If Fujifilm users across the board received as few firmware updates as the brand’s X Pro 3, I think they’d all leave the camera system. With the new Fujifilm XT5 out of the bag, it’s time for a significant update to the X Pro 3. While Fujifilm says the X Pro 3 didn’t sell well for them, I know many folks who have it. The X Pro 3 is for tried and true photographers who have shot film previously and don’t need to use the screen all the time. Even after the X Pro 4 is announced, I’ll keep my X Pro 3 because of how fantastic a camera it is. With the X Pro 4, I hope Fujifilm rights some mistakes.
Keep the Screen (Or Modify it a Bit)
Many folks who probably started to pick up cameras in the past few years or never touched a film camera before complain about the Fujifilm X Pro 3’s screen. They just don’t know how to use it. And as I’ve told Japanese manufacturers often, Fujifilm did a poor job of educating people about it. They’ll often rely on us, the accredited press, to do that. But that’s a different issue.
The LCD screen on the X Pro 3 is designed to mimic the look of film. If you do use it, it should be used rarely. When you use it, you should be using it TLR or top-down medium format style. Do you know how people geek out over Hasselblad and Mamiya medium format cameras? Well, you’d use the X Pro 3’s screen like those cameras with the top-down viewfinder without the opposite movement patterns.
I sincerely hope they keep this screen and the e-ink display for the X Pro 4. I’d be alright with slight modifications, but this should be a photographer’s camera first.
Firmware Updates and Necessary Changes
In a recent interview, Fujifilm said they won’t be offering as many firmware updates to their cameras in the future. If the X Pro 3 was any indication of this, then I believe Fujifilm may lose customers. I say this as someone who bought one new Fujifilm product since the inception of the X series.
Fujifilm’s high ISO output at ISO 6400 starts to break up with the X series cameras; what saves it is the film simulations. But the brand’s film simulations are seemingly on pause at the moment. I’m baffled as to why the XH2 and XH2s didn’t come with a new film simulation. Hopefully, the X Pro 4 will have one. And trust me, there’s a lot they can do.
Keep the OVF/EVF Combo
I hope the X Pro 4 keeps the OVF and EVF combo. I often find myself using the EVF, but there are times where I enjoy using the optical viewfinder as well. During the pandemic, I got so sick of starting at screens that looking through the OVF felt like a godsend. When I want the OVF but don’t want to use my Leica cameras, I’ll always pick up my X Pro 3.
And of course, there’s more.
The Battery?
The new Fujifilm batteries that are larger provide a lot of extra juice for sure. But because of the screen design on the X Pro 3, the battery life was immaculate. Seriously, if you’ve ever shot with the Canon 5D Mk II and remember how that battery lasted forever, this was the same thing. The X Pro 4 could possibly accommodate that bigger battery, but I’d be curious how they’d do this and keep the camera’s profile slim.
Give Us a Brass Edition That Will Patina
The X Pro 3 got titanium top editions with a dura coating. Borrowed from the folks over at Citizen watches, this prevented the special X Pro 3 cameras from getting patina. But that’s one of the reasons why you’d use the X Pro 3! I really hope the X Pro 4 has a special brass edition that will patina in time with metal dials and all.
That’s the stuff of beauty that we really want.
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