Fujifilm FinePix XP130 Backround and Overview
I was looking for a compact durable point and shot camera that was waterproof and I could be confident using around sand and sea. The camera had to be small and easy to use and produce nice images without a lot of fuss. Most importantly it had to have a built-in flash and be capable of going down to a typical reef diving depth of around 60 feet. There were a few choices and I decided to try the Fujifilm XP130 because I know Fuji makes quality cameras that are outstanding values. I know and trust Fuji jpegs based on my experience with the XPro-2, X-T2 and X-T3 cameras. I purchased two XP130’s, a green one for Christy and a white one for myself.
The XP130 is a small, light and compact camera that fits in the palm of your hand. It is just a little larger than a deck of cards and weighs about as much. With the included wrist strap attached it is barely noticeable underwater even though it does not float. The camera came with the wrist strap, battery, micro USB charger and a 16 Mb Sandisk SD card. The XP130 has one SD memory card slot. The battery is the same as the one that came with my SP-2 Fuji Instax printer and charges in camera via the included micro USB cable. The camera can be synced to a wireless device via the Fujifilm Camera Remote app so you can download your images for use on social media or print them with your Instax printer.
The camera feature a 16.4 MP back side illuminated 1/2.3 inch CMOS sensor. There is sensor based optical image stabilization. It features a 5x optical zoom with a full frame equivalent of 28-140mm. It is dust proof and waterproof to 20 meters or 65 feet of depth and shockproof for drops of 1.75 meters or 5.8 feet. It is also freeze proof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit or -10 degrees Celsius. The XP130 weighs 207.4 grams including battery and memory card. It can film movies in 1080p/60fps, record time-lapse images and “Cinemagraph” or moving still images that include several frames for making gif’s. Other useful features include an electronic level and autofocus face and eye detection. There is a burst mode that will capture up to 10 frames per second. Available ISO is from 100 to 6400 in full stop increments. There is no viewfinder but the LCD screen is 3 inches with 920k dots. There is an anti reflective coating on the rear LCD screen.
XP130 In the Field and Review of Use
I’m a scuba diver and I wanted a camera to take fun photos while snorkeling or diving. I didn’t want something fiddly or have to worry about getting water or sand in my fancy X-T3 or lenses while playing in the water or on the beach. It had to be rugged, small and intuitive to use. Set up of the XP130 was pretty easy. I set Christy and my cameras for fine resolution jpeg at the largest native 4/3 aspect ratio which produced 4608x 3456 pixel files. I played around a bit with both auto scene recognition and underwater mode. Scene recognition worked pretty well switching from face and eye recognition autofocus when I pointed a camera at a person to macro mode when I pointed it at stuff just a few inches away. The camera will focus down to 3.5 inches in wide-angle macro mode. Switching underwater mode on and off, it appeared that the camera compensated for the blue color cast in the water by adding a light yellow filter.
Testing of the XP130 was done at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. What better place to play with an underwater camera? Our dive boat left Anchor Bay at 8:30 AM for our inner reef dive. Twenty minutes later we arrived at our morning dive site. This was to be a 45 minute dive at depths of 45-55 feet. Christy and Billie were my dive buddies. Putting on my fins, BCD, regulator and mask, I made sure the strap of the XP130 was safely around my right wrist, stood and took a great leap off the stern dive platform. The water was nice and warm. We descended down the coral wall and settled in to enjoy the beauty of the dive.
As the aquatic wild life and corals came into view I began snapping away. It was a sunny day and the light penetrated the water well with some of the reds and yellows visible at first but as we went deeper and the red, orange and yellow end of the visible light spectrum was absorbed by the sea water, most things turned yellowish blue to blue. The XP130 is equipped with a small on camera flash and we took a few frames using it and encountered sand particles, which are very reflective, sending sparkling scattered light back to the camera. It’s not the cameras fault, with light, the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflectance, so the way to avoid this is with off camera strobes and being very mindful of conditions. Most of the images I took were without the use of the flash and looking for light and subject, just as you would on land.
Something I ran into when I had good light streaming through the surface was a reflection off the LCD screen on the back of the camera. Looking through my mask I just couldn’t see an image on the screen, instead there was a reflection of the surface of the water. I tried tilting the angle of the camera and recomposing and it helped but fish move fast and I missed a couple of images.
Autofocus worked well underwater and I can happily report that face and eye recognition works on fish. If I held the camera still and took my time I was able to get some really nice sharp images. Swimming with the XP130 at depth in scuba gear was comfortable and didn’t impair or distract me in any way. However, the control buttons are pretty small, operating them with my bare hands was easy, manipulating them with insulated gloves might be a little tricky. I wouldn’t want to use this camera wearing 1/4 inch neoprene diving gloves or heavy winter mittens.
Battery life was fine, I left the camera on for the entire 45 minute dive as well as the boat ride out and back and it was only down one bar of power. This is mainly due to the power saving mode, the battery is rated to 240 images. I did not download my images to my mobile device but Christy did. I downloaded mine to my MacBook and into Lightroom. The XP130 is an affordable little waterproof camera and only takes jpegs, no RAW so the editing options are limited but that’s ok. If you are serious about your underwater photography, buy an underwater housing or more expensive camera with the features you need.
Criticisms of the XP130
We ran into an issue where the camera told us to make sure the water tight compartment was locked. It gave us this message even when the door was correctly sealed, usually after charging the camera with the micro USB cable. The charging port, HDMI port, battery and memory card slot are all located behind the same water tight door. Both of us found ourselves fiddling with the latch when we got the message and this has the potential to expose the interior of the camera to water. Not good. This message should only appear when the door is not fully sealed or the lock is not engaged, I know it’s an inexpensive camera but having some sort of sensor mechanism would clarify things and help prevent disaster. Christy saw this message on her camera while in the pool and mistakenly opened the door thinking she was sealing it. She immediately got the camera out of the water, drained it overnight and used a blow dryer. Thankfully the camera came back to life the next day. Fuji, please do something about this.
The buttons are small and this is fine for bare hands but if I were using insulated winter or neoprene diving gloves it would be very clunky to operate.
I was a little frustrated by the reflection of the surface of the water onto the LCD screen in sunlight while scuba diving, this caused me to slow down, recompose and miss a few photographs. I don’t know what can be done to remedy this, it’s a nice LCD screen and the fix may be on the user.
Jpeg files. I know it’s an inexpensive fun camera but how cool would it be if Fujifilm could offer us a compact robust sports camera like this with RAW files and film simulations! I would gladly pay more to get one. Fujifilm, please make an APS-C waterproof sports camera with RAW and film simulations!!!
Conclusion
The Fujifilm FinePix XP130 camera is compact, light weight and fun to use. It has a 16.4 MP BSI optical image stabilized 1/2.3 inch CMOS sensor. It is waterproof and freeze proof within most common use conditions. The optical zoom has a full frame equivalent of 28mm-140mm with facial and eye detect autofocus that also works on fish. We used ours while scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef at depths of up to 55 feet without issues. The limitations of the small sensor size in terms of resolution and dynamic range were noticeable as the light dimmed and filtered at depth but in good light it took nice useable images straight out of camera.
In my opinion this camera is great for all-weather fun in the sun, beach combing, fishing, snorkeling, casual reef diving down to about 35 feet with good light, boating and just about any outdoor activity where your gear is exposed to moisture, dust, bumps and drops. If you want a feature rich underwater camera, there are other options for more money like this SeaLife system.
The XP130 is a camera built to have a good time and not worry about getting sand in your precious electronics or lenses. It does what it is intended to do at a good price.
