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Fuji X100: is it worth it?

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The X100 will outperform your D300S once you learn how to use the X100.

I had experience with optical, film rangefinders where one must focus and recompose or zone focus. I use the X100 the same way. Making photographs that are in focus with the is not an issue. It does well where analog rangefinder cameras do well and it struggles where optical rangefinders struggle.

Different situations, light level, subject distance, and contrast differences between subject and background require different AF strategies withe the X100. There are three focus modes and two EVF modes. It takes most people some time and patience to learn how to operate the camera. I feel the IQ, having a finder I can hold up to my eye, and ability to conveniently carry the X100 with me wherever I go was worth learning how to use it. Other people feel otherwise.

Close up work is easy once you realize the lens should be set to F stop numbers of 4 or greater and you must use the EVF. The lens will flare below F 4 when there is strong point source light just out of the frame. A lens hood helps. Strong point source light inside the frame can be problematic too. Avoiding gross over exposure and removing lens filters helps.

The X100 is like any other camera. It is just a tool. The primary advantages of the X100 are: it has a real finder, it is practical to take it everywhere you go, it is quiet and people tend to ignore you (compared to using a large, loud DSLR in the same situation). If these things are valuable to you, you will like the camera. If they are not important, you will probably regret buying one.
 
dengx said:
moimoi said:
If I want to shoot raw, is it 12 or 14 bits? Howlong does it take to write on the card (no more than half a second assuming I will be using a fast card?)
Click to expand...
2-3 seconds RAW only, when I said it's slow - I meant it is slow. RAW files are 12bit and are uncompressed 20MB files.
Click to expand...
That's too slow for my taste. I fear that I woul feel frustrated. Specially coming from a D300s.

Thanks for the info.
dengx said:
dengx said:
Howlong can you last with one battery? 200 shots?
Click to expand...
That depends on what do you use. Usually much more than that.

Regards
Click to expand...
 
moimoi said:
As I read more about the camera, it looks like the data writing when shooting raw (which I always do) and battery life are two drawbacks of the camera.

If I want to shoot raw, is it 12 or 14 bits? Howlong does it take to write on the card (no more than half a second assuming I will be using a fast card?)
Click to expand...
Make sure you get a 45Mb/s card, then write times are around 2s. In practice you can keep shooting. But see my posts about JPG + Auto-DR.
moimoi said:
Howlong can you last with one battery? 200 shots?
Click to expand...
At least. I have image review off, but all the power saving off too. Usually get 300 at least. But in practice I seldom get through a battery in a day. There are many 3rd party cheap batteries available as spares. I got two for £2.99 each, and as far as I can tell they last almost as long as the Fuji battery. They are small and light and very easy to carry spares.

--
Fuji X100 Fanboy #1
X100 blog -> http://peri.org.uk/wp/?tag=blog
 
rattymouse said:
You do not have to do anything special with regards to focusing. The following image was taken in a split second.
Click to expand...
I have found the X100's AF to be more than adequate in most situations. However, you do need to take its characteristics into account to get the most out of it. Those characteristics include:
  • A tendency to focus on higher-contrast background objects when the focus frame extends beyond the subject
  • A preference for vertical lines (in landscape orientation)
  • Parallax error at close distances with the OVF
  • The need to wait for focus confirmation (beep and/or green AF frame) to be sure focus has been achieved, as the X100 does not have a focus-priority mode. Not waiting for confirmation, as I assume was the case when you took your very nice shot of the game, works sometimes, but not always.
  • More reliable focusing in low light using AF-C instead of AF-S.
I have read many negative comments about the X100's AF. My guess is that most of them come from not adjusting for the characteristics that I listed above. Some people may not want to adapt their shooting habits to the X100, and that's perfectly understandable, but to get the most out of the camera, there's no other choice.
--
Jeff

My cat, who likes to sprawl on my keyboard, gets the credit for anything I write that makes sense.
 
moimoi said:
That's too slow for my taste. I fear that I woul feel frustrated. Specially coming from a D300s.
Click to expand...
You don't buy X100 for speed, you buy it for its IQ and you will rarely best the JPEG engine (tonality, color response, noise reduction) by messing with RAW files in Lightroom/ACR, it's just very good (unless you plan to do B/W conversions in Silver Effex).
RAW conversion will come completely different but rarely much much better.

I still shoot JPEG + RAW though (just in case).

Regards
 
Thom Hogan said:
What I'm going to say is this: it's a damned good tool for many things, but make sure that you can live with the idiosyncracies. This is not a camera that will adjust to you. You'll adjust to it, or you'll return it for store credit.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the only way to find out if you can "live with the idiosyncracies" is to buy the camera and use it for a while. Only after doing that, will you be able to determine if it is worth it to you.

--
Jeff

My cat, who likes to sprawl on my keyboard, gets the credit for anything I write that makes sense.
 
dengx said:
2-3 seconds RAW only, when I said it's slow - I meant it is slow. RAW files are 12bit and are uncompressed 20MB files.
Click to expand...
You must be using a really slow card. I use a UHS-1 and I am getting much faster shot-ti-shot then this. A brracketed set of three shots might take 2-3 seconds, but a single shot is always done writing in about a second or so.

Its not as fast as any DSLR I have ever used, but it is not that bad with a fast card.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelthek/
 
Well guys, thanks again for all the good feedbacks thus far, which had been very useful. That sounds like a nice camera to have (at least for my shooting) with a few glitches, though :(

Do you think the raw output of the X100 is superior to that of the D300s in the end? Specially interesting in knowing if you have had experience with both camera.

Thanks again.
 
We are talking about raw files. Can you confirm this?
Michael Kaufman said:
dengx said:
2-3 seconds RAW only, when I said it's slow - I meant it is slow. RAW files are 12bit and are uncompressed 20MB files.
Click to expand...
You must be using a really slow card. I use a UHS-1 and I am getting much faster shot-ti-shot then this. A brracketed set of three shots might take 2-3 seconds, but a single shot is always done writing in about a second or so.

Its not as fast as any DSLR I have ever used, but it is not that bad with a fast card.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelthek/
Click to expand...
 
I'd imagine you could buy the X100, use it for a couple of weeks, and then sell it on Craigslist or Ebay without taking much of a loss.
--
Phil Flash
SF, CA USA

It's not the camera. It's you.

Stuff I own in my profile.
 
I think some people simply expect far too much from the 'small package' that the X100 provides when they comapre it to their own, more expensive, dslr bodies (d300s eg).

No doubting the image quality, the X100 is a niche camera that brings fun back into photography. Simple as that. It may not suit everyone but it's up to each individual to decide and see for themselves.

Zoooming
moimoi said:
Well guys, thanks again for all the good feedbacks thus far, which had been very useful. That sounds like a nice camera to have (at least for my shooting) with a few glitches, though :(

Do you think the raw output of the X100 is superior to that of the D300s in the end? Specially interesting in knowing if you have had experience with both camera.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
 
Michael Kaufman said:
You must be using a really slow card.
Click to expand...
We're talking about RAF files on Sandisk UHS-1 Extreme Pro.
Michael Kaufman said:
a single shot is always done writing in about a second or so.
Click to expand...
DPR measured it at 2.2s which when you have 3s review in mind makes the camera unusable for 2-3s even when you cancel the review.
With the review off it used to be even slower.

Regards
 
Im talking about what ur getting for ur money here. Lets share experience here with something you can compare with.

Two really big issue of this camera is:
The AF is inferior then the GF1. Which is an older camera.
The ugly ghost flare (at all aperture, look at my gallery)

I mean seriously, I never complain about "my tools". I also have Nikon D7000, Panasonic GF1, D90. No camera is perfect. But those issues mentioned above are unacceptable for a camera at this price range.

Its funny how many people defends it by saying its a tool and you have to learn how to use it. I have an Olympus OM1 camera and know how to use it, know its limitation, its a tool... but its limitation doesnt cost 1200.

If you can accept what I mentioned for the money, then go for it! Cause other then that it is a darn sexy camera! And if its focused and with no flare you get good image quality.
wchutt said:
The X100 will outperform your D300S once you learn how to use the X100.

I had experience with optical, film rangefinders where one must focus and recompose or zone focus. I use the X100 the same way. Making photographs that are in focus with the is not an issue. It does well where analog rangefinder cameras do well and it struggles where optical rangefinders struggle.

Different situations, light level, subject distance, and contrast differences between subject and background require different AF strategies withe the X100. There are three focus modes and two EVF modes. It takes most people some time and patience to learn how to operate the camera. I feel the IQ, having a finder I can hold up to my eye, and ability to conveniently carry the X100 with me wherever I go was worth learning how to use it. Other people feel otherwise.

Close up work is easy once you realize the lens should be set to F stop numbers of 4 or greater and you must use the EVF. The lens will flare below F 4 when there is strong point source light just out of the frame. A lens hood helps. Strong point source light inside the frame can be problematic too. Avoiding gross over exposure and removing lens filters helps.

The X100 is like any other camera. It is just a tool. The primary advantages of the X100 are: it has a real finder, it is practical to take it everywhere you go, it is quiet and people tend to ignore you (compared to using a large, loud DSLR in the same situation). If these things are valuable to you, you will like the camera. If they are not important, you will probably regret buying one.
Click to expand...
 
dengx said:
moimoi said:
Do you think the raw output of the X100 is superior to that of the D300s in the end? Specially interesting in knowing if you have had experience with both camera.
Click to expand...
http://photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00Z7aT might come to help.

Regards
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot. Reading William Hutton's short review is very tempting :) It looks like there will be some change in habits from the D300s. If I decided to buy a Fuji X100, I would certainly keep the D300s then...
 
Very true Phil. It looks like the price in Amazon is simply crazy right now, probably because of back orders. How much should I expect for the camera? 1100-1200 USD?

Cheers,

Moimoi

PS: thanks to all of you for being very responsive.
Phil Flash said:
I'd imagine you could buy the X100, use it for a couple of weeks, and then sell it on Craigslist or Ebay without taking much of a loss.
--
Phil Flash
SF, CA USA

It's not the camera. It's you.

Stuff I own in my profile.
Click to expand...
 
I am not in a hurry for a possible purchase of the X100. What should be the expected price? 1100-1200 USD?

It looks like the prices on Amazon are extremely volatile (very high those days), and I would certainly not buy this camera for 1500-1700 USD! Is there any reason to believe the price should be more in the range of 1100-1200 USD soon enough?

Thanks,

Moimoi
 
dengx said:
moimoi said:
Thanks a lot. Reading William Hutton's short review is very tempting :) It looks like there will be some change in habits from the D300s. If I decided to buy a Fuji X100, I would certainly keep the D300s then...
Click to expand...
Sure you should.

While it's not your type of photography I think that this one should be helpful too:
http://neilvn.com/tangents/2011/06/13/review-fuji-x100-photographing-a-wedding/

Regards
Click to expand...
Thanks. I came across this review, which is more related to my type of photography. Looks like the guy absolutely love it.

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/05/03/the-fuji-x100-digital-camera-real-world-review-by-steve-huff/

Cheers,

Moimoi
 
moimoi said:
I am not in a hurry for a possible purchase of the X100. What should be the expected price? 1100-1200 USD?
Click to expand...
There are many here in Poland, EU with prices around 1200-1300 USD equiv.

Regards
 
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