Final verdict of the 8 month iPhone photography only, review
The last 8 month you joined me on this blog, during my challenge / review of the iPhone 16 Pro Max as a full time camera option for all kind of photography tasks.
I used it for Street-, Travel-, People-, Landscape-, Nature- and Product-Photography. The image quality, after using the Leica Lux App has been at a level that I is able to compete with many compact cameras. Adding the Fjorden Grip to the iPhone improved drastically the grip and haptic while taking pictures.
There has been the moment, I did not miss my Fujifilm X-Pro 3 any longer.
After 8 month being happy and fully accepting the iPhone as my daily camera, I wanted to understand is this just getting used to this setup and not missing the real camera because it´s out of my sight or is this really all I need.
I took my Fujifilm X-PRO 3 out of the photo bag, charged the batteries, mounted a new 7Artisans AF 35mm f1.4 lens and started to take pictures again.
Yes I know, many haters will immediately say “how pathetic is this guy” but I do not care at all as this have been my feelings:
I am home again after a long journey.
I am sitting here on my terrace, drinking a good cup of coffee and try to understand why this happened. What is the reason for my feelings? To be honest its not only a feeling of being home but I get also a boost of inspiration and creativeness while using this camera.
One of the reasons for this all is for sure the fact why so many people hate the Fujifilm X-PRO 3 and I love it. It´s the fact that there is no screen always on you can take easily pictures with or check them constantly. At the X-PRO 3 you must trust your talent to take pictures as it´s an hurdle to take a picture and then fold out the screen to be able to see the picture. You are forced to use the View Finder (Analog or Electronical) to compose the image.
To me this is the way we took pictures more then 20 years ago with analog film photography. You filled up a film of typically 36 images, and then at a shop or in your own lab you needed to develop this film before you know the results of your photo session. If you have been successful the picture matched what has been visualized in your mind while you took the picture. With some practice this went very well.
Today, mostly with the smartphones but also with modern cameras, people take tons of pictures and then they choose afterwards the one they like and even will start to edit to finish the look they expect.
That is not me. Even forced to use the screen of the iPhone to compose and take pictures due to the lack of a View Finder, is one of the reasons why I feel like coming back home when I get back my X-PRO 3 in my hands. I name this “They paint their pictures.”
Using the Fjorden Grip on the iPhone 16 Pro Max improved the “feeling well” while using the iPhone as camera a lot but it is still not the same. I am sure I will use much more often the iPhone and not only as it is always with me but if I have the time and need motivation, inspiration, creativity or simple want to reduce speed in my life, I will use my Fujifilm X-PRO 3.
