I've Gone And Done It; I Bought A Fujifilm X-T3; My Initial Thoughts

Great Blue Heron. Cropped to about 15% of the entire frame. (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T3, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 400mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/8; ISO 160

Well, I bit the bullet, so to speak, and bought a Fujifilm X-T3.  After not being able to take only my Fujifilm gear on my recent road trip (no Fujifilm backup camera) and then experiencing a lockup two weeks ago with my X-T2, I convinced myself that I needed a backup camera for my Fujifilm system.  (It wasn't hard to convince myself. Lol)  I did some research, pricing, etc. and was ready to purchase a used X-T20 or X-T100 but, at the last minute, for two reasons, I decided to move forward rather than stay static or go backward with the technology, life span as well as future proof my decision.  Additionally, I've never bought a used digital camera and I'm very hesitant to do so considering the complexity of cameras today as well as them being chock full of electronics.  I value a manufacturer's warranty on my digital cameras.  To me, they really are computers with lenses.  So, I went with a new camera, fully warranted with the latest technology and upgrades and I'm not sorry!

I've now had the camera for a couple of weeks but didn't want to reveal that until I had a chance to get to know this new and improved camera.  I've also (finally) completed reading through the entire User's Manual, which is 303 pages in PDF form, set up the camera in basically the same fashion as is my X-T2 and made some test images.  I have not used the camera extensively as of now, but have made some images mainly for testing operability, setup, focus speed, EVF blackout with high speed shooting, etc.  I have not taken it out to do serious photography as of yet.  I've included some of those test images here.

I'm sure you are wondering my thoughts about the X-T3.  How different is it?  What is better about it?  What hasn't changed as well as many other questions.  My initial impression are these.  

For those of you who don't want to read through this entire post, I'll sum up my thoughts by saying the camera feels and acts the same, does everything (and more) that it did before but does it better and faster in every way.  I'm impressed by the improvements.

Camera Feel

The camera feels pretty much the same as the T2.  Very familiar in feel.  Nice.  The grip has a slightly different shape, which does make a difference in how secure it feels to hold.  If feels very familiar and good in my hand.  Metaphorically, like an old friend.

Gull.  Cropped to 14% of frame (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T3, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 234mm;
1/2000th sec. @ f/5; ISO 250

Menus

The menus, for the most part, are identical except for the additional features and more controls Fujifilm has included.  I had absolutely no issue when going into the menu system.  Just like my T2's, as I said, except for the additional stuff Fujifilm has given us.  Having menus that are fundamentally the same as previous cameras is a big benefit when shooting in fast changing situations.  You can easily find what you need to find quickly.  If you liked or are used to the menu system of your older Fujifilm camera, you will like this menu system.

Knobs, Dials and Buttons

The controls are identically placed.  Very welcomed.  One doesn't have to think about where a button, knob or dial is or which way to turn one when using the new camera.  Again, this is very valuable when in fast moving or high stress situations and a control or two needs to be changed.  Some camera manufacturers routinely change the position of their controls, which makes it harder for a photographer to quickly adjust to a newer model camera.  Not having to take time to think about where a button is or what it does really is an unsung benefit Fujifilm provides for us.  Thank you Fujifilm.

Also, the knobs and buttons are better.  How?  The ISO and Shutter Speed knobs feel as though the knurling provides a better friction surface on one's fingers.  It may be my imagination, but they do feel grippier.  They seem a bit less prone to slip when turning and easier to get a solid grip.  The "Drive" and "Light Meter" mode rings under the ISO and Shutter Speed dials are thicker which has allowed Fujifilm to provide a better surface for turning those two rings.  That is a nice little touch (pun intended!).  The buttons provide more relief from the flat camera body surface than in my T2 and T1 (in those cameras I had used Sugru to build up the height of the buttons from the camera's surface) and the front and rear Command Dials give a more positive "click" when pressing so you know that you are correctly pressing them.  They click nicely now instead of being "mushy" as they are on the X-T2.

Image Quality 

So far, I would say image quality is largely the same.  I've only noticed a scant bit of additional fine detail, nothing you would notice unless you are doing some heavy pixel peeping and looking specifically for fine detail for comparison.  I wasn't unhappy with the image quality I was getting from the T2 so I should be happy with this camera's image quality as well.  One thing that I noticed from the Photons to Photos site is that you can now set the ISO to the lowest point, ISO 80, and according to their testing, and not lose any dynamic range.  In my preliminary use, noise is about the same, in my opinion, maybe a little better.  In other words, I don't find noise an issue.  Dynamic range is about the same as well but I have not really tested that yet.  I need to photograph a lot more before I can make any final pronouncements about image quality.  I'll be writing more about image quality in the future as a flesh the camera out fully.

Red roses. Cropped to 12.2 mp from 26.2.. (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T3, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 400mm; 1/750th sec. @ f/5.6;
ISO 250

Electronic Viewfinder (EVF)

Wow!  What can I say?  All of you who own an X-H1 know what I mean.  That difference in resolution (a million more dots), contrast, clarity, color and brightness is remarkable.  I think this viewfinder makes a really big difference from the the ones in my previous Fujifilm cameras.  No change as to refresh rate except you no longer have to have the power booster grip to get the increased focus or EVF refresh rate.  It is now built into the camera body.  Nice.



LCD "Touch" Screen

I like a touch screen.  In the past I thought I had no use for them but I have come to appreciate a touch screen in my Olympus E-M1 Mark II.  There are 4 settings: Off, AF only, AF + expose frame, and Select the AF area on the LCD if you want to use your thumb to move the focus point when your eye is to the viewfinder.  The touch screen is available to use with the Q-menu but not the regular menus?  Not sure why?  

I like using the, what we have come to commonly call, "the joystick" for moving my focus point around the screen even though you now can use your right thumb when your eye is at the EVF (left thumb as well if your left eye is dominant).  However, when on a tripod, I like to tilt out the LCD, set the camera for a 2-second delay, touch the exact point where I want the camera to focus, then wait for the 2-second delay to fire the shutter.  I then don't have to bend over repeatedly to check the viewfinder, move the focus point and make exposures.  But that is just my preference.  In any case, I like it.

Hint of autumn, from a JPEG file (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T3, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens @ 400mm; 1/8000th sec. @ f/11; ISO 3200

Two things about the LCD touchscreen that I discovered that have already become very valuable to me.  Because Fujifilm now gives us the ability to "swipe" up, down, left of right on the LCD screen, you can program those swipes as function "buttons," so to speak.  The default swipe up brings up a really large and nice RGB histogram.  An RGB histogram is so much more valuable than just a luminance histogram.  

The down swipe brings up an really useful 3D electronic level.  In the past we could only level our cameras left and right.  This new level gives us pitch (up/down) as well.

When out making the Amtrak photo below, I used the large, RGB histogram to discover that my the blue channel (mainly sky) was NOT blown out as one would be lead to believe if one were only using the "blinkies" which show areas of the image that are blown out.  The blue channel in the histogram clearly showed it would not reach the right side of the histogram.  The RGB histogram is one feature I really wanted in a Fujifilm camera.  Thanks Fujifilm.

One more small improvement to the LCD screen Fujifilm made that, I feel, makes a nice difference.  When positioning your camera vertically, you know that small release button that you have to slide to the side which allows you to tilt the LCD screen up?  Well, Fujifilm changed that release function to a push button rather than having to slide it.  That small change makes it much easier to quickly release the catch and tilt the screen.  No more fumbling with it to get it to release.  It is little improvements such as this that make a really nice difference in usability.  Obviously, Fujifilm received and acted upon feedback from photographers in order to make that improvement.  Thanks Fujifilm.

Autofocus

The autofocus has improved demonstrably.  Boom!  It is fast and sure.  Locks on quickly.  Single autofocus is now as fast as my Olympus E-M1 Mark II (in other words pretty instantaneous), tracking autofocus locks on quickly and holds focus better as well.  Focus point all across the EVF!  Did I mention there now are focus point ALL ACROSS the EVF?  Wonderful.  No PDAF focus points only in the very middle of the frame as is the case with my T2.  That makes tracking moving objects much easier and more accurate than using the Contrast Detect AF points when the subject moves away from the center of the viewfinder.


Also, when trying out my old Fujifilm 23mm f/1.4 XF lens (slow focusing because it uses an older methodology and the front of the lens moves in and out), it focuses much quicker as well.  No more hunting.  Fujifilm really stepped up their game with this camera.  I see improvements in every situation I've tried.  As I said, not only fast, but it locks on and stays locked on.  The Amtrak train image was shot with AF-C, Zone Focus, 11 fps and I shot about 30 shots of it as it came roaring by at about 79 mph.  Every image was in focus.  The camera tracked it perfectly,  I'm impressed.

Sequential Photography

No viewfinder blackout when using the electronic shutter at 30 fps, 20 fps, 10 fps, at 1.25x viewfinder crop or when using 11 fps with the full viewfinder.  Very nice.  Just like the $4000+ Sony A9.  Fujifilm also states in their User's Manual that the "rolling shutter" effect has been reduced substantially, more than half.  Again, with the Amtrak image, that seems to hold true as I used the electronic shutter for those series of images and they don't look distorted to me.  For continuous high sequential photography using the mechanical shutter, you now get 11 fps and 8 fps.  For continuous low sequential photography, you now can get 5.7 fps instead of the previous 5 fps.

Diopter Setting Knob

As you all probably know, Fujifilm adopted (dare I say?) Nikon's method of providing a locking diopter knob.  I'm already loving that.  In the past, I used black gaffer's tape to tape over my diopter setting knob.  That would occasionally come loose and the diopter would change without my knowledge.  No worries now.  Pull it out, set it, push it back in to lock.  Simple and effective.  Thanks Fujifilm.

To of the oak tree! (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T3, 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens + 1.4X tele-converter;
@560mm; 1/640th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200 

Shutter

I think there has been a very nice and very useful shutter improvement.  For one thing, it sounds better to me.  But, again, that is just me.  What is more important is Fujifilm is giving us more options.  We can use Mechanical Shutter (up to 1/8000th sec.), the Mechanical Shutter with an Electronic First Curtain (removes any shutter shock) again, up to 1/8000th of a second, the Electronic Shutter (up to 1/32,000th second) and, what I have set my camera for, Electronic First Curtain/Mechanical Shutter/Electronic Shutter—which to me is the best of all worlds.  The electronic first curtain removes potential shutter shock movement, then the mechanical shutter engages to end the exposure up to and including 1/8000th sec., then, if my exposure goes above 1/8000th sec., the Electronic Shutter automatically takes over and completes the exposure instead of the Mechanical Shutter.  That prevents an accidental overexposure in changing light conditions.  Very nice feature.  Very valuable.

Natural View

Natural View is a new setting for the EVF.  This setting, according to the User's Manual, states: "The effects of camera settings are not visible in the monitor, but shadows in low-contrast, back-lit scenes and other hard-to-see subjects more visible. Colors and tone will differ from those in the final picture. The display will however be adjusted to show the effects of advanced filters and of monochrome and sepia settings."  

In effect, what this gives you is the ability to see maximum detail in the highlights and shadows because you are disabling the film simulations.  This will make it easier to judge exposure, in my opinion.  It is kind of like looking through the EVF and seeing what will be recorded in a RAW image instead of the JPEG version using film simulations.  I suspect I will use this setting often.

RAW + JPEG

Yea!  You no longer have to shoot RAW + Fine JPEG in order to see a 100% preview of your images on your LCD!  Thank you Fujifilm!  In the past I was forced to use memory card 1 for RAW and memory card 2 for Fine JPEG just so I could see the images I had just made at 100% magnification.  If you only shot RAW, there was only a smaller, less than 100% preview available.  Now I can set memory card 2 to shoot RAW as well for backup purposes.  Again, thank you Fujifilm!

UPDATE:  As reader Sergio Azenha correctly pointed out, Fujifilm still does NOT give you a 100% magnification of your image file when only shooting RAW.  I missed it.  When I looked at my LCD screen, I assumed the magnification was at 100%, but is actually slightly lower.  It is much higher than previous cameras but not 100%.  Please see his comment and my response below for details.  Briefly, 100% magnification of your image file shows about 12.5% of your image file. With the X-T3, you can view the file at a slightly lower magnification, showing 17.5% of the file.  In the older cameras the highest magnification you could achieve shooting only RAW was 40% of your frame.

Amtrak at about 80mph (129 kph) a 16mp crop from the full 26.2 mp image. (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T3, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 27mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/7.1; ISO 800

Film Simulations 

An additional film simulation has been added.  Eterna is also now available.  It is extremely low contrast, low saturation and low color.  Where I think this simulation can be valuable is if you have to shoot with JPEG only, using Eterna will insure that none of your highlight or shadow detail is lost (within reason).  It kind of looks like an unprocessed RAW file.  Eterna will give JPEG shooters more flexibility to edit their images without losing detail and provide a platform to customize color, saturation and contrast so it can (maybe "almost") match an ordinary RAW file.  I plan on testing this as I'm intrigued by the potential.

Lightroom/Camera RAW 

Adobe introduced new versions of Lightroom (and Camera RAW) which include the ability to convert the RAW files from the X-T3.  Unfortunately, the engineering team which worked on the color presets in the basic panel (as shot, daylight, cloudy, shade, etc.) screwed it up and only the "as shot" setting looks right.  All of the other presets introduce a sickly green tint to the images.  Luckily, one can still use the eye dropper tool to click on a neutral tone to correct color as well.  Immediately, I contacted Adobe and advised.  Many others have as well and Adobe indicates they are aware of the issue and will correct it.  Its been more than two weeks and it has not yet been corrected.  Just FYI.

In Sum 

When this camera was first introduced, I was less than enthusiastic about it.  In fact, I wasn't interested at all as I thought it was not really much more than the X-T2 I already owned and loved.  As I read more and more about the X-T3, I came to realize that the number and scope of upgrades and additions Fujifilm built into this camera, that it is quite a bit "more camera" than the X-T2.  Now that I own it and have used it for a while, my thoughts confirm the value of the upgrades.  The X-T3 is substantially more camera than the T2.  It is faster and better in every way.

That is enough for now.  I plan on writing more about this camera as I use it over the next several months.  Stay tuned.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a comment or ask.  I'll be happy to answer your questions or test specific features to help you better understand this camera.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

All content on this blog is © 2013-2018 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.