I love the little beast (X100)

[David_Manning]

Akiva...buy it.

My ONLY complaint about the X100? There was no black body when I purchased.

I love it. I've done work I'm proud of with it.

---Okay, I wish the buttons on the back were a bit bigger.

[5:00 PM]

The only downside to the X100 probably doesn't apply to anybody here, in that it's got a learning curve and isn't for beginners. At the same time, it may be the most powerful digital you can hand to a stranger to take your picture with near complete assurance he or she will be able to ge the shot!

I've had mine for a year, it did go back to Fuji for the sticky blades problem (fixed quickly and at no charge). It's the most fun I've had in the digital era and it makes wonderful images, especially of people. No regrets whatsoever here.

[Glenn2]

Count me as another big fan of the X-100. I had my name down for one as soon as I saw the specifications. A proper optical finder with framelines plus large sensor and fast prime were sure to be a winner. I wasn't disappointed when the camera arrived and soon got past the learning curve of its quirks. Firmware updates only made it better. Up until the X-100 my carry everywhere cameras were usually Leicas, either one of the M4's bought in the late sixties or a Barnack.

The X-100 makes a superb travel camera. It's small and light so spends very little time in a camera bag. Earlier this year I had the pleasure of revisiting, and rephotographing places and people that I'd first visited four decades earlier. My camera gear for the trip was one of the same Leicas I'd used in 1970 and an X-100.
The X-100 did an amazing job in light too dim for my ISO 400 film.

Two suggestions for anyone using an X-100. Get an extra battery, or two and carry them with you. The battery level indicator gives very little warning of low power level. A percent charge like Nikon does would be a big improvement.

The exposure comp dial is too easy to move by accident. If you aren't in the habit of checking this every time get a Lensmate thumb rest. Link--> http://www.lensmateonline.com/store/...nepix_x100.php

Besides improved grip it protects the exposure comp. dial.

I've posted a few photos from the Fuji that show what it's capable of. Link--> http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=1029029

Glenn

[maggieo]

My X100 and a spare battery live in my purse. It's perfect.

[willie_901]

Negatives:

You need at least two batteries and they charge slowly. I avoid dirt cheap non-Fuji copies and try to find the Fuji's on sale. Others apparently use the least expensive batteries they can find and never have issues.

There is a learning curve. There are two finder modes and three AF modes. The focus area regions respond differently in different modes. Still, you can achieve just about anything you need to, but you have to figure out how to do it. Using just one mode of operation for every situation can cause frustration. You are knowledgable about parallax error and focus and recompose, so you should be in good shape. Read the manual and read the various free on-line user guides, but be sure that you read is relevant to the newest firmware. Turning on the audible focus confirmation beeps can help you learn how to get the most out of the AF. You can turn this off later of course.

True manual focus (as opposed to operating the AF manually) is much more viable now, but it is nothing like using an analog lens. I find MF useful for checking and making adjustments using the digital zoom method. This is more flexible with the X100 than the XP and XE bodies.

The lens can create distracting flare artifacts when strong, point-source lights are present in high contrast situations. This is most commonly seen in night photography. The only defense is to reduce exposure but this only reduces the flare. The flare seems to be highly angle dependent, so not every light gives flare.

Lens filters are more likely to generate different flare artifacts compared to other digital cameras. The lens-sensor distance is extremely narrow which creates the reflections. Even high-quality filters with excellent coatings can cause problems.

The lens is not designed for close up work at apertures openings larger than f 4. So in macro mode you have a f 4 lens.

The live histogram display is essentially useless. Of course you already know how to expose and the histogram can be turned off.

Speaking of exposure, the highlight recovery in raw files is impressive. When in doubt overexpose. I believe bracketing exposures is good insurance.

Auto ISO is inflexible. Combined with auto DR strange things can happen (at least I find them strange).

The EC dial spins a bit too freely for some people. Newer bodies may have stiffer dials because the whining about this seems to have declined.

It is not convenient to change the shutter speed in 1/3 stops. Of course you are already use cameras that don't do this at all.

The in-lens ND filter is required in very bright light. This is annoying unless you shoot in bright light often. The camera will still operate when the shutter is too fast for the lens' aperture mechanism so you won't necessarily know the photos will have artifacts.

I wrote down every negative I could think of. Except for the point-source light flare, none of thes negatives detract from how much I enjoy the X100 every time I use it. Right now it is my default goes-with-me-wherever-I-go camera. Even before the first firmware update, I was thrilled Fuji made this camera.

[burancap]

Someone has just been very, very naughty -and so close to Christmas!

Black LE expected Friday!

[burancap]

Well, I have now had most of a weekend with mine.

Great camera. Everything as expected from the posts here and elsewhere.

Very simple. Easy to use. Very pleased with the early results.

It is almost too easy in some regards ... I find that I may go from shooting RAW+JPG (for cataloging) to JPG+RAW (for backup).

This could easily be an "only" camera if that was mandated.

[porktaco]

Originally Posted by maggieo

The X100 might be my favorite camera of the digital era. I adore mine.

even more than the m9?

[morgan]

I've had mine for about 9 months and I love it almost to death - except for the AF and sometimes overall operation feels slow. Even though my R-D1 may slower overall in a way, at least I'm control of it. But the IQ of the x100 is really amazing. I shoot raw+jpg because sometimes the jpg output is better than what I can get out of lightroom.

I've bought the wide angle adapter and that's a nice addition, but what I really want now is a 50mm equivalent. I've always been more of a 50 than 35 guy.

[maggieo]

Originally Posted by porktaco

even more than the m9?

Maybe. They're neck and neck, now that I have the C Sonnar 50/1,5 on the M9. But the X100 still makes better files for B&W conversions, to my eye.

[andrewteee]

Originally Posted by maggieo

Maybe. They're neck and neck, now that I have the C Sonnar 50/1,5 on the M9. But the X100 still makes better files for B&W conversions, to my eye.

But the X100 is no C Sonnar 50mm. Wish there was an X100-like C Sonnar 50mm camera... man oh man!