The Fujifilm X-Pro3 is a digital camera with a film soul – and I want its strange screen to come to more cameras

Out of all the digital cameras that I’ve worked with, the Fujifilm X-Pro3 felt the most steeped in film tradition. The mirrorless camera’s hidden screen and hybrid viewfinder forced me to slow down in a way that I haven’t experienced much outside of real film. Yet, the Fujifilm X-Pro3 has been discontinued, and fans are still waiting on an X-Pro4. But if there’s one thing that I hope Fujifilm brings to more cameras, it’s the X-Pro3’s strangely beautiful screen.

While Fujifilm is one of the brands best-known for retro looks, the X-Pro3 arguably takes that the farthest. The viewfinder has a hybrid design that overlays digital information on an optical viewfinder that feels far different from most digital cameras.

But my favorite film-like feature comes from the disguised screen. At first glance, the X-Pro3 doesn’t appear to have a screen, instead offering a small display that shows the current film simulation, much like the cutout film cameras have.

The X-Pro3 does have a screen, however, it’s just hidden behind that small film panel. To use the screen, photographers have to flip it down on the hinges to open up the LCD. Hiding one of the digital format’s biggest advantages may seem a bit counterintuitive. But what hiding that screen does is discourage photographers from immediately checking that screen after every image. Instead, the design aims to help photographers stay in the moment.

That hidden screen and rangefinder-inspired hybrid viewfinder made the X-Pro3 feel far different from my own X-T4. Using the X-Pro3 felt intentionally slower. In today’s fast-paced tech world that drives some to become digital minimalists in the name of mental health, that doesn’t feel like a bad thing.

Sadly, the X-Pro3 has been discontinued, but I don’t think Fujifilm is done making cameras with that strange but lovely hidden screen. For starters, Fujifilm has confirmed in an interview that an X-Pro4 is in the plans, although the company didn’t give fans any sort of indication of when such a successor may come.

But Fujifilm is also teasing a new camera that has a film icon on the back left that reminds me of the X-Pro3’s screen. As a brief teaser, Fujifilm hasn’t offered many details on the teased camera. I don’t know, for example, if the teased camera is even digital or film, if it’s mirrorless or a compact camera. But the brief glimpse in the teaser gives me hope that, if the upcoming camera is indeed a digital camera, it will have a film-like soul, starting with a screen inspired by the X-Pro3.

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