Fujifilm X-E3 Review

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Basic Specifications
Full model name:	Fujifilm X-E3
Resolution:	24.30 Megapixels
Sensor size:	APS-C (23.6mm x 15.6mm)
Kit Lens:	3.06x zoom 18-55mm (27-84mm eq.)
Viewfinder:	EVF / LCD
Native ISO:	200 - 12,800
Extended ISO:	100 - 51,200
Shutter:	1/32000 - 900 sec
Max Aperture:	2.8 (kit lens)
Dimensions:	4.8 x 2.9 x 1.7 in. (121 x 74 x 43 mm)
Weight:	11.9 oz (337 g) includes batteries
Availability:	09/2017
Manufacturer:	Fujifilm
Full specs:	Fujifilm X-E3 specifications

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Body Only (Black)

Body Only (Black)
Body Only (Silver)
Kit with 18-55mm lens (Black)
Kit with 18-55mm lens (Silver)
Kit with 23mm lens (Black)
Kit with 23mm lens (Silver)

X-E3 Deals

24.30 Megapixels	Fujifilm X	APS-C size sensor

X-E3 Summary

The Fuji X-E3 is a stylish and easy to use APS-C camera. It is a big improvement over its predecessors in many ways, including its excellent, higher-res, 24-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III image sensor and the X-Processor Pro chip for impressive overall performance and 4K video capabilities. It also maintains its iconic rangefinder-style design but improves upon it with new controls and a touchscreen. The compact yet versatile mirrorless camera is a great value, and despite a few shortcomings, a capable camera all around.

Pros

Stylish, compact body; Great image quality; Very good overall performance; Touchscreen LCD; 4K UHD video recording.

Cons

Small EVF; Fixed display; Unreliable continuous autofocus.

Price and availability

The Fuji X-E3 has been available since September 2017 and currently sells for about US$900 for body-only. The X-E3 is available in black-only or two-tone black-and-silver variants, and is also sold as a kit with an 18-55mm lens ($1,300) or with a 23mm lens ($1,150).

Imaging Resource rating

4.5 out of 5.0

Fuji X-E3 Review

by Jeremy Gray, Mike Tomkins and Zig Weidelich
Preview posted: 09/07/2017
Last Updated: 05/07/2018

Updates:
10/13/2017: First Shots posted
10/17/2017: Performance posted
12/20/2017: Field Test Part I posted
01/23/2018: Field Test Part II posted
05/07/2018: Conclusion posted

In 2012, Fujifilm courted experienced photographers on a budget with the Fuji X-E1, a compact system camera that took the APS-C X-Trans imaging pipeline of its much-lauded, enthusiast-grade X-Pro1, and placed it in a superb, more compact body with a significantly more affordable pricetag. And a year later, the company followed up with the equally impressive X-E2, adding swift on-chip phase detection autofocus into the mix, as well as a more powerful processor, a refined user interface, improved video capture capabilities and in-camera Wi-Fi wireless communication.

Since then, though, things have been relatively quiet for the Fuji X-E series, which has now lasted through over four years with only minimal changes to the formula. (2016's X-E2S differed from a fully firmware-upgraded X-E2 only in its subtly-restyled handgrip and a higher maximum ISO sensitivity, plus a newly-added Auto mode and motion detection system.)

But in late 2017, that all changed. Five years on from the line's debut, Fujifilm finally brought the X-E series right up to date with the arrival of the Fuji X-E3 -- and it's one very impressive camera indeed!

The X-E3's premium body is Fujifilm's most compact yet

Although it retains the familiar (and frankly, timeless) rangefinder-like styling of earlier X-E models, as well as their premium feel with precision-milled aluminum dials up top, the Fuji X-E3 is nevertheless a ground-up redesign. And while its predecessors already drew praise for their trim proportions, the X-E3 takes things to the next level.

Fujifilm has somehow managed to identify and trim away a little more fat, and the result is the company's most compact, lightweight viewfinder-equipped X-series interchangeable-lens camera to date, with dimensions of just 4.8 x 2.9 x 1.7 inches (121.3 x 73.9 x 42.7mm). That's about a third of an inch less wide than before and just a fraction less tall as well. Depth has grown by about 0.2 inches, likely due to a more generous handgrip, and weight has fallen by around half an ounce, to 11.9 ounces (337g) with battery and memory card, but without the lens.

A quick tour of the X-E3's new body

Seen from the front, the Fuji X-E3 looks a whole lot like its predecessors, despite its more compact proportions. There is, of course, still a Fujifilm X-mount dominating the front of the body, on which you can mount one of 26 different Fuji X-mount lens models as of this writing, not to mention a variety of third-party lenses or mount adapters intended for use with X-mount cameras.

The most immediately-noticeable changes other than the model number are its reprofiled, deeper handgrip, a relocation of the autofocus assist lamp to accommodate a new front control dial, and the fact that the swage line above the top of the leatherette trim which covers most of the front deck is now straight from end to end, where previously it dipped at one end to accommodate the model number.

Moving to the top deck, we see that the built-in, popup flash of the X-E2 is gone, leaving the hot shoe as the sole option if you want to throw a little more light on your subject. (An EF-X8 external flash strobe is included in the product bundle, ensuring that you have one if needed.) The hot shoe itself now has a couple of extra contacts, and sits over the central axis of the lens mount, where previously it was a little right of center. There's also a little more separation between the left and right microphone ports, which have also been moved directly above the lens for a more balanced look.

Subtle refinements to the top-deck controls

The basic control layout is unchanged, but the function button is now body-colored, and the exposure compensation dial sits a little taller, now standing proud of the top deck by a fair way. It also has a new C position allowing a +/- 5 stop range, greater than the +/- 3 stops which you can dial in directly from this control.

The shutter speed dial, meanwhile, still tops out at a fastest mechanical speed of 1/4,000-second, but now extends to a full second at the other end of its range, where previously it stopped at 1/4 second. (You can still opt for Time or Bulb positions as well.) The square knurling around the outside of both dials now starts further up, meanwhile, with a smooth portion at the base of each dial.

And there's also a new Auto switch, tucked in at the rear right corner of the shutter speed dial. This is used to enable the Fuji X-E3's fully-automatic Advanced SR Auto mode, great if you want to hand your camera off to a less experienced photographer for a while, or just want to quickly let the camera do the thinking for a bit. The shutter button and power switch, meanwhile, are unchanged, with the former still including provision for an old-school mechanical cable release.

A brand-new touch-screen interface and an eight-way joystick in place of the four-way controller

But it's on the back of the camera where you'll find the bulk of the changes. Here, Fujifilm has completely reinvented the control layout. The result is a much cleaner-looking, less cluttered body, and a user interface which does away with a four-way controller in favor of an eight-way joystick control which can be used to navigate menus and select the AF area among other things.

And gone is the column of buttons at left of the LCD monitor, which still has a 3.0-inch diagonal and a 1.04-million dot count, but now sports a touch-screen overlay, allowing it to serve as an input device. This, too, can be used to select the focus area, and it also allows for intuitive operation in playback mode. You can swipe to switch between images, and pinch to zoom or drag to pan, just as you would with your smartphone. You can also double-tap to zoom in, if you prefer. Perhaps most interestingly of all, though, you can also swipe up, down, left or right on the screen in record mode to access four different functions, effectively allowing the touch-screen itself to serve as a replacement for the four-way controller of earlier models.

Above and to the right of the LCD panel, you'll still find some buttons and a rear control dial, but there are now three buttons in a row here, rather than two. And to the right of the LCD, there's a column of three buttons beneath the new eight-way joystick control. Finally, you'll find two more buttons in the thumb grip, just as was the case in the earlier X-E series cameras. (One of these is the Q button, making a return to its position as in the original X-E1, after having been rehomed above the LCD in the X-E2 and X-E2S.)

And of course, there's still a built-in electronic viewfinder at the very top left corner of the Fuji X-E3's body. It uses a 0.39-inch 2,360K-dot OLED panel providing 100% coverage, a 35mm-equivalent magnification of 0.62x, and an eye point of 17.5mm. As you can see, there's a dioptric adjustment dial (-4 to +2m^-1) to its left, and a small window for a proximity sensor to its right, allowing it to be enabled or disabled automatically as you bring the camera to your eye or lower it.

One final note of interest is that the rear thumbgrip now has a leatherette-textured finish, matching that which lines most of the front and side panels. However, where earlier models saw this finish wrapped around most of the rear panel too, on the Fuji X-E3, this is no longer the case. Instead, the leatherette finish stops beneath the rear control dial, and the area surrounding the LCD is much smoother, with only a very subtle texture applied.

A new imaging pipeline inherited from the X-Pro2

On the inside, the APS-C sensor-shod Fuji X-E3 is an all-new camera as well. At its heart is a new imaging pipeline which looks to have been lifted almost unchanged from the flagship Fuji X-Pro2, although with more modest burst capture performance. In place of the 16.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS II sensor in the X-E2, the X-E3 sports a significantly higher-resolution 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III image sensor.

The new image sensor still features the same unique color filter array shared by Fuji's other X-Trans imagers, which is designed to resist the unsightly moiré artifacts which can plague standard Bayer-sensored cameras. And just as with that in the X-E2, it includes on-chip autofocus pixels to provide for swift phase detection autofocus.

And just as in the X-Pro2, this sensor is paired with Fuji's latest-generation X-Processor Pro-branded image processor, which provides the performance necessary to deal with the significantly higher resolution, and the complexity of demosaicing X-Trans images.

Faster burst performance, startup and autofocus

Burst capture performance has risen from seven frames per second in the X-E2 to 8 fps in the Fuji X-E3, matching the X-Pro2 in this regard, albeit with a smaller buffer size of 25 losslessly compressed raw, 23 uncompressed raw or 62 JPEG frames, versus 33, 27 or 83 respectively for the X-Pro2. Burst speeds as high as 14 fps are possible with the electronic shutter. (Note that these are Fujifilm's figures. To see how the X-E3 performed in the lab, visit our Performance page.)

Shutter lag is still manufacturer-rated at just 0.05 seconds, just as in the X-E2 and X-Pro2, but startup time is said to have been reduced by 0.1 seconds to just 0.4 seconds. Autofocus performance is manufacturer-rated at 0.06 seconds, just fractionally besting the 0.08 seconds claimed for both the X-E2 and X-Pro2.

And interestingly, Fuji says that the X-E3 sports a newly-developed image recognition algorithm which allows it to track moving subjects that are just half the size trackable by previous X-series cameras, or alternatively, subjects which are moving at twice the speed previously trackable.

The X-E3 is the first X-series camera with Bluetooth LE support

Another first for the Fujifilm X-E3 is to be found in the wireless connectivity department. The earlier X-E2 already sported Wi-Fi wireless networking capability, but the X-E3 now offers up a Bluetooth Low Energy radio. This is something which we've never seen in previous Fuji X-series cameras, and it's a feature which allows for easier pairing with the free Fujifilm Camera Remote app on your smartphone or tablet.

The X-E3 offers ultra high-def video capture

The more affordable Fujifilm X-E3 briefly bested the flagship X-Pro2 in the video department when it was first released. Here, Fujifilm has not only retained the Full HD (1080p60) capture of the X-E2, complete with support for the company's Film Simulation functionality and added the healthy selection of alternative frame-rate options (50, 29.97, 25, 24 or 23.98 fps) for Full HD video as in the X-Pro2; it has also added support for ultra-high definition 4K capture, something its flagship sibling initially lacked.

Now, we should note that the X-Pro2 did get 4K capture support through a firmware update (v4.00) released in late December 2017. But at launch, only the X-E3 was capable of recording 100Mbps, 3,840 x 2,160-pixel 4K video at rates of 29.97, 25, 24 or 23.98 fps.

The Fuji X-E3 has a clip length limit of approximately 10 minutes when recording 4K video to the internal SDXC/UHS-I-compatible storage card slot, and it also supports clean HDMI output with HDMI Rec Control, allowing you to record longer clips with both video and audio using an external HDMI recorder..

In addition to a Micro (Type-D) HDMI port, the Fuji X-E3 includes a Micro-B USB 2.0 port (which is compatible with Fuji's RR-90 Remote Release and supports in-camera charging), and a 2.5mm external microphone jack which still doubles as a remote release jack.

Like its predecessor and the flagship X-Pro2, the Fuji X-E3 draws power from a bundled NP-W126 compatible battery pack, specifically the newer NP-W126S variant, which we understand is designed for better heat dissipation when recording 4K video. Battery life is CIPA-rated to 350 shots with the LCD or EVF. A BC-W126 battery charger is also included in the product bundle, along with the aforementioned EF-X8 shoe mount flash strobe, a shoulder strap and a body mount cap. Available accessories include the X-E3 Metal Hand Grip (MHG-XE3) and the X-E3 Bottom Leather Case (BLC-XE3).

Price, availability, bundle and accessories

The Fujifilm X-E3 began shipping in the US market from late September 2017 in three versions, each of which is provided in black-only or two-tone black-and-silver variants. The Fuji X-E3 sells body-only for around US$900, while a kit with XF18-55mm lens retails for around US$1,300. Alternatively, you can pick up a kit with the XF23mmF2 R WR lens for around US$1,150.

Note: Since the X-E3 uses the same sensor and processor as the X-Pro2 , and Fujifilm USA has requested their loaner back, we have decided not to test the camera any further in the lab. We do however have X-E3 Performance test results, and our "First Shots" Still Life lab images. Please see our X-Pro2 test result pages for analysis of image and print quality as they should be essentially the same: Image Quality, Image Quality Comparison, and Print Quality.

Fuji X-E3 Field Test Part I

Fujifilm's mid-level X-series ILC delivers great image quality & style

by Jeremy Gray | 12/20/2017

Although Fujifilm has less expensive mirrorless ILC options, the X-E series, including this latest X-E3 model, has always been a reasonably-priced entry point into Fujifilm's X-Trans sensor cameras, all while packing a lot of advanced features from the higher-end models.

This latest version represents the biggest change to the X-E series since the original. The X-E3 has a redesigned camera body with a deeper grip, new front control dial, a new touchscreen interface, eight-way joystick, new imaging pipeline, faster performance, 4K video and more. The camera is very impressive on paper, so let's dig in and see how it performs in real-world shooting.

Read our Fuji X-E3 Field Test Part I

Fuji X-E3 Field Test Part II

4K video in a compact, attractive and affordable package

by Jeremy Gray | 01/23/2018

In Field Test Part I, I looked at the new camera body, image sensor, performance and autofocus capabilities of the Fuji X-E3, and the camera generally impressed me. In this second field test, the focus will shift toward the shooting experience, video performance and a discussion of other smaller features in the X-E3, including wireless functionality

Shooting Experience

Film Simulation
Fujifilm's Film Simulations are one of my favorite aspects of their cameras, and the X-E3 has this feature fully implemented. With the X-E3, you can select from Provia (Standard), Velvia (Vivid), Astia (Soft), Classic Chrome, PRO Neg. Hi, PRO Neg. Std., Acros, Monochrome and Sepia. Acros and Monochrome are both black and white Film Simulations, and you can select from standard, yellow, red and green filter variations. You can also further modify the look of your images by adjusting highlight tone, shadow tone, color, sharpness, noise reduction, grain effect and dynamic range.

Read our Fuji X-E3 Field Test Part II

Fuji X-E3 Conclusion

by Jeremy Gray | 05/07/2018

The Fujifilm X-E3 is a vastly different camera from its predecessor, and its many new features and changes represent numerous improvements. The X-E3 has a redesigned body, new front control dial, a touchscreen, an eight-way joystick, a new imaging pipeline and 4K video recording capabilities. During our testing, the camera proved to be very capable and an impressive X-Series camera.

Design
The Fujifilm X-E3 employs a rangefinder-like design, giving it a generally compact form factor. With that said, the camera has a redesigned grip compared to the X-E2, which is deeper and offers a better hold. The X-E3, like most Fujifilm X-Series cameras, has a fair number of physical controls. The camera has dual command dials, a physical shutter speed dial and an exposure compensation dial in addition to a standard assortment of buttons.