Note: also read my additional observations after I used this camera for a couple of weeks – click here!
Hello. My name is Thomas and I buy into a new camera system every few months.
A doctor would say this is a very bad case of G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome). But of course it isn’t. There are always perfectly valid reasons why I buy another camera system. (Okay. Sarcasm mode off!)
In 2017, I only changed my camera brand twice. (Could this be a reason that photo companies never approach me to write about their stuff or be a brand ambassador? Hehe …) I went from Sony to Olympus in April, cause I was really getting fed up by the way Sony set up their firmware. (Read more about that here.) And since taking a look at many different camera bodies and systems at Photokina 2016, I had a soft spot for the Olympus PEN-F, a gorgeous little camera that combined style and power in a nifty little package with adorable build quality.
Why I left the PEN-F behind
After having spent a nice photographic summer with it, also including a few paid photo gigs, I actually feel I should write another piece about the PEN-F and my experience with it. But right now, I want to tell you about my new love, the Fuji X-E3. So, I’ll just say for now what I did not like about the Olympus in a pinch: For me, it was too many button presses, too many reasons to dive into the menu (even if it was only the quick menu). It looked like a re-interpretation of an analogue camera, but in reality it wasn’t. I still think it’s a gorgeous camera, but in the end, it was not made for me.
The second thing I did not like about the PEN-F is the lenses. I am sure many, many will disagree with me. But, yes, I did miss a solid lineup of lenses that were both mechanically and optically really well-made but would not break the bank account as much as Olympus’ Top Pro lenses like the 25/1.2 do.
I omitted the Olympus Zuiko 17/1.8 cause of its not really good corner sharpness and went for the mighty small Panasonic 20/1.7, adding a Samyang 12/2 – again cause I felt the Olympus 12/2 to be optically inferior – and a very versatile small Panasonic 45-150/4-5.6 telezoom lens. That gave me a nice three-lens setup that worked very well, and when working carefully, it yielded very high quality results. A 140×105 cm print made from the Samyang 12/2 came out really well, with beautiful fine detals. But in the end, it did not really speak to my heart as much as I wanted.
What did I really want?
This summer, I also was out a few times with my beloved Olympus PEN FT from the 1960s. Such a gorgeous beauty to handle. I always feel right at home with cameras like that. Even though the metering system of the old PEN system is a bit awkward, missing the automatic indexing of the selected aperture. But apart from that glitch, it’s like stepping into a nice classic sports car: Steering, clutch, brake, gas, and go!
I felt cameras like the PEN FT made my personal photographic experience that much easier, compared to the digital menu-driven ones of today.
Thinking about it all, I wanted a system that spoke more to my heart. Something to really love. I grew up with analogue cameras from the 60s to the 80s. Simple operation, nothing fancy, yet nice in your hand and yielding high quality results.
Why I did not buy the Nikon Df
I had a look at the Nikon Df. I grew up with a Nikon F and a few manual Nikkor lenses. Great stuff. Love the looks that these lenses deliver. Think I would also love them on digital. It’s so nice to indulge in the awesome classic Nikon lens lineup and shopping for beautiful 35/1.4 AI or 50/1.2 AI lenses. But me hauling around a DSLR these days? It would be maybe just too bulky for me.
And the Df comes with a fair share of issues. Subpar auto focus system and some weird details in design and operation. The Df represents a good idea, but I felt it’s badly executed in some parts.
My heart said no.
Why I decided to get a Fuji X-E3
A friend of mine has a Fuji X-T2 and a Leica Q. These days, he prefers his Leica Q, only using the X-T2 for portrait or tele shots. We met and I tried both cameras. I understood his point with the Leica Q but I felt that portrait – or more generally speaking, longer focal lengths – are an absolutely integral part of my photographic life. A camera with a fixed 28 mm lens does not speak to me. Even a fixed 35 mm would not suit my photography. Regarding that, my Olympus PEN-F already was perfect: A small, portable system camera paired with 2 or 3 small-ish lenses.
I tried his X-T2 with 35/1.4 and 60/2.4 lenses on two occasions. The owner did not really say, get a Fuji yourself. He just explained how he set it up and gave a few tips. I tried the camera and, yes, it made me feel very much like home. Also the lenses were beautiful. Far from perfect actually, but well built, very nice to handle, and also the results had a nice high quality and classic feel to them.
My X-E3 and the two Fujicrons
The Fuji X-T2 is a high-quality, but also very pricey camera, given that it uses an APS-C sensor (albeit a very nice one) and still does not come with built-in image stabilisation, a feature I really loved from my PEN-F. I had a look at the smaller, competitively priced Fuji X-T20 and was almost ready to pull the trigger on a good offer, when the new X-E3 was announced. That one was made for me. Small, stylish, reduced number of buttons. It included the ingenious joystick for AF selection of the X-T2. The price sounded nice, too and thus I pre-ordered one. Thanks to a promotion offer, the leather half-case was included as a free accessory.
Regarding lenses, I was thinking Fujinon 14/2.8 and 35/1.4 as a start (in 35 mm land, you’d then have a 21 / 55 mm combo) but when I got a nice offer on a nearly new 23/2, I went for that instead, and added the 50/2 to the lineup. In 35 mm equivalent terms, this gives me a 35 / 75 mm combo. On my Sony A7 II, I was using a 35, 50, 90 mm setup, so going for 35 / 75 instead means awelcome further reduction to only two lenses. Very nice. I love reduced camera setups.
As a side note, I wrote about building a mirrorless camera system with 35 / 75 mm (equivalent) back in 2011, based on the original Sony NEX-7, the camera that actually started serious mirrorless camera systems for the world. With the Fuji X-E3, in 2017, I finally now got such a system for around 1.700 Euros (albeit minus a small macro lens that I suggested back in 2011). I personally much prefer the handling and design of the Fuji stuff, compared to Sony.
I’ll surely add the Fujinon 14/2.8 for ultra-wide shots at some point. Or the Samyang 12/2. While I am just not that much of an ultra-wide photographer, thus I’m maybe only going to need it for certain paid gigs – especially interiors and architecture shots.
The X-E3: My first impressions
Right after its initial public announcement in early September 2017, several initial reviews were posted by Jonas Raskl, ePhotoZine, CameraLabs, Björn Moerman, Charlene Winfried and others. The technical details are easily summed up: The X-E3 uses Fuji’s X-Trans III sensor, 16×24 mm size, 24 Megapixels, the same one already found in the X-T2, X-Pro 2 and X-T20. This sensor has a combined phase-detection and contrast-detection auto focus system, like most modern mirrorless cameras have (Olympus being a notable exeption, my PEN-F lacked the phase-detection ability).
The body itself is very reduced in design and also features, for example it has a fixed rear screen and offers no built-in sensor stabilisation.
Fixed screen and no in-body stabilisation: These two points are the weaknesses of the X-E3.
But even though the X-E3 has maybe less buttons spread over its exterior than any other serious digital camera, it does offer twin dials, an additional dedicated shutter speed and exposure compensation dial and a nice little joystick on the back for the fast selection of your preferred auto focus point.
All this means you’ll have direct access to all basic adjustments of your photography, without ever pressing a menu or quick menu button. This is provided you use RAW or RAW+JPG output, so are not dependant on the way how the camera renders JPG images internally. (Because to adjust that, there are plenty of additional options, like Fuji film simulations and what all.)
I like!
Taking the new X-E3 out of its box, I noticed it’s a well-made, very compact and light-weight, cleanly designed body. Build quality is very nice, but clearly not on the same level that the Olympus PEN-F offers. The PEN-F is a camera that is impeccably well built, and some of its buttons operate as beautifully as on an 1960s Leica M3. The Fuji X-E3 does not offer that level of build quality. But it’s still very nicely made.
In operation, I felt immediately at home. After setting time and file quality to RAW+JPG, I was finished with the menus and customisation already. And when taking pics, I have direct access to all the parameters that I really need: No more nonsense button presses to adjust the AF point or change the ISO.
The Fujicrons: Two small nice primes
The Fujicrons are also supreme in their handling. A very nice finish, yet still light-weight. I read many complaints about the feel of the aperture rings on various Fujinon lenses, but on these two (the 23/2 and 50/2), Fuji seemed to have got it just perfect. They click with a high-quality feeling and I never manage to accidentally change the settings as well.
The image quality? I did not test it yet comprehensively, just took some real life shots, some of those you can see below. Image quality seems to live up to high expectations. These lenses are very good, albeit not utterly perfect. The look that they produce is also very nice. Overall, a nice and convenient setup for travel photography, but I’d say they are clearly capable to deliver fine-art results.
I like!
The X-E3 viewfinder
Many photographers discuss the size and quality X-E3’s viewfinder. I’d again compare it directly to the one in the PEN-F. They are very similar. I do prefer Fuji’s layout for aperture, shutter speed and all the other data that is shown in the viewfinder. But quality and size of the viewfinder image are very similar. They are nice, but surely not a match to the most expensive offerings such as Fuji X-T2 or Olympus E-M1 II.
In the online communities, people discuss if the X-E3’s viewfinder is even smaller than the one in the previous generation X-E2. Data suggest they should be the same: The viewfinder image magnification is rated at 0.62x for both bodies (and also the X-T20). The thing might be that the size of the actual EVF panel inside could be different, though (in a similar way that the size of the focusing screen in a traditional DSLR varies depending on its sensor size). Honestly: I don’t know, I don’t have an X-E2 for comparison.
But I’d rate the viewfinder image to be absolutely sufficient for most photographers’s needs. Please note, though, that I don’t wear glasses, so I also can’t comment on that issue. Also I accept that the X-E3 body was built to be compact and light-weight. I personally don’t need the ultra-big viewfinder image of the X-T2, but I can imagine some other photographers will surely miss that. But then, get an X-T2. It’s a gorgeous and well-made body in its own right.
Fuji’s image quality and the Iridient X-Transformer
So far, I did not shoot enough pictures yet to really give an in-depth comment on the X-E3’s file quality. On the other hand, the sensor is exactly the same as the one found in the X-T2, X-Pro 2 and X-T20 bodies. So what’s there to comment, anyway. The image quality is a well-known quantity.
The only comment I’d like to make is concerning those X-Trans sensors in general. I admit, I am not a fan. A standard 24 MP Bayer sensor as the one found in Sony’s A6300 or A6500 bodies would be easier for me. I’d just open the files in Lightroom and be happy.
Like many other photographers, I don’t like how Fuji X-Trans files look in Lightroom. I even tried Capture One, as a lot of Fuji owners consider it to be much better. But after extensive testing, I don’t really think Capture One is that much of an improvement over Lightroom when it comes to fine details in Fuji RAW files. Then I tried the Iridient X-Transformer. It de-mosaics the Fuji files and writes an DNG that you then can open in (any version of!) Adobe Lightroom. Before I bought any Fuji, I gave that software a try and I liked what I see. For me, this is the way to go, regarding Fuji X-Trans files.
The Iridient X-Transformer was very recently announced with native Fuji X-E3 support. It sells for 29 Dollars. I would recommend this software to every Fuji photographer. They have a demo version available on their website, so you can test and try before you buy. (And no, I don’t get any support whatsoever from Iridient, Adobe or anyone else.)
My first pictorial results
Here’s a small gallery of pictures that I took with the Fuji X-E3 and the Fujinon 23/2. (For a mini review and some sample pictures of the 50/2, click here.)
Most of them are just the JPG files, slightly edited and downsized in Photoshop. I don’t intend to print any of these shots in a large size so I did not process them via the Iridient X-Transformer and then Lightroom yet. One or two shots I opened with the cost-free RAW Therapee converter. That software seems to be another nice option for Fuji RAW files, actually I prefer the results definitely over those of Lightroom.
The picture of the old factory in Tilburg (the Netherlands) was shift corrected in Photoshop. The others, more or less, look like they came out of the camera.
The Fuji BLC-XE3 leather half case
Yes there is one thing about my new Fuji that seriously annoys me. And this is the new original leather half case that Fuji developed for the X-E3. This item comes together with a leather strap and a nice black wrapping cloth and retails for a whopping €79 in Europe. Thankfully, I got it for free as I pre-ordered the camera online, prior to its initial shipment. The half case arrived a few days after the camera body, so I was excited when I got an email from my friendly dealer in Düsseldorf to pick it up at their store.
So what’s the problem? The dreaded thing does not come with a screw to attach it to the camera body. It is only meant to be secured by two flimsy leather latches and this only works if you also use the provided camera strap (I never use camera straps!). But even if you’d look past that problem, how do you want to mount the camera on a tripod when the half case is mounted? Nope. Not possible. Really, Fuji, WTF?
I thought about sending that useless piece back to where it belongs, but first I liked the camera wrapping cloth that was included in the box, and second, so far there’s no proper third-party half case available, as the X-E3 body itself is still too new on the market.
So I’m gonna have to source a matching tripod screw from somewhere and then drill a hole in the bottom of the leather half case.
I dislike.
But that’s all my real complaint for now. The X-E3 body and the two nice Fujicron lenses I got for it appeal very well to me so far. I am glad I did that move away from the Olympus PEN-F, as nice and good that camera was in it’s own right. But the Olympus’ handling and operation were just not really made for me. The Fuji makes it all much simpler, if you really value that nice and simple, direct access to your exposure, f-stop, the AF point and ISO.
So, overall: I like!
Note: also read my additional observations after I used this camera for a couple of weeks – click here!
TOM'S PHOTO AND CAMERA STUFF 