OK, to be 100% honest, I’m writing this post having already sold the camera.  I bought this camera 10/4/2011, here’s the first shot I took with it:

I owned the camera from October 4th until November 2nd.  I took 797 images with it.  I loved the camera and I hated the camera.  I, like everyone else considering one, fell in love with the concept when fuji announced it about a year ago now.  Classic styling, manual controls, the EVF/OVF, a fast wideish prime, a sensor with a low enough MP count it would work in low light etc.  The images I’d seen online had all looked pretty amazing as well (check out this flickr pool).  So when I found one in stock I jumped on it.  I actually sold my 5Dii to fund it (traded it for a 7D and the cash needed for the X100, this was done knowing the 1Dx announcement was imminent and to avoid the value loss in the 5Dii knowing I could go back a month later and make some money ;)).  And when I got it home? The roller-coaster ride began…

Menus:

Right from the beginning the menus were a major PITA.  Now realize I’m a sony NEX user, so for me to call menus bad means they’re really TERRIBLE.  The ND filter is one menu, ISO another, auto ISO isn’t part of the ISO menu, but it’s buried it settings both to set it up (that makes sense) AND to turn it on/off (what are you thinking fuji?).  There’s a Fn button that you can assign any of a list of ~8 items to (those three would be my choice though as they’re the only functions I needed) but even if you’re setting something like the ND that should be a toggle, it requires the menu to pop up…  It’s just a lot of really clunky things that make the camera hard to use.  If that was the only issue, I’d learn where things were, find them fast enough, and live with it.

Focus:

But it’s not.  The focus on this camera is terrible.  Remember when I mentioned I’m a 5Dii shooter?  Not the best focusing DSLR on the block, right (especially not -vs- just FF options).  Well it BLOWS the X100 AWAY!  The X100 is very slow to AF.  I’d read this but didn’t realize how bad it was until I tried it myself.  Eventually though a lot of trial and error, I found AF-C (yes continuous) was the best match for how I shot.  In this mode the X100 is focusing ALL THE TIME w/o pressing any buttons.  And it does an OK job of it.  But if you go to press the shutter, it then starts from scratch, re-focuses, and usually BLOWS IT even if the image was infocus before pressing the shutter button….  The solution to that is of course using the AF-L button on the back.  Which does work.  But wow what a PITA for a camera that costs this much and has only one lens to possibly function with.  BEYOND THAT!!!!  The “macro” mode begins at 3′.  I don’t know about you, but I typically shoot people (especially with a 35mm effective FL) right around that distance.  So if you’re not in Macro mode, the camera won’t focus on them.  If you or they step back a foot so they’re in the 4′ range, it then won’t focus there (or it takes even longer) because they’re outside that range.  Had macro mode been set to 2′ it could have worked, but 3′ and my style meant it was a major headache of constant switching in and out of macro mode. Now I know a lot of people were using Manual focus and the rear button with some success.  That also worked for me in normal light.  But as soon as I went inside that fell apart quickly.  AF-C was also terrible in low light.  Outside in daylight all these modes worked pretty damn well with stationary subjects, I’ll admit.  Although, when using the EVF or screen, there’s a weird delay between pressing the shutter halfway to focus and the video freezing on screen for a second…

Batteries and Accessories:

Beyond the focusing and menu issues, this thing sucks batteries down like a bad habit.  I’ve owned a GF1 and NEX5 before this, and I’ve never needed  a spare battery for either as I’m willing to charge their batteries before going somewhere with it for the day.  With the X100 within a day I realized I’d need at least one spare ($10 on amazon and more aH than OEM).  On top of that the included charger uses a mickey mouse plastic piece that sets in the charger to make the battery fit right (they use the same charger/setup for a lot of their cameras).  Lose the piece and you’re SOL…  on a $1200 camera.  Yeah…  On top of that it’s a corded charger, which I’m sure some people prefer, but I’m certainly not one of them so I bought a $30 wall charger on amazon (that makes for a nice night light if you leave it plugged in and the battery is charged).  Accessory wise I also spent $10 on this hood and filter adapter (knock offs).

Other issues:

Another issue is the pano mode.  Yes I realize this isn’t something a lot of people will use, at least not on an expensive camera where it’s more professionals or prosumers using it -vs- amateurs, but personally I LOVE the pano mode on my NEX, especially with the lack of wide lenses for either camera.  Well the fuji version is VERY tough to use due to a mix of a delay with what’s shown on screen and the fact they want you to move impossibly slow (so you’re not smooth).  Bummer.  Another issue for me would be the lenscap.  It’s not (yet?) an officially stocked part, yet it’s a total custom job so unless you buy a filter adapter kit you’re SOL if you lose it.  It’d be a good idea to lock that thing in the box when you get it and go the filter adapter route with a traditional lenscap honestly, just to not have to worry about losing something so obvious that you can’t replace…

Image Quality:

But then it comes to the IQ of this beast.  Wow.  Yes, as much as I disliked the AF and menus, the IQ was there in a big way.  12mp on APS-C (with modern tech) seems to be a sweet spot.  3200 was just as good as my 5Dii.  Yes, my $2700 FF DSLR.  The AWB was better than my 5Dii.  The short of it is that the IQ on this camera is great, no question.  If you can live with it’s faults the IQ will make you smile.  The shutter was also DEAD silent (when you turned off the noise it was set to make :lol:) and it was VERY quick in terms of shutter delay ignoring the AF issues.  People didn’t even know I was taking their picture.

Build Quality:

This thing is built quite well.  It’s not as nice as say a leica, but it sure tries hard.  It feels solid and heavy, but in a good way.  I will say though that you’re really going to want either RRS’s grip for it, or a thumbsup, or possibly both… Both of those are ~$150 accessories which it’s a bummer to need to make this thing comfortable in your hand… The leather is nice, and the X100 looks amazing, but the leather seems a bit hard and not sticky enough which is why the grips are so popular.  The other issue I have with the build is that the cap could be easy to loose and impossible to replace (right now there’s no spare part).

In the end it was a sum of the parts that made me sell it.  As good as 3200 looked, I think they might have been a bit optimistic in that rating.  That paired with “only” an f/2 lens made it a tad too slow in the shutter speeds in my house at 3200.  I had to go to 6400 to keep the shutter speeds in the 1/90th~1/125th range and 6400 had some weird patterned noise in it.  With my 5Dii and a 1.4 lens, I can easily stay in the 3200 range, if not 1600…  Combine that fact with the struggle to get images in focus, and the annoying menus and I just couldn’t rationalize keeping the camera….  If I could have afforded to keep it I would have just as a fun walk around camera.

Price:

Another topic that comes up with the X100 a lot is it’s price.  A lot of people think $1200 is “too expensive for a P&S”.  And it IS expensive.  But find me another camera with this IQ for $1200.  It at least matches the 5D or 5Dii with a 35L.  Maybe not in the thin DOF department, but super thin DOF is a PITA at times anyway (the bokeh is great).  And that lens alone costs more than this camera.  Any APS-C sensored camera with a ~24mm lens on it cost more as well.  So where’s that leave us?  NEX?  The NEX5n and Zeiss 24mm will cost $1600 and that lens isn’t out yet (I used that pair at photoexpo and it was AMAZING, but it’s more expensive).  MFT?  Yeah, the P3 or GX1 and the new 12mm also cost more.  So again, for the money for the IQ you get, it’s not a bad value.  It’s just the AF and menus that are annoying in this price range.

Pros:

• IQ
• manual controls
• awesome lens
• looks great
• solid build
• clean ISOs up to 3200
• super silent shutter
• very quick shutter delay (when focus was already set)
• small, goes anywhere
• no one thinks anything of it unless they’re a photo person, but then they’ll be all over you asking questions. 😉

Cons:

• Autofocus
• Menus (most could be fixed via firmware)
• availability?
• ISO ratings seemed a bit optimistic
• f/2 is a tad slow for a fixed prime, 1.8 would have been a big help
• hard to hold w/o either hotshoe accessory grip or RRS big hand grip (both are well over $100 accessories).
• lenscap easy to lose and can’t order another from Fuji (there are knock offs)
• manual focus doesn’t work in low light at all
• 3′ switch into macro mode should have been around 2′

Here’s one of the last shots I took with it:

this review is based off a camera I purchased with firmware 1.11.