Congratulations to Andy Westlake for writing a fair and objective review of a camera that everyone wanted to love.
This must have been a painful task for Andy, since it was pretty obvious he was just as smitten as we were by the X100's stunning good looks and wonderful build quality.
The disappointment lies in the fact that good looks alone aren't enough. Especially at this price. Even the impressive image quality isn't enough. Because if nothing else, a compact camera with a fixed prime lens is supposed to be fast.
That's the whole point of permanently putting a great "all purpose lens" on a compact camera. You don't have to fuss and fiddle with changing lenses.
But instead you have to fuss and fiddle with slow write times, and slow responding buttons and controls... and clunky menus and firmware....
The X100 is like a beautiful woman who gets a pass on all her faults because she is so beautiful. Well, to be fair, Andy really did list all her faults, in elaborate detail, but he was still charmed enough to give her a Silver Award.
We all know that if this camera was good but ugly it would have ranked lower. Like a Sony NEX. Even an ordinary looking camera would have paid a higher price for the long list of bugs, quirks and poor design flaws.
And I would have done the same thing, because the image quality is really beautiful, and the design is really unique. It's just sad that it costs so much and has so many serious issues. I really wanted this to be a fast handling camera, so I could continue lusting after (and saving up for) one.
I think it took a lot of courage to write that review. It would have been very easy to write a glowing review, that would be soundly praised by everyone who already bought the camera.
What Andy effectively did was tell us the truth, as painful as it might be. Like a friend warning you that a beautiful girl has Herpes... before you ask her out! That's something only a real friend would do.
For now... I will just transfer my lust after the X200... which will be the exact same camera with all the bugs and quirks fixed! (Lets hope Fuji takes the hint).
--
Marty
http://www.fluidr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132/show/
my blog: http://marty4650.blogspot.com/
Olympus E-30
Olympus E-P1
This must have been a painful task for Andy, since it was pretty obvious he was just as smitten as we were by the X100's stunning good looks and wonderful build quality.
The disappointment lies in the fact that good looks alone aren't enough. Especially at this price. Even the impressive image quality isn't enough. Because if nothing else, a compact camera with a fixed prime lens is supposed to be fast.
That's the whole point of permanently putting a great "all purpose lens" on a compact camera. You don't have to fuss and fiddle with changing lenses.
But instead you have to fuss and fiddle with slow write times, and slow responding buttons and controls... and clunky menus and firmware....
The X100 is like a beautiful woman who gets a pass on all her faults because she is so beautiful. Well, to be fair, Andy really did list all her faults, in elaborate detail, but he was still charmed enough to give her a Silver Award.
We all know that if this camera was good but ugly it would have ranked lower. Like a Sony NEX. Even an ordinary looking camera would have paid a higher price for the long list of bugs, quirks and poor design flaws.
And I would have done the same thing, because the image quality is really beautiful, and the design is really unique. It's just sad that it costs so much and has so many serious issues. I really wanted this to be a fast handling camera, so I could continue lusting after (and saving up for) one.
I think it took a lot of courage to write that review. It would have been very easy to write a glowing review, that would be soundly praised by everyone who already bought the camera.
What Andy effectively did was tell us the truth, as painful as it might be. Like a friend warning you that a beautiful girl has Herpes... before you ask her out! That's something only a real friend would do.
For now... I will just transfer my lust after the X200... which will be the exact same camera with all the bugs and quirks fixed! (Lets hope Fuji takes the hint).
--
Marty
http://www.fluidr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132/show/
my blog: http://marty4650.blogspot.com/
Olympus E-30
Olympus E-P1
