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Fuji X100 - Has Anyone got one?

Paul Abbott

New member
I've been interested in buying a Fuji X100 camera for awhile now but i've heard so many issues about it's AF and MF focusing, and sticky aperture blades (SAB).
I'm wondering if anyone has got one or used one and can give an insight into using one?

Regards, Paul.
 

Andrew Stannard

pro member
Hi,

I'm thinking of getting one as well, as a nice complement to the 5D MkII when I don't fancy the weight.

Seems like the more recent firmware updates have fixed a lot of the issues, and the sticky aperture-blade problem doesn't seem to be a problem on new stock.

Would be interested to hear from others as well....


Andrew.
 

Paul Abbott

New member
Hey Andrew, i'm not even sure about the dynamic range this camera has either. I've heard that it shows banding in the images when the DR is turned on...:eek:
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
I would suggest waiting a little. There might be a new model announced shortly.

All reviews do mention slow af. Once again, from following various forums, it would appear that the sticky blades issue has largely been resolved by the new firmware.

Regards.
 

Paul Abbott

New member
Hey Fahim, I was hoping that the firmware would deal with that slow AF, so that's good news.

I sometimes wonder whether camera manufacturers have any photographers on-board who know a thing or two. I mean listen to this, from 3ft and closer you will need to put it in macro mode to focus, and that is slow and fussy too. :(
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
Friend of mine, a PJ, had been lent one by Fuji UK for a week. I had a (very) short play with it. Focus is faster than I'd expected given the reports, lens is sharp and has a nice feel to its rendering, electronic viewfinder is useable I suppose as long as nothing moves, forget panning or looking through the viewfinder while you move the camera, it's horrible. Regular viewfinder with overlay was nice but weirdly about 2 stops darker than it should have been, probably a setting somewhere. Using a 15mb/s SD card the write and shot to shot times were sloooooooooooow, this camera needs very fast cards. Camera is tiny and light and seems to be well made, I would personally however need a thumbs up to make it comfortable to shoot with. I've never used a rangefinder before, was surprised at how easy it was to use at lower shutter speeds than I am used to handholding. Chip is (probably) the one out of the nikon D300, certainly looks like it. Noisy at iso 1600 but on par with cameras like the 7D or the D300, not in the same league for noise or DR as the newer sony chips such as the one in the D7000, etc. There is banding in the shadows at iso 1600. It makes a very lovely B&W though.

Below is a picture he took of me and my son in a cafe. Iso 1600, 1/40, f2.8

me_yoni3.jpg

What I will say is that no it's not a fast focuser and no the chip isn't that modern. However. It's a camera that you would carry everywhere, it's that small, light and ignorable. There are not a lot of cameras that you could say that about and that is the definition of a great street camera. Compared to the (very few) other cameras that fit this description, it's far cheaper than a Leica and the IQ and focusing is far better than a p&s camera. It's also a lot less bulky and is a lot more humble in looks than most of the micro 4/3rds crowd just due to the lens and old fashioned styling. It's what my friend the PJ said, he spent the entire day with it round his neck and most of the time half forgot it was there but most of all, he was ignored by all even when he was photographing. Not sure a Nex with a zoom lens could claim the same. Now if only it came with a 50mm equivalent lens, honestly, I don't think I'd think twice.
 

Paul Abbott

New member
Thanks very much for that info along with your POV, Ben. It's good to know that the PJ reported back with his findings on how people on the street regard him with this camera, it goes without saying how important that is.
As for noise at 1600, i'm totally happy with that. I guess there's a review somewhere on what kind of noise this camera produces. :D Anyway, noise is the new grain to me. :) The banding is worrying though...
Anyway, your so right about a 50mm on a camera like this, I quite like the 35mm focal length lens though. :)
I guess I should find a store and have a little go of one for myself...

Regards...
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
The banding is there but I'm only seeing it in the deep blacks and only when pushed. The noise is about a stop worse than my 5D's (classic) which is about right given that the sensor is from around the same era and is a crop sensor. My PJ friend was panicking about it a bit being used to his D700's but I didn't find it that bad to be honest.
 

Andrew Stannard

pro member
Hi Ben,

Thanks for the info - always good to hear a user's views. Need to save some pennies, and then might be considering it.


Regards,
Andrew.
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
It's a marmite kind of camera, you're either going to love it for being what it is or you're going to hate it for being what it is. Honestly, forget what others say, try it, it's the only way. On paper I thought it was awful, playing with raw files many months ago I was underwhelmed. After just a few minutes with it however, I now understand why so many love it.

Bit like the D800, on paper and from the reviews, incredible camera but it wasn't till I got it into my hands that I realised that it was the most uncomfortably horrible camera to hold that I've ever had the misfortune to play with. Our D800e arrives next week but I'm incredibly thankful that it's going to live on a copy stand!
 

Paul Abbott

New member
That Steve Huff and Damien Lovegrove seem to love the camera, but they're probably paid to say that in some way.
Personally, the bad points about this camera outweigh the good.
I think I will wait for the next marque of this camera as Fahim mentioned doing, hopefully the 'bad' will be improved upon then...I can only think how great a camera it would be for that. Although Fuji are not releasing another anytime soon, which is understandable...

...and they call this a professional's choice of camera, what a misnomer that is.
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
This new one they just announced has me salivating somewhat, if I didn't have to replace my 5D that just died I would seriously consider it. It seems like everything the X-Pro should have been including the price.
 

Andrew Stannard

pro member
It's certainly another thing of beauty from Fuji - they really seem to get the retro camera look.

Perhaps I need to save some more pocket money - still haven't made my decision about what to purchase :)

Andrew.
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
I had the occasion to quickly test the X-pro1 today. To anyone considering that camera, I strongly advise to test before you buy it. To me, the viewfinder is unusable: the optical viewfinder is rather poor and the EVF has no dioptric adjustment, meaning I can't quite focus it without my reading glasses. Caveat emptor.
 
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