From my several posts here, here and here referring to my 2-week break in July, where I visited Turkey, Poland and Italy.

Now I’d finally found time to write a bit more about my 5 year old Fuji X-Pro 3 coupled to the Fujinon XF 23mm F2 R WR.

Straight to the point

I realized with this trip that the Fuji X-Pro3 is definitely not my favorite.

Yes, it is a competent camera that will deliver the goods with ease.

But to me it just doesn’t feel prime enough for what it is meant to be.

There are a number of things that make me feel this way: the haptics of some buttons in the back, which feel overly plasticky; a not so ideal build quality, including some defects, as mentioned when I published this review.

And the fact that the body is too light. I expect a certain weight when holding a prime quality product that is solidly built.

Lightness is always welcomed, as long as it does NOT convey the feeling of hollowness. Unfortunately, this is what I feel when I use the X-Pro3. .

What I mentioned above was actually confirmed by the guy in my local camera store. I was there recently to pick up my GFX 100RF . I spoke to him about my disappointment using the X-Pro3.

“Same here. Because Fuji decided to cut production costs with the X-Pro3. Hence it feels cheaper. The X-Pro1 and XPro2 were better for sure”.

So true. I had both the X-Pro1 and X-Pro2 and don’t recall feeling disappointed with the build quality.

If you ask me, Fuji hit the sweet spot with the X-Pro2 by improving the slow auto-focus and other deficiencies of its predecessor.

The X-Pro2 was perfect. Period.

Then with the X-Pro3 there was not much to improve and Fuji decided to go unconventional, its promotional material focused on the Duratec, the hidden LCD screen and the weird backscreen showing the film stock logos.

I admire Fuji for having the balls to launch an out-of-the-box product. But unfortunately they dropped the ball and missed on some essentials.

The OVF that no longer supports different magnifications – an interesting and important feature in both X-Pro1 and X-Pro2 – was a major disappointment to me.

Yet the image quality

The image quality is still there. Handling everything with ease, it is as good as any APS-C camera is capable of.

Coupled with legendary Fuji lenses like the first generation Fujinon XF 35mm F1.4 R that I’m keeping forever. It’s still one of the sharpest lenses out there, micro sharpness on par with my Leica 35mm Summicron – really.

For my trip in Europe I took the XF 23mm F2 R WR though. It has my preferred focal length, fast AF and good image quality.

Below some mementos from my trip. Starting with Turkey.

Turkey was under a scorching sun. And no, that’s not snow. That’s limestone from the Travertines of Pamukkale. It was hot and snow would not survive.

The X-Pro3 metering got it right, balancing the bright white limestone with the shadows of the dark areas. These photos are all SOC untouched RAW files.

Low light shots in churches and well known Hagia Sophia ? No problem at all.

And below some random picks from Poland…

…and Italy.

Lest we forget: the film simulations

Oh yes, because this is a Fuji and with a Fuji you are supposed to get exited with the film simulations. Even more so with the X-Pro3, which has that funny back screen showing the film stock logo.

The photos below were originally RAWs that I processed in-camera. I picked ACROS black and white film simulation, then post processed to taste in Photos in my Mac. They look good to me.

Bottom line

The X-Pro3 is still a good camera and you can do everything with it. This is still valid in 2025.

Yet it’s not my favorite camera for the reasons I stated before: it doesn’t feel right in my hands. Ergonomics are good, but the camera feels too light, too hollow.

Objectively, it’s an interesting product and, if you ask me, a future classic worth keeping.

But I don’t think I will ever take it to a trip again. One of the greatest pleasures I get these days is to travel and shoot with a prime camera giving me satisfaction whenever I press the shutter button.

To me the X-Pro3 is not that camera. It is not in the league.

And I hope Fuji raises the bar if there is ever an X-Pro4 in the pipeline.