Fuji X100 - It's Arrived!

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Saw this new Fuji linked in a thread about a Nikon Mirrorless rumour a few weeks ago, since then I've become a bit obsessed by the idea of it. Basically a compact sized camera with a fixed 35mm (135 equiv) f2 lens and a very high quality APS-C sensor.

I've got a Nikon D90 which I love using but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to use in a lot of the situations I'd like to - it's just so much stuff to carry, I'm just not using it as much as I would like to. It's fine if I go out specifically to take photos but its bulk is just limiting me a bit.

I'd been looking at getting a decent compact but couldn't find anything that would offer me the things I really liked from my DSLR (controllability, low light performance, viewfinder, large sensor/large aperture combination).

I've never really used a truly fixed length lens but started wondering if this fuji might be a viable solution. I went through my aperture library, looking at all the photos I'd ever taken that I liked, despite me having an 18-200mm, a 50mm macro and a 35mm f1.8 almost all my good pics are taken between 18 and 35mm. I'm starting to wonder if this might work out after all.

Oh, yeah and it costs a fair bit! about £1000 actually...

Any way, here are some links, do many of you have experience of this kind of fixed lens photography?

Fuji X100 Unboxing | Photography, Gear, Pro Photographers | Blog
X100 - Initial Review | Photography, Gear, Pro Photographers | Blog
Flickr: Fuji X100
 
I don't think this is a question anyone can really answer apart from you as it's very much a personal choice as to whether a fixed lens is going to be suitable or not. Some people are quite content with a single focal length, some people aren't.

Personally (and perhaps due to my age) I find a single prime too limiting, when I bought the GF1 initially the only viable lens for it as a pocket camera for me was the 20mm F1.7 (40mm equivalent) I tried it as a pocket camera in place of my LX3. However while the 40mm focal length is fairly versatile I found it too limiting particularly as I had no wide angle option so I returned to the LX3 and kept the GF1 as a backup for the GH1 instead as originally intended. When the second pancake prime with a 14mm focal length came out, I snapped it up and now the GF1 is my pocket camera as I can choose between wide angle or a wide aperture normal lens (keeping the second lens in another pocket). Ideally though I'd still like something a bit longer to go with the pair.

I've also experimented with using the D700 and just its 50mm as a lightweight setup and find it similarly limiting, again this covers a good range of shots but I'm finding I'd really like something wide angle and something a bit longer.

As I've said though that's just my use and I'm not in any way suggesting that's going to be the same for other people.

John
 
quite a few threads already on this Fuji X100 and it caused a stir and excitement- me included- as I also cant be taking the D90 and f2.8 lens out as its very limiting for family stuff or when I'm not going to take pics but would like something with me just in case.
However, at £899 (it's down already on Amazon) the official pictures released are very uninspiring and actually very average (I've seen kit lens pics that look better) so thats out the window now.
Technofan (member here) alerted me to the new Olympus xz-1 just released and it's exactly what I need, a compact that shoots good pics and can go in the pocket and at £389 (current Amazon price) its a massive saving on the Fuji, check out technos pics here http://www.avforums.com/forums/photo-sharing/1423821-slice-time.html

Theres also this http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/samsung_nx100_review/ if you want an APS-C sensor in a compact body and interchangeable lenses and only £300 at Jessops (less if you use quidco)
 
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quite a few threads already on this Fuji X100 and it caused a stir and excitement- me included- as I also cant be taking the D90 and f2.8 lens out as its very limiting for family stuff or when I'm not going to take pics but would like something with me just in case.
However, at £899 (it's down already on Amazon) the official pictures released are very uninspiring and actually very average (I've seen kit lens pics that look better) so thats out the window now.
Technofan (member here) alerted me to the new Olympus xz-1 just released and it's exactly what I need, a compact that shoots good pics and can go in the pocket and at £389 (current Amazon price) its a massive saving on the Fuji, check out technos pics here http://www.avforums.com/forums/photo-sharing/1423821-slice-time.html

Theres also this Samsung NX100 Review | PhotographyBLOG if you want an APS-C sensor in a compact body and interchangeable lenses and only £300 at Jessops (less if you use quidco)

FWIW - I emailed them about these :-

Search Results

As very very good price and they told me full UK stock not grey imports and 2 year warranty.

Jim
 
quite a few threads already on this Fuji X100 and it caused a stir and excitement- me included- as I also cant be taking the D90 and f2.8 lens out as its very limiting for family stuff or when I'm not going to take pics but would like something with me just in case.
However, at £899 (it's down already on Amazon) the official pictures released are very uninspiring and actually very average (I've seen kit lens pics that look better) so thats out the window now.
Technofan (member here) alerted me to the new Olympus xz-1 just released and it's exactly what I need, a compact that shoots good pics and can go in the pocket and at £389 (current Amazon price) its a massive saving on the Fuji, check out technos pics here http://www.avforums.com/forums/photo-sharing/1423821-slice-time.html

Theres also this Samsung NX100 Review | PhotographyBLOG if you want an APS-C sensor in a compact body and interchangeable lenses and only £300 at Jessops (less if you use quidco)

http://www.avforums.com/forums/digi...g-nx100-external-flash-ng15.html#post14228528
 
FWIW - I emailed them about these :-

Search Results

As very very good price and they told me full UK stock not grey imports and 2 year warranty.

Jim

what is that Jim as the link showing no cameras just the side bar to the website
 

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Congratulations on your new 'toy' :D.

Now get some 'snaps' up here for us to look at :smashin:
 
Saw that Dan - was going to ask why you were selling but didn't want to spam your thread :)

Jim

:spam: :laugh: Brother in law gave me his old Nikon for peanuts.
 
The images I have seen from this camera look so disappointing. Might just be that Lightroom etc can't accept the RAW files just yet so the samples look a bit flat and not too sharp...but doesn't look promising. Real shame as it's a gorgeous looking bit of kit.
 
I had a wander into London Camera Exchange today where, much to my surprise, they had a new Fuji X100 in stock and available to purchase. I've had my eye on the X100 since it was announced some months ago. The belnd of rangefinder + electronic viewfinder + large sensor + physical dials is extremely attractive to me.

As it happens, the shop had a Leica M6 on the counter at the same time, and it's immediately obvious what the X100 has been modelled on. They've even coloured the metal body to be exactly like the Leica.

The X100 comes packaged beautifully. It reminded me of the iPhone packaging - solid box, other boxes within, nice satin liner holding the camera. Nice.

It's smaller than I had thought - a tad bigger than the Panasonic GF1, but smaller than a Leica M6.

The big manual controls are a delight. Aperture ring is on the lens. Shutter speed is on a big dial on the top along with exposure compensation. Super.

The hybrid viewfinder is stonkingly good. You can look through the window and see the scene directly, but with all parameters overlaid such as aperture, shutter speed, metering etc. Really very innovative. You can flick a lever to get the electronic viewfinder "through the lens" view as well. I really like it.

The feel of the camera is extremely nice. Very solid, beautifully made, and very nice to hold.

Now the bad stuff. The small control wheel and menu/OK button on the back are not very nice at all. They are too small and feedback to pressing them is not positive enough. You may get used to it, but I much prefer the simpler arrangement on the GF1. I'd like to have a longer go with the camera before I'd commit to purchase it to see if this is

I didn't find the autofocus very intuitive when looking through the viewfinder window. When looking to focus close-up on something, it seemed like the focus point indicated in the viewfinder wasn't correct due to the offset from the window to the lens. Switching to electronic viewfinder was much better and seemed to perform normally. I'm not sure what this is about - maybe just me, but it didn't seem very intuitive.

Some of the menu control actions were a bit strange. Using the aforementioned teeny control wheel it was quite difficult to navigate around the menus easily. Again, you may get used to it, but I just didn't find the control easy to use. One nice thing though - you do get the menu display in the viewfinder when you are using it.

Some other nice touches - ISO is easy to set using what I think is a configurable function button on the top. Selection of manual/auto focus is easy with a switch on the side. Lots of good simplification to make it easy to use.

So, jury still out from my perspective. I'll have another longer play with it, and probably also await a wide-angle converter. In the meantime I'll stick with my GF1 which I really do love.

Oh yes, the price. £999.99. This is in my view approx £300 too expensive.
 
Thanks for that Tobers, nice review.

The lack of IS kills it for me, I have trouble holding any camera steady these days. And especially at that price it's a serious omission to me :thumbsdow
 
Seems a high price to pay, but quite a fair few people I know have been waiting for this camera.
 
Had a play with one yesterday,very nice well build,if some one gave me one,I think we could become friends,but that £1000,price tag after holding one and having play with it, just to much :)
 
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If the PQ was sharp it would be top of my list, but they're not so it isn't
 
If the PQ was sharp it would be top of my list, but they're not so it isn't

Some decent images here including some comparisons with a Leica X1.

I've got a couple of places in manchester giving me a ring when they get one in so I can go and have a look at one in the flesh.

As a side note I experimented with a DSLR at the weekend, but kept it fixed at 23mm, was a LOT less limiting than I thought it was going to be. Made me realise there's a good reason why all my previous pics that I have been happy with have fallen into a pretty narrow range of focal lengths - the things I like taking pictures of just lend themselves to this sort of range.
 

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