Fujifilm X-Pro3 Titanium Top Plate Issue Explained and Possibly Fixed with 1 Single Press

Over at our Fujifilm X-Pro3 group, there were complaints about the Fujifilm X-Pro3 titanium top plate not sticking perfectly to the body.

You can see for example this post here.

Jonas Rask jumped in, explained the issue in this post, and offered a solution. It’s NOT an official Fujifilm solution. Just something Jonas saw workes, and thought to share.

As the Fujifilm X-Pro3 group is accessible only for facebook members, I will share Jonas text below. However, for the video tutorial by Jonas Rask, check out his post here.

I want to make a comment about the titanium top plate having a gap from the main body construction of the X-Pro3.

This is simply because I have some knowledge on how the camera is made in that regard.

1. The outer shell of titanium is put on top of the weathersealed camera, so any gaps or imperfections will not impede weather sealing as far as I’ve been told. I think that’s quite an important thing to address!

2. The gaps are happening around the small bezelled lens mount ring. As a matter of fact this ring is what is designed to keep the soft titanium in place on the front. The problem is that it seems like the top plate on some cameras isn’t pressed hard enough to latch on to that ring-bezel during final stages of assembly. So what users could easily do is press the titanium down just where the ring is. They will hear a small click, and the Titanium will then be in place.

It’s quite a simple fix. But mind you, this is not an official announcement from Fujifilm. So wether or not you want to do it, is up to you.

But it’s goddamn annoying that it occurs in the first place.

PS: I have seen some images where people put things underneath the gap to show it off in forums. They just made this fix completely impossible for themselves by actually bending the titanium.

It worked for those, who tried it out in the group. If you experience the same issue, try it out, too.

In any case, if it turns out not fixable with Jonas Rask way, there will a recall by Fujifilm. But so far our group members seem to be successful.

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press firmly, you’ll here the click, and the top plate sticks on the body firmly. It was not firmly enough pressed during manufacturing

Photons to Photos Dynamic Range Data: Fujifilm X-Pro3 Beats Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T30 – NOT :)

Photons to Photos added the Fujifilm X-Pro3 to their database, and you can now compare it to all other cameras in their database.

I did compare it to the Fujifilm X-T3 and Fujifilm X-T30, and the Fujifilm X-Pro3, despite having the same processor and sensor, shows a sensible advantage over the X-T3 and X-T30.

So has it better dynamic range?

Bill Claff explains:

The X-Pro3 appears to have improved PDR but it is an illusion.

It’s well known that Fuji implements the ISO setting in an unusual way.
In this case they have given ISO 320 to ISO 12800 an addition 1 stop boost.

Fuji uses a proprietary Exif tag called “Raw Exposure Bias” to indicate how much they have shifted the raw data from “standard”.

Adjusted in Excel for Raw Exposure Bias we see that the X-Pro3 and X-T3 are essentially identical. (They shift to dual conversion gain at a slightly different point).

You can access and manipulate the data here at Photons to Photos. Bill Claff’s comment has been added on dpreview.

Don’t forget to…

Fujifilm X-Pro3 Firmware Update 1.02 Visible but Not Available

FR-reader Lars contacted me and wrote:

Today I got my X-Pro3 back from Fuji Service with a new firmware update vers. 1.02. That update was actually released already on 16. January regarding the Fuji Website. But when you click on it you go to the vers. 1.01 that was released in December and the file is the same too.

I did check, and indeed, on the firmware list page, Fujifilm mentiones X-Pro3 firmware 1.02 as released on January 16. As you can see from the screenshot above, it says:

The phenomenon that in rare cases, a freeze could occur is fixed

But once you click and enter on the X-Pro3 firmware download page here, all you see is firmware 1.01.

My guess? Fujifilm will release another firmware update, maybe ver.1.1, which will incorporate the bug fixed with 1.02 as well as other issues.

Don’t forget to…

Documentary: How Fujifilm Creates Our Cameras – X-Pro3 Not a Product of Logic and About Managers Who Don’t Like Digital Cameras ;)

Fujifilm X Photographer Mindi Tan created a 90 minuted documentary, giving us a behind the scenes to the secret process behind the Fujfilm X-Pro3 creation.

It gives us a very close and also intimate look at Fujifilm’s camera creators and managers. The documentary reveals its team dynamics, beliefs and history inside the company with lots of exclusive interviews and footage.

It also features nine popular X-Photographers from all over the world who open up in their home environments to discuss what being a photographer and being connected with Fujifilm means today.

Down below you can find a summary of the video, but before that, I’d like to leave you with quick impressions I had.

It’s clear to see from the documentary, that behind our beloved Fujifilm cameras, there are not cold managers thinking at specs and profits, but really passionate photographers in the first place.

In fact, top manager’s Toshi Ilda first hobby was photography, and when his father asked him, what he wishes for his successful graduation, he said he’d like a camera.

Also, another top manager, Takeshi Ueno, deeply loves film photography, and straight out says he does not like digital cameras.

I guess this passion for the good old photography reflects perfectly in the vintage design and controls of Fujifilm cameras.

However, it comes even more surprising, that Fujifilm completely denied this “manual” DNA on the Fujifilm GFX100, which is the first Fujifilm camera I ever hold in my hands, that was not intuitive (for me) to operate, and required a look in the manual, to understand how it works.

I am sure there will be many, who love the more “modern” layout of the Fujifilm GFX100, and that’s perfect. I can understand. But it’s just not my style, not my preference.

I think Fujifilm should continue to offer what makes them unique, and part of that is not to give up vintage controls. And with the X-Pro3, they pushed this concept to its limits, by even hiding the LCD.

Also interesting:

They say the X-Pro3 is not a product of “logic”, but of instinct. In this case they did not listen to what the market dictates, but their intuition, that it was the right thing to do with the X-Pro3.

And that’s why I love Fujifilm.

If they would be like Sony for example, and just listen to market logic, Fujifilm would just offer one camera body. The same for everybody.

But Fujifilm knows photographers are not all the same, and so they offer niche products, that will never really become that profitable. By doing so, Fujifilm honors its photographic culture and heritage, it’s photo-DNA.

It’s a very lovely documentary, that I invite everybody to watch.

Video and Summary

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