gdanmitchell
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branana19 wrote:
While there is something in intriguing about the limitations of the camera changing forcing a change in your behavior and the way you interact with the camera...
Then...
gdanmitchell wrote:
I have never understood that logic.
I want a camera that works the way I want a camera to work for the photography I do. Having a camera that does less than that limits the photographs I can make.
And, finally...
Bizy1 wrote:
I totally get the logic of designing a camera with limitations. I never dreamed of entering into the X-Pro series until the X-Pro 3 came out and the controversy it created piqued my interest. It had a few passionate owners and so many haters (the haters were almost all non-owners). But interestingly it had very few purchasers who were dissatisfied with it. In fact I waited two months for what I assumed would be a flood of bargain price, almost-new X-Pro 3's on the market from all the unhappy owners - but none came up. I had to buy a new one.
Like other camera gear, from the Sigma Foveon line to lenses like those from Lomography, the X-Pro 3 is designed to attract a certain niche. It has a defining quirk to it (the rear LCD), that forces you to think in a different way. Having used the camera, I get it. It directs you away from the rear screen and concentrates the mind on the process of creating images. It's not the same as having an option to hide or reveal the rear LCD. An analogy might be when I drive an automatic car with a manual override. I simply leave it on automatic. Driving a manual-only car removes the choice and for some people, that's a benefit. Do I love using the X-Pro 3? You bet I do. But I can totally see its not for everybody.
Fuji make other bodies with the same sensor and processor, for those who want the exact same photo output but with a different set of functions. Nobody will ever make your perfect customised camera - you can only go for the model that most closely fulfils your needs and budget.
I, for one, am delighted at the choice of cameras we have to today and am grateful that not all cameras are designed the same....Show more →
Let me start by agreeing with your final point. We do have a remarkable variety of very good cameras to choose from today. I, for one, use two different systems from two different manufacturers.
Another thing I've never understood — the notion that the XPro2 series is defined by being more limiting. Actually, I contend that the opposite is the case — the XPro system has been the most flexible and adaptable system from Fujifilm. That is, in fact, why I like it (up through the XPro2) so much.
The XPro series cameras do make excellent cameras in the lineage of old-school rangefinder cameras for things like street photography, particularly with their OVF display. That is my primary use of the XPro2 — doing street photography with small prime lenses of moderate focal lengths. (Having the rear display is very useful here, too — among other reasons, so that I can quickly share images with my subjects, which often helps relax them and gets them to work with me.)
These cameras do a fine job with that "traditional" type of photography.
But that's most certainly not all they do well. Some examples:
I like to do night street photography with handheld cameras. Using an OVF is less effective for this since you often simply cannot see you subjects that well in a OVF view. Here I switch to the EVF, where exposure simulation lets me better see my subjects in very low light. By the way, using the EVF lets me use bigger lenses with larger maximum apertures — like the 23mm f/1.4 and the 90mm f/2 —that would otherwise block too much of the OVF display.
But I'm not done...
I also do some macro photography. I can put the 80mm f/2.8 macro on the camera and do macro photography. The fact that I have a rear display on the XPro body lets me work with the camera in places where I otherwise would not be able to look through the viewfinder — in those cases I use the rear screen with no need to fold it out.
So, my street photography camera is as good of a macro camera as, say, an XT model.
I'm not done.
I also own the 16-55mm f/2.8 and the 50-140mm f/2.8. With those lenses my street photography camera is able to do landscape photography, event photography, and even some sports/wildlife photography. None of that makes the XPro any less of a street photography camera — but these things do expand its flexibility beyond that of any other Fujifilm camera.
Finally, I can stick my tiny 27mm f/2.8 on the XPro body — the lens I leave on the camera most of the time — and it works as a great street photo camera or as my always-with-me camera.
So, far from being a design that limits photographers, the heritage of the XPro system has been (at least through the XPro2) the most flexible, least limiting camera in the Fujifilm ecosystem.
Dan
One more point. Let's say that, like me, when using the XPro cameras you prefer to look at the world through the viewfinder in OVF mode. How does having a rear screen affect that view of the world... since you cannot see it when you are looking through the viewfinder?
Edited on May 01, 2020 at 08:59 PM · View previous versions
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