I am planning to buy an X30 to take to France in September, along with my trusty X20. I am a documentary photographer who likes to carry a lightweight kit, and have been very happy with the X20, which has essentially the exact same image quality as its successor, the X30. The X30 is not the best camera for image quality that you can get, but then neither was the Leica when it was taken up by Henri Cartier-Bresson in the early 1930s.
My own work is in many museum, corporate, and private collections, as well as several books, and I love these little cameras and the image quality they provide. To see examples of my Fuji X20 - and before that X10 - work, go to my web site (<http://www.rpkphoto.smugmug.com>); check out "Singular Images: Recent and Rediscovered Photographs" in the Galleries section, and "Searching For Edward Hopper" in the Books folder. With a couple of minor exceptions, all images there dated 2012 or later were taken with X10 or X20 Fuji cameras.
I would recommend the X30 without hesitation. In my view it's small size and excellent lens make it a sound alternative to the larger, heavier interchangeable lens Fuji X models, lovely as they are.
I managed to grab a few shots on my way to a meeting in London yesterday. I'm really pleased with the way the camera performed and it was great fun to use.
https://flic.kr/p/yacmJJ
I was looking for something to replace my LX7 when I moved from Micro Four-Thirds. I had an XM1 but found it a little too big for a "take everywhere" camera, because the X mount lenses are quite large.Today a mint used X30 arrived, and I have to say I love it already. Yes, of course the sensor could do with being bigger, and I would like it to have a 10x zoom lens and fit in my trouser pocket, but it is always about compromise and for me this is the perfect "little camera" to use when I don't want to carry the X-T1.
