Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-06-21)

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 15 June 2019 41

Dusk in Nouméa. Like all the

images in this feature this

is the JPEG file. They were

so good I didn’t feel the

need to use the raw files

Fujinon 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS,

1/8sec at f/3.2, ISO 1250

56mm f/1.2 (two, in fact, if you include the

APD version). It’s the same with the zooms.

Had I chosen the X-T30 I’d have gone for the

compact lenses, but on the larger X-T3 the

fast primes look and feel more balanced – plus

you get the extra stops. I decided to take three

of the fast primes, one of the compact primes,

and two zooms (see list on page 44).

Customising my X-T3

I had about 28 hours of flying time in which

to set the camera up as I wanted. The X-T3

is highly customisable. I made the Fn button

on the top a Wi-Fi shortcut, and the front

Fn button a depth-of-field preview. The four

d-pad buttons were assigned to White

Balance, AF mode, Film Simulation mode

and the Electronic Level. The Q button opens

the Quick menu – a grid of 16 customisable

shortcuts, each of which can be set to one of

30 parameters. Since I had already assigned

the key functions to the physical buttons I

chose more niche parameters such as grain

strength and shutter type to the Quick menu,

but in all honesty I barely used them. It took

me about a week of shooting to realise that as

well as being able to turn the input dials on the

front and rear of the camera (which I used for

scrolling and zooming in playback) I could also

press them, and customise those too. Frankly

I had run out of shortcuts that I could possibly

need, and that was even before I discovered

there are four more customisable shortcuts

on the touchscreen. If I’d used them all I don’t

know how I would have ever remembered

what function was where.

Departing from Brisbane, Australia, the

Maasdam’s itinerary comprised a scattering of

islands of New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji,

before ending in Auckland, New Zealand. It was

apparent that whatever I did in each port, sand

or water or both would never be far away. The

X-T3’s pro-level dirt- and moisture-resistance

made it worth its extra weight over the

X-T30, and I was glad I had brought the

Left: Portrait of an islander in Vanuatu

Fujinon XF56mm F1.2 R, 1/550sec at f/1.4, ISO 160