Definitely buying one when it's available locally. Not as a replacement to my DSLR, but to complement it.

Do they have lots of stock or only a few units? I'm going tomorrow if there's a definite availability.

Also, do you mind providing me with their telephone number?

This post has been edited by xLegato: Mar 23 2011, 08:48 PM

Don't bother going there, they're completely sold out.

I called them today, they said that there are no units left and that they'll have to order. But I went anyway to see for myself, and true enough, they're sold out. However...

I bought the display unit. Not that I really mind anyway, it's basically brand new.

X100 if you don't want the bulkiness of a DSLR and don't mind a slight sluggishness in controls. A DSLR is much more responsive in controls - my opinion after handling the X100 myself.

People like me buy the X100 for times when I really don't want to lug a heavy DSLR around but don't want a compromise in image quality by using compact cameras either.

This post has been edited by xLegato: Mar 24 2011, 09:53 PM

Agreed. I don't know what they're up to, too. They told me they had no stock on the day I went so I had to get the demo unit, but the next day they suddenly have stock. Wonder if they're just hoarding units. Hmm.

Not a review, but just thoughts:

I think it's a bit overhyped and I'm slightly disappointed with it. A few things here and there which I'm pretty sure they can fix with firmware updates, but I'm not sure if it's only me or if owners also feel this way about the camera. Fuji did it right in most aspects (form, ergonomics, features), but it can still be better. Seeing as how it's unique and one of a kind in the market, there's definitely plenty of room for improvement.

It's sluggish. It's not as nearly as responsive as a DSLR. I have a Fuji point and shoot which is pretty good, but I never liked its sluggish controls. Accessing the menus and navigating around is a bit of a drag. They can definitely make it smoother.

I don't know if it's just my memory card, but write speeds are excruciatingly slow. If I set review mode to continuous (or anything other than "off"), I can only take ONE frame, and have to wait for it to be written to the card before I can snap the next. If I set it to off I can take more frames, but the buffer is small and it is unable to display images quickly. JPEG only is fine, but with a CMOS sensor and image quality touted to rival DSLRs, I'd ideally want to shoot in RAW.

Manual focus is painful. This is one aspect they'll definitely have to improve if they want to market it well to rangefinder lovers. It's slow and sluggish. The focus by wire lags and it isn't as responsive as I'd like it to be. If the focus was anything like Canon's 85mm f/1.2 I'd be contented, but it's really slow. This is one thing they definitely have to improve on.

There are minor glitches I've experienced, which I should be able to reproduce if I try again. Things like the info display in the viewfinder suddenly disappearing if I access certain menus and do stuff - which prompts a restart of the camera to fix. Not a major problem, but a little annoying. Probably can be fixed with a firmware update.

The control wheel feels flimsy. I don't like it.

The RAW button should allow you to switch modes permanently, not just for one frame.

The electronic viewfinder is bad, I'm not sure of its specs but it's got a slow refresh time and looks pixelated. The back LCD is good, though. Pictures look accurate.

The continuous burst mode is disappointing. What it does is take the the frames in continuous succession (5fps if I remember correctly); yes, but you can't actually shoot it like you would with a DSLR. You have to shoot those 5 frames at once, not shoot one, recompose, shoot another. Once you release your finger off the shutter button it starts saving your pictures. Pretty bad.

I don't shoot video so I haven't bothered with the video mode, but I do know you can't manual focus while recording video.

And once again, the controls are sluggish. You can't change settings really quickly, because if you access a setting; for example ISO, the camera doesn't stay in ISO if you don't start selecting (unlike a DSLR). If you don't select anything it just exits the ISO setting in a few seconds automatically. Just another problem with Fuji's user interface.


I don't believe I have to list its merits here. Anyone who's interested in getting one for themselves would already know. Image quality is impressive, noise control is really good. That CMOS sensor and prime lens work well in tandem.
It's also very, very silent - quieter than a Leica M9. I would turn all sounds off, the clicks and fake shutter sounds are silly.


Overall, I may have been overly critical in my evaluation of the X100, but I still like it. If Fuji fixes most of the aforementioned issues in a firmware update, it'd be perfect. If you can get past the little quirks the X100 is a joy to own and use. Price is steep, but then again the marketing worked - Fuji definitely saw the room for a rangefinder-styled digital camera and thus can command such a price for one.

This post has been edited by xLegato: Mar 26 2011, 08:04 PM

Thanks. I wonder if I'll be the only one who thinks of that way about the X100 - we'll probably have to wait a while more before we start getting opinions from people around the world.

I intended that post to be for people to know what to expect if they were to buy the X100. By no means am I denigrating the camera - the picture quality is nothing short of impressive, and ISO control is excellent. But it's just not a perfect camera, at least not yet.

I can't really give a review yet as I haven't had time to use it extensively. What I've noticed is that when shooting high ISOs in JPEGs, Fuji's engine applies somewhat strong noise reduction. I believe this was with the "Mid" setting. I didn't bother to process any RAW files yet as I don't have Photoshop right now (hard drive with Photoshop in it crashed), but you will probably have better photos doing the noise reduction and post processing yourself. JPEGs out of camera are enough for Facebook albums or 4R prints, but otherwise you're going to want to play with the RAW files.

I hope my post helped, in one way or another!

Oh - if anyone wants to buy one, I have one for sale. Brand new, never powered up, never shot. All intact, unfilled warranty card. Will include receipt. Got lucky and managed to grab another unit, but I need money to buy a 1D4.

I got it from Fujifilm Malaysia on Friday.

PM me. I'll also give you the leather case when I get it.

M9 man, M9...

Ahhh, no need for a Noct (although it's beautiful). Lenses of my choice are the Crons 35 and 50.

Not sure about the write time, but start up time is said to be improved with faster cards. Not by very much, though.

They're definitely hoarding units. I went to pick up my leather case and I asked about stock and they said they don't have any, but days later I hear of people buying them.

Does your friend actually want that camera? If you were just trying your luck and got him to book it for you, then get the camera and be done with those unscrupulous people.

Oh, so you turned them down now? What you could have done is just make sure that the one set was definitely reserved for you before heading there.

If you have such plans, I'm seriously interested in tagging along too. I considered going there for it, but I'm not fond of traveling alone.

This post has been edited by xLegato: Apr 30 2011, 08:13 PM

Good to see that the transfer speed is bottlenecked only by the card, not the processor. That thoroughly explains why I was getting such sluggish performance (in terms of file transfer) when I had a X100.

I wonder if the same can be said for the M9...

IMO Steve Huff's reviews are garbage, but I digress.

I brought the X100 and a 5D2 + 50 1.2 with me to Brisbane, and I've been here for more than 3 weeks. I've taken 95% of my photos so far with the X100 - and the reason for this is because it's so much lighter compared to the DSLR combination. It produces good enough output for my uses, so I don't feel like it's much of a compromise. On many ocassions I simply can't be bothered carrying such a heavy load, and that's where the X100 is perfect.

Though I still have my qualms with its user interface, I'm for the most part happy with whatever the X100 has been able to deliver so far.

I'll try to go to some of those places. I'm currently in the east and go to the city on most days, but it's quite a long journey. Fortitude Valley too, and I agree - it's awesome.

Does anyone know where I can buy the hood? I tried the one at Axis, they have no stock. The shops in Low Yat Plaza don't seem to carry any either.

I haven't felt the need to use 3200 much, only in twilight (past 6:00pm in Brisbane). Even then, the results are impressive - and that's just based on the out-of-camera JPEGs.

Anyway, I've been hunting high and low for the hood. Nobody seems to have any. It's either I get a "no stock" reply or a countenance that shows they've never even heard of such a thing.

Guess I'll just have to wait for the Fujifilm people at Axis to get their stock and contact me.

It's mediocre. I get slightly soft images shooting macro at f/2, but at f/4 it becomes very much better.