x5 review on AP plus my quick impressions.

Magazine tests are tricky because their intention is to be absolute - they are trying to find the absolute truth about a certain camera. The problem is that the same camera can appear relatively different to different photographers. That's because people have different needs and expectations from each other.

I got the X-5 because I didn't want to use my dSLRs all the time and because my other compact cameras are to limited in their capabilities. X-5 is in fact, like the magazine says, representing the middle of the superzoom bunch. I'd say it's the golden middle in the specs, while the price is rather low.

X-5 is more than average in real life use. IQ is a bit better than I've expected and SR works excellent, much better than I expected. It makes the long end of the zoom really usable! You can see how effective the SR works while recording video! A nice touch is the customization option for the green button.

Yes, I've had some AF glitches, but slowly I am getting the grip on this. The AF-issue occurs mostly in portrait orientation and only when centre-AF-spot is active. When you reframe to landcape and/or change the focus point the AF is back on track again, but you might miss the shot during this process, so think twice!

Although this occasional AF-glitch is a bit frustrating, I'm very pleased with the X-5 performance. At low light (without focus assist) AF works rock solid. Baterry life with Eneloops is about 450 shots per charge, which is okay for my needs. Note: this is not a pocketable camera, you should store it in a proper bag.

cheers,
D.

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tell me what your 3 favorite lenses are - and I'll tell you what kind of a photographer you are...