FUJI has updated its X-Series with the new X-Pro3, a digital camera that takes a deliberate inspiration from the analog photography world. It all starts with the design. The top right cut-away reminds of the Fuji GA645 medium format point and shoot and adds to the overall retro leaning aesthetics of the camera. The combined ISO and shutter speed dial and the exposure compensation dial both add to the general look and feel (they’re a great feature of all the X-Series cameras) while the hybrid optical and electronic view finder let you choose your preferred way of composing a frame. Fuji even decide to take an interesting conceptual stance on the way photographers will use the camera by changing the way the display works. Instead of the usual screen, the main display is now a small always-on LCD that only shows the shooting settings or the film simulation mode you’ve selected, with graphics that clearly imitate an old film ID tag slot.

By flipping the display up to 180° you’ll have access to the main screen to shoot from waist level or to review your pictures. Hiding the bigger display was a deliberate choice, made to discourage the photographer from the usual shoot-and-review process we came to expect from digital photography. It’s nothing like what Leica did with its M-D, a digital camera that lacks the display altogether, but the underlying philosophy is somewhat similar: don’t think about the picture you’ve just taken, just focus on the subject and think of your next shot.

Inside the camera Fuji packed the same X-Trans IV sensor and X Processor 4 image processing chip used on the X-T3 and X-T30, its two amazing APS-C mirrorless cameras. The X-Pro3 is therefore blazingly fast and it sports the same film simulation algorithms as the two other models, plus a new “Classic Neg” that so far is exclusive to this camera’s firmware. There’s also a new mode for shooting HDR in camera and a new phase detection autofocus system which works down to -6EV light level.  X-Pro3 will be available in November with a £1699 price tag (body only). In December Fuji will bring to the market two models with a Duratect protective finish applied to the titanium body. They will cost £1879 and they will come in black and silver.