Fujifilm X100 12.3 MP APS-C CMOS EXR Digital Camera with 23mm Fujinon Lens and 2.8-Inch LCD

I wasnt going to write a review on this X100 as it has been reviewed so many times already so what can I really add? I just dont understand some of the 1, 2, 3 star reviews here. Yes as said a million times here the X100 is rather quirky. But at the end of the day, when you stop PLAYING with your camera twiddling dials, this Fuji will give you pictures that will simply blow you away they are so good. I am not a pro photographer but a big time lover of photography and I admit to being a bit of a gear head. I presently own a Pentax K-5, Just sold my Nikon D-7000, have a Nex5N and...well Ill stop there. I mention those cameras because out of all of them at the end of the day...NOTHING comes close to my X100 in final output..as to IQ, "color accuracy," !!!! HIGH ISO performance...just picture after picture where I say WOW. This X100 stands alone for high ISO low noise its simply incredible! ISO 2000 has lower noise than my D7000 and K5 had at ISO 1250. One reason I am writing this review is I get more IN focus pics from this X100 than the D7000 or K-5. Yes the X100 is not going to be your camera for really fast action like sports I admit that. But for portraits, landscapes..things that dont move 100 miles an hour..this X100 is in its own league. For the most part skin tones are INCREDIBLY accurate and beautiful on this camera. Its so dead on its almost scary. My Pentax K-5 has to be tweaked after every picture YET its one of the highest rated DSLRS out there but it cant compete with the X100 on color.NOT EVEN CLOSE! Again as to focus do people realize this "x100 has a VERY useful DISTANCE SCALE?" If you look at it you almost have to get IN focus pictures. In other words, if your subject is about 5 feet away, but the scale reads about 15 feet you already know the x100 is focusing PAST your subject. This little tool alone will save you from out of focus shots. My wife was trying to put my x100 safely away while on our kitchen table into a VERY small camera bag I had just bought for it. Long story short my first x100 missed the camera bag fell 3 feet onto a hard tile floor BOUNCED..landed like a brick. Only damage was a slightly dented lens cap. The camera was still perfect!! Again with my wife (shes dangerous with cameras :) ) she borrowed it to shoot some stuff in our backyard. She got startled by a bee and dropped the poor Fuji right on its lens onto the grass..big thump. Again...after a cold sweat..I checked it out its still perfect.WOW! Point being this thing is built like a tank its so high quality. Knowing it had two major falls it bothered me. I gave it to another family member as a gift and its still perfect. I bought a second one..well its perfect and Ill be keeping my wife away from this one. :) Im off track, my point was its build quality puts in in a class of its own just amazing QUALITY and craftsmanship. One con that has been discussed is the manual focus..yeah its not really that great..well its bad. But I just dont use manual focus much and frankly I like the auto-focus because all my shots come out....well FOCUSED and sharp..maybe Im a lucky one here? As to the menu I hear people bashing...I dont get it, its so easy to navigate..whats the problem??? The long story short if you can live with a few quirks this camera can BLOW YOU AWAY with its pictures. At the end of the day when all you want are GREAT pictures..this Fuji is the camera to get!!! Yes its got a fixed lens..it can also zoom.?,you use your feet, walk forward..BRILLIANT! I am never going to sell my x100 its a lifetime keeper at least for me..SUPER recommended!

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Dont let the title mislead you--I own this camera and I love it. However, this is definitely not a camera for everyone. You will not like this camera if: 1. You like to have a zoom and have no interest in the obsolete "foot-zoom". 2. You are a close-up portrait shooter or a wildlife shooter. 3. You are only interested in a camera if you just want to turn it on, point, and shoot (although the X100 can do this). 4. You are looking for a single one-size-fits-all camera. You will love this camera if: 1. You like a real optical view-finder (the "hybrid" viewfinder is awesome). 2. You prefer shooting with a mild wide-angle lens (a "street-shooter"). 3. You like reasonably fast lenses, natural lighting shots, and good high-ISO performance (3200 is pretty darn good, 6400 is useable). 4. You like retro-styling and manual controls. 5. You like nearly silent operation (the leaf shutter is very quiet). 6. You dont mind spending a few days to learn a few idiosyncrasies of a new camera. 7. This is not your only camera. I keep this and my old Canon G9 (the G9 is for anything requiring a zoom--assuming good lighting) in a small bag with chargers, batteries, straps, and a lens-cloth. My wife owns the dSLR and assorted lenses. The out-of-camera jpegs from the X100 are gorgeous. It does have quirks (one other post mentioned focusing with the OVF, but this is simply a quirk of optics when focusing on near objects--parallax). While the fixed 35mm equivalent lens will limit what you can shoot, it is almost a necessity for a small camera with a large sensor. Because of the fixed lens, I have found that I take more time in evaluating composition before the shot--a good thing. The latest firmware upgrade fixed many of the annoying operational issues of the camera. I had been waiting for a large-sensor camera with a fast lens and small form-factor and would have gone with the Panasonic GF-2 if Panasonic hadnt taken the wrong direction from the very nice GF-1. Then the X100 was announced, throwing in a remarkable viewfinder and a beautiful body as a bonus. I have not been disappointed.

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I mostly did my street photography using my collections of old Japanese rangefinders. While somehow limited in performance when compared to many modern camera systems, I found the limitations are the true qualities that I seek from a camera, that enabled me to produce the pictures I expected to create. The X100 has (almost) the same handling that enables me to recreate the same shooting experience with my older rangefinders. It came almost natural to me when handling this camera for the first time, made me feel at home. The lens are of a superior quality, its able to produce very good pictures with nice tone and sharpness for all the lens and cameras settings. Im glad that I picked-up this camera cheap (bought 2nd hand from Amazon Warehouse), it saves me $400 for something thats almost as good as brand new.

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General Overview- Over a Year of Use! I wont bore you specs and pixel-peeping analysis, this camera is fantastic! I used to shoot Leica, because of its size and quality but I became frustrated with low-light performance and lack of macro on the M8 platform. So I sold my M8.2, and the lenses, and purchased the Fuji X100 for a trip to Japan. I was initially a little flustered with the performance (as with all cameras you need to learn them first before committing to taking good images) but the images I got out of this camera were simply stunning. The detail and color are fantastic, rivaling and even surpassing, what I got with my Leica M8.2 and a 35 f1.4 lens. Buy With Your Heart- Zoom With Your Feet You choose this camera because you want to be as inconspicuous as possible (the shutter is nearly silent) and you have time to focus and compose an image. This is not a camera for the point-n-shoot crowd, thats why Fuji made the X10 & X20. This camera is for the aperture priority or shutter priority photographer who can live with one lens and "zoom with their feet". Form Factor- Styling & Color The only thing that bothered me about this camera was the body color. I typically only buy black body cameras because people notice them a little less then silver or another colors. I was on assignment in New Orleans a few months back and no one paid attention to me, but everyone noticed my wife with her Nikon with an 18-200mm lens. They figured I was the poor guy with an old film camera. Final Decision Here I am, a year later, and I sold my Silver X100 and purchased the X100 Black Limited Edition, not because I think it will be a collectors item one day, but because I love this camera, I got it figured out, and I can be more discreet. I shoot professionally and I have my pick of cameras to shoot with, but when I want to travel light, I grab this camera every time. You can see a few of my pics in the customer provided images. Happy Shooting! -Brent Alexander

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