It’s taken me 3 generations of Sony full frame mirrorless cameras to get used to the things, but I can now quite comfortably say that I’ve found a certain amount of peace with the Sony A7iii. In fact, I’d now go as far to say that it’s possibly one of my favourite cameras…!
Having used the Fuji X-Pro3 now for six months, it’s time for the final of this three-part series. To call this a review would be a bit strong. It began last year with Hamish suggesting that I put a few thoughts together after I’d mentioned this new camera to him in passing. So this is more like a series of observations and user experiences than a straight review (of which there are a million out there already.) But while my views are highly subjective and my use of the camera is narrow in its scope, Hamish and I both figured that this might be of interest to the 35mmc clan, starting with initial thoughts and then followed by a couple of updates about how the camera was working out for me.
The X-Pro3 came at a good time for me. I’d returned from a six-week trip to Italy where the last two weeks were spent in Venice trying to make work for exhibitions. So I’d been making holiday snaps and serious stuff, and working out what photo gear I needed to carry and what was too much.For digital (snaps) I’d taken an X-E2 and just the 27mm pancake. Fine. For film snaps an Oly Trip 35. Fine. For serious film stuff an FM2 with 50mm for 135 and an Agfa Isolette III for 120. It all worked out well, and I’m still in a space where I’m thinking a lot about some exhibitions coming up later this year and a couple of other projects that should be fun.
As soon as I read about the Fuji X-Pro3 I thought, “Yeah, shut up and take my money.” I bought the original X100 the day it hit my town, and I’ve been using an X-E2 for a couple of years. I like the Xtrans sensor and Fuji glass is great. I had no intention though, of getting an X-Pro3 straight away. I thought I’d wait for a year or so – till prices and supply had settled. I had no need of it. The X-E2 was just fine as a travel digital, and was all I needed for the small amount of commercial work I still do. (I shoot a bit of editorial for a travel/conservation magazine.)
As much as I enjoy shooting film, I still take the majority of my photographs with digital cameras. That said, I prefer to use cameras and lenses which give me as much simplicity and control as my film cameras. Key to me is to have the option to set the aperture and focus manually. This is why I prefer using and adapting old manual lenses on my digital cameras. They tend to be more compact, and certainly cheaper than trying to buy the modern, native lenses available for my cameras of choice. For the camera bodies, I typically shoot on aperture-preferred on both film and digital, so having shutter speed dials is not a requirement.
