The Fujifilm X100F Camera Under the Spotlights

Every item of equipment for sale in the photo shop is under a spotlight - and some are under enough glare to suggest a three-ring circus. This is all to the good - every camera maker and advertising department knows that every time a fuss is made about something people will focus on it, and they might concentrate long enough to reach for their wallets.

The new Fujifilm X100F examined this week IS a worth successor to the other cameras of the series - the leap in performance since the original X100 I own showed out on nearly every level. Had I elected to make larger images than just the little illustrative ones for these articles, the lead would have been wildly increased. But that is for me...would it be so for other people. And just WHO are the people who would be wise to buy this camera?

a. The one-camera family.

If you are going to have one camera to do the best job for all members of the family - mum. dad, and the kids, make it a one that delivers the goods. And delivers them simply enough so that when you haul it out and press the button, you get the picture. Better yet - the less experienced shooters in the family can also get good results.

b. The traveller.

I am thinking here of the frequent traveller who needs a record of what is seen from a normal point of view. Choose another super-tele camera to go to Africa for polar bears or Manitoba for lions. Choose this one to go to Melbourne or Madrid. The lens is wide enough and long enough for most travel shots, and if you need to expand or contract there are screw-on supplementary lenses that are excellent. I use a wide-angle one all the time for car shows.

c. The daytime flash shooter.

Whether it is the car shows, or brides, or architecture in the Western Australian sunshine, you'll need to fill flash somewhere. If you try to do it with a conventional focal-plane shutter you'll be in a world of calculations and compromise. Some shots will be inpossible because of the failure to synch properly The leaf shutter on this camera synchs at all speeds and if you pair it with a new Fujifilm EX-500 flash unit, you can work with minimal stress.

d. The grub.

Oh, this is not a waterproof camera, but it IS a sealed one. No opening the lens mount for changes and no inrush of dust onto the sensor. The relief from worry is palpable.

f. The stylish and trendy.

 Not that you can ever be on-trend for longer than 15 seconds anyway, but this retro-style is classic, and classics keep on coming back time after time. The camera has the bits you want to twiddle in the places you expect to find them. If you are a twiddler, it is rewarding. Of course you can put the camera into Programmed Automatic and just cruise if you want to.

g. The diarist.

Like the regular traveller, the diarist wants to record it simply, but with enough detail to provide for art or science later on. 24 mega pixels will do this, and the ISO auto settings will generally help you to nail it in an instant. Even my old X100 does daily duty for advertising shots and ideas capture. It beats the silly mobile phone all hollow for resolution and dynamic range and the ergonomics of holding it out the window while driving at 90 miles per hour down St. Geo Tce - steering with your knees -  are ever so much more convenient.

h. The collector.

 Collectors are strange creatures. They amass piles of things the rest of us ignore, and the funny thing is that they like to look at other people's piles as well. Thus the catalogue shoot and internet share site.

Most collectors are not professional photographers, but the ability to produce a clear close classic of an image is more useful to them than to many people. They rarely want Instagram filters to mess up their pride and joy collection - a camera like this that can turn out clear illustration time after time without adjustment is perfect.

That may sound boring, trite, and pedestrian to artistic photographers, but no-one wants to have to spend an hour tweaking the image of a 19th century pram if you have 800 of 'em to photograph.

i. The hipster.

Naw, I'm just joking. They are still looking for 828 film for defunct Kodak folding cameras from 1940. The thought of getting a good result easily would be anathema...

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.