#X-Pro3

Work the Image, with the XF 35mm F2!

They used to say to first get y‘self a “normal” (i.e. 50mm full frame equiv.) prime lens when starting out in photography. Gonna help you “learn how to see”, they maintained. True, however since the advent of the ubiquitous “kit” zoom lenses the new tune is that zooms can do that even better: Giving you a wide angle, and tele, and everything in between on top of that “boring normal focal length”. Way more opportunities, man! Sounds tempting, but dude I tell ya that’s total BS. Marketing hogwash. You’re getting snowed, right there! Please read on to find out why sticking on to that single, “boring” normal focal length is gonna kick start improving your photographic vision!

Façade mosaic: XF 35mm F/2 R WR on X-Pro3 @F/8, 1/420 sec, ISO 320

Before continuing I’d like to sincerely apologise to my faithful readers for not having posted anything here for so long, at least those of youse who ain’t ditched me yet 😉 (jeezus it’s been close to 4 months now …): Combination of increased day job workload (partly incl. weekends), moving house to a new apartment, taking care of my wife needing surgery on her shoulder, and of course the ongoing Corona situation (yeah, everybody’s kinda using “The Corona Excuse®” nowadays for anything screwing up & needing excusing, so why not me too?)

Ok, back on-topic: You’re an inexperienced photographer starting out or a pro in a rut, not able to find photogenic motif’s? I kid you not, that “normal” prime lens’ll shamelessly expose your photographic deficiencies and by that will force you to learn and adapt. Coz images created with a “normal” focal length approx. the same length as the image diagonal (that’s around 43mm diagonal / 50mm focal length on full frame and 28mm diagonal / 33mm focal length on APS-C) tend to offer a bit of a bland perspective, barring any optical effects. Point is, with a ‘normal’ lens the visual impact of your image needs to come from your seeing & composition skills, not from your lens. Where a wide angle would allow you to get closer to your image, creating a more exciting ‘steeper‘ perspective or a Tele would push you back from your subject, compressing your image, the normal lens does none of that. It just faithfully depicts the scene before you. Nothing more, nothing less! So it’s a lens which is gonna teach you how to see (photographically), provided you bring up the patience to work your images and learn & grow with it, that is!

Waterflow: XF 35mm F/2 R WR on X-Pro3 @F/16, 1/30 sec, ISO 160

In today’s blog for example I’ll only use Fuji’s diminutive but excellent XF 35mm F/2 R WR (53mm FF equiv.) to demonstrate the “work the image” concept: Look at the first image in this post, it lives solely off the geometric shapes and contrast of interacting façades and their textures. No fancy “effect” or anything! Because I could not “zoom” I had to walk forwards and back, bend up and down, try different framings … In the end I shot around 10 images until I’d nailed it! That’s what I mean with “work the image”: A process of moving around, using different perspectives and angles, and experimenting with the frame to drive your learning of photographic composition. Check out this great book Magnum Contact Sheets. There you’ll see that even the world’s greatest photographers don’t just walk around and magically capture iconic images with a single press on the shutter button. No they also work the image, often needing 20-30 attempts until all elements of the composition are perfect!

Digital cameras further support the learning process by giving immediate feedback via their LCD screen, speeding up the image composition optimization (In my analogue days long ago it sometimes took a week until I could see the results after getting my exposed images back from the lab …)

The value of immediate feedback: In the above image of a city fountain I at first used a higher shutter speed of 1/250th of a second. Didn’t like it when I reviewed the image on my X-Pro3’s fold out screen (well, the folding out of that screen somewhat nullifies the “immediate” aspect, but that’s a different story …). Then with a 1/30th of a second slower shutter speed the water comes out slightly blurred and creates those beautiful mosaic shaped transparent reflections! Again the normal lens’s quiet character w/o fancy effects pushes its owner to experiment more, in this case with different shutter speed / aperture combinations or with varying points of view and perspectives

Back alley: XF 35mm F/2 R WR on X-Pro3 @F/8, 1/80 sec, ISO 320

So you see, it pays to be patient and refrain from immediately buying a tele- and/or wide angle lens to give your images added oomph! Then you’re just relying on optical effects to make your images more interesting. Limiting yourself to one lens for a while will allow you to get to know that specific lens’s character and rendering. By experimenting with various distances in combination with the image framing you’ll learn to get the best composition which suits your motif. Of course if you already have many other lenses, just throw them away and your images will improve dramatically (just kidding, folks 😉). Alternatively ask your wife to lock ‘em up (she’ll love that!) or just don’t always take all your lenses with you every time (your back will thank you for that!). I found the above image by moving around until I’d found the optimal position from which the various lines in the frame (roof edges, drain pipe, shadows, wall, …) were in balance. It gave me a similar satisfaction as when pieces of a complex puzzle click into place to finally reveal the picture!

Of course you can work the image with any lens, but from my point of view the “normal” lens is best suited for this because it’s mild angle of view offers the most possibilities. With a wide angle your range of movement is limited because small changes of position dramatically change the image content: Take a step back and you’ll see lots of unwanted elements entering the frame, step forward and lose key parts of your image. On the other hand a tele lens is less sensitive to your position, limiting the potential benefit of moving around.

I hope y’all enjoyed today’s post, advocating return to a more simple, uncluttered approach to your photography - ideally focusing more on using your “normal” lens as the basis for your entire system and for learning to see (again) to optimize your composition!

Please leave me note in the comments below or on my ‘about’ page if you have any remarks, suggestions wishes or ideas!

Wish you a relaxing Sunday evening and a good start to the holiday season, please stay safe & healthy!

Kindest regards,

Hendrik

If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!

X-H1? Get One! ... If You Still Can

Don’t argue, just get one. Period. Fuji X-H1’s THE best interchangeable-lens APS-C camera Fuji made. Ever. And there ain’t many left, coz production stopped end of last year. But some shops still got some X-H1’s costing less than a grand, new! Y’all never gonna get such a bargain ever again! And I ain’t just talkin’, I got 3 of ‘em, crazy huh? Yeah, but the internet’s saying the X-H1’s no good … nonsense, I tell ya. Total BS, all that what you’re reading online, please take a look to find out why!

Two of a kind, captured on X-H1 with XF 90mm F/2 R WR @F/5.6, 1/240, ISO 400, developed in Capture 1

Thing is, at the moment Fuji’s going down the wrong rabbit hole. Their new X-T4 may be a fantastic featured camera but that damn selfie/vlogger fold-out LCD screen don’t cut it for me. And their new “pure photography” X-Pro3? That one’s got 2 new, useless features in one go: A crippled OVF and a “hidden” LCD screen. Jeezus … Done. I’m just NOT interested. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitively not in a position to tell Fuji what to do (and I ain’t got no illusions whatsoever that they’d listen to me anyway …) hell, for all I know they may have found out that their future success & prosperity lies in offering:

  • Selfie/vlogger style video-centric cameras to the masses, and

  • Leica-esque fashion editions to a niche hipster crowd, made financially viable by compromising more mundane features only important to real photographers …

No problem. Go for it Fuji, but then you’re gonna lose me as a loyal customer - not that they’d care about that anyway, mind you … but they’d probably also lose a whole bunch of honest, serious still photographers in the process and that could cause a dent in their business! It would be such a shame, though. Creating no-nonsense cameras for serious photographers, with focus on still imagery was always Fuji’s heritage (“DNA” in business-speak). For me they were until today the only brand left, which was creating real photography tools, combining modern digital imaging technology with a traditional ‘exposure triangle’ user interface (aperture, shutter, ISO) based on tangible mechanical dials with always visible settings (even if the camera’s turned off). All the others have turned to churning out “computers”, where key settings pertaining to creating the photographic image are buried in multi-layered menus. Sometimes it seems that for some modern cameras taking the picture is more of a kinda afterthought, like “and oh, by the way it does take a picture too, at least now and then …”

After only just having launched their latest 2 flagship cameras (X-Pro3 & X-T4), which IMO both have veered off from the traditional path by inconsistent featuring, it’s gonna be at least 2-3 years until they come up with the next gen. X-Pro4 or X-T5, or whatever. Then it’s gonna be anybody’s guess whether they’ll wake up & come to their collective senses in using that opportunity to reconnect to their heritage, or just hatch out another crazy un-photographic “innovation”. So, y’all now got enough time to cure yourselves of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and just enjoy the good stuff Fuji’s blessed us with up to now (eg. X-Pro2, X-T3, X-H1 and X100V … ;-) and you don’t need to worry about your kit becoming obsolete any time soon!

All this seems kinda like a Déjà vu of my experience a long times ago with Nikon: I was running around in the 80’s as a journalist with 2 battered, fully mechanical Nikon F2’s and 4-5 primes. Man I loved that gear (weather resistant? Hell no, it was bomb-resistant! ;-) And then Nikon went along and launched the electronic F3. Oh man, was I pissed - in that era I sure didn’t trust no electronics (like many of my pro photographer buddies of the time, btw!) - they always seemed to run out of juice when you had no fresh button battery cells on you, forcing you to “limp” along with the 1/60 sec emergency mechanical shutter speed. For me Nikon just went downhill after the mighty F2 …

Façade in shadows, X-H1 with XF 90mm F/2 R WR @F/8, 1/600 sec, ISO 400, developed in Capture 1

Meanwhile, since the end of the last century the advent of mass produced highly integrated digital circuitry, including microprocessor based functions, has made electronic cameras extremely reliable (no moving parts, no wear & less production faults due to fully automated wafer fab’s). Way more reliable than their mechanical counterparts of yesteryear ever had been, in fact. You just gotta make sure you always got enough charged batteries on you (and that there’s somewhere an electrical outlet at hand to charge ‘em). An electronic camera w/o batteries = dead in the water! No juice, no pictures (and your fancy camera just became an expensive paperweight! ;-)

Back to the X-H1: For me it is simply the best interchangeable-lens APS-C camera in the market. Like my Nikon F2 was so long ago, the X-H1 seems to be the last of a golden age, with all that coming after her being under par in my opinion. Now, what is it specifically that puts the X-H1 above the others? For me it’s the balanced combination of 5 (not more, not less) key features:

  1. Best visual interface: Fluid 0.75x mag. EVF with high eye-point & lightning fast tilt-able LCD
    - ideal for flexible, fast subject viewing & composition, making image pre-visualization a joy!

  2. Perfectly positioned ‘feather touch‘ shutter with zero time-lag & traditional exposure dials
    - allowing me to capture the decisive moment instantaneously, discretely and intuitively!

  3. Slightly increased body size (vs. other APS-C cameras), with a larger highly ergonomic grip
    - perfectly fits my medium sized hands & the pronounced grip makes for totally safe holding!

  4. IBIS (in-body-image-stabilization), allows 3-4 stops slower shutter speed than 1/focal length
    - perfect for street & scenic twilight photography w/o tripod, when the light is most beautiful!

  5. Super robust, weather resistant body (25% thicker chassis compared to eg. X-T3)
    - tight, ‘bomb-proof’ perception, infusing confidence & liberating me to focus on my images!

Feels like I’ve been re-united with my legendary Nikon F2 (albeit with a modern heart!). See below image: I could capture the moment immediately when I saw it, framing it by quickly folding out the LCD screen (lifting the camera up to my eye would’ve ruined the spontaneity & lost the image), and having IBIS on board meant I could still capture a sharp image despite the bad lighting conditions!

Evening coffee, seen with X-H1 and XF 35mm F/1.4 R @F/2, 1/45 sec, ISO 800, developed in Capture 1

At first when I got my first X-H1 begin 2019 I thought it’s not really a pretty camera. But meanwhile I’ve come to appreciate its rugged, no-nonsense design & grown to love its intuitive & fast operation. And the sound of the mechanical shutter. Just gorgeous. It’s heaven! (Yeah, I know that don’t get you better images, but it sure makes the process of creating ‘em more enjoyable & satisfying!) In fact, I’ve grown so happy with my X-H1 that I now got 3 of ‘em (yes, three! The last 2 acquired recently for less than 800 bucks a pop - my favorite dealer seems to have built a secret stash of them somewhere when Fuji’d announced the phasing out of the X-H1 ;-)

OK OK, I hear some of youse out there sounding off about what kinda nutcase I must be buying ‘borderline obsolete’ cameras, where production’s already stopped … Let me me say this to that: I don’t give a rat’s ass! I don’t need the latest and the greatest, I need a photographer’s camera. A no-nonsense image taking tool w/o aspirational, fancy (video-centric) features that get in my way. That’s the X-H1 right there for me. You don’t like my advice? No problem, I’m not forcing you, it’s a free world after all. Do what you want, go somewhere else & be happy! Why having several of the same cameras? Think that’s an old habit from my analogue film days: I needed 2 cameras to allow me to use high & low sensitivity film in parallel to adjust to changing lighting conditions (and have a backup in case of some mechanical malfunction). In the digital age it’s more because I hate changing lenses to prevent dust entering the camera and ending up on the sensor. Those of youse know me know I’m kinda paranoid about that. The shrinks even got a name for it: “amathophobia”, derived from the greek words “amathos” = sand, and its diminutive form as dust & “phobos” = fear, i.e. “fear of dust” (and with me that psycho condition’s highly specialized: I just get it in relation to a camera sensor. Any other kind of dust, I couldn’t care … ;-)

So I keep 2 of my favorite primes, the XF 23mm F/1.4 and the XF 56mm F/1.2 like permanently glued to my X-H1’s. All fits in a compact Lowe Pro Inverse 200 AW belt pack weighing in at just about 3 kg (including spare batteries, cards, etc.). Not too bad!

Ok, I think that those of you patient enough to follow my ramblings up to here might fancy a small reward now! So, below I’ll share my preferred X-H1 function button allocations, optimized after many hours of trial & error playing around with the camera ;-). Note that the X-H1 has the highest number of customizable function buttons of all Fuji cameras (13), coz it’s got a D-Pad AND a touch screen LCD (both with 4 function slots)! This setup is also aligned with the setups of my X-Pro2’s and my X100V, allowing me to have an as much as possible standardized user interface across all my camera types (X-H. X-Pro, X100 and GFX):

See here the function button allocations more in detail:

  • Fn1: EXPOSURE COMPENSATION. toggles the exposure compensation via the front dial on/off

  • Fn2: FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING. brings up face/eye detection menu (joystick to select)

  • Fn3: IS MODE. cycle IS (image stabilisation) mode from continuous to shooting only to off

  • Fn4: PLAYBACK. playback button on the right-hand side of the camera (like X-Pro2 & X100V)

  • Fn5: AF MODE. select AF-mode (SINGLE POINT > ZONE > WIDE/TRACKING > ALL)

  • Fn6: ELECTRONIC LEVEL. for quick check if camera’s level to prevent needing to crop in post

  • T-Fn1: SHUTTER TYPE. quick change of shutter type, eg. from electronic ES to mechanical MS

  • T-Fn2: ISO AUTO SETTING. quick change between 3 auto ISO settings (also via rear dial)

  • T-Fn3: D RANGE PRIORITY. don’t often need this but good to have

  • T-Fn4: NATURAL LIVE VIEW. I use ACROS-R film simulation, this is good to see the shadows

  • AE-L: AE LOCK ONLY. used to lock the auto exposure when needed

  • AF-ON: AF-ON. to activate back-button autofocus

  • R-DIAL: FOCUS CHECK. quick zoom in to check the focus

With these function button allocations I have an intuitive & fast user interface fully aligned with my way of making images. Please try it out & let me know if & how this works for you!

Summarizing, the X-H1 is IMO the best interchangeable lens APS-C camera Fuji ever made. It has no-nonsense ergonomics perfectly optimized for pro level still photography. The larger grip facilitates a cramp-free & safe holding even for longer photo sessions. The highly customisable intuitive user interface allows you to set the camera up so it gets outta your way when crafting your images. Last but not least its robust design will ensure you’ll always have a reliable photo companion with you for many years of photographic fun! Get one … If you still can, you won’t regret it!

Please be invited to join the discussion in the comments section below or leave me a PM on my about page, many thanks for visiting & supporting my blog. I hope y’all had an enjoyable read!

Take care & be safe!

Cheers

Hendrik

If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!

Fuji ... Quo Vadis?

Today I’d like to share some thoughts and concerns on the direction Fuji, my camera brand of choice seems to be taking lately … Despite all the hype & dust kicked up over recently launched models I am absolutely NOT interested in 2 of the latest offerings (and consequently I will not “upgrade”. Ever. No sir). So, dear Fuji, in case you should one day happen to stumble on to my blog and read this, I hope you will appreciate my humble feedback and take note! For all others, please read on before you pull the trigger to maybe prevent being disappointed!

On the bike, captured by X-H1 with XF 56mm F/1.2 @F/8, 1/220 sec, ISO 200, developed in Capture 1

“Quo vadis?” is a classic Latin phrase meaning “Whither goest thou?” (or in contemporary English: “Where are you going?”). So, with this open letter I wanted to address precisely that question to Fuji … After trading in one of my X-H1 bodies around half a years ago to help finance a medium format GFX50R with a couple lenses, instead of getting one of Fuji’s brand new exchangeable lens bodies (X-Pro3, X-T4), I last week actually went out and got m’self another X-H1! Again (and it was a helluva bargain at 800 bucks too, if you bear in mind that one initially used to sell for more than twice as much!)

I mainly use my X-H1’s with my 23mm/1.4 and 56mm/1.2 lenses bolted on ‘em (as you might know I’m a paranoid about changing lenses … ;-). With these large aperture lenses coupled to the X-H1’s great in body image stabilisation feature, I can really enjoy my twilight & night photography w/o needing to lug a heavy tripod around … Now, there for sure gonna be some of youse out there sayin’ “Jeezus, how stupid can he be? With the fan-tas-tic X-T4 just launching as we speak, including image stabilisation and latest sensor and what not … WTF?” (remember Fuji saying some time ago the IBIS feature ain’t never gonna be possible in the more compact footprint of the X-T line?). With all the “ambassadors” & “influencers” parroting all over the net that the X-T4’s the next best thing after sliced bread, the very best of, THE one and only, yada, yada … Hey, that “hendriximages” guy must be totally nuts. Crazy. Must’ve just gone off the reservation by sticking to his antique X-Pro2’s and buying that miscarriage of an X-H1, despite all these shiny new “pure photography tools” (X-Pro3) and “Jack of all trades” (X-T4) being available … Might wanna go out and get some professional help right there, he should!

Yeah, well I actually use my X-H1’s. A lot. And I really like them, they’re very comfortable in hand & they got a great user interface. Sadly the internet don’t seem to agree - also the X-H1 seems to be a ‘www hate magnet’, just like the XF18 F/2 R is …

Town house triangle, seen by X-H1 with XF 23mm F/1.4 @F/8, 1/1300 sec, ISO 200, developed in Capture 1

Anywayz … For me just about the only thing Fuji did right with their latest new APS-C camera launches was the X100V. With a significantly improved lens, added weather resistance and a subtle, visible fold-out LCD, carefully evolving its design as to not lose the X100 line’s heritage, this one solved the main misgivings of the previous models & ticked all the boxes for me. For me it’s an absolute winner, finally delivering on the initial promise of a street photographer’s dream. I love my X100V and she’s always with me (especially when I’m not on a planned photo op, and then some!). Thanks God they didn’t put that crummy hidden LCD on there …

But the X-Pro3 or the X-T4? No. Those ain’t gonna be for me. Sorry Fuji, I’m just ain’t interested. Not at all!

So, if you’ve somehow managed to continue reading up to here w/o heading straight over to my comments section below to shoot me down in flames, please gimme a chance to explain! I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for rangefinder style cameras, because of their optical viewfinder (OVF) allowing for an unobstructed, realistic view of the subject, including the world “outside the frame” (great for environmental, documentary & street photography). I use that OVF for composing around 30% of my images and its existence is one of my main reasons for being faithful to the Fuji brand (no other mirrorless camera maker has this feature …)

Now let’s start with the X-Pro3. I really can’t imagine what demon took possession of product management over at Fuji when they decided to cripple the X-Pro3’s OVF (Optical ViewFinder) by restricting it to only one magnification level (0.52x). The consequence of this renders the X-Pro3’s OVF completely unusable for me. Useless. Like totally! If they were doing this to save costs they might as well could’ve better gotten rid of the OVF all together. That would’ve saved ‘em even more cost and a lot of trouble too … So, why’s the X-Pro3’s OVF crippled? Well, it kinda only really works with the 23mm lens. With the the shorter focal length of the 18mm the frame lines are outside the viewfinder’s boundaries (Ok, seems nobody ‘cept me and a couple other crazies likes that 18mm lens anywayz …). And with the 35mm (THE documentary lens, the one you might use most often) the frame lines are so small & lost in the middle of the viewfinder you kinda need a microscope to see what’s going on in there. Hell the area outside the frame shows more than the actual picture you’re trying to frame (and btw you can just forget about the 56mm or anything beyond). On the other hand my X-Pro2’s OVF with variable magnification allows 3-4 lenses to live happily in it (18mm, 23mm, 35mm, and even the 56mm in a pinch). Whereas the X-Pro3’s crippled OVF only works with 1-2 lenses, the 23mm & the 35mm (kinda)

I probably could somehow learn to live with the other 2 “upgrades” of the X-Pro3: The missing D-pad and that weird “hidden” LCD (meaning you can’t even compensate the lost custom function slots due to the missing D-pad via touch screen gestures when the LCD is hidden). OK, OK I get it, y’all can’t do no “pure” or “serious” photography if the LCD’s not hidden … But IMO all that ain’t ever gonna justify the X-Pro3’s approx. 2 grand price point. No way. Note, you can still get a new X-Pro2 (w/o the crippled OVF & w/o that dorky “hidden” LCD gimmick) for half that price, and then you even get slightly better high ISO & shadows noise behaviour to boot. And I promise, you will not not notice any difference between the 26 and 24 MP sensors either (actually I even prefer the rendering of the X-Pro2’s / X-H1’s X-Trans III sensor over the X-Pro3’s one). So, it’s kinda a “no-brainer”, if you ask me! Take a look at the beautiful shades of white below:

White in white street, X-H1 with XF 56mm F/1.2 @F/8, 1/800 sec, ISO 400, developed in Capture 1

Ok, so what about the upcoming X-T4?. Feature-wize it’s quite amazing what Fuji has packed into a still very compact body for a reasonable price (approx. 150$ less than X-Pro3): The X-T4 includes all the goodies contemporary camera tech can offer, so it’s quite impressive from a business proposition point of view. The single reason why I ain’t gonna put down my money for this one is ergonomics (or better lack thereof …): The X-T4’s shutter button is placed at a larger distance rearwards vs. the grip, and w/o forward inclination compared to the X-H1, see below image:

x-t4 vs x-h1 shutter button position.png

So, pressing the shutter requires an awkward contortion of your index finger respective to your hand holding the grip. Furthermore for my (medium sized) hands the X-T line’s body size is too small for a camera with a central viewfinder (DSLR style) layout. My X-H1’s grip is more comfortable and due to the increased width of the camera the viewfinder is in a better position. These at the end were the reasons why I never really could get used to my X-T2, subsequently selling it and never ending up buying an X-T3 (compared to which the X-T4 is even worse, because its grip is protruding even more out from the front of the body)

A more critical issue for me is the X-T4’s new “multi-angle, reversible LCD screen”. While this may be great for the vlogger- & selfie crowd it is a downright hinderance to serious stills photography. Why? Firstly it takes far longer time to fold out the LCD 180° from the right all the way to the left and then rotating it upwards if you want to look down while shooting from waist level (ideal for street photography). It can’t be slanted up- or downwards while on the back of the camera! And when folded out the whole LCD screen is sticking out to the left side of the camera like a sore thumb, making handling the camera quite a fiddly & awkward affair compounded by the complicated manipulation of the LCD screen. On my X100V I can switch between viewfinder and using the LCD at waist level in a split second - I just quickly need to pull out the bottom of the LCD a few cm in one fluid movement to slant it and can immediately look down to enable unobtrusive shots in the streets, without having to lift the camera to my eye (do that & people will immediately notice you. forget any spontaneity right there …). Apart from this you might get worried that the X-T4’s LCD’s hinge could easily break off by leveraging the exposed LCD screen against the body, while moving around to get a good perspective. To be fair I haven’t yet been able to physically try an X-T4 out, but I know all about this problem coz I had such a folding / twisting LCD in Nikon & Panasonic point and shoots a long time ago & and it freaked the heck outta me …

Summarizing, while I commend Fuji for having the courage to try out new things, for me the development direction of Fuji’s 2 new top-of-the-line ‘Flagship’ cameras has taken a completely wrong turn. On the:

  • X-Pro3 by crippling precisely THE key feature inherent to a rangefinder style camera (the OVF!)

  • X-T4 by an awkwardly placed shutter button and a cumbersome 3-D articulating LCD screen needing a time consuming manipulation and with the risk of damage due it’s exposed position when in use

These user interface & ergonomics misgivings may just be my subjective perception, but for me they’re a major blocking point to purchasing these cameras because they are a hinderance to a fluent & unobtrusive photographic process. Furthermore in my point of view the other “improvements” of these new models are not a sufficient upgrade vs. my current cameras to justify the requested price premium

Fuji PLEASE get this right on your next generation cameras, then they most probably will become unbeatable photographic tools! One of Fuji’s core strengths is listening to its consumer base. If they want to continue getting my hard earned cash they will have to quit playing around and go back to focus on core usability and ergonomic aspects of their cameras for serious photographers! All this trying to create a one-size-fits-all concept which attempts to suit everybody (photographers, videographers, vloggers and selfie aspirants) - kinda “Jack of all trades, master of none” approach will require major compromises from everyone and satisfy no one (because the requirements and processes of all these applications are so different). For me there are 3 distinct target groups, for which Fuji would do better to create dedicated solutions for and focus in fulfilling their key needs:

  • Serious still photographers

  • Videographers & film makers

  • Vloggers & instagrammers / selfie aspirants

If Fuji don’t respect these user groups’ diverse requirements they for sure risk losing their consumer centric heritage and added value vs. other brands, risking to drive loyal customers to jump ship. However I do think that the first two groups can be combined by a using a separate dedicated (stills/video) menu system, like the X-T4 has. Only, at least PLEASE go back to the X-H1, X-T2/3 type articulating LCD screen! Fuji you listening?

Sun pavillon, observed by X-H1 with XF 23mmm F/1.4 @F/8, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, developed in Capture 1

I hope this has been helpful to solve your own personal dilemmas as to what to do. I strongly advise y’all to think it over very carefully before you trade in your X-Pro2’s or X-H1’s (or X-T3’s for that matter) for the new X-Pro3’s and/or X-T4’s. There’s no way back and you might regret it, so, maybe you get a chance to try them out thoroughly side-by-side (rental or borrow a demo kit from your AD), before deciding! For me they are in no way worth their price premium!

Please leave me any questions and/or remarks in the comment section below or on my “about” page, Have a great Sunday, stay heathy and be safe!

Thanks for your interest & support, cheers

Hendrik

If you like you can support me by sending me a small donation via PayPal.me/hendriximages ! Helps me run this site & keeps the information coming, many thanks in advance!

3 Reasons Why the X-Pro3 ... is NOT for Me!

So I’ll spare y’all the trouble & cut right to the chase: After playing a bit with Fuji’s newest creation (borrowed from an early adopter photographer friend), I came up with 3 reasons why the new X-Pro Three is NOT for me:

  1. The weird “hidden” LCD, in combination with

  2. The “forgotten” D-pad, and last but not least

  3. The “crippled” OVF (Optical View Finder)

If youse are interested in my uninfluenced & unbiased opinion, please read on! In case you’re intrigued by all the hype around the new X-Pro3 and contemplating getting one, I hope this will help you to decide for y’self before spending your hard earned cash on something you may regret … For starters see below an image taken with my trusted and beloved X-Pro2 (who’s real happy it ain’t gonna be replaced anytime soon ;-)

Bikes in contre jour, captured on X-Pro2, with XF 18mm F/2 @F/4, 1/2700 sec, ISO 200, -1EV

Now before I get “shot down” by the Fuji fan-boys out there who can’t handle anyone disagreeing with what “their” brand is doing and/or need to justify their own purchase decision, please hear this disclaimer: This is my website where I share my opinion, whether you like it or not. Why? Coz I can. I ain’t no “X-Photographer”, nor a “Fuji Influencer”, and also no “Brand Ambassador”, who all seem to feel obliged to follow their master’s voice: Repeating marketing mumbo jumbo ad nauseam in the hope of animating people to buy an in my opinion flawed concept … Having said that I do have to say I commend Fuji for having the guts to try something new in a somewhat saturated market and bringing out a highly controversial & polarising proposition. Refreshing. And not at all mainstream. No sir. But just a step too for far for my liking! Missing the for me most important attribute of a camera of getting outta the way of my creative photographic process. My X-Pro2, X-H1 and GFX50R all have that capability. The X-Pro3 don’t. Sorry. With their whole range Fuji up to now aspired to create serious photographic tools, but this one undoubtedly has been born outta a more ‘hipster’ kinda philosophy!

Let’s dive a bit more into the 3 initially mentioned reasons: Fujifilm’s first strike is the weird “hidden” LCD screen, where the usually visible LCD screen is replaced by a digitally simulated film box tab harking back to yesteryear’s analogue photography equipment. Maybe a fun feature for a couple minutes but then decidedly becoming an annoying gimmick. Annoying because if I want to review my image I gotta fumble with the camera to first fold out that LCD screen which then awkwardly sticks out exposed from the camera at a weird angle, getting me more worried about breaking it off. Hey, I’d prefer to have the main feature (image review on LCD) immediately accessible without having to fold anything out, rather than seeing this weird film tab / exposure settings display, which don’t really add any value to my photographic process

See, the main innovation of the digital age over the analogue era (which I grew up with) was the ability to instantly review your image (if needed), rather than sweating it out until your developed films came back from the lab a week later. This “immediate review” capability had a significant positive impact on accelerating my photographic learning process as I could improve the composition & exposure in real time & on location rather than trying to fix it in the darkroom afterwards, especially with fast changing subjects / lighting situations like in the below image with 4 walking girls backlit by the late afternoon sun:

Walk into the light, with XF 35mm F/2 on X-Pro2 @F/8, 1/320 sec, ISO 200

So Fujifilm wants to change the way we take photographs … all that talk about the X-Pro3’s “hidden” LCD on their website, making the photographer concentrate more on his image & somehow magically enabling a more “pure, raw photography” (whatever that’s supposed to mean … ?). For me this seems more like a case of “if you can’t fix it feature it”. Well, y’all can be sure I ain’t gonna let nobody prescribe to me if, when or how often I look at my display! Seriously, if you really think you need a hidden LCD to stop you checking and/or adjusting your image to become a better photographer and you think a traditional LCD’s the reason why you never liked your images, then I guess you you got a real problem & don’t really have a clue what you’re doin’ … One more small remark on the sideline: The X-Pro3’s ingenious hidden/folding LCD collides with my quick release plate when using a tripod, so I could only fold it out to 90° (nearly broke it too then) …

But then Fujifilm’s second strike is an even more strange design choice, completely incomprehensible in my view in conjunction with the “hidden” LCD: They went along and simply “forgot” the D-Pad. Gone. Missing. Deleted. WTF? Ok, so my GFX50R also ain’t got no D-Pad, but there I can at least use the touch screen LCD to access my 4 most used functions (Face/eye Detection Setting, AF-Mode, ISO and Photometry). But on the X-Pro3? Sorry. No joy … oh yeah, coz that one’s LCD is usually hidden! Great. Did you forget? Well, the fan boys & ambassadors got all the answers: “… at first I missed the D-Pad, but then I got used to it, coz it gives me a more ‘pure’ photography experience …”. Sure, you can use the menu button and the joystick to surf the menu’s in the electronic viewfinder, but that completely disrupts the photographic process IMO. I just needed 2 fluid motions on my X-Pro2’s D-Pad to change the AF-Mode for the image below:

Sun reflecting in contre jour façade, seen by X-Pro2, with XF 35mm F/2 @F/8, 1/950 sec, ISO 400, -1EV

Last but not least Fujifilm’s third strike is the X-Pro3’s “crippled” direct vision optical viewfinder (OVF). In my opinion this is a significant evolutionary step back from my X-Pro2. Crippled? Yeah, well it don’t change its magnification any more when using different focal lengths. Instead of the X-Pro2’s 0.36x and 0.6x magnifications which switch, depending on which lens you attach to the camera, the X-Pro3 compromizes on only one fixed 0.52x magnification, optimised for the 23mm focal length. This compromize means I couldn't really judge the framing in the OVF when using my beloved XF 18mm F/2 anymore (especially losing the ability of seeing what’s going on outside the frame - ideal for street photography). On the other hand the frames in the OVF became too small when using my XF 35mm F/1.4 or XF 56mm F/1.2 that I can’t really use them for careful portrait compositions anymore either. Although the X-Pro3’s viewfinder image is larger than the X-Pro2’s it don’t help if it can’t be used properly with certain focal lengths - those of youse who prefer shooting with 16 or 18mm wide angles using the OVF will probably be frustrated with the decision to limit the magnifications. Apart from that the infinity indicators are now also missing, meaning you lose any indication of where your AF point will be at distances larger than your current focal position - so, no way of predicting were the AF-frame will jump when refocussing from near to far. Even the X-Pro3’s electronic viewfinder (EVF) having a larger resolution & refresh rate, it’s limited OVF options make the the hybrid viewfinder lose some of its appeal. For the below image I needed to use the EVF to keep the sun just outside of the frame:

Bus stop in contre jour, discovered by X-H1 and XF 14mm F/2.8 @F/8, 1/120 sec, ISO 200

Well, I needed to get that out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there will be many out there who will love the Fuji X-Pro3’s controversial design and I wish them all the best & lots of fun with it. Originally the X-Pro line was intended for wedding & professional photographers, however in my view there’s nothing professional about the above mentioned drawbacks & limitations. So I get the impression that here overhyped marketing and an army of “ambassadors”, maintaining that only the X-Pro3 enables the user to experience “raw, pure photography” are being used to influence people to purchase an in my opinion flawed concept. So I hope that presenting my differentiated view will help to counter a bit of the marketing hype around this camera

You don’t agree? No Problem, go out and be happy with your X-Pro3, I wish you all the best! You don’t know? Then I strongly advise you to try the camera out carefully before you hit the buy button, to see if you can live with its quirks. You agree? Then you are also one of those for whom the camera should get out of the way of your creative photographic process. Whatever, I’d love if you’d share your opinion in the comments section below. Looking forward to a lively discussion!

One final thought - I hope the guys over at Fuji are reading this: PLEASE Fuji don’t repeat the “hidden” LCD thing on the upcoming successor of the X100F (X100V)! Give us an updated 23mm F/2 lens, weather sealing and a normal tilting touch screen LCD, that would be THE street photographer’s dream! Hey, we then could even live without a D-Pad (it’s ok on my GFX50R too …)

Wish y’all good shooting & a very nice Sunday!

Best regards,

Hendrik

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