Round The Front Of The New Fujifilm Camera - Day Two of Fujifilm Week

The new Fujifilm X100 F is a handsome beast by any standards. Indeed, as soon as the staff at Camera Electronic saw the first DP Review pictures of the dear old X100 back in 2011 we know they were onto a winner - it just ticked the style box with all of us.  And we were all coming from different systems as users...

Well, the X100F shifts the elements of the design quite subtly - look at the direct front view to see that the AF assist light has moved, the on-board flash tube has climbed to a position closer to the vertical axis of the lens, and the EVF/OVF switch has acquired a center button that you can push it. It lets you shift the operation of the lens control ring to several functions. The front panel has also picked up a finger wheel - the instruction booklet says that it takes you through menu selections and formatting the cards amongst other things.

The top plate is cleaner ( well, let's face it - the floor is cleaner than the top plate of my old X 100...) but I mean that the layout is neater. The inclusion of a dedicated mechanical ISO selector inside the shutter speed knob is inspired - it is what we came to expect in the SLR days and we get a firm physical lock on it. The knob is easier to turn with the fingers. and thankfully has 1/2s second and full second markings - the X 100 stops at 1/4 second.

On the top plate you'll see that you get more positions in the exposure compensation dial and that you can twist the entire thing around to a custom position - and then it combines with the front finger wheel to get up to + or - 5 EV . That is a heck of a lot of power in one exposure meter. You still have to recognise the situations that require a change and the rationale behind which way to spin the dial. But that is part of becoming a photographer - we used to do it with little paper charts from Kodak and great deal of guesswork.

Under the baseplate there is the slot for the larger battery. The X100F team has still been able to put in the card slot in such a way that the user does not have to have fingernails like a Disney villain to get the SD card out. I wish they had been able to have a serious discussion about this at the time with the team who did the X-T10...

And lastly. The feel of the skin of the X 100F is altogether different to that of the X100 - it has a slightly roughened feel like a sintered surface. It feels a lot more secure to hold. 

I don't have a Thumbs Up for the X 100F but I daresay there will be something of that nature appearing. Note that the aftermarket aluminium cradle grips from Knockoff Kong that fit the other models of the x 100 series interchangeably do not fit this camera - a new product will have to be machined. 

Oddly enough the black ever-ready case I have for the X100 does fit the X100F -  a bit squeezy but it  works. So don't throw out your old case.

Also, the accessory wide and tele lenses for the X 100 will go on this. New ones with auto recognition are also to be made, but if you have the old ones just carry right on.

100 + 100 + 100 + 100 = F...A Fuji Week With A Difference

This weblog column may be a little hard to write as I am chortling and it affects my ability to type.
The reason for the glee is that I have my hands on a bran-new fresh sample of the Fujifilm X-100F camera and two days in which to wring it out. I am like a P - Plater with his first Bugatti Veyron.

Okay, I have to hand it back but I am going to find out if it is a worthy successor to the Fujifilm X-100 camera I already own. This isn't just idle gear-fiddling - if it is a substantial improvement it is going to cost me money later down the track. If I drop it in the mud it is going to cost me right now...

Okay, the physicalities first - Let's turn the camera right around.:

It is very much the shape of the X100, but with the difference that there is a smidgen more depth to the body - It is accommodating an NP-W126S battery rather than the old NP-95 of the X100. You get a wider grip at the right hand side. Here's the batteries - the NP-W126s has the orange dot.

There are subtle body changes everywhere but the sum of them is to make you think you are handling the predecessors - they have been careful with that. You also get the same lens that you had before, but it is matched to a new sensor and processor and now delivers 24 mega pixels vs the 16 of the X100S and X 100T. My X-100 runs at half that number, so there is a big difference right away.

The LCD screen at the back is larger - and has led to an emphasis upon the RHS for the controls.

Now details:

You get an external microphone port in the cable locker of the new X100F - the old X100 compels you to fire the shutter with a mechanical release. Electric ones are easier.

The scroll wheel around the multi-control button is long gone, and the buttons have a better feel. The real advance is the joystick at the top of the button tree - it lets you steer the AF points about the screen or viewfinder with great ease. An advantage over the previous cameras. The rear thumb wheel has replaced the jog button. It can be used to do a variety of tasks.

The LHS panel with the focus selector is VASTLY improved. Note how you now slide from Manual focus to Single auto-focus at the two limits of the switch...rather than fumbling in the dark trying to find a centre position detent. The continuous auto-focus is less used and it deserves the central spot.

There's the cleaned-up LHS at the back. All the buttons shifted right and the screen grown out to fill the space. The wishers who wanted Fujifilm to articulate the screen in this design were disappointed, but I think that the smoothness of the back and the fact that there is nothing to a catch and break makes up for it. You get a bit more eye-clearance looking into the viewfinder if you are wearing spectacles.

Tune in tomorrow when we move round the front of the camera and see what new bits have been added.