I really want a Fuji X100. What’s not to like: An APS-C size sensor with EVF in a cool retro-esque body with an equivalent 35mm f/2 lens? Lugging a round a Canon 5D Mark II is not the most pleasant experience. Like a lot of people I’ve been looking for something smaller.
The new Olympus E-P3 offerings were at the top of my list until a marketing campaign by Olympus in Australia proclaimed, “If you’re camera also sends text messages, that will explain why your photos are rubbish.” Thanks, Olympus, but your attitude is somewhat behind the times: Have you seen the shots people are making with their camera phones?
The micro-sized Pentax Q on the horizon offers another alternative, except for that pesky Ricoh buyout of Pentax and a somewhat uncertain future. I kept coming back to the Fuji X100.
Zack Arias, a photographer I deeply respect, published a fairly glowing review of the X100 on his blog. With statements like:
The Fuji x100 is the greatest digital camera ever made and may just be the greatest camera I have ever owned.
and
If you put an instrument of violence to my noggin and made me chose one, and only one, camera to use for the next 12 months I would undoubtedly pick the x100 over the other cameras I own.
Zack does concede in the review that the, “… the Fuji x100 can be a complete pain in the ass to use.”
Ah, therein lies the rub.
AMC Gremlin, by Christopher Ziemnowicz, Wikipedia Common
In dpreview.com review of Fuji X100 a litany of problems are passed along. Focus issues, locks-ups, strange behavior akin to gremlins living in your X100. While a firmware release has helped slay many of the gremlins, some still remain. For $1200 do I want a gremlin-filled camera? I hazard to guess that $1200 would get me two well-used AMC Gremlins.
Scott Kelby adds his two cents on a recent episode of The Grid. While he wanted to like the X100, the price tag for a “Point and Shoot” with focus problems was excessive. For that amount of coin, he points out, one can purchase a Nikon D5100.
Where does this leave me? Despite Olympus saying the photos are rubbish I think I will stick with my iPhone for the moment. Perhaps the Sony Nex 7, if it has a hot shoe, may find a home in a camera bag.
I love my X100. But as Zack says, it can be a pain at times. I wrote about it here -> http://www.thedigitaltrekker.com/2011/06/my-day-with-the-fuji-x100/
My only beef with it at the moment is the lever for the hybrid Viewfinder seems to get stuck and will not turn it on. Outside of that, I love it.
Matt
Stevo, the X100 had me attracted for a long time, but since the explosion in the number of people that have purchased this camera I am now uncertain as to whether I will commit to buying one myself. Maybe I am better off upgrading my D60 (my current lightweight solution)…at least this way I will have quite an arsenal of lenses at my disposal. I may however add a Samsung EX1 to my kit bag for real lightweight work. If I was to go with a mirrorless I would be looking at the EP3….unfortunately the NEX has a long way to come before I would be tempted