Malte´s Photography

First Steps

My excurse with my new X-PRO3 and my new always on lens 7Artisans 35mm f1.4 APSC brought me within hours much closer to the new way of shooting with the new camera. First shots with the FujiFilm X-PRO3 and the new 7Artisans 35mm f1.4 APSC. I wanted to see how balanced and even to me more important how much fun will it be to use the wonderful new “light monster” from 7Artisans, the 50mm f0.95. A lens from which you see so many wonderful portrait shots on Facebook and Instagram and has proven to be great in this chapter of photography. To me, who likes to shoot street but also nature and “around the house” pictures (A photography style I have developed for myself during Corona Lock Down in Germany, where I tried to see and image the daily life around my house with other eyes and from different perspectives.) I needed a proof how well this would go with this wide open lens and additionally with the new Fujifilm X-PRO3 with a strong focus in using the OVF only. I tried around a lot with this lens in combination with my X-PRO2 but I used most of the time the EVF and checked very often the result on the back LCD screen.

Straight forward, it has been to me a full success. Yes in the beginning almost after every single shot I had the stupid reflex of taken the camera of my yes to control the image but after a while this is gone and I am so much more relaxed in taking pictures. With this experience in mind I am also asking my self how many good shots might I have missed by this stupid behavior of not trusting the camera, the lens and at the end myself by checking almost every second image made on the LCD.

Leaving my comfort zone

If you have been reading my blog for a little while you will have noticed that to me the Fujifilm X-PRO2 has been the best camera ever made in the world. I never got in mind to try even the new Fujifilm X-PRO3 as i got spoilt by all the messages in the community telling how horrible the blinded screen is and even the story of less image quality compared to the X-PRO2 at low light.

I had a long intensive talk with a good friend that has changed to the X-PRO3 5 month ago. I tried to explain him how stupid his decision was in my eyes and that I would never could get used to this style of taking images. He was quite, relaxed, and listen to me and then he told me a story I always like to tell when people are caught in their comfort zone. The Plato´s allegory of the cave. In short: “People are sitting in a dark cave and believe this is the best place in the world because they do not know different. Then some other are forcing those people to step out side see the blue sky and wonderful sun and people are so reluctant till they are forced and start to understand… “

Honestly he has been so right

I was tight up to the stories and opinins out there in the internet and forgot to make up my own mind. This I have changed and therefore decided the other day to buy a Fujifilm X-PRO3 Black. I am sure you will ask why simple black if there are those more lasting Duratect™ Coatings available. On the Fujifilm website and glossy brochures these coatings are looking wonderful but on many real life pictures from X-PRO3 user those are giving the impression of poor quality with many finger prints on.

The beginning of an intensive love

One of my first impression when I unpacked the X-PRO3 was that compared to the X-PRO2 the new camera is even more robust and with just a bit bigger and deeper handles at the front and back so much more grippy. To my surprise even the haptic of the buttons and wheels is more defined than the ones on the X-PRO2. You can not believe how happy I was when I found out that Fujifilm has solved for me the absolute biggest issue of the X-PRO2 the diopter adjustment wheel that changed every second time you got the camera out of the bag. Only this small detail in design change should be reason enough to upgrade to the new X-PRO3. Fujifilm, thanks a lot!

For me someone that is blind like a fly (does anyone know where this expression is coming from, my excuses to all the flies out there) and is living with strong glasses day in and out, the higher magnification of the new View Finder is a real plus. Yes, the OVF is only useable for lenses from 23mm to 50mm but be honest who would use anyhow for wide angle and tele lenses not the EVF. Another benefit is the change to a rubber ring at the ocular of the viewfinder to not scratch glasses but allows us “flies” to get closer to the viewfinder. Even so I personally had never the problem but some colleges told me that in the heat of the shootings they lost the rubber eye piece on the X-PRO2 and that is followed by an expensive change of the complete viewfinder at the professional service centers of Fujifilm.

Second to the unique screen layout I came to the conclusion studying in detail the product images that the missing cursor switches on the back would extremely irritating to me in the daily operation of the camera. I never used really the tiny joystick on the other Fuji cameras but since I am now have been forced to use it I really got attracted to it. With the cursor buttons, how often I missed to press the right one having the camera in front of my eye. So the procedure has been camera camera away from the eye and while playing with the cursor buttons looking to the back lcd screen. Again I do not want to know how many images I missed. Now I use other buttons or scroll with my new friend the joystick through the menus with my camera on the eye. Again greetings to Plato (-;

Let’s clean up with some hoax

Let’s talk first about the biggest hoax “Lower image quality of the X-Trans CMOS 4 the 26 megapixel sensor used in the X-PRO3 compared to the X-Trans CMOS III 24 megapixel used in the X-PRO2. Following a lot of messages in social media’s and blogs this shall be even more of an issue in low light situations where higher ISO is needed. Wrong! The amount of details recorded with the X-PRO 3 is significant higher than with the X-PRO2. The noise level is at least at the same low level on the 26 mp sensor. In the field of dynamic range does the X-Trans CMOS 4 Sensor not only outperform the sensor of the X-PRO2 but also many full frame sensors of the competition. The border of IQ between APSC and FF sensors is fading away with this sensor generation.

You might say I can tell a lot of things but please have a close look to the images below made with the stunning new 7Artisans 50mm f0.95 on my Fujifilm X-PRO3 Black. I am very happy If you leave me a message with your own opinion.

Sample gallery

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