Look guys, things come and go, just like your Tinder crushes... And you know the ugly truth:
X-Pro3 has been with us for a while. It's 2022, and judging by previous releases, it is time
to think about X-Pro4. I've already made a Christmas special episode, that
no one seems to care about, where we talk about camera expectations, but since I'm an
X-Pro shooter, I have quite a few ideas about its future, so today we'll talk about it in more detail.
And who knows, maybe we can use the leftover holiday magic to make our wishes come true!
Happy New Year, everybody, it is Aperture Value and this time we're discussing all the expected,
possible and highly unlikely sh** about Fujifilm X-Pro4. Now, X-Pro3, while being controversial, is
actually great, although not perfect. Just like pineapple pizza. I have few ideas in mind about
where it's going, or rather where I would like it to go. Not the pizza thing, the camera. And the
first thing to talk about is the viewfinder, the whole point of X-Pro line. In my opinion, removing
the double magnification present in X-Pro2 is not critical, but truly was not welcomed. I would
really love to have it back, please and thank you! It makes sense since Fuji has lenses wider than 23mm
covered by the magnification of X-Pro3. The other thing about viewfinder is build. I've
seen it in every X-Pro camera iteration, saw it from the inside out while working on my X PROJECT,
and that is the viewfinder window outer glass. You see, it is glued to the top cover from the inside,
it looks sloppy and it does not make a tight fit. In X-Pro3 it even caused wave of confusion online:
the gaps are too big and besides the spoiled looks, there are concerns over possibility of moisture
and dust getting in. So I just wish Fuji makes it Leica style: the glass protrudes outside to even
out with the surface of the top cover. That would make it look better and produce a tighter fit.
Now moving on from viewfinder to the back side. There are a few things to talk about here as well.
I have no idea whether we'll have the same hidden LCD and sub monitor setup, but in my personal
opinion they will keep it, and I'm completely fine with it. It makes camera stand out, just like an
iPhone notch, but I would really like to see them get rid of the black frame around the screen, so it
looks more seamless and minimalistic. And talking about it, there are too many buttons that can be
easily reduced by two or three without significant functionality sacrifice, maybe even move the
settings oriented buttons behind the LCD, since for playback and menu most of the time we
flip down the screen anyway. In order to improve functionality and minimize the buttons layout,
it will be dope to change the joystick nubbin to a sensor one, just like the one on Canon EOS R3.
You can swipe it, long press it, tap it once, twice - functionality is really great and always just
one sensor sticking out, no need for so many buttons around. And talking about the design
overall, I do expect Fuji to make edges sharp and surfaces flat, just like with the recent X100V
and X-E4. Obviously, achieving that would be hard with the current thin top cover design, which is
actually great; having titanium is definitely cool, but that thin plane of metal slapped on top and
bottom definitely makes it feel a bit hollow and poorly made. I expect them to make more solid top
and bottom plates, maybe even a unibody design, to make the camera feel more rigid, high quality and
sturdy. I hope that in case they want to implement the new bigger Fuji battery, it won't influence the
shape or size too much. I would also love to see a matching metal hotshoe cover, just like on X100V.
The cherry on the top would be to change the engraving on the top to a more retro one, just
like the engraving on X100 or the recent Instax camera. Actually, it was present in X-Pro1 so why
not get it back? Another thing I would like to see concerning design is more special editions of the
camera, just like graphite grey X-Pro2. Fuji also had special editions of X100 cameras over the
time, so it's not something new. Nowadays, X-Pro line has many fans and followers, treating them with
special editions will be a plus. And finally, let's talk functionality. And it would be reasonable to
talk first about what I definitely NOT see coming in X-Pro4. Given the nature and purpose of these
cameras, I'm sure it won't have a high megapixel sensor or IBIS. Just face it, people! But I do see
more computational functions available in-body, just like we saw introduction of HDR in X-Pro3.
So I really want them to introduce photo merge or stitching, and not only panoramas, also
stacking for gradual ND filter effect would be more than welcomed. It wouldn't be so great
though if the new functions work with JPEGs only, so hopefully it could be done with RAW files.
In the end, I tried to render everything out and these are the design mock-ups I've ended up with.
It's not perfect, but hey, I'm not a 3D visual artist or some sh**, so don't be harsh on it.
It's good enough though to illustrate everything I mentioned so far, and to me it looks as awesome
as Matrix trilogy... before that freaking fourth part came out, dammit. But of course, all of these are
dreams and hopes about a camera that might even not see the light in the near future, given the
sh** that's going on with chip shortages. As of now, there are no any rumors or leaks concerning
X-Pro4, which is a shame, because it is about time to give us something new. We've already seen
X-T4, X-E4, kind of a lame version of X-T40, so the only one left without being updated is X-Pro4. On the
other hand, maybe some important dude from Fujifilm engineering department will see this video, so it's
a good chance for us to give him some ideas. If you came up with something as well, leave me a comment
below, I would be glad to read them all over a beer or two. But to be completely honest, I doubt they
watch anything online in search of inspiration, which is a good thing. But hey, Fuji, if you do - don't
be a douche and give me a call, okay? I have some cool ideas for the next GFX rangefinder for you!