Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsFantastic Camera (so far), so glad I upgraded...
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2018
The Fujifilm X-T3 is a fantastic camera, I’m so glad I upgraded.
First a little background. I’m a hobbyist photographer who has been doing hobbyist photography for about 25 years since I was in my teens. My first interaction with cameras was my father’s Asahi Pentax 35mm film camera which he bought in England back in the 60s. By the time I started to use that camera, it was older than I was!
In my early 20s, I decided to step up the game and bought a Panasonic fixed lens “SLR look” camera. That was 1” sensor if I’m not mistaken. I took some pretty decent photos with that digital handheld camera.
Back in 2013, I told myself that I’d upgrade once more and take a stab at the DSLRs. So I invested in a Canon Rebel T3i which came with the kit lens, 18-55mm. I also added a 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens to my arsenal and used this setup for 5 years. I’d shoot anything from my kids at home, to dance concerts to archery events and really maximized the Canon in many ways. I started to shoot in P-mode for about one year and then mostly shoot in Aperture Priority Mode, with some shoots done in Manual Mode. The T3i was a great starter camera.
In 2017, I decided that I wanted to upgrade my camera and this is where things got confused. I looked at full frame cameras in Canon, full frame mirrorless in Sony, Micro 4/3, and APS-C cameras in almost every manufacturer, except Nikon (reason being, if I was upgrading in to a APS-C DSLR, I told myself I’d stick with the Canon). Believe me when I say that I had researched cameras for more than 18 months before deciding to invest in the X-T3. I then narrowed down my search to mirrorless systems. A friend of mines let me use his Olympus OMD-M5 for a few hours. Two things that struck me… How light the mirrorless was compared to my Canon and the ability to see what the photo looks like in the EVF or on the LCD with different ISO, Shutter Speeds and Aperture settings. Looking for the mirrorless, the search then spread to Sony (both full frame and APS-C), micro 4/3 in Panasonic and Olympus and of course Fujifilm.
I eventually ruled out Sony. I felt that the “starter” Full Frames from Sony lacked some of the better features that the other, similarly priced APS-C cameras possessed. Plus, I thought the Sony lenses were too expensive. Micro 4/3 systems were inveigling me but that small sensor capabilities in low light, even with fast lenses was a bit iffy (for me).
Eventually, in early 2018, I settled on either the X-T20 or the X-T2. The first feature that I was drawn to was the retro styling… the full manual adjustments on shutter speed, ISO and exposure. And the manual aperture ring adjustments on equipped lenses. Drool!!!! I was taken back to my teens when I was shooting on my dad’s Pentax and how excited I was to see how my photos would come out when I played around with different settings, not to mention the disappointment I would feel when I saw many over exposed or under exposed photos. For me, shooting on the Canon did not give that experience and while I learnt to navigate the buttons quite well for shooting in Aperture Priority or even Manual, the Pentax experience was always top notch.
The Fujinon lenses also appealed to me. All reviews I read alluded to how sharp images were. And the prices of the lenses, while quite steep, were still cheaper than some of its counterparts in other manufacturers.
I think in early 2018, I eventually settled on the X-T20 as it had many of the features of the X-T2 with the touchscreen. Then came July 2018 and I saw that the price on the X-T2 dropped to $1,099 a mere $200 more than the X-T20. The X-T2 then became the camera of choice. In early September, my decisions were stymied by the launch of the X-H1 as I began to wonder whether Fujifilm were heading in a different direction for IBIS. But I told myself that the lenses would be around for a while and that the X-T2 would be the way to go. Mid-September I was about to buy the X-T2 and while looking at a review of a Fujinon lens on dpreview, I saw a post on the new X-T3. I read all I could about the X-T3 and saw that there were introductory offers available on the X-T3 and many of the Fujinon lenses. Eventually I bought the X-T3 along with the Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR Lens.
I got the new setup over two days ago. Configured the camera to the way I want it, including back button focus and some customization on the Fn buttons.
This camera is a dream to use. The build quality of the camera is first class and solid. My setup with the 16-55mm lens and the camera is a bit heavy, but that’s a price to pay for quality glass. The camera does indeed feel like the old Pentax and after shooting about 50 pictures, it is so effortless to simply turn a dial or a ring to adjust some aspect of the exposure. No more fiddling with this dial and that button and looking at a LCD screen to see the exposure settings before taking a picture, or half pressing the shutter button to see the same information in the view finder (that’s what I had to do with the Canon).
The X-T3 is heavily customizable. Every setting is easily changed from the intuitive menu. One small complaint is that some of the menu settings are not that self-explanatory or clear so you would need the manual to decipher what a change in that setting does. Maybe in a firmware update Fujifilm could add a little on screen explanation on menu settings so the user can understand the change being made without having to revert to the manual.
Which brings me to firmware. My camera was shipped with revision 1.0 of the firmware. I downloaded the latest firmware from Fuji’s website and followed the instructions to upgrade on the camera. The actual upgrade takes less than 90 seconds. So I would suggest that once you get your camera, perform the firmware update before doing anything else.
The EVF is crystal clear, and to be honest, there’s no difference to me in using this EVF as compared to the pentaprism on the Canon. I found that the transition was seamless. The LCD is fun to use although I have found that sometimes my nose would cause a change of setting, especially a change in AF. So I just disable touchscreen AF.
I tried a 120fps slow motion video capture of my daughter jumping. This is an awesome feature that I know I’ll love at those archery shoots. While the camera touts some impressive video features, only with time will I be able to unlock that potential. And speaking of archery, the 20 fps and 30 fps burst shooting would be great once I put it to the test. I did a few frames at these speeds and the camera was quite fast so this is another feature that I’m excited to use on the archery range.
The AF is spot on fast. What I love about how I have the camera configured is that with back button autofocus I can leave the AF in Manual mode but still have AF-S or AF-C by either touching or holding the AF-L button (which I have configured as “AF-ON”).
I have attached some photos to the review. All but the two photos of the X-T3 alongside the Asahi Pentax were out of camera JPEGs. The X-T3 alongside the Asahi Pentax were taken with my phone to give you an idea of the retro styling and the retro look with the silver and black. The photos show you the background blur you can get – that’s the lens mind you. But Image Quality looks great for out of camera JPEGs. The amount of detail is amazing with this camera and lens. Look at the photo of the lemon and all the imperfections you see on the skin! The picture of the willow was intentionally underexposed as I tried to show just how bad the weather was. And that chicken was on the grill while I was taking the photos. It was about 75% done but still looks delicious. You will see that there is a picture of some ants on an orchid leaf. Well for that picture, I was using AF-C mode. It was a challenge to get a fast moving ant in the focus point but once I did and locked on, the camera kept focus on the ant to the top for a few frames, until it disappeared or I moved.
I’ve only had this camera for a few days but already love the combination of the lens and the camera. I can tell that this would be a great investment. After 18+ months of research and dawdling, I am glad that I took the time to research my options and bite the bullet with this X-T3.
