 uses the same 16.3 Megapixel APS-C X-Trans CMOS II sensor with built-in phase detection autofocus that is found on the X-T1, while also along for the ride is the EXR Processor II.

New tricks with focussing

Fujifilm hypes the new Zone and Wide/Tracking modes for the auto focus system, which use 77 autofocus points across a wider area to "substantially" improve the camera’s ability to track and capture moving subjects.

The Zone mode allows users to choose a 3x3, 3x5 or 5x5 zone from the 77-point auto focus area, which, when combined with the AF-C continuous focusing mode, continues tracking a subject in the selected zone.

In the Wide/Tracking mode, the camera displays the area in focus, identified automatically out of the 77-point auto focus area (Wide in the AF-S mode) and tracks the focus area’s subject across the entire 77-point AF area (Tracking in the AF-C mode). Fujifilm believes this makes it possible to maintain focus on a subject that moves vertically, horizontally, and back and forth.

The Fujifilm X-T10’s local price and release date have not been confirmed, but it makes its debut in the States come June, with prices as follows:

X-T10 Body - $800 USD

X-T10 XC16-50mm Kit - $900

X-T10 XF18-55mm Kit - $1100

NOTE: Fujifilm SA has told us that the X-T10 should arrive in SA in a month's time (Mid-June 2015).

Check the video for a quick rundown of the camera, while the specs are featured below.

FUJIFILM X-T10 key features

●       16.3 million Megapixels APS-C X-Trans CMOS II Sensor

●       EXR Processor II

●       Fast AF of 0.06 seconds

●       Startup time of 0.5 seconds

●       Shutter time lag of 0.005 seconds

●       Shooting interval of 0.5 seconds

●       High-precision 2.36 million dot OLED viewfinder

●       Large viewfinder magnification for digital cameras of 0.62x

●       Wide viewing angle (horizontal 25°)      

●       Ultra-fast Real Time Viewfinder with a lag-time of 0.005 second and new Natural Live View with Preview Picture Effect

●       Tempered glass 920K-dot high-precision 3” tilting LCD monitor

●       Digital Split Image and Focus Highlight Peaking

●       Completely electronic shutter up to 1/32000 seconds

●       ISO 200 - 6400, extended ISO 100, 12800, 25600, Auto (maximum ISO setting from ISO 400 – ISO6400 available)

●       ISO setting of up to 51200 for ultra-high sensitivity that produces low noise and strong blacks in low light conditions.

●       ‘Classic Chrome' and ten other film simulation modes with eight Advanced Filter functions

●       Eye Detection AF to automatically detect and focus on human eyes

●       Full HD video 1080p at 60fps; bit rate of 36Mbps for clear capture of delicate movements; frame rates of 50fps, 30fps, 25fps and 24fps, supporting worldwide motion picture formats with a high bit rate of 36Mbps for high definition video capture 

●       Manual focus available during video recording

●       Auto Macro function automatically activates the Macro mode while maintaining AF speed

●       Variable aspect ratio can be selected from 3:2, 16:9, and 1:1 (square) to accommodate a wide range of photographic styles

●       Interval timer shooting for time lapse photography is available with intervals of one second to 24 hours and up to 999 frames.

●       Free FUJIFILM Camera Remote application and Wireless Communication function allows users to remotely shoot images from smartphones and tablets via Wi-Fi

●       Photos can be sent to the INSTAX Share Printer using the free INSTAX Share App (iOS and Android) SHARE Smartphone Printer.