X-E3 & additional hand grip for larger lenses?

SteakTree wrote:

I have an X-E3, and my original intentions were similar to yours. It came with the 18-55mm kit lens, which was fine.

Over the past year I have modified my camera, shooting style, technique, and lens line up.

I've owned the XF27mm, which is super portable and light. However, it was missing aperture control and was still a touch dark at 2.8mm. It is still a great and fun lens to use, but I also have a KamLan 28mm F1.4 which focuses much closer, has better contrast and colour especially when stopped down a bit, and even though it is a bit heavier and longer, the ergonomic control was better. I even like the Kamlan's clickless aperture as on manual lenses I use the aperture control more, especially for fine control over image quality and exposure.

First of all, thank you for the detailed answer. I actually never heard about Kamlan lenses before this thread! This lens looks really interesting!

I also have the KamLan 50mm F1.1 II, which is a hefty, solid fella. But as a previous poster pointed out, it isn't too long and maintains its center of mass close to the body.

After using it on some shoots I noticed my hands tiring. I've now fixed this with a WEPOTO Wood Grip for the X-E3 which is well worth it. It allows for better stability and easier portrait shots.

This actually looks very nice! Isn't it a little bit slippery though?

The other important mod was getting the hot shoe grip, This works out perfect for the X-E3. For strap I'm using a paracord.

A minority of people on the web says that these hot shoe grips loosen the hot shoe metal parts (sorry, not sure how to call it even in my native language ). One person even claims that such a grip broke these metal parts, although I find it hard to believe. In your experience, is there any reason to be worried about this?

I now also have XF16-80 and last week added the XF70-300 - which is incredible.

Even though the 70-300 is heavier than 16-80, I prefer its balance on my X-E3. As you are stabilizing it with you left hand, and a bit more forward on its focus ring, it is very stable. The extra body weight also helps here as well. The 16-80 is also quite a large diameter, which may factor more so than weight when it comes to preferences.

Nice, knowing that it's manageable even with such big lenses is reassuring.

A friend of mine who is a Sony full-frame shooter picked up my X-E3 with the 70-300 on and remarked on how light it was! I imagine it is compared to an A7-series with G-master lens. So comparatively it is still a light system, that has the ability to be a featherweight depending on lens and setup.

Huh! That's why I chose APS-C over FF. My friend will probably switch to Canon FF mirrorless soon, can't wait to show him the glorious compactness of APS-C lenses