Camera Labs Fujifilm X-Pro3 Review: A Uniquely Enjoyable Experience

• 4 years ago

Gordan from Camera Labs just dropped his full Fujifilm X-Pro3 review and while not as long as past reviews only coming in at around 30 min you can find excerpts below from the video if you do not have the time to watch:

• X-Pro3 is one of Fujifilm’s flagship cameras like xt3 so Gordan’s review this time is less technical
• Same as XT3 with processing enhancements but XT3 has 60p
• The X-Pro3 is more expensive than the XT3 and if you add a premium coating then the X-Pro3 moves into the area of Full Frame pricing
• X-Pro3 is all about a shooting experience
• Fujifilm’s hybrid viewfinder is still very unique
• You would want an X-Pro3 over X-T3 because of the hybrid viewfinder and premium build quality that uses titanium
• The new finishes are very nice and what you would find on a premium watch
• The X-Pro3 is a specialist camera and Fujifilm doesn’t expect to sell many
• Fujifilm is big enough to get away with specialist cameras and the people that like them are willing to pay for them
• The screen on the back is not backlit to save power
• Gordan thinks the rear screen looks nice when properly illuminated
• You can change the simulations using the joystick if you want, but there is no q menu on the back
• You need to put conscious effort into using the rear screen if you want to use it which leads to you spending more time taking pictures rather than looking at them
• If you need to access menus etc you can do so through the EVF instead of the backscreen which keeps your eye to the viewfinder
• Gordan was shocked to see how little time he spent in menus and he liked that the design kept him from spending too much time in the menus
• The ability to tilt the rear screen down 90 degrees makes shooting very discreet and this is great
• Shooting with the back screen at 180 degrees isn’t a practical way to shoot though
• Gordan was initially leary about the design, but he found the new design to be great for discreet screen photography and for making him more focused on shooting
• The OVF is great, but most of the time you can see the lens in the viewfinder, but you can overlay a lot of useful information including a grid and level
• The EVF is not different than traditional EVF
• There is a third option that overlays a little of the EVF over the bottom right of the OVF and its useful since it really only blocks you from seeing the lens in the OVF
• The new OVF doesn’t let you switch magnification so 23mm takes up pretty much the entire frame
• The removal of the ability to switch magnification impacts the usefulness of the OVF for long glass on the X-Pro3
• The Fujifilm X-Pro3 is strongest at 18mm, 23mm, 35mm but if you’re going longer frequently you’re probably wasting your money
• The 23mm works the best with the X-Pro3
• The new film simulations are only available on the X-Pro3
• HDR mode does a good job
• Classic Negative and be a little washed out
• The Fujifilm X-Pro3 allows lots of fine adjustment of JPEGs that can be applied after to RAW files using the in camera RAW editor
• The joystick allows for diagonal movement for the AF point, but not in the monochrome adjustments
• Gordan used classic negative for all of his pictures
• When ACROS came out it was his favorite and now Classic Negative is
• Classic Negative is very 60s/70s/80s developed film
• The digital filters are great
• The highlight of the X-Pro3 is how the camera processes images
• High ISO matches XT3/XT30
• Video is essentially like the XT30
• Decent face tracking in video, but the exposure adjustments could be smoother
• Gordan tried to shoot OVF as much as possible but found that the auto parallaxing adjustment wasn’t good enough for his style of photography
• EVF is better for precision
• The Fujifilm X-Pro2 magnification of the OVF might not be as big of an advantage s you might think since the X-Pro3 OVF is larger than the X-Pro2
• If you’re going to use the X-Pro3 with a single lens you might want to get an X100 and Gordan wonders if it will have the hidden screen
• The Hidden screen was a transformative experience that Gordan likes and finds to be his favorite upgrade on the X-Pro3.
• The X-Pro3 was very enjoyable to use and Gordan attributes the enjoyment to the hidden screen which changed up his shooting style that was refreshing
• The X-Pro3 is the best camera to emphasize the photography experience which Fujifilm understands

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