Fuji X-T20: The Ultimate Camera Astrophotography Review

I've been the Fuji X-T20 owner for four years while writing this review. It's the main and only Astro-imaging camera I have been using for my astrophotography with a small telescope since the beginning of 2017. It gives me out-of-this-world (literally) pictures of our universe, yet it has some quirks. Is the Fujifilm X-T20 camera worth your money if you want it for astrophotography? Let's find out in my honest Fuji X-T20 astrophotography review!

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Jump to:

• Fuji X-T20 Spec
• Fuji X-T20 Sample Astrophotography Pictures
• Things I like in my X-T20 for astrophotography
• Things to know and remember - not necessarily advantages or disadvantages
• Things that could be better in X-T20 (from the astrophotography standpoint)
• Astrophotography lenses for the Fuji X-T20 (and the rest of the Fuji X-series cameras)
• Fuji X-T20 must-have accessories for astrophotography
• Fuji X-T20 astrophotography settings
• My verdict
• My Amazon Picks for Fuji X-T20
• 💬 Comments

Fuji X-T20 Spec

Manufacturer	Fujifilm
Release date	23 February 2017
Image sensor type	X-Trans CMOS III (color, not mono)
Image sensor size	23.6 mm × 15.6 mm (APS-C)
Image sensor resolution	24.3 MP
Lens mount type	X-mount
External control	2.5mm jack for external wired remote control
ISO range	200 - 12800
Storage	Single SD card slot

Fuji X-T20 Sample Astrophotography Pictures

So, to the point - that's the reason you came here. This is what you can expect from the X-T20 as your astrophotography camera.

These are impressive results for a small, pocket camera; I especially like the sensor's H-alpha wavelength sensitivity (it probably has something to do with the sensors' different, non-standard, non-Bayer matrix. Sensor is not modified in any way like in some Canon cameras.) Some pictures are noisy because of the short integration times (30 minutes or less), not because of the camera's inability to do better. Bear that in mind.

To see more astrophotography pictures from my Fuji X-T20, go to the appropriate astrophotography targets pages:

• Pleiades Star Cluster
• Andromeda Galaxy
• North America Nebula

Things I like in my X-T20 for astrophotography

Image quality

The X-T20 sensor produces outstanding images. See above.

Ease of operating

This camera, like the whole Fuji X-series, is just a joy to operate. Every important shooting setting like ISO, shutter speed, or shutter delay is easily changeable with physical buttons and knobs - no need to go inside the camera menu. This is also valid for dedicated Fujinon lenses, where you choose the aperture with a physical ring, not inside the camera menu like in Canons or Nikons.

Compact-ability

The X-T20 is small and lightweight. With the lens off, you can put it in your pocket and transport it this way. Compared to huge Canon and Nikon DSLRs, this mirrorless camera is fantastic for travel astrophotography. It almost needs no space in your bag. It's a massive upgrade from the big old DSLRs.

Tilted LCD screen

Doing astrophotography, you usually point your telescope or a telephoto lens straight up to the night sky. If you don't want to lie on the ground to operate your camera, you need one with a tilted screen. X-T20 - checked.

Nice H-alpha sensitivity

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Fuji X-T20 is not an astronomy-dedicated, cooled mono camera, yet it's possible to do some H-alpha (and probably other narrowband types, but I don't have proper filters yet) astrophotography with it. Just take multiple exposures and stack them to get rid of sensor noise.

Things to know and remember - not necessarily advantages or disadvantages

Non-Bayer matrix - possible incompatibilities with some processing software

X-trans sensor type differentiates Fujifilm from other camera producents like Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, or Olympus. Not every image-processing software supports this format, so check this out before deciding on your astrophotography tools. Programs I use and recommend for Fujifilm X-T20 RAW/RAF files are Capture One and PixInsight - both work flawlessly.

Things that could be better in X-T20 (from the astrophotography standpoint)

Wireless connectivity via apps

My standard workflow when setting the X-T20 for astrophotography looks less or more like this:

• Mount the camera on an equatorial mount
• Set proper camera settings
• Do a few test shots with a Bahtinov mask put on to focus my lens/telescope
• Do a test shot to orientate where my lens/telescope is pointing on

And this is when I usually spend a lot of time on it. For plate solving, I use the Astrometry web service. To get pictures from the camera, I have to connect to it via WiFi, open the dedicated app, download the picture from the camera, and send it to the server for plate solving. Sadly, there's no way to stay connected to the camera during shooting - every time you want to get pictures to your smartphone, you have to go to the camera menu, turn the wireless connection on, connect your phone, etc. It's inconvenient, and Fujifilm could upgrade its software to be able to do those types of things easier (or by getting an SD WiFi card - I will be testing this solution soon).

Not enough maximum zoom when checking pictures in the camera

Sometimes when I focus on a really small star, it's hard to say if my spikes from the Bahtinov mask are truly in the star's center. Again, it could be easily fixed via a software update. One hack to overcome this is to use a magnifying glass when viewing the picture on the camera.

Unable to power the camera from an external source (not from the dedicated battery)

My dream goal astrophotography setup is powered from one and only one power source (my Celestron PowerTank Lithium). Thanks to this, I don't have to remember to charge a few different batteries; I have to worry about this. Sadly, there is no option to power the X-T20 from anything other than its camera battery (even from the built-in USB port - it's only for image transfer). Because of this, I must remember to charge an additional three camera batteries when I go to the field. It's not a deal-breaker, just a moderately important inconvenience.

High noise on long exposures (longer than 3 minutes)

Exposures up to three minutes have very low noise. Above that, noise starts to appear. You can, of course, get rid of it by stacking multiple exposures and using calibration frames - flats, darks, bias, just be aware of it.

Astrophotography lenses for the Fuji X-T20 (and the rest of the Fuji X-series cameras)

Although the X-Mount is not the most popular mount system beyond lens producers, thanks to a wide offer of adapters, you can attach almost any lens and telescope to the Fuji X-T20 (and to any X-mount Fuji camera in general). Adapted lenses usually work as dumb lenses, which means no auto-focus and no EXIF data saving, but as an astrophotographer, you don't need those things.

Rokinon/Samyang 12mm f/2

This is my lens of choice for Milky Way photography.

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Rokinon/Samyang 135mm f/2

A fantastic lens for ultra-wide deep-sky imaging. Perfect for large targets like the North America Nebula, Orion Nebula region, or the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.

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Fuji X-T20 must-have accessories for astrophotography

Grip

X-T20 is unusable with one hand only without an additional grip. I think that Fuji engineers wanted to make this camera as small as it could be, but they sacrificed ease of use for a few grams/pounds of weight. Luckily, you can fix it very easily.

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Additional two or three batteries

X-T20 has nice power management. Batteries last for a long, usually more than 1,5 hours in my case (bulb mode, automatic exposures one after another). Yet, for the whole night of astrophotography shooting, you need more of them.

Field flattener or adapter to attach the camera to a telescope

To connect Fuji X-T20 to a telescope, you need two things:

• An adapter from X-mount to your telescope's end
• A field flattener (optionally - some telescopes have them built-in inside)

External intervalometer (timer shutter release)

It's not a must-have, but if you like to automate your workflow, this device will be a big help for you. You set your camera to bulb mode, program your intervalometer (how many and how long exposures), and get back after a few hours to grab your pictures.

Filters

This may be optional depending on which type of astrophotography you want to do, but if you are interested in deep-sky objects (like most astrophotographers), then those two are your huge friends.

Light pollution filter

This is a no-brainer if you take photographs in a city, even a tiny one. In our modern world, light pollution is everywhere. Sometimes you can't see it with your own eyes, but it will show in your pictures. It's hard to avoid it entirely, but you can eliminate most of it with a proper filter and good post-processing skills. Sadly, when writing this review, there are no Fuji X-mount clip-in filters, so you have to choose a filter size for your lens or telescope specifically. I own and recommend those two light pollution filters:

NiSi Natural Night Filter (for lenses)

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Orion SkyGlow Imaging Filter (for telescopes)

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Narrowband filters

Fuji X-T20 is not a perfect camera for narrowband imaging as it does not have a monochromatic sensor, but you can catch some usable H-alpha signal with X-T20. It's easier in winter, thanks to the free cooling for the sensor.

For H-alpha astrophotography with my X-T20, I use Baader H-alpha 7nm CCD Narrowband Filter.

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Fuji X-T20 astrophotography settings

Shoot in RAW

This may be obvious but remember to always set your camera to shooting in RAW (or, better yet, to RAF, the Fuji compressed RAW format). Shooting in JPG will give poor results, even from a fantastic camera like the Fuji X-T20.

ISO

This camera impresses me at 1600 ISO, and I think it's the sweet spot for astrophotography with the X-T20 - a perfect balance between time spent on acquiring data and the quality of it. Of course, lower ISO is always better, but I don't see any real decrease in image quality compared to ISO 800, and two times shorter exposure time is a real deal.

My verdict

Fuji X-T20 delivers fantastic astrophotography results, and besides a few minor quirks, it's a phenomenal camera to capture wide-field Milky Way shots and deep-sky images of nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters. I don't plan to swap my Fuji X-T20 for another DSLR or mirrorless camera shortly, but someday I will upgrade to a dedicated, cooled astronomy camera. You can attach almost any existing lens and telescope to your X-T20, and the camera's weight will let you use it even on the smallest equatorial mount on the market and fly around the world with a carry-on-bag-only easily. It's a perfect companion for astrophotography, both when you travel and when you are in your permanent observatory. Take some time to master this camera, and it will give you the astrophotography images you dream of. It gave me.

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My Amazon Picks for Fuji X-T20

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