Users of Fujifilm’s brand new and much-anticipated X-Pro3 rangefinder have started reporting a troubling issue with their viewfinders. A number of users have taken to both DPReview and the FujiX Forum to report that their cameras’ EVFs have “all of a sudden” started showing a wildly overexposed image and preview, making it impossible to use.
According to Etienne Waldron; “I just went out shooting with the X-Pro3 under light rain and suddenly noticed that my EVF was misbehaving, showing me a (way) overexposed view when shooting, and brightness issues in both the menus and the ‘Play’ mode as well,” explained Waldron. “Things look normal through the LCD, but everything looks (very) overexposed through the viewfinder, almost plain white. Have any of you experienced this?”
Almost as soon as his report went up, other users joined the conversation to report that they, too, had been having the same issue. But while users on both forums were relieved that this wasn’t a problem with just their camera (i.e. thank god I didn’t break it), taking the battery out and resetting the camera does not help, leading some to wonder if this is a widespread hardware issue. Speculations are that, “there seems to be a QC issue on the OLED and its connection.”
One user on the FujiX Forum posted that their dealer “confirmed it is a faulty camera and has given me a full refund.”
While this already is a major issue, it’s particularly problematic on the new X-Pro3 because of its ‘hidden LCD’ design. The only workaround is to avoid the EVF entirely by shooting form waist-level, or eye level with the LCD flipped all the way down.
Fujifilm hasn’t released a statement yet so it’s unclear if the problem affects just a few cameras or if there’d have to be total recall on the X-Pro3.
