The Fuji X100 Long Term Review

First lets get the groundwork done: -

Here are a couple of shots of my favourite film cameras - the Olympus Trip was bought from a charity shop and the Olympus 35RC rangefinder was from a mad Russian vintage camera dealer based in my home town at the famous Jacobs market in Cardiff.

I loved them both, the cameras that is not the Russian and the 35RC was always with me wherever I went.

 The 42mm E.Zuiko F2.8 lens gave some beautiful images and the overall tiny size of the rangefinder camera with it’s simple shutter speed, and lens mounted aperture ring was a dream to use and during my Documentary Photography B.A got more than a few knowing nods from the tutors. Actually it also got a lot of sneers from my fellow Leica rich students, I however was on a budget of zero so I used what I was able to get and if it happened to be a 1970’s fixed lens rangefinder so be it - the jibes stopped once they had a look at the prints.

The 35RC is a lovely little camera that can still be had on eBay for around £20 in good condition and is well worth a look.

If I have time I’ll run a roll of 35mm through it and do a review soon.

Olympus Trip ( Who do you think you are David Bailey?)

So fast forward to 2012 and I have to be honest Photography as a job was starting to get me down, I was sick of lugging huge DSLR’s all over the place and I was longing to have a small simple walk about camera that I could have on me all the time and would blow my iPhone out of the water.

I started to search the internet for something to satisfy my requirements and then I saw it the Fuji X100.

I honestly got a tingle down my spine it looked exactly like my 70’s rangefinders, was it too good to be true?

I ran over the spec sheets, a million reviews and sample images and decided that this was the camera I wanted, desired no damn it - This was the camera I needed to be happy.

So when a bit of cash came in it went out again very quickly and in came the X100 - I know it sounds silly but this was the first time in years that I had been genuinely excited opening the packaging of a new piece of kit.

Fuji did not disappoint, the ritual of opening the outer box and then the two inner boxes one filled with all the gubbins and the other that housed the X100, it was like the best Kinder egg you’ve ever had.

I thought I’d better add this little disclaimer in here - I’m not paid by Fuji and I’m not affiliated with them in any way, I’m just a Photographer who has fallen in love with them.

Right so onto using the X100, it’s brilliant - right thanks for reading be sure to check out my next review……………..oh you want more? OK then here we go.

Looks:

Firstly the X100 looks the part, it’s very well made and feels just about perfect in the hand. If you have used rangefinder style cameras in the past then this will be like coming home.

It’s built like a brick outhouse, trust me on this one as my X100 lives on a strap slung around a shoulder it’s had it’s share of bumps and scrapes and only looks better for it.

Fuji X100

If I have to raise one point with Fuji on the camera it’s the optional accessories. To be able to use the optional lens hood you have to unscrew the front of the lens and add a supplied with the hood adapter and then the hood bayonet fits onto that - all very cool and exactly as over engineered as you could hope for but the bloody thing costs about £150, OK it’s metal but it ain’t gold.

So I took a gamble (you wont like this Fuji) and got a metal hood and adapter from eBay, it fitted perfectly and the only thing that’s wrong with it is that the silver paint is peeling away from the cast aluminium, making it look very battle hardened and cool in my opinion.

To protect the lens I forked out for a B+W UV filter and it is a very nice filter indeed, optically delightful in as much as you forget it’s even there and when you have the hood in place it’s hidden anyway.

Demon Drome Wall Of Death

Manual mode 1/15th sec at F2

A nice leather strap was added as well and for the price point of the camera really should be part of the kit, still the Fuji strap is still much nicer than the horrible sweat necks that Canon put out.

Last bit of cosmetic fettling was to add a soft release to the screw thread shutter release as it’s nicer to use it with one on and looks pretty good too. A real shame that the X-T1 does not have the same threaded shutter release as it would have looked the business with a dark green (Fuji colour) soft release.

Image quality:

OK so at this point your thinking I’m a bit of superficial hipster type, I’m not honest.

The main point of any interest of any camera I have had is the quality of the lens and subsequently the quality of the outputted image.

Comedian/Author David O'Doherty F2.8 60th Sec

The X100 sports a Fujinon aspherical Lens, Super EBC 23mm (34.5mm with 1.5X crop) F2 lens - it is simply to die for dhhhharrrlings - This lens packs a punch the colour, the contrast, the bite the back of your hand sharpness. I can’t tell you how much this lens and it’s output has changed my photography, it’s wonderful for street and reportage work and for me a killer portrait lens.

Don’t let the cameras 12.3MP pt you off, you can print large images with the files and see no discernible pixelation.

I tend to use the JPEG modes as they are superb and if you really must shoot RAW then they have as much push/pull in them as you could wish for. I have a 64GB in my camera and happily shoot RAW+Fine(Jpeg) all day with the thing.

X100 - simple, perfect

Focus: 

This camera is not a DSLR, it does not pretend to be and if your buying this with 1DX speed in mind you will be sorely disappointed.

Comedian Lee Evans F2.8 3200iso

When the X100 came out it was terrible, the firmware was not up to the job and put a lot of people off, I stuck with it and we are now on firmware version 2.10 the camera is fast to focus and the focus by wire is very fast and useable compared to when it first came out when it was so slow you could witness the birth, life and death of a person before your X100 managed to manual focus.

Fuji really seem to value the input they get from photographers and make the changes in a firmware update that the other manufacturers would save for a new model.

Functionality:

Once you have set up your menus as you like you tend to just leave them alone.

The FN button on my X100 is like most users set to ISO and then everything is operated by the shutter dial and the aperture ring, by the way the clicks on the aperture ring are perfect, Fuji please make all of your lenses from now on feel like this and put the F stops on all of them too please.

The OVF & EVF:

No not two militant groups but in fact the optical view finder and the electronic view finder

So firstly the OVF which is large, bright and clear with bright framing lines and exposure information, the OVF display can be customised and contain everything you could ask for including grid lines and horizon line but I like to keep it simple and just have my light meter, battery status and framing line.

Comedian Craig Campbell 200iso F2.8

By pulling on the front timer style switch you get the pop up EVF and yes compared to newer models etc it suffers from quite a bit of lag but it is still infinitely useable and when in EVF mode you do not have to select macro mode for close up shots.

A really cool feature of the X100 is that if you are using the OVF and take a shot the EVF pops up for about a second showing a preview of your taken shot without having to look at the rear screen on the camera - I love this feature, it just works so well.

Ok so that’s the main points of the camera out of the way it also has several film simulations available like Astia, Provia, Velvia and Standard, it has some really cool and useable Black & White presets with red, green and yellow filter (I’m a green filter kind of guy.)

Another thoughtful touch from the house of Fuji is the inclusion of a built in switchable ND filter.

Comedian Richard Herring 200iso F2.8

If I had to nit pick the camera does not make it easy to use flash as the inbuilt flash gets cut in half by the lens hood and in my opinion it is the worst visual element on a near perfect camera body - I would much prefer it if the X100? did away with it all together and either came with an external flash much like the X-T1 or nothing at all.

Oh and can Fuji please fix it so the centre pin on the flash shoe fires no matter what, it would make it much better when working.

I have never ever been stopped taking a picture with the X100, I’ve had people make fun of me for using an old camera and how the camera on their phone is better etc - then I show them the pictures and they are blown away.

I’ve had people stop me to have a look at the camera and nobody has ever come away from having a look at it without writing the model number down or cooing.

The camera is unimposing and frankly cool, people want to be seen having a picture taken with it.

I’ve had no qualms in recommending the camera to friends when they ask what to get for shooting big trips and if they want something a bit more point and shoot to the X100 I show them towards the X20.

Comedian Alistair Barrie 400iso F2.8

I know it sounds corny but this camera really has a soul and has reignited my passion for photography and for that Fuji I thank you. The colours, the lens the way it just works it is utterly delightful. It has become my go to lens.camera and when I can’t use it as the reach is not long enough and I have to resort to a 5DMK3 with a 200mm etc I wish I was using the X100, it really is that good.

I’m never going to sell it I know that there are now two revisions of the model and I have the granddad of the set but I’m happy with it.

And one day when it finally gives up the ghost and decides to become a paperweight I’ll just go and get another one.

Comedian Simon Clayton, that's Fuji colour 200iso F2.8