Where’s The X-Pro3 Review? (Plus X-T4 stuff)

I’ve been receiving emails from readers asking where the heck my X-Pro3 review is already?! After a lot of careful consideration, I decided to pass on the Dura Black X-Pro3→ I had preordered a few months ago, and I’m not sure if it’s a camera I’ll ever own,¹ as much as I’d like to. Part of this came down to budget, but the other part comes down the X-Pro3 simply not being the right camera for me.

How did the X-Pro go from being my favourite camera ever with the second iteration to something I can’t even justify the purchase of with the third? A bunch of reasons, cumulatively, and some of them are admittedly a bit retroactive.

1. The “Hidden” LCD: More than enough has been written about this screen already. It caused a ton of controversy. I’m not going to say Fuji shouldn’t have done it—I still think something bold like this was the right call, and we should be thankful Fuji are willing to push boundaries in that way—but it’s not the right direction for me personally.
2. The OVF magnification: I was really disappointed to learn about the move from a dual 0.36/0.6× to a singular 0.52× magnification, even if the OVF is better in all other respects. I previously recommended looking elsewhere if you plan to do most of your shooting outside 18 to 50mm, and now that range is reduced further with 18mm being beyond the X-Pro3’s OVF field of view. I was hoping for a third magnification² not one less.
3. Missing D-pad: I can sort of understand the desire for simplicity, but this is a trend I just can’t get behind, especially on cameras that have the room for it. The GFX 100 doesn’t have a D-pad for crying out loud.
4. The sensor: I have zero issue with the sensor and processor combination found in the X-Pro3, X-T3, or X-T4. That written, because I already have Fuji’s top of the line imaging as far as still photographs are concerned in the X-T3—and the difference between X-Pro2 and X-Pro3 is marginal (again, as far as still photography goes)—it makes the X-Pro3 less attractive.

Missing Features

Now that the X-T4 is out, there are a couple more things that irk me about the X-Pro3:

1. If the X-Pro3 had the fully articulating screen of the X-T4—Sub monitor and all—I’d have had one for months already. I’m sure there are engineering challenges to solve for there, but I really hope that’s where the next iteration goes. That way the photography purists can easily hide the screen away, but full access is still available to anyone who wants it.
2. I’d have been pretty frustrated if I bought the X-Pro3 with its lower capacity NP-W126S battery only to have the X-T4 be announced a few short months later with a newer, higher capacity battery. I thought the battery should have been addressed with the X-Pro2 and the subsequent X-Trans III generation of Fuji cameras. Here we are four years on with one flagship body still on the old battery technology, and the other body on a new one.

Despite the items above, I’ve almost convinced myself to buy an X-Pro3 a couple of times. For many people it will be a fantastic camera, but I really do think I’m going to hold strong and sit this generation out. There are just too many “if only’s” with the X-Pro3, and I feel like the next generation could solve at least some of them.

About The X-T4

The X-T4→ is a similar situation. It’s clearly going to be Fuji’s most versatile camera yet, but as mentioned, I have its still photographic quality in the X-T3 already, in-body image stabilization when I need it in the X-H1,³ and I just don’t shoot a whole lot of video.

I initially thought I might get an X-T4 to go along with my X-T3 for a two-body setup, but then I’m not only dealing with two different sets of batteries, but also slightly different button interfaces, and screens. The latter is far from a dealbreaker, but it contributes to my decision-making process. I personally prefer the default rear button operations on the X-T3.⁴

2 × X-T3

I’ve been selling off some older kit in recent weeks to fund the purchase of something new. I contemplated a move to Medium Format (more on that below), but I think the prudent choice would be to buy a second X-T3 with its reduced price and free grip kit.→ My desire is to have two bodies as similar as possible—with image quality being the priority—each with a prime lens and Peak Design plate→ attached. Had the X-Pro3 turned out different, I’d have gladly worked with the differences between it and an X-T body (probably the X-T3 in that case), but failing that, two X-T bodies would also be just fine. I could look at also selling the X-T3 to fund two X-T4s, but I just don’t think that makes much sense.

The X-T3 is a bit smaller, lighter, and is still Fuji’s best still image quality. I don’t really need IBIS, personally. When a steady camera is critical, I want to use my Peak Travel Tripod.→ Now that I’m shooting RAF exclusively, and processing in Capture One,→ I’m not at all concerned about new Film Simulation Modes. I don’t vlog, barely shoot video, so I’m really having a tough time justifying the X-T4 for anything more than a review/comparison.

The X-T4 Will Be An Amazing Camera

Earlier this week I tweeted an overly simplified upgrade path for the X-T4. While I stand by that, it must also be said that the X-T4 is set to be an absolutely incredible APS-C camera. I wish some of those features made it into the X-T3. I would love to keep that LCD folded closed, screen side in, and to have the outstanding IBIS at my disposal, but the improvements the X-T4 offers to my shooting style simply aren’t great enough to warrant the upgrade. So I think I’m good with the X-T3, and probably a second one.

What’s This About Medium Format?

After the X-Pro3 ended up not being the camera for me, I started looking into Medium Format again. I would love to have the image quality and dynamic range a GFX 50 offers. The 50S→ is much too large, bulky, and frankly, ugly for my liking, and with the rather exceptional pricing on the 50R,→ I thought it and a half price GF 50mm F3.5→ would be the way to go. So much so that I almost ordered the lens before having actually handled the 50R.⁵ I’m glad I didn’t because the 50R is enormous. Small for Medium Format, sure, but compared to an X-Pro, or even something like a Nikon Z7, it’s huge.

What Does This Mean For Reviews?

There probably won’t be much in the way of body reviews for the next while. With the X100V→ accounted for, that’s three new Fujifilm bodies I’ll likely be passing on.

I feel I’ll be able to make informed kit recommendations still, however, and the new cameras will absolutely be making an appearance there shortly.

1. At least not at any time when a review would be worth writing or reading. ↩︎
2. Ideally all of Fuji’s recent compact primes—XF 16mm F2.8, XF 23mm F2 WR, XF 35mm F2 WR, and XF 50mm F2 WR, not to mention the kit lens, FFS—should be perfectly comfortable to compose with the OVF. ↩︎
3. Granted not as good, or as compact as what’s in the X-T4, but it’s fine for my limited IBIS needs. ↩︎
4. It makes far more sense to have the two lock buttons on the same plane than it does to move one down and replace it with the Q Menu. ↩︎
5. There is a remarkable lack of 50R’s available to handle in Toronto, Canada. Fuji will actually bring the camera to you if you ask for it, but I wanted to get an initial feel for it before troubling them. ↩︎

XF 56mm F1.2 Review (Re)Posted

Along with my early impressions of the XF 10-24mm F4 OIS, my XF 56mm F1.2 impressions was in desperate need of updating, and a proper review.

I’m happy to write it has been.

Here’s the review.

Fujifilm X Summit and the X-Pro3

Last Friday, Fujifilm Japan held a “Fujifilm X Summit” in Shibuya to talk about a few upcoming developments. Toshi Iida, General Manager hosted alongside Shin Udono, Senior Manager, and Takashi Ueno, Senior Manager from Fujifilm as well as X-Photographers Bert Stephani and Tomasz Lazer.

XF 33mm 50mm F1 WR

The XF 33mm F1 WR was due to be officially announced anytime now, but it seems Fuji were a little too quick to add the lens to the roadmap. Back in July I wondered if it was premature to proclaim the lens as “world’s first mirrorless lens with an F/1 maximum aperture.” They are indeed sticking to F/1, but the focal length has been extended from 33mm to 50mm.

There are exactly two reasons for this; size, and weight.

When Fuji announced the XF 33mm F1 WR, I envisioned a lens about the size and weight of the XF 56mm F1.2. Early mockups of the XF 33mm F1 WR were already much larger, in around XF 90mm F2 WR territory, and since then—despite Toshi’s insistence the team make it smaller—it has actually become larger. In order to achieve excellent image quality from the centre of the frame through to the edges, and eliminate all the resulting aberrations, we were looking at a lens with 15 elements (the XF 35mm F1.4 has only 8), and over 1.3 kilograms in weight. The lens was so large, it was going to include a tripod mount, like the ones found in telephoto lenses. For a 50mm equivalent, that’s more than a little nuts.

The new XF 50mm F1 WR promises to be 35% smaller, with a target weight of under 900g (still pretty damn heavy), and we are to expect “50% richer bokeh.” I have no idea how one measures bokeh in terms of percent—there could be something lost in translation here—but at least some of this will come down to the change in focal length.

On the subject, I’m a little disappointed by the focal length change—50mm in 35mm equivalence is my jam—but it is absolutely the right call to keep X Series kit small and light. Bert wryly stated he was fine with the change, provided Fuji update the XF 35mm F1.4. Hear hear to that. I’ve moved back the original 35 myself, weather permitting.

Firmware Functions

Fujifilm Japan have a long list of customer-requested functions, which is to be expected. There are 20 or so commonly requested items, of which they shared what are apparently the top 9. Of those 9, they shared 3 functions are currently in development. Not the top 3, rather the top 3-5 requested features. Although I must call into question a couple of these requested functions.

On order of preference, those functions are:

Multiple shot for HDR

Cool, but if this is just for JPEG, I’m not super interested. If Fuji were able to somehow stack the dynamic range of multiple exposures into an HDR RAF, I’d be psyched. This feature strikes me as a response to things like “Smart HDR” and “computational photography.” Hopefully Fuji crushes it on their first attempt, otherwise they are going to be awfully far behind.

Focus Bracketing

Fuji’s demonstration shows 109 AF point calculations that can be combined ”on the PC in software” to create a sharp image. Also cool, but we'll need more concrete info. I definitely don’t want 109 frames to import and merge in post.

Multiple Exposure increased from 2 to 9 images

My first thought was “Who the hell is asking for this?” Honestly, I wish I could remove the Multiple Exposure functionality from my camera altogether to avoid the odd occasion is gets triggered accidentally. Doing this stuff in camera is about as useful as the Toy Camera effect is to me, but apparently people want more of it.

Gimbal and Drone Compatibility

A bonus function that wasn’t on the list. Buttons on gimbals will soon actually work, and key functions like shutter speed, exposure settings, and focus will be adjustable from both gimbal and drone controls. Big step up from just Start and Stop (recording).

Which Cameras?

One item of note is we don’t have any idea which cameras these features are in development for. Given Fuji has called these features “firmware functions” certainly suggests they will be coming to cameras that are already available. My guess is at least X-Trans IV, but it would strange to exclude the X-H1, so perhaps X-Trans III cameras will also be included.

X-Pro3

Now we get to the main event. A teaser for the development of the X-Pro3. Toshi set the whole thing up talking about “Pure Photography,” and asks “Why don’t we go back to basics?” Both of which sound familiar, but as I’ve quipped a number of times in the past, Fuji has delivered on what Nikon promised with the DF, seemingly without even trying.

Pure Photography

“Pure Photography” is described as having 3 parts:

1. Carry & Access
2. Find & Frame
3. Shoot to Express (pressing shutter most important)

This in turn was broken out into 4 categories: Size, Weight, Discreet, and Durable. The rest of the presentation only loosely tied back to these items, but it’s worth understanding the thinking behind the X-Pro3’s direction.

Titanium

Toshi started with Durability. The X-Pro3 will be machined from titanium, a material largely abandoned for being too difficult to work with due to manufacturing challenges, and heat dissipation. But, as Toshi put it, Fuji “found a way.”

DuraBlack and DuraSilver

An added coating will (optionally?) be added to make the camera even tougher. Fuji calls these “DuraBlack” and “DuraSilver.” Standard black will seemingly also be available, but it is unclear whether this added finish will come at a premium. I suspect it will be treated the same as “Graphite Silver” was, and at least this finish adds function in addition to form, in that it will be 10 times more resistant to scratches than steel. My days of sweating over my camera getting scratched are behind me, but I totally understand this is important to people.

It will be interesting to see how the combination of Titanium and Dura finish stacks up against, say, the thicker magnesium and “hammer tone finish” of the X-H1. There was casual mention of the X-Pro3 feeling light, but no official claims of it being lighter than the X-Pro2. That suggests it is tougher without increase in weight.

This is good stuff, provided the X-Pro3 doesn’t run into any thermal issues. Given the combination of build materials, and pure photographic vision, it’s possible we could be looking at relatively limited video functionality in the X-Pro3. Personally, I’d be A-OK with it not even shooting video. Can’t get much more pure than that.

Also, “DuraBlack” looks hot. That’s definitely my choice of finish.

Hybrid Viewfinder

Both the OVF and EVF have been upgraded.

OVF

• Clearer
• Less distortion
• Wider angle of view

The first two points are great. On the last, it sounds like there is more room for the viewfinder frame when using wider lenses like either of the 23mm, but I hope the viewfinder is also larger.

EVF via brand new panel

• Higher resolution
• Higher contrast
• Wider colour space
• Brighter
• Higher frame rate

The one thing missing from that list that I really wanted to see was magnification. Once you get used to the EVF on an X-T or X-H, going back to the X-Pro takes a little getting used to.

The UI of both EVFs looks updated well. The text on the OVF has more white backing, and Fuji has introduced blue into the UI. It looks really nice.

Hidden LCD

Undoubtedly the most controversial portion of the announcement, the X-Pro3 will sport what we know as the “Sub Monitor” from the GFX 50s, 100, and X-H1 on the back. The LCD flips down for when it does come time to review your images. The Sub Monitor can also display your Film Simulation Mode in a nice graphic representation of the film packaging. It looks great, and feels very Hipstamatic.

My initial reaction is that it feels a bit gimmicky, and at the very least, extremely niche. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing. I love Fuji’s commitment to Pure Photography, but no one should expect big sales figures out of this thing. At least left-eye shooters won’t have to worry about nose smudges on their LCD anymore.

New Film Simulation, Classic Negative

It looks nice, and I’m sure like ACROS and CLASSIC CHROME before it, it will be the new Film Simulation hotness for a while. Which current cameras will be bestowed this new Film Simulation Mode, I wonder. I hope at the very least it trickles down to any X-Trans IV cameras (X-T3/X-T30).

Official Announcement

The X-Pro3 will be officially announced October 23, 2019, preceding “FujiFest” which is set to hit cities around the world, but disappointingly, none in Canada.

Thoughts

You’ll notice I haven’t complained about the lack of a D-pad yet. I had intended to, but after some thought, I’m not sure a camera of this kind really needs one as much. I do think we are going to want, if not need more access to Function buttons. Press and hold a button, turn a command dial, and watch the setting change on the Sub Monitor. One of the key features of the D-pad is being able to use the directional buttons as Function buttons when I’m not navigating menus. The way the mockup looks now, owners will either have to flip the screen open to make adjustments, or peer through the viewfinder, which can be a really clunky experience. Unless Fuji comes up with a way of using the Sub Monitor for that, but I won’t hold my breath.

Early Reactions

Based on replies on Twitter, and what I’ve seen online, reactions to the X-Pro3’s new design are mixed to say the least. There’s certainly some love for the idea, and Fuji’s willingness to put all their wood behind this arrow, but there are about as many people wondering if Fuji have their collective heads screwed on tight.

My Reaction

The X-Pro3 is decidedly old school, and borderline hipster, but I can definitely get behind thinking if the user experience lives up to the Pure Photography mantra. I think I’ll have a really hard time recommending a camera that is so purpose-built to anyone who might dabble in many different genres. But then, that’s entirely the point of “purity,” isn’t it?

X-H1 Deals

If by some fluke you are interested in the X-H1, and haven’t yet taken note of the deals available on the X-H1, be sure to take notice of the fantastic $999 body only deal.→

But, if you’ve had your eye on an XF 16-55mm F2.8 WR, you can buy it and get a gripped X-H1 for $500.→

Better still, if you’ve had your eye on an XF 8-16mm F2.8 WR, you can buy it and get a gripped X-H1 for $300.→

$300 for an X-H1. That’s nuts.

Breathing New Life Into Early X-Trans With Capture One

Following up on my last post, I’ve been going through some old RAFs in Capture One. The difference I’m seeing compared to what I can get out of Lightroom is shocking. Check out this terribly underexposed sunset image, captured with an X-E1 in 2013.

My exposure compensation was still set at -2.0 from a previous shot, so I’m certainly not hoping to get anything useful out of that shot, but look at the difference in what I’m able to pull out of the exposure in Capture One 12 compared to Lightroom Classic (or whatever the hell they’re calling it these days).

Now check out this crop.

Capture One sharpening settings are at their defaults ( I would typically reduce them slightly). In Lightroom, I used the oft advised high Detail slider at 85, and relatively low Amount of 25. Any higher on the amount and Lightroom starts sharpening noise. Increasing the Luminance Noise Reduction blurs detail.

From the farm buildings, the detail in the foliage, the bizarre 8-bit-looking grass, Lightroom’s limitations with these older sensors is astounding. No wonder I decided to shoot JPEG.

Fuji have come a long way with their sensors, and I have already acknowledged that Lightroom started doing a lot better when X-Trans III came out. The point is, if you’ve decided to make the jump yourself and you’ve got some older X-Trans 1 RAFs in the archives,¹ it could well be worth reprocessing them in Capture One.→

Luckily I got my exposure set a little better on my next attempt.

1. Or you’re simply happy with an older body. For a lot of people, 16 megapixels is plenty. ↩︎

Switching to Capture One

It finally happened. After years (half a decade, even) of being unsatisfied with Lightroom’s handling of X-Trans RAF files, and an underlying dissatisfaction with my workflow workarounds, I’ve completely made the switch from Lightroom to Capture One Pro 12→¹ for all of my personal² photography.

The transition period was actually quite short, just a couple months or so. I started out importing all my current RAFs into Capture One, while maintaining my Lightroom library and doubling up my asset management in case I decided to move back. Well, my last import was only to Capture One. Those, and future images will likely never see Lightroom.

Adobe has certainly made some progress since the first and second generation of X-Trans, but it is the definition of “too little, too late” in my book. In my hopelessly dated RAW Converter comparison, I concluded that Capture One delivered superior results. A year later when Lightroom 6 came out, I left little doubt that Capture One produces cleaner images with better detail.

So why did I wait so long?

Honestly I’m not sure, but version 12 of Capture One does have some additional niceties that have made the switch easier, and Phase One’s commitment to Fujifilm cameras really helps.

Back to the RAF

The other big change to my workflow is I’ve gone RAF-only for my personal photography. One big reason for this is Capture One’s interpretation of Fuji’s Film Simulation Modes and lens correction profiles are so good, I don’t feel the need to capture both RAF and JPEG. Unlike Lightroom, Capture One imports my RAFs with the Film Simulation Mode I captured the image with applied automatically. This gives me the best of all worlds; I can make creative choices while I’m shooting, I can totally change my mind about those choices later, and I don’t have a second set of files I need to reference what I was thinking when I captured the image.

Another big reason is exposing to the right with the ETERNA Film Simulation Mode is a fantastic way to get the most out of your exposures, but that’s another article.

Have you heard about these things called presets?

I never got too deep into the preset world in Lightroom. There were just too many, and many seemed dreadfully overpriced, all too similar³ and would break or not adapt when Adobe updated their rendering engine. I feel like that market has settled down a little, and the better quality preset shops have added (or are starting to add) Capture One versions as well.

It can be easy for presets to become a crutch, but they can also just as easily be a starting point for discovering your own style. I’m enjoying editing photos more than I have in years, so clearly it’s the right thing for me right now.

Have I looked back?

Hardly. I miss some things like the dedicated slider for Dehaze once in a while, but in truth you can get similar results that are arguably more natural using the Luma Range mask, an absolutely stellar feature. Speaking of sliders, I also find myself reaching for the Blacks and Whites sliders, but I’m falling deeper in love with Levels and Curves as a result. Ironically, while I loved Lightroom’s separation of Blacks, Shadows, Highlights, and Whites, when I go back to Lightroom for an old photo, I find myself missing the Brightness slider.

Lightroom’s Library module is quite a bit more robust than what Capture One has in my experience so far. Filtering photos quickly is vastly superior in Lightroom. Capture One’s commercial photography origins likely didn’t call for the kind of filtering that’s available in Lightroom, but I love, neigh need to be able to quickly view photos taken with a particular lens, at a specific focal length, and certain apertures, etc. Even if I didn’t have this website, I do still like being able to see which images came from a certain lens without having to create a bunch of Smart Albums that clutter up my Library/Collection View. This may or may not matter in your workflow, and I’m certain with more time and perhaps a tweak or two to my own workflow, things will get faster in this area.

I appreciate how efficient Capture One’s UI is, but I do wish I could hit Command J to add or change the information that’s up on screen. I also used to resist the vertical image browser, but on my iMac, it actually allows my image to be displayed quite a bit larger.

I miss Selects (or Picks) and Rejects in Capture One, but I’ve adapted to colour labels which have more efficient keyboard shortcuts, especially if you’re on a full size keyboard.⁴

Performance wise, I’m not having much trouble on my 2015 27 inch iMac. I’ve run into the occasional memory crash when waking the computer up, but never while actually working. Capture One seems to use more of the computational resources available to it. My processors are actually working hard enough that the fans spin up on occasion.⁵

The image is what matters though, and even after all these years, Adobe just can’t compete. Maybe you can get similar results using the new Enhance Details, but for now the cost in time and storage space is way too high when there’s software that can do much better with RAFs natively.

Should you switch?

If you shoot RAFs, you should seriously consider it. And there couldn’t be a better time because Capture One Pro 12→ is 50% off for just a couple more days. I can’t say that pricing didn’t also help ease the transition. I went straight to Pro. Layer Editing is more than enough reason, but the Advanced Colour Editing is no joke. I grabbed the 6 Style Packs which bumped the total savings up to 60%. All told, I’m really happy with the change.

1. The Fujifilm Edition, natch. ↩︎
2. The Lightroom library I use for product shots for this site will still be used for the time being as I only shoot JPEGs for those. ↩︎
3. Wedding, engagement, and pregnancy photos from 5–10 years ago are likely to be pretty easy to pick out. ↩︎
4. Plus key = Green for Pick, Minus key = Red for Reject, Asterisk = Yellow, and I’ve set the Equals key to Clear rating. ↩︎
5. This is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. I want software to use the processors I paid for. It does make that silent iMac Pro I’ve been waiting for an upgrade to more appealing. ↩︎

Recommended Kits Updated

My Recommended Kits page has been fully updated. I’ve adjusted the layout slightly to hopefully make more consistent updates a little bit easier. General body recommendations kick things off with lens combinations following.

The two new wide angle offerings from Fuji—the XF 8-16mm F2.8 WR and XF 16mm F2.8 WR—have had a significant impact on these recommendations. So much so that classic kits like the “F2WR” and “The Invincible Landscaper” have been totally rethought. Meanwhile, others like the ”Ultimate Prime Kit” and “My Indispensible Kit” remain largely unchanged.

I must say that if it weren’t for the faster aperture of the XF 16mm F1.4 WR, the XF 8-16mm F2.8 WR would be vying for it’s place on the wide end of my kit.

Recommended Kits

Fujifilm Filter Threads Updated, 2019

My Fujifilm Filter Thread Sizes chart and filter buying strategies piece has been updated to include the newly released XF 16mm F2.8 WR, and soon to be released XF 16-80mm F4 OIS WR.

Fujifilm Filter Thread Sizes