Ever since my Canon Rebel mysteriously disappeared from my house a couple of years ago I’ve been sans a manual digital camera. Not a huge issue, I have a beautiful film Nikon FE and a small point and shoot canon, as well as a couple polaroids and a fuji instax. And my phone. Plus its not like I depend on having a good camera for my work or anything. I just really love taking pictures. Having a good manual digital has been lacking in my life and in my photography. I’ve been in the market for a while, watching to see what comes out, going to LL Lozeau regularly to oogle and dream. The weight of a manual camera, the ability to look through a viewfinder and see the picture I’m going to take, the quality, the functions that allow a greater range of lighting, speed, etc.
Okay, I really miss taking great digital photos. I know that’s not all about the equipment but you know what? Sometimes it is.
Anyway, I had the pleasure of talking shop with a friend, Michael Abril who is a fucking fantastic photographer. I was asking his opinion on what’s out there these days and he suggested this camera. Its a good blend of an SLR without all the bulk of the other cameras. It takes HD video and is fully manual. The only downside is that there’s no way to change lenses. Which is ultimately fine because I don’t do that often anyway.
Since talking with Michael I’ve done a bunch of research myself on this camera and have become obsessed. I’m not normally a fuji person. I tend to stay with canon and nikon for their proven quality and long history. I do have one of the fuji instax and I like it a lot but its a (relatively) cheap plastic camera that I wasn’t expecting much beyond fun times with. For my fancier cameras I’m a little more picky. I haven’t played with this camera in real life (yet – I’m planning a trip to LL Lozeau soon) but I like what I’ve read, and I like the smaller size (sometimes the bigger ones can be cumbersome),
I like that fuji has kept the old school look of it. I love the way camera look and some of the newer ones don’t really look like real cameras anymore.
The x100 is pretty pricey though, and nearly as nice is the fuji x10
Which, truthfully, is probably what I will end up getting. Its half the price and therefore closer to my budget (which is nothing right now but I’m hoping it will be something eventually). I haven’t played with either and am not totally clear on what the practical differences are. Other than the x100 is probably better and faster at everything. Anyway, I’m pretty excited about this camera in my future.
Has anyone tried these cameras out? What do you think? A list of pros and cons would be so great!
Stationary Drifting 
April 11, 2012 at 7:23 am
the x100 is a beauty. but for what it does, i dont have space for it in my ‘arsenal’ right now… not to mention the fact that its way out of my current budget. the X10 is on my want list for sure.. i really need a high end compact, n the x10 seems to be the best!
April 12, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Yeah, I love how compact it is for what I’m looking for a camera to do. I loved my cannon rebel but sometimes it was a pain in the ass to lug around, especially for travel (anywhere – it took up half my backpack) and for shows. the x100 is way out of my budget too, just dreaming of it. I hear the x10 is great though so I’m not that sad about it.