Fuji X-Pro3 first impressions

Lightmancer

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Sunny Frimley
Name
Bill Palmer
So, I picked mine up today.

The quality of construction has taken a step up. I remember that my original X-Pro felt a bit "hollow", particularly coming from a couple of decades of Leica M use. The 2 improved on that, but the 3 feels hewn from a solid block of dense black stuff.

The built in handgrip is more substantial than found on its predecessors, to the extent that this is the first X-Pro that I think I can use comfortably without an accessory grip.

In the box there's the camera, a battery, a basic strap and a cable. There's an unfeasibly large polishing cloth which feels like an afterthought for those driven nuts by the fingerprint magnet that is the dura coating (mine is standard black), some Capture One paperwork and...

...well, that's it. No charger, no mains cord/plug, no instruction book...

There's a QR code to scan and download one, but to be honest I doubt anyone Fuji-literate will need one. When you pop in a battery and fire it up you get a choice of language and then it encourages you to connect to your phone/Fujifilm Remote and sync time and date and, optionally, location.

It took me moments not to miss the d-pad. The joystick is snappy and positive.

I love the new OVF. God it's pellucidly clear and very usable. Much has been written about the different field of view but in practice it's fine.

Attention has clearly been paid to usability and to feedback from real photographers not whiners. The exposure comp dial is more deeply recessed and harder to knock, as is the dioptre dial - mine was taped down on the X-Pro2.

So first impressions are favourable. Very much so.

I haven't had the chance to shoot anything other than the radiator on the other side of my lounge so far - watch this space...
 
Observation #1

There's something screwy about the buffer... If you shoot in simulation modes in single shot mode the shutter locks out while the write time stretches to a second or more. I have tried the identical settings on my XT2 and there is no lag at all.

I'll report this to Fuji on Monday...
I've been hearing that if you are shooting jpg, using clarity, this is what is causing the lag time. Setting the clarity to zero eliminates the lag time.
 
Mine's on the way, sorta'. Free one-day FedEx shipping out of NJ to northern Vermont turned into two-day shipping. Mine is now scheduled to arrive on Monday. I think its called taking the scenic route. ;-)
. . . David
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I've been hearing that if you are shooting jpg, using clarity, this is what is causing the lag time. Setting the clarity to zero eliminates the lag time.

Spot-on.

It's bloody frustrating.

I've been out and about today testing extensively.

Clarity definitely chews up performance. It took me a while - and a lot of trial and error - to narrow it down. Even the slightest use of clarity - plus or minus one - puts write times into over a second territory.

I'm glad in a way. That implies some piss-poor coding rather than a hardware problem like a too-small buffer. I'm hoping this can be fixed in a firmware upgrade.

I'm going to the opening of the new Fuji store on Tuesday in Covent Garden. I'll see what they say then.
 
Spot-on.

It's bloody frustrating.

I've been out and about today testing extensively.

Clarity definitely chews up performance. It took me a while - and a lot of trial and error - to narrow it down. Even the slightest use of clarity - plus or minus one - puts write times into over a second territory.

I'm glad in a way. That implies some piss-poor coding rather than a hardware problem like a too-small buffer. I'm hoping this can be fixed in a firmware upgrade.

I'm going to the opening of the new Fuji store on Tuesday in Covent Garden. I'll see what they say then.
Hmm ... i noticed the same with the Ricoh GrII. I figured it requires more processing and just don't bother using it much. Its strange that the same happens on a different camera from another manufacturer as well.
 
The X-Pro3 arrived last night around 5:30ish. It was very cold so a warm up session was a given.
I tried a couple of quick shots last night but considering how dark our house is in the winter it was a silly attempt.
This morning I set up some of the more obvious controls on the beast and gave a quick look at the monstrous owners manual. Geezum, it's a big one!
As with any new camera or lens and considering the lousy weather outside, I made some images of the "usual suspects" inside for comparison sake to other gear.
Here are a handful of initial observations;
A. The auto focus is extremely accurate. A number of the initial images I made were shot wide open on an XF35mm f1.4 lens and those are among the sharpest images I've ever made with that lens.
B. I found myself using the electronic viewfinder, not the optical. I will attempt to utilize the optical finder in the next round of images since it was one of the reasons for the change from the "2" to the "3".
C. The flip down screen came in very handy on the cat image. Another of the reasons I bought the camera to help me out getting images from a lower than normal PoV.
D. And then there were the JPEGS. (Insert a big jaw drop here.). I have been shooting with the X Pro2 in Acros and RAW files concurrently. I initially set up the X Pro3 in JPEG and RAW really for no apparent reason. I'm glad I did. When I imported the files into Lightroom Classic and compared them the sharpness was noticeably better on the JPEGs. Apparently the in camera processing includes more than just a bit of sharpening. However, not overdone. The JPEGS from the X Pro3 are pretty amazing. The image of my wife is from a JPEG and only cropped a bit with no processing in Lightroom and for once with a Fuji, the auto ISO selected 320, not 800. Happy, happy.
I'll post more quick thoughts and images over the next few days.
Oh and yup - I really like this camera a lot! Honest. :)
. . . David

Fuji X Pro3 - 35mm F1.4 Tests-3.jpg


Fuji X Pro3 - 35mm F1.4 Tests.jpg


Fuji X Pro3 - 35mm F1.4 Tests-2.jpg


Fuji X Pro3 - 35mm F1.4 Tests-5.jpg


Fuji X Pro3 - 35mm F1.4 Tests-4.jpg
 
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