How will you test your new Fuji X100?

[Roger Hicks]

Use it hard for 25 years and see if it compares with a Leica or Nikon F. Then put it in a drawer for 20 years before trying to use it again...

Cheers,

R.

[bobby_novatron]

PKR -- I would be wary of using an ant as your test pilot. You could cause a flap with P.E.T.I. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Insects). It's possible they could demonstrate in front of your house, protesting your treatment of their multi-legged friends.

But hey -- at the same time, there would probably be some great photo op's and street photography out of the whole thing! I say, go for it!

[jsrockit]

Sorry, I can't obtain this level of geekery. I try the camera out and it either does it for me or it doesn't.

[Keith]

I'm hanging out for the unpacking video myself!

I think they're really cool!

[bigeye]

...with white gloves?


...no gloves, but I did find an early version of the X100 in video

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by Roger Hicks

Use it hard for 25 years and see if it compares with a Leica or Nikon F. Then put it in a drawer for 20 years before trying to use it again...

And few RFF members would live to see the results...

[ElectroWNED]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

As for testing, I will see if it holds up to the durability of an F2 by placing the X100 on a table and striking it with the trusty Nikon.

If it passes that trial, I will use an unofficial Navy test in which I will go to a body of water and place the camera in the water to see if it floats. If it does not float, an assistant will document its performance underwater with a Nikonos IV-a. Finally, we will monitor its progress towards the bottom of the ocean via a pattern of VLAD bouys and note the depth at which it succumbs to pressure.

Results to be published here after test and analysis.

Phil Forrest

I'm LOL'ing

[kshapero]

Originally Posted by Roger Hicks

Use it hard for 25 years and see if it compares with a Leica or Nikon F. Then put it in a drawer for 20 years before trying to use it again...

Cheers,

R.

Rog, I hope we live that long.

[Roger Hicks]

Originally Posted by kshapero

Rog, I hope we live that long.

Well, me too. But it does make something of a nonsense of the sort of 'test' some people do, doesn't it?

Cheers,

R.

[Steve_F]

Originally Posted by Roger Hicks

Use it hard for 25 years and see if it compares with a Leica or Nikon F. Then put it in a drawer for 20 years before trying to use it again...

Cheers,

R.

You forgot one thing Roger, a handheld meter if it's going to be tested properly without it's batteries.

As for the rest of you...sarcasm maybe the lowest form of wit (some say) but it sure as hell is the funniest!
Great thread.

Steve.

[Brian Sweeney]

I've got a couple of cameras that are still in that kind of testing.

So far, the Minolta Hi-Matic 9 is in the lead. But the F2a and Photomic F are close behind.

I have a Weston Master 715 that definitely passed. It was bought in World War II at work, and sat unused in a drawer for 50 years. I found it about 10 years ago, cleaning out an old Lab. Now in my camera bag.

[vincentbenoit]

Am pleased to see that the test chart is available to the people of New Caledonia.

And Tawain (sic) too.

Vincent

[xayraa33]

How will I test it ?

I will swiftly run to my nearest Tim Horton and place the Fuji wonder cam between a large cup of hot black java and a stale french cruller and photograph it with my Leica III and its Summar lens on eastern european black and white film.

[Roger Hicks]

Originally Posted by Steve_F

You forgot one thing Roger, a handheld meter if it's going to be tested properly without it's batteries.

As for the rest of you...sarcasm maybe the lowest form of wit (some say) but it sure as hell is the funniest!
Great thread.

Steve.

Dear Steve,

Good point! Sorry for the omission.

Cheers,

R.

[MikeTinsley]

How about testing to see if it can be used like a hammer to beat a mugger to a bloody pulp without damaging the camera....or perhaps dropping it onto a pavement a few times, bouncing it around in a climbing rucksack full of chalk and getting it a bit damp in a rainstorm and seeing how worried you are about it.......

[250swb]

Test it? I think I'll hit it with a brick, and then whine that it wasn't built very well on RFF. I think I'll find the best ISO results from any camera made and then compare it to those, just to show its not up to the job. I think I'll try it underwater so I can once again whine about sit leaking on RFF. In fact, when I get mine I think I'll just whine about it all the time on RFF because there is bound to be some tiny detail that means I can proclaim in total authority that I'm disappointed!

There will be many people missing the point about this camera, and if you need to go on and test it (or wait for tests by other people) after reading the initial blurb so far published, then you are one of them.

Steve

[MatthewThompson]

This is well and truly pathetic. What the hell happened to RFF?

[kshapero]

Buy it, use it, then either keep it or return it.

[bwcolor]

I've been testing cameras all of my life. Some day, I'll actually go out and take a picture.

[narsuitus]

I recently posted this question on the Rangefinder forum and a similar one on the PopPhoto forum.

http://forums.popphoto.com/showthrea...ra-and-or-lens

I was very surprised that the Rangefinder responses were filled with ridicule and sarcasm.

I do not mind being ridiculed for my anal approach to equipment testing. I will be the first to admit that it is probably overkill. All I can say is that it is based on experience.

When I first started working as a photographer for a newspaper, I used a 35mm SLR camera that was highly recommended by Consumer Reports. However, that highly rated camera broke three times within the first two years of its three-year warranty. The third time it broke was when I was hundreds of feet in the air covering the maiden voyage of a new aircraft that the local university had just acquired. Thank goodness a backup twin-lens reflex camera that I carried allowed me to complete my assignment. As a result of this bad experience, I learned to rely on my own equipment tests more than the test reports of others.

When I worked at a wedding studio, I was assigned photographic equipment that had been used and abused by someone else the weekend before. I never knew if the equipment would work or not. Problems with the film transport mechanism, electrical shortage in the sync cord, and failure of the slave unit were common problems. Even if I had no problems with the equipment, I still had to worry about competing photographers sabotaging my equipment like one guy who managed to switch my flash sync setting from electronic flash to bulb flash.

Needless to say, suffering numerous equipment failure while on assignments has made me very paranoid about the functional status of my photographic equipment. As a consequence, I try to avoid being surprised when I use a new piece of equipment on an important assignment by thoroughly testing it. All I can say is that this testing procedure works for me and I only shared it with the hope that it may be of value to someone else.

I was very disappointed in the Rangefinder responses.

[antiquark]

Originally Posted by narsuitus

I was very surprised that the Rangefinder responses were filled with ridicule and sarcasm..

I think it's because you mentioned the X100, which is a very polarizing topic, considering that it doesn't exist yet.

[rfrangefinder]

Originally Posted by bobby_novatron

Actually, I've got all of you beat already.

I traveled to the future .... I can use all my LTM, M-mount, Contax-mount, Nikon-mount, Fisher Price mount, and medium format lenses -- at the same time!

Ain't technology grand?

This is fantastic news! I will be able to use all my Contax lenses again! Hang on...you are talking Contax N Mount, right?

[andredossantos]

I usually tie a heavy rock to the camera and throw it into a pond or lake. If it sinks, then the camera is ruined but I can declare it would of been safe and fine to use. If it floats, then it is obviously a witch in the service of Satan.

[dh-photo]

Originally Posted by Pickett Wilson

Oh, good grief.

+1

Originally Posted by wontonny

I'm just gonna sit back and have you guys do all the tests and just reap the benefits.

+1

But then again some people collect to test, and are fascinated by camera technology. I thank them, because without them I would have a harder time finding answers to technical questions I might have.


Best,
David

[jsrockit]

I'll test mine by wearing it as a necklace in the streets of NYC and if a pretty girl compliments me on my choice of camera, then I know it is a keeper.