X-Pro 3 first impressions!

On the 28th of November, during lunchtime, I received a call from my local camera store. He was calling to inform me that the Fujifilm’s latest camera, the X-Pro 3 has finally arrived.

I was super excited. I headed down to the store after work, and collected my camera.

I brought it out for a spin today, walking around Fusionopolis, close to where I work. It’s a complex of buildings with ultramodern architecture, housing various engineering institutes under the A*STAR umbrella. It is a place I am very familiar with and because the place becomes relatively quiet during the weekend. It was a suitable place to experiment using the new camera and to get a feel on how the camera handles in my hands without too much distraction along the way.

I also brought it to Orchard Road on Friday evening, to soak up the festive cheer and also to revel in the Black Friday sales that every mall was promoting to test out the camera is low light conditions.

So what were me initial impressions after using this camera for about 24 hours?

Right off the bat (and also during the demo sessions I had with the camera before it was launched), holding the camera is really comfortable. The grip is not too big and bulky, yet not too small to be insignificant. It felt just right. The body isn’t heavy. Paired with a light lens like the 23mm f2.0, the weight feels perfect. The camera grip, paired with a suitable wrist strap, like the one I got from Deadcameras, makes carrying the camera around a joy.

I am a wrist strap kinda guy when it comes to lugging my camera around. I don’t really like to carry my camera around my neck. Instead, I prefer the wrist strap. And paired with X-Pro 3, its a match made in heaven.

The dials are solid and have a solid click whenever it is rotated. It is made of metal and the inscriptions and markings on the dials are meticulously painted. It is just oozing with quality. The placement of the dials are well placed, allowing easy access to all the dials without over stretching any of your fingers or contorting your fingers unnaturally or uncomfortably.

I have primarily used only the EVF so far, or the electronic viewfinder. It is nice to have the option of the OVF, or the optical viewfinder. I will definitely attempt to take pictures using just the OVF. It will definitely be a fun and interesting experience to see the world through the OVF and take creative pictures with it.

And the film simulations. There are so many options to choose from. All of them look gorgeous and some of them are better suited for certain kinds of photography. I have yet to familiarise myself with the different film simulations. But with time, hopefully I will master them and apply them in the correct conditions to achieve specific photography styles.

There are more features that I have barely scratched the surface and it will be an interesting journey for me to experiment and try all of them. The X-Pro 3 is a really fun camera to use, one that I am sure will enjoy using it for many years to come.

To view the album of the shots I have taken with the X-Pro 3 on the first day, please visit the this link.