Fuji X100 - Is it a keeper?

Ray, Ray, Ray my friend.... I seem to recall that you were one of the 1st to get the camera. I remember you saying you have no use for the camera and then 2 daze later it arrived from Canada.....hmmmmm
You could very well be the original SC enabled....
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
 
Streetshooter said:
Ray, Ray, Ray my friend.... I seem to recall that you were one of the 1st to get the camera. I remember you saying you have no use for the camera and then 2 daze later it arrived from Canada.....hmmmmm
You could very well be the original SC enabled....
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know - I acknowledged that I was one of the first and an enabler myself with the X100. But you don't remember the long internal struggle between the "no use for it" stage (when it was first announced) through a long stage of wavering, getting seriously tempted a couple of times but then backing off and changing my mind, etc. Until they started showing up and I got caught up in the frenzy (I had two pre-orders in here in the States for quite a while!) and then my cousin's extra fell miraculously into my lap a week or two before they hit the US.

It was a tortured process. It was the only camera I went through that with. I never doubted I'd get an EP3 or EPL3, I knew the GH2 was a temporary deal pretty much within days of buying it, I tried the Nex on a whim in a shop, it took me a while to get the GRD3, but I was always cautiously interested in it, etc etc etc. The X100 was the only one that caused so much pre-purchase schizophrenia. But I remember the whole freaking internal tug of war and struggle, not just the flipping of the switch it might have appeared from the outside! :cool:

Now, of course, I want absolutely NOTHING to do with the X10. :cool: I've got this well and fully figured out. If I sold the LX5 for lack of use, what possible reason could I have for even THINKING about an X10? Well, one might be a good step up for my wife, not that she'd ever even think about needing a step up from her current P&S. I really can't see the point or where it would fit into my lineup of gear (grd3, x100, epl3 - that's it). When I wanna travel light, I take the X100, when I want a system, I take the epl3 and a couple of lenses, and the GRD3 is for when I want to travel REALLY light but mostly a dedicated camera for street shooting at VERY close quarters in good light... I can't see when I'd reach for an X10 with the other options available if I'd already stopped reaching for the LX5 - because the X10 is really just sort of a little bit nicer entry into that same LX5, G12, S95 category as far as I can tell.

So, of course, the process begins. And if and when I lose this battle with reason, I'll be really really really interested in the process of rationalization that takes hold of me and puts me in its vice grip. Because right now, I just can't see it. But I couldn't see it then either... But, rest assured, if I do succumb, I'll be extolling its virtues to the stars and bring as many of you folks along with me as I possibly can. And then I'll probably sell mine.... :D

But not the X100 - its too unique and well suited to a certain mood that no other modern camera seems right for. Its a keeper...

-Ray
 
Oh I remember all to well your thoughts about the X100. I was actually glad you got it. I knew you'd love the RF type experience.
Now I look forward to your review of the X10.
I'm just sayin'....

Maybe we can meet at the diner and you can show it to me...
 
It'll be interesting to see if I find some reason to want one. I accept that it could happen even if I don't see it today. I'm actually feeling pretty settled for the first time in this year plus of getting back into photography and figuring out what I liked. I think a part of me has been just sort of waiting around for m43 to be what I'd hoped it could be. The release of the new Oly models has pretty much scratched that itch. The few things I didn't love about the EP2 I thoroughly love about the EP3 and EPL3. I have an EPL3 and a small bag of lenses and I'm set for anything I'd ever need or want to do. I know some folks complain about the old sensor, but that's never been an issue for me - I can get everything I need for the kind of stuff I do out of those cameras. So I have en epl3 and someday I'll no doubt get the mythical "PRO" pen if its essentially a Nex 7 for m43 glass (flip screen, tiny EVF, good controls, good sensor) if it ever appears. But really the EP3 and EPL3 are what I've been waiting and hoping for. The X100 and GRD3 are really nice specialty diversions that keep me honest, but from the first time I shot with the EP3 I knew one of these new Olys was gonna be my go-to rig.

I was like this with bikes too. Furiously trying lots of stuff until I figured out what fit right. Then always having one main rig and a couple of others that rode just differently enough for some variety and to keep me honest in fully appreciating the main one. I feel like I'm getting there with cameras, but probably won't be AS static because the technology is still changing so fast in mirrorless cams (unlike bikes which have really only changed in fairly superficial ways over the past 30 years or so). But the X10 would have to be something like the folding bike I bought because it was just soooooo damn COOL I had to check it out, but I really never had much practical use for. Could happen. Might not. Won't be shocked either way. We'll see.

-Ray
 
I feel as though I am reading a diary...or maybe a script? Remember the movie The Three Faces of Eve? :daz:

Your back and forth with Don, Ray, is very entertaining, though I know you are being serious. Your honesty about your feelings, rationalizations and decisions is refreshing.
 
BBW said:
I feel as though I am reading a diary...or maybe a script? Remember the movie The Three Faces of Eve? :daz:

Your back and forth with Don, Ray, is very entertaining, though I know you are being serious. Your honesty about your feelings, rationalizations and decisions is refreshing.
Click to expand...

If you really want to see a diary of my crazy camera-related thought processes, here's a bit of shameless self-promotion for you. A couple of guys with a photo blog, Rey and Ed Spadoni, ran a profile of me several months back. We stayed in touch and in discussing the new Pens, I told them I was planning to try both the EP3 and the EPL3 and probably choose one. So they asked me to share my experiences as I went, along with a few photos. So I did, and here's the most recent (and I think, last) entry, with a link to the earlier one. The earlier one is all about the EP3 - the new one is my evolving reaction to and decision to keep the EPL3. If interested (but be warned, you may never want to read a diary again!):

Which PEN for your pocket? EP3 vs. EPL3 vs. EPM1… | 2 Guys Photo

-Ray
 
BB, you may remember my rationalization of my X100 purchase some time ago. Even though that's all it was - a rationalization of an emotional purchase, I find in retrospect, I was right.

The fixed focal length has sharpened my skills, made me look harder for the right angle, the right framing. And I use the panorama mode a lot in cramped quarters in churches. I can correct some of the distortion in post. The low light performance is phenomenal.

I'm still an absolute amateur, but I enjoy the X100 much more than my D7000: so much so that I think I will sell it and use my trusty old D40 as a backup to the X100.


On a recent holiday in Carinthia, I used the D7000 exactly once: when I needed a remote release group shot in a fairly small room. Out came the D7000, my Sigma 10-20 and the tripod.

Otherwise, X100 all the time. I love it!
 
I've been deliberating for some time now on whether or not to keep this camera. I think I've finally been able to come to a decision. It takes wonderful pictures. I find it a bit fiddly to change the settings because I'm always looking at the wrong viewfinder! The battery has a tendency to show full green charge when I leave home and miraculously discharge the minute I arrive at my destination somehow. I've had this happen to me on a number of occasions. Despite it's "quirks" and the fact that I haven't really become one with it, I'm going to keep it and offload the Leica X1 that rarely makes an appearance these days. I'm sure that there must be a way of changing the white balance settings to overcome the really blue colour I'm getting on Auto. as I always have to warm up my pictures afterwards. This means I have three SC's now. The GXR 50mm, The EP3 and the Fuji. I think with this little lot that I'll have everything covered :rolleyes: Anyone interested in the Leica X1?
 
I'm glad you've decided to keep her because I always find your Fuji photos to be particularly compelling. And no, I'm not prejudiced!:D

Christina, perhaps you might start a thread in the Technical section of the Fuji X100 forum re the white balance. I don't use the jpegs, so can't help you there but I know Ray does, as do others.

You've got yourself a fine array of cameras, each with its own virtues and with your aesthetic sense and way of looking at the world around you, I think you've got it made. Congrats on the decision!

I'd suggest listing the Leica X1 here, at Mu43 and perhaps locally? You probably know some other good places to list, too.
 
P.S. The batteries, shouldn't be doing that. Is it possible that it's been sitting around for a long time and maybe isn't fully charged or is it possible that somehow the camera gets turned on in your bag?

You might want to read through that long technical thread... There are certain settings that have been found to make the batteries last longer. I find mine last quite a long time, but I do turn the camera off and on quite often.
 
christilou said:
I've been deliberating for some time now on whether or not to keep this camera. I think I've finally been able to come to a decision. It takes wonderful pictures. I find it a bit fiddly to change the settings because I'm always looking at the wrong viewfinder! The battery has a tendency to show full green charge when I leave home and miraculously discharge the minute I arrive at my destination somehow. I've had this happen to me on a number of occasions. Despite it's "quirks" and the fact that I haven't really become one with it, I'm going to keep it and offload the Leica X1 that rarely makes an appearance these days. I'm sure that there must be a way of changing the white balance settings to overcome the really blue colour I'm getting on Auto. as I always have to warm up my pictures afterwards. This means I have three SC's now. The GXR 50mm, The EP3 and the Fuji. I think with this little lot that I'll have everything covered :rolleyes: Anyone interested in the Leica X1?
Click to expand...

Funny, I just ordered the GXR with m-mount from Asia. So my bag will include X100, EP3 with 12mm and hopefully soon the new 45mm, GXR M. Somewhere in my closet there is still a X1 and I will put it up for sale in the next two weeks. Whenever you have doubts about your X100, have a look at its files. I believe it still has no equal among the compacts as far as IQ (DR, high iso performance, colors) is concerned.
 
Gee, we're all on the same wavelength. I have the X100 (though will likely sell it), the EP3 with the 12mm and 45mm, and the GXR with 50mm, 28mm and Mount unit. Oh, and the GRD3 and Q. As stated, I'll probably sell the X100, and I'd sell the EP3, but I love those lenses and the way Olympus renders color.

The X100 is indeed a master IQ machine, but I just don't seem to get along with it. Maybe I'll keep it through the winter, my favorite photography season, and see what it brings me.
 
retow said:
Funny, I just ordered the GXR with m-mount from Asia. So my bag will include X100, EP3 with 12mm and hopefully soon the new 45mm, GXR M. Somewhere in my closet there is still a X1 and I will put it up for sale in the next two weeks. Whenever you have doubts about your X100, have a look at its files. I believe it still has no equal among the compacts as far as IQ (DR, high iso performance, colors) is concerned.
Click to expand...

+1 on the IQ of the X100 !
 

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