Limited Edition X100 - Worth Buying?

[Chris Dodkin]

Here's something I noted yesterday - when using the OVF with heads-up grid display - the area inside the grid did not correspond to the area in the final image.

You got extra in the final shot - so composition with the OVF wasn't exactly what I'd expect...

Others noticed this as well?

 

[Jim Kuo]

Yes.

Also, quite often the camera would fail to focus or focus on the wrong place for close subjects in OVF, while using EVF is fine.

I personally shoot using the LCD on the back pretty much all the time now.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Yeah, it's a bit conservative with the frameing lines ...
In terms of parallax they are fine, you just get more than you should, equally around the frame... Does that make sense ... That is my experience anyway ...

Just an additional comment while on the finder ... The efv is better at low light focusing than the efv!

It's def a quirky camera Chris, but don't worry, handling of the quirks becomes second nature!

 

[Pete Askew]

Do you mean OVF is better than EVF in low light Hamish?

 

[Jim Kuo]

Unfortunately, no. Hamish meant the other way

 

[Pete Askew]

Is that because it is harder to place the focus point through the OVF in low light?

 

[Larry Bolch]

Shooting in extreme low light, going from the OVF to the EVF looks like someone turned on the lights. A gain of several EV. It lets you continue shooting well into the range where holding the camera steady and stopping subject blur is way past the threshold of sharpness.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Thanks chaps - great tips

 

[Hamish Gill]

.... For some reason the camera is actually more effective at focusing when the efv is being usd too ...
At least that's how it seems to me... I have no idea why that would be though

 

[Jim Kuo]

.... For some reason the camera is actually more effective at focusing when the efv is being usd too ...

I totally agree, this is what I experience as well.

 

[Larry Bolch]

Fuji's site promoted it as a "personal camera for professional photographers". It is not a point & shoot for the mindless, nor a gear-head's CaNikon knock-off. It is a camera a shooter must understand and master. Like a Sinar or Deardorff, it is not for the casual photographer. It has no scene modes, no training-wheels, it does not correct your brain-farts. It assumes you can work with an advanced digital camera, that you understand both digital camera operation and photography.

It looks like a somewhat quaint 1970s compact rangefinder camera. It is all but silent. People ignore it, and for someone with people-photography and street skills, it is a dream come true. It is as close to an invisible camera as any camera has come since the beginning of digital photography.

In the hands of an inexperienced violinist, a Stradivarius sounds no better than a cheap Chinese eBay fiddle. The X100 is much the same. If you think it is "cute" and just another P&S, don't buy it. If you expect it to be a CaNikon knock off, it is not. Fuji began the design with a blank screen and it is 100% Fuji. Once you grok it, you—like I—may find it the best digital camera ever, in spite of the limitations of a built in lens of a single focal length. Set it up to your taste—assuming you have the digital camera experience to do so—shoot RAW, and all the much repeated "quirks" vanish.

Just as shooting with a 35mm P&S in no way prepared you for a large-format monorail or field camera, prior cameras do not prepare you for the X100. Accept that it is a new kind of camera in every way, and it makes total sense. If you are not a photographer however, pass on it. It was neither designed for gear-heads nor snapshooters, and unless you can bring photographic skills to it, it will do nothing for you. If you actually are a photographer, prepare to be blown away by it—but you will have to read the manual and actually practice with it first.

 

[Jim Kuo]

What a wonderful summary, thanks Larry.

 

[Jim Kuo]

This review of X100 contains a nice workaround for protecting the lens without the filter ring.

Fuji x100 :: Review • Photography By Zack Arias

Scroll down to the accessory section.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Tom - I've been lusting after the X100 since the launch at CES last year - but kept telling myself I didn't 'need' one

Which of course I don't...

Doesn't mean that I didn't want one though

Can't help you on which to do, camera or lenses - there's no right answer, just what ever works for you at the time.

Just ordered a nice thumb rest from Lensmate - also protects the exposure comp dial (which I've already knocked accidentally and not noticed!)

Will report back when I get it.

Installed and it's a lovely bit of engineering.

Makes the camera easy to grip with the thumb now having more to brace against - exp comp dial protection is a lifesaver (for me)

Very nice upgrade - hope they do one for the X-Pro1

 

[Hamish Gill]

Your well accessorised with the x100 eh...
You should do us a run down

I quite like access to the exposure comp with my thumb ...

 

[Jim Kuo]

I bought a 3rd party hood on eBay for £11.95, it feels quite solid and does the job perfectly.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Your well accessorised with the x100 eh...
You should do us a run down

I quite like access to the exposure comp with my thumb ...

Will do - I'll do a 'Pimp my X100' thread with some pics

I kept knocking the exp comp dial when taking the camera in and out of it's bag - so the extra protection is very welcome - I can live without the thumb control.

 

[Hamish Gill]

I have a ERC so I suppose that's why I haven't had that issue...