To be honest, I was not planning on writing a review of the Fuji X100 camera. First, because the camera was sent to me in error. As I was preparing to send it back, I was asked if I wanted to try it out, so I agreed to check it out and ended up shooting with it for a week. Second, I did not have a chance to do a thorough analysis and comparison, because I was busy testing 35mm lenses. That’s why this is a “mini” review – I will just lay down my thoughts about the Fujifilm X100 and show you some image samples from the camera.
When I asked about the X100, I was told that “it was a hot, almost revolutionary camera”. I guess that’s why I decided to give it a try and see what it is capable of. Once I unboxed the camera, I immediately put the battery into it and started playing with it at home. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out the basics and once I put it in Aperture Priority mode and took some pictures, I was actually pleasantly surprised by what I was seeing.
Positives
- The first thing that struck me was the optical/digital viewfinder/rangefinder that not only provides all the camera information, but also displays captured images. Now that is one cool thing I wish all DSLR cameras had! Being able to look at captured images in an enclosed space is great. With DSLRs, you either have to block the light hitting the rear LCD or you have to use third party tools such as Hoodman Loupe to be able to look at pictures in daylight. And the X100 does it in a smart way too – if you put your eye close to the viewfinder/rangerfinder, the image is shown there. Once you move the camera away from your eyes, the image gets transferred to the rear LCD.
- The second surprise was after I transferred the first images to my computer and started looking at them at 100% – the image quality was outstanding. Indoor images were shot at ISO 800 and above and the amount of noise present in the images was very low, at least when compared to APS-C sensors. Sharpness, colors and contrast looked good right out of the camera (first shots were taken as JPEGs).
- Third, the camera felt great in my hands and for the first time I felt like I could take this little camera with me everywhere I go. No matter how good images from my iPhone might look, I just do not like taking pictures with it. Sure, iPhone images might look great for the web, but you can’t print them large or use them in your portfolio. Lugging around a large DSLR is not an option either; I forget it at home most of the time anyway. It felt great when I was able to put the X100 into my jacket pocket before I left the house.
- Fourth, because of the 4 leaf shutter on the X100, the flash sync speed can be super fast (see the 1/2000s shot below).
- And lastly, people did not look intimidated by the camera when I took pictures of them. They seemed to think that it was just a point and shoot (which it kind of is), so it felt like this camera would get super popular among street photographers.
