First Outing With My X100S

Today was my first outing with the slightly used Silver X100S I bought. I went to Hilltop Farm, in Suffield, Connecticut, less than 10 minutes away, to test out the X100S.

Hilltop Farm was built by George Hendee, one of the founders and principle owner of the Indian Motorcycle Company. Hendee began working on Hilltop Farm in 1914 and eventually amassed over 500 acres from the Massachusetts State Line and south between Route 159 and the Connecticut River. Only a quarter of the original farm remains with the rest, including Handee's mansion sold off to different buyers.

Everything was shot in RAW. Then I used the X100S's internal RAW converter to experiment with different film simulations and in the end, decided that except for Velvia, the rest of the color simulations were so close that I just downloaded the Provia and Velvia jpegs. I also found that I needed to push each jpeg by +⅓ and +½ stop because the X100S seemed to underexpose. I remember having to do the same thing with both of my X100Ts.

Basic B&W

Same Image in Velvia

Provia

Velvia

Provia

Provia

Nice set, Bill.

Since you've extensively shot several of the other X100 cameras, what are your impressions so far of the X100S compared to those others?  For example, how does the X100S focusing and IQ compare?

I've never had any of the X100s and have been thinking about getting a X100V.

Brierfield wrote:

Nice set, Bill.

Since you've extensively shot several of the other X100 cameras, what are your impressions so far of the X100S compared to those others? For example, how does the X100S focusing and IQ compare?

I've never had any of the X100s and have been thinking about getting a X100V.

Thanks. I never had the X100V so I can't tell you anything about it. I started in the middle with two X100Ts, then an X100F, backwards to an original X100, and now up to an X100S.

Surprisingly, the exterior of the X100 and X100S is identical. The improvements are all on the inside; mostly a 16mp Xtrans sensor versus a 12mp Bayer sensor with an AA filter, a couple of extra film simulations, plus faster operation overall. With the X100T, the designers added Classic Chrome, moved all the buttons around, replaced the rear wheel with a D-pad, and the command dial became an actual dial instead of a sort of command switch on the X100 and X100S. It was probably getting harder to add real value to the X100F over the X100T beyond going up to a 20mp sensor, so the designers started changing the controls again. They added a joystick, a front command dial, and eliminated at least a third of the buttons.

Today was only my second day out with the X100S but overall, I'm quite happy so far. My only two gripes would be that I prefer a D-Pad to the rear wheel and no Classic Chrome which is about the only color film simulation I used on the T and F. I shoot mostly landscapes, old historic New England houses, and pre-covid travel. You're welcome to visit my Flickr page and browse through my Fuji album or the whole thing if you care to.

Thanks for the detailed info on the X100 cameras.

This is helpful!