Fujifilm thinks you need a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera for selfies

Fujifilm Malaysia just launched their latest Fujifim X-A3 mirrorless camera that they say is designed for the selfie generation. It comes with several features designed to help you take the perfect selfie.

The question I have is: Do you really need a mirrorless APS-C camera with interchangeable lenses to capture selfies?

Fujifilm’s X-A3 is the company’s updated entry-level Fujifilm X series camera. It comes with a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor with a traditional Bayer colour filter as opposed to Fuji’s X-Trans. Speaking to a Fujifilm spokesperson, he informed me that this was a necessary sacrifice to keep the price of the camera low. It’ll also shoot Full HD 1080p video at 60fps and has WiFi connectivity.

But that’s not the only sacrifice they had to make. Most Fujifilm cameras are well known for their solid construction (usually out of a magnesium alloy, like my beloved X100S), which feels great in the hand. On the X-A3, however, you will immediately be able to tell why Fujifilm says it’s “entry-level”.

Although I was told that the top frame is made out of magnesium alloy too, the rest of the camera feels absolutely sub-par and plasticky. Perhaps I’m judging Fuji’s baby camera more harshly than I normally would because of how good their other cameras feel, but I was definitely not impressed with the X-A3’s construction at all.

Besides that, the X-A3 has a 3″ 1040k-dot TFT LCD flip-out touch-sensitive display. With this display, you can tap different areas on the screen to have the screen focus, or, in full-auto, have it immediately focus and capture a photo. This gives the camera a very smartphone-y feel to it which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It doesn’t have a viewfinder, which is unfortunate, but the X-A3 at least retains the sexy metal dials people love on Fujifilm’s cameras. That said, the dials don’t let you change shutter speed, exposure compensation or ISO. The bigger dial is used to switch between modes, while the other can adjust stuff like shutter speed and aperture.

The overall shooting experience with the X-A3 is still very satisfying. The shutter button has a nice click to it and lends to the retro good looks that Fujifilm pushes on all their X series cameras. Unfortunately, this particular button isn’t threaded so you can’t screw soft shutter releases or cable releases into it.

Focusing seems to still be typical Fujifilm (which is to say not very fast), but you also get access to Fujifilm’s  since it has Fujifilm’s X-Mount, you have a variety of lenses to choose from. If you wanna go big, you can also pick from their pro-level red-badge XF lenses.

For the nitty gritty details and camera specs, you can head on over to Fujifilm’s website.

To me, I don’t actually think that it will significantly change how people take selfies. Considering how good smartphone selfie cameras have got, and how much more convenient it is to carry your smartphone with you, the masses will probably stick to the 5MP-8MP selfie shooter that’s always in their pocket.

That being said, the X-A3 does keep things real when you think of it as a small, good-looking point and shoot. One strong advantage it has is the fact that you can slap on better glass as time goes on to get better images and more versatility thanks to the X mount.

Still, these are only my first impressions so I won’t give my full judgment of the X-A3 without a full review.

Fujifilm’s X-A3 will retail for RM2,888 and comes in three colours: Pink, Silver or Brown. For the price, you’re also getting an XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS II lens bundled in. If you’re interested, you can head on over to Fujifilm Malaysia’s first (and brand new) Wonder Photo Shop that’s located in Sunway Pyramid’s Orange Atrium.

What do you guys think of this camera? Let me know in the comments below.