X-E3 gains a tilting screen

So, as an X-E3 owner, you've been waiting the longest time for a camera upgrade with a tilting screen. When the X-E4 arrives, it has a tilting screen alright, but oh, the things you have to give up! Talk about costing an arm and a leg (and that's without the cash outlay)!

For me, it was a big 'NO' to the X-E4. What to do now? Sony? Nah. How about a Fujifilm X-M1?

Fujifilm X-M1 - Yes, a tilting screen!

But that's an older camera and it's only 16Mp.

That's true, but hear me out: I'm not replacing the X-E3, just adding to it. I'll have two bodies, both X-mount so that they can both use any of my Fuji lenses, and both have X-Trans sensors with that awesome image quality. The X-M1 is also smaller than the X-E3, so it's a better pocket carry. When I need to get down low it'll get me places the X-E3 can't go.

Yeah, but 16Mp; that's a step backwards surely?

Not really. There are two reasons why that isn't a problem:

1. For a whole lot of uses, 16Mp is already overkill. For example, I downsize to less than 6Mp for most social media.
2. With modern AI software, a 16Mp image can easily be resized to 24Mp without any noticeable loss of quality. If I gave you a 24Mp image from the X-E3 and an up-sized 24Mp image from the X-M1 you wouldn't be able to tell the difference; even pixel peeping.

A 100% crop from a 16Mp image, upsized to 24Mp.

But, here's the thing - I get the two bodies, a more pocketable option, and a tilting screen, all for about US$125. What's not to like about that?

Most fun camera lens

Fujifilm X-E3 with the Pergear 10mm pancake fisheye lens

I wasn't expecting much from the Pergear 10mm fisheye lens. After all, at US$79 this was hardly the most expensive lens I had ever brought. Looking at the specs, the Pergear might seem to be everything a lens shouldn't be. It's not a very wide fisheye (only 150 degree field of view), it's a fixed aperture at a paltry f8, and it's a manual focus, via a dinky little lever on the bottom of the lens. But, despite these less than inspiring features, once I started shooting with the Pergear, I quickly fell in love.

Put the horizon low or high and the fisheye effect appears.

Firstly, it's fun, as fisheye lenses tend to be, but more useful fun than my 8mm Samyang. At 8mm, the Samyang is an 'in-your-face' fisheye that can become a bit overbearing after a while. The 10mm of the Pergear still gives a good fisheye effect if used deliberately as a fisheye, but is mild enough to disguise or even remove completely in post - so the lens can also be used as a very wide rectilinear lens (just don't shoot any architecture with it!). It's wide enough to be fun when used for street photography too - hanging at your side on the end of an arm it's hard to miss a shot as people pass you on the street - its an unusual perspective that can create some eye-catching shots.

Thigh-level shooting

The fixed f8 aperture isn't going to create any bokeh. But f8 is less of an issue than I first thought. ISO is your friend here - set it to the conditions, let the camera choose the shutter speed and all you have to worry about is composition and timing. I even took it out after sundown on an overcast evening, shooting handheld at ISOs up to 12,800 and speeds down to 1/4 sec. Anything slower than that would need a tripod (no image stabilisation here), but I was still impressed with the results.

After sundown, ISO 3200, 1/28 sec.

The focus is brilliant - in use, you just leave the lens set on infinity. At that setting, everything is in focus from infinity to less than one metre. Unlike other lenses, infinity on the Pergear doesn't mean it's focused AT infinity; it actually seems to be focused at some lesser hyperfocal distance that includes infinity. As soon as you move the lever off the infinity mark, distant objects become out of focus. Swing the lever across to 0.3 meters and you can get pretty close to things, but don't expect anything further out than 1 meter to be in focus.

As sharp as - from the nearest post to the horizon (no focus stacking here!)

Here are a few other things to expect with this lens:

Distortion: quite a bit (it's a fisheye!)

Sharpness: very good from the centre out to the corners

Chromatic aberration: little to none (I've not found any yet)

Flare: almost none, though the sun in, or just out, of the frame produces some nice rainbow light rays.

Two sets of rays and some rainbow effects, with the sun just out of frame.

For the money, a great little lens that will probably be much more useful than you might think and much more fun than it's round, black, face suggests.

So much fun, I expected it to wink.

Grokking the X-E3

1/1300, f5.6, ISO 200, 42mm

Warning! Fuji X-nuts only beyond this point.

Since getting the Fujifilm X-E3, back in June, it has been fascinating to work out how, exactly, I wanted to use it. Of all the digital cameras that I have ever owned (including full-frame DSLRs), this is, by far, the most versatile and fascinating - simply a joy to use in so many situations. 

But, all this versatility comes at a price - the mental agility required to both remember and use a seemingly endless permutation of settings through dials, menus and touch screens (just like most prosumer digital cameras). At times, it can all be a little overwhelming for this septuagenarian. My solution may not suit everyone, but I have simplified my X-E3 to the camera I need it to be: I shoot in one of only two modes - accessed by the flippy, auto lever on the top of the camera - Auto and fully manual. 

1/480, f5.6, ISO 200, 45mm

Auto is what Fuji make it; it shoots fantastic JPGs without any fuss. Press the shutter. Done. Fuji says it's great for handing off the camera to someone else, I say it's great for family snaps, walking the streets or anything when I don't want to think too hard about the camera in my hand. 

The second mode is fully manual. I use it when I'm playing 'photographer'. It is set to RAW, manual focus (rear dial focus assist, front dial aperture and ISO). Fn switches electronic and manual shutter. No menus are required while shooting - not even Q. This works for me because I can transition between the X-E3 and my vintage film cameras seamlessly. The dials and levers may be different, but the decision-making process is just the same. If for some reason, I want assistance from autofocus, then the 'C' and 'S' lever is by my finger, without having to take my eye from the viewfinder.

1/1000, f6.7, ISO 12800, 230mm

With the body sorted, that just leaves the decision of what gear to carry:

1. Pocket - body and XF27mm f2.8 - gives me a mini X100 for street and walkabout
2. Small bag - body, XC15-45 and XC50-230, +accessories - covers 95% of everything else

Simplifying in this way helps me to put the focus back on the picture-making process, rather than the tools I am using. Taking a picture is either easy or mentally engaging; my choice. And photography remains fun, rather than an exercise in finessing the technology. 

1/15, f22, ISO 6400, 45mm+tubes

In a long line of cameras, the X-E3 is my first Fujifilm - and I'm loving it. It brings a new level of pleasure to using a digital camera.