Recent launches and future of the X-Pro series

Blood N Guts Murphy wrote:

As an X Pro 2 user I was in the X Pro facebook group and all the defects reported in the 3 put me off. Along with the EVF eye point length (still much shorter than the 23mm on the XT and XH lines). Which in turn made the LCD a deal-breaker as I used it more than the EVF.

Thought I would prefer the longer eye point at 20mm in the smaller Leica CL (more like XE size). But that still wasn't enough so I went with a 23mm Sony A6400 (also XE sized) and now the X Pro seems like too much of a luxury item. With reliability and weight a disadvantage.

Only way I would get an X Pro is if they improved the EVF eye point to 23mm+ (and ideally made it lighter). I would also have to wait at least 6 months to see if reliability has improved, as I am a traveler (not in the UK enough to risk returns).

A monochrome one would be tempting as a 2nd camera. A mini X Pro monochrome with 23mm EVF and a normal tilt screen (like X100V) would be ideal. I would be happy to sacrifice the OVF for a mini.

I don't care about IBIS. Not worth the extra weight imo. I would just use the 27mm at f4 (ish) and 35 1.4 with it wide open. I don't think IBIS is needed for those.

An X100V follow up with a 23mm EVF (and ideally slightly more grippage) is more likely to be made and could almost function as the same 2nd camera. Might not miss the 35mm f1.4 too much with the 35mm crop mode from a 40MP sensor. Even the 50mm crop on the next X100 will have good resolution.

I doubt Fuji will make longer eye point left EVF cameras as so few of us need it (although there are a good few of us who have been forced to move to Sony for better EVFs). So I will probably just stick with the excellent value little Sony and the old XE2.

But I keep that XE2 as I love Fuji. I still use Fuji color almost exclusively on my Sony, so I am hoping one day things change and 23mm becomes the normal EVF eye point for the X100 and X Pro lines.

The viewfinder would be my main worry as well. As a glasses wearer I found the X-Pro3 OVF acceptable, as I did the EVF, but even compared to my X-T2's EVF I could feel the difference.

I would ideally want to shoot with an OVF only, but I ended up finding it difficult to accept paying more for the X-Pro line when the very thing that I paid more for (the viewfinder) gave me a worse experience than the cheaper X-T equivalent camera.

If they made the viewfinder better, with a greater eyepoint, maybe even more magnification, I would find it easier to not give up and get the X-T5 instead (0.8 magnification, must look glorious).

I don't care about the screen, though I agree with what most people have said so far in this thread: the issue with the ribbon should be fixed, and the square monitor on the outside is pointless.