The Fujifilm FinePix X100 - A Modern-Day Classic

Introduction

Without a doubt, Fujifilm stole the thunder from every other camera manufacturer's feet when they announced and previewed the FinePix X100 at Photokina 2010. The idea of an affordable digital rangefinder is so obvious that once you hear about it, you wonder why it's taken so long for anyone to have made one. It's not the first digital rangefinder camera in existence, but unlike the Leica M and the Epson R-D cameras, the Fujifilm X100 isn't prohibitively expensive.

The specifications are tantalizing: An APS-C sensor, the same-sized sensor found in entry-level DSLR cameras, but in a smaller, compact body; a fixed lens with a 35mm equivalent focal length of, well, 35mm; and a fast maximum aperture of f/2. A hybrid viewfinder, which lets you use the viewfinder either optically, like a traditional rangefinder camera, or electronically, like a digital camera.

And if the specs don't entice you, the camera's looks certainly will. Inspired by classical rangefinder cameras, the X100 emanates style. The upper deck and bottom surface of the camera are cast from magnesium alloy, and the chassis is covered in synthetic leather. Large manual dials adorn the camera, giving the photographer immediate access to essential controls, and adding to its old-school charm.

It's hard not to fall in love with the X100 simply by looking at it. It's been eagerly anticipated since its announcement last September, and so coveted that existing stock has sold out and the camera is currently in pre-order status (in part due to the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami, but more on availability later). 

Fortunately for us, we managed to score personal time with a production unit, and we set out to answer the question that's been on everyone's mind since the X100 appeared: Is it simply a looker, or does it bring brain and brawn as well?

Design & Handling

Camera designs like the Leica X1 and the Olympus E-P have paid homage to rangefinder cameras, but those cameras were rangefinder-inspired. The X100 however, is rangefinder-like, from its looks to the optical viewfinder, which lets you look straight through like a real rangefinder.

There's no denying the X100 is an exceptionally attractive camera. However else the rest of this review goes, the X100 gets full, bonus and distinction marks for its design alone.

The upper control deck and bottom surface of the camera are cast from magnesium alloy (semi-solid metal casting). While it sounds impressive, it looks less so in person. Even though its metal, the upper deck looks and feels almost plastic at times - it doesn't look very metallic. It certainly feels as strong and rigid as metal though, and the X100 feels like a camera which can take some hard knocks. The leather accent is synthetic leather, embossed with a distressed leather pattern. The scaly textures don't just add to the looks, but are functional; they give your fingers a better grip while holding on to the camera.

Falling Off the Lens

While the camera body may be able to take some rough and tumble, the lens certainly can't, and lens protection is one area where the X100 stumbles. The lens cover is aluminum, which doesn't clip on to the lens to secure itself, nor does it have any pegs to string it to the camera body. It's prone to simply popping off the lens if dislodged in a bag, and because it's not tethered, when you're out shooting and you uncap your lens, you have to find somewhere to put it.

An alternative might be to attach the optional lens hood and use that to protect the lens while in transit, so you won't have to uncap your lens in a hurry. Despite sounding negative about the cap, its construction is solid; the aluminum build is rigid and the fabric lining the inside of the cap gives it a better grip on the lens.

Shooting Old-School with New-School Tricks

Fujifilm calls the X100's viewfinder a 'hybrid' viewfinder, a design which combines both an optical and electronic viewfinder into one. It's the first of its kind, and Fujifilm deserves kudos for its innovative invention. Like a rangefinder camera, the optical viewfinder (OVF) lets you see directly through the viewfinder itself, instead of through the lens like an SLR/DSLR camera. This offers both advantages and disadvantages.

The optical viewfinder gives you a view which is larger than the frame. You see more than what your lens sees and captures, letting you anticipate elements coming into and out of the frame. The picture frame is highlighted with a white, electronic rectangle in the OVF, and its part of the beauty of Fujifilm's 'hybrid' system.

Instead of looking through plain old glass, the X100 overlays electronic information on the OVF, including information like shutter speed, aperture setting and ISO. When you tap the Menu button, it also pops up in the OVF. Even photo previews can be overlaid on the OVF. This means that while shooting through the optical viewfinder, you can change settings without taking your eyes off the scene.

While the framing grid gives you an approximation of where your framing is, it's not exact. When you're shooting through the OVF, you need to frame for the difference, as what you see is not what you get in the capture. It's a characteristic of rangefinder cameras, and one that you'll either love or hate (it's one reason why SLR cameras were able to overtake rangefinders in popularity, because SLR cameras see through the lens and can frame precisely).

Another advantage with shooting through the OVF is how, like traditional rangefinders, the shutter doesn't close and block your view of the scene the moment you take a picture (if you turn image previews off). You can continue looking at the scene without missing any moments.

And like a rangefinder, the X100's shutter click is pleasantly soft, much softer than a DSLR camera's. The shutter sound is artificial, and you can choose between three different sounds, from a soft leaf-shutter to the clack of a DSLR. You can also determine the volume, but even though there's an option to switch the sound completely off, a sound is still produced - we're not sure if this is a bug or intentional. Still, the X100 is a very quiet camera, even more so when you switch system and AF sounds off, making it perfect for the inconspicuous photographer.

One big disadvantage is that you can't preview manual focus using the OVF. You can only preview manual focus (and depth of field) using the electronic viewfinder (EVF); and macro mode only works with the EVF.

Seeing Electronic

If you prefer having precise control over your framing, then simply flip the viewfinder lever right next to the lens. A cover closes the front of the optical viewfinder and it's transformed into an electronic viewfinder (EVF), feeding you a direct view from the camera sensor through the lens.

At 1,440,000 dots, it doesn't have as many pixels as the current best-of-class electronic viewfinder such as the one which sits inside Panasonic's Micro Four Thirds flagship GH-2 (1,533,600 dots). But it's close, and it performs well with enough clarity. Not only can you shoot electronically through the EVF, you can also use the back LCD to frame and shoot, just like a compact camera.

The proximity sensor around the viewfinder will intelligently switches the EVF on and the LCD off once you put your eye near the latter. One oddity we discovered while shooting using the EVF is that while auto-focusing, the camera doesn't display the actual process of focusing; the display freezes for a moment and then refreshes with a focused frame. 

As mentioned, manual focus can only be previewed using the EVF. The manual focus ring around the lens is easily distinguished from the aperture ring with its ribbed texture. While focusing manually, press the rear control dial and it magnifies the EVF view, helping you check your focus. But using the focus ring is ponderous; it takes a lot of turns of the ring for it to change focus, enough that you're better off either using auto-focus or only using manual focus on still subjects.

According to Fujifilm, the speed of the focus ring relative to the speed of turning it is determined by software. On the X100 website, Fujifilm writes:

Unlike a mechanical-type focus ring, this photo-reflector approach also enables control of the amount of focus adjustment according to the speed of the ring rotation using software. In other words, the user’s quick rotation of the ring results in a fast change in the focus position, and a slow ring rotation, a slow change in the focus. The result is a focus ring that smoothly reflects the intent of the photographer.

But no matter how much we tried to turn the ring faster, it seemed to focus as slowly as when we turned the ring at normal speeds. Since the relative speed is controlled by software, we can hope that Fujifilm will speed up the focus ring's response in future firmware updates.

Design & Handling II

If manual focusing is a slow affair, then that leaves auto-focusing as the way to go. But the AF system on the X100 presents its own set of problems.

Auto-Focusing Needs Work

The X100's multi-area AF system, where you let the X100 determine the focus automatically, is not the best we've seen. It's not as fast or as accurate as the quick AF on cameras like the or the . In fact, it's frustrating; the camera will more often than not select what you don't want rather than what you do want as the focal point. The X100's AF system feels comparable to the AF speeds and accuracy of the first-generation Olympus E-P1 camera without the subsequent updates. To put it simply, the multi-area AF needs work.

The other option is to switch to Area AF mode, where you can manually select the AF point. The idea is to let you manually select focus points so that you can achieve focus faster, but this feature is hampered by its execution. For one, there are a total of 49 selectable focus points. While scrolling through 49 points is fine for still subjects, it feels too many for shooting and changing points on the fly.

While 49 points is admirably comparable to the top-end DSLR cameras out there, the X100's smaller control wheel and directional pad have neither the size nor the sturdiness to keep up with the complexity. You can helpfully adjust the size of the AF frame to be bigger, but it still moves around the screen within the 49 points. In OVF mode the points are reduced to a more manageable 25, but this is done by taking away the 24 points on the outer edges, instead of enlarging the 25 to fill the frame.

To change AF points, you have to press and hold down on the AF button, then scroll through the points using the control wheel or change directions using the d-pad. It's hard to find the AF button located on the left of the LCD, third from down, amongst three other identical buttons with your eye to the lens. Sure, you can use the small ridge below the Play button as a guide, but even that is difficult, and this is where a differentiating feature might have helped; like a raised dot on the AF button. Otherwise, you either take your eye off the screen to find the button or search for it - both of which take time.

The fact that you have to press and hold down on the AF button to make changes also means that changing AF points is a two-handed affair, instead of on some other cameras where you only have to press once to signal your intention to change AF points, then change the point using the d-pad or control wheel, thus freeing your other hand.

It sounds like a bit of work, and it is. The X100 is a camera you have to work with to get what you want, but once your AF point is fixed, the camera usually gets the focus right and in time. In-between multi-area AF and area AF, you're better off shooting in area AF mode, focusing and re-composing if needed.

Unless you're shooting macro, which opens up another quirk you should know.

Anything within 80cm is a Macro Shot

The minimum focusing distance from the lens is approximately 80cm; anything inside that range and the X100 needs you to manually switch to macro mode in order to focus. Now, 80cm isn't a lot - a friend can be sitting next to you within 80cm and you won't be able to focus on her face if you're not in macro mode.

It's an odd quirk of the X100 - shooting a close but not macro subject in macro mode. It begets a quick familiarity with the macro mode, which is easily turned on by pressing left on the d-pad. If you're using the optical viewfinder, the X100 then switches to the electronic viewfinder for macro shots.

While 80cm is quite short for normal focusing, the X100 can focus on subjects as close as 10cm away from the lens while in macro mode, which lets you get very close to your subject. Be careful though, if you get too close, the X100 might still be able to focus, but you'll get a funky, extreme-background blur and soft effect.

Don't Use Burst Mode to Shoot Burst Shots

While the X100 has a burst mode to shoot quick, multiple shots, it's not really the mode you want to be in to shoot quick, multiple shots. Once you hit the maximum number of images the X100 can squeeze off in one sequence (according to specs, up to 10 JPEGs and up to 8 RAW or RAW+JPEGs), the camera will lock up for several seconds to save the images. Even the viewfinder will black out to show previews - which means that in the midst of action, you won't be able to shoot anything for many precious moments.

You're better off shooting in Single frame mode, and taking multiple shots as quick as you can. It's a tad slower, but at least your camera won't lock up. The X100 will keep on writing to the card in the background, but you'll still be able to shoot.

The X100's slow write speeds make us feel that the X100 could have benefited from a larger buffer and faster processor, but then again this isn't a sports camera. Instead, it's a camera which forces - or invites - a more considered way of shooting.

Design & Handling III

If you're used to using a DSLR camera, you might be wondering where the mode dial is on the X100. There isn't any, instead you get an elegant way to determine Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, Manual or Program mode using the aperture ring and shutter speed dial.

Switching Between Modes

Aperture is set by the aperture ring found around the lens. It's been fitted with two handles around the ring, which makes it easy to find without looking, and helps to differentiate it from the focus ring right in front of it. Twirl the ring to set the aperture number manually, and set it to the red 'A' to make aperture settings automatic.

Shutter speed is set by using the shutter speed dial on the top plate. Twirl the dial to the speeds you want; settings include Time (a set shutter speed time) and Bulb (the X100 is compatible with third-party remote releases). Set the dial to 'A' to make shutter speed automatic.

You might have guessed by now how to switch between modes. To switch to Program mode and make both aperture and shutter speed settings automatic, simply turn both the aperture ring and the shutter speed dial to 'A'. To go into Aperture-priority, leave the shutter speed dial at 'A' and adjust the aperture ring. To go into Shutter-priority, leave the aperture ring at 'A' and adjust the shutter speed.

Good But Not Great

Handling the Fujifilm X100 is a good, pleasant experience overall, but it's not great. All over the camera, you'd notice instances where a lot of thought must have gone into their design. For example, the viewfinder lever is nothing short of genius. It makes an essential option easy to switch, and it reacts pleasingly to the touch. The aperture ring and shutter speed dial are elegantly executed, the aperture's two handles are great help, and the large shutter speed dial is easy to use.

In contrast, the camera also has spots where it feels rushed. Fujifilm has taken care 90% of the X100's handling aspects, but there's a remaining 10% of missed opportunities.

The oddest miss opportunity is the dedicated RAW button, located on the bottom right, below the d-pad. This RAW button doesn't toggle the X100 between JPEG or RAW mode, it simply makes the next shot RAW+JPEG and then switches back to JPEG only.

We think most photographers will have already set a preference for JPEG or RAW ahead of shooting, and dedicating an entire button on limited real-estate to a low-frequency button feels like a missed opportunity. Instead of a RAW button, perhaps a second Function (Fn) button would have been more useful for everyone, not just the one-off RAW shooters.

In fact, the Function button on the top plate is one of the best decisions on the X100. Located handily just beside the shutter release, the Fn button can be customized to open ISO settings, preview depth of field or switch to movie mode amongst other options. Another Fn button would have been nice.

The exposure dial, right below the Fn button, is beautifully designed. But it's been turned accidentally more than once in our use, by a clusmy finger, or simply jogged by something in our bags while in transit - so watch out for it before you start shooting.

The control dial on the upper back-right of the camera is useful in some instances. While focusing manually, pressing it magnifies your view. It's not meant to be the control dial we're used to in DSLR cameras however. In manual mode, it lets you change aperture settings, but is limited to two stops either way. The control wheel around the d-pad does the same for shutter speed and is also limited to two stops either way.

A raised outer ring surrounds the control wheel's circumference, helping your thumb to place it. The control wheel itself feels thin and fiddly, and compounded with the d-pad's smaller size it means you may find yourself mashing one button accidentally while pressing the other.

Certain menu items are confusing - why is ISO within the shooting menu, but ISO Control (to make ISO settings automatic) within set-up? Why is the self-timer option in the shooting menu, and not within the Drive options with the other shooting modes like Single or Burst, easily accessed via the top of the d-pad?

We normally wouldn't nit-pick to such an extent, but the X100 is a camera which inspires high expectations, and while delivering on most, makes the slight misses more obvious. While the X100's handling has moments of brilliance, it also has areas where it needs work. On the average it hits good, but it feels like it could have gone for great.

Image Performance I

Ever since the X100 was announced, the big question occupying prospective owners' minds must have been if the camera would turn out to be simply a gorgeous ornament, or would it also be a decent photographer's tool?

Now, after putting it through the paces, we can honestly tell you: Images from the X100 rock. And they rock hard!

Working Within Limits

The X100 is a camera built within limits, but what sweet limits! The 23mm fixed focal length becomes a 35mm lens in 35mm equivalent due to the crop factor, and the aperture closes from a wide f/2 to f/16. The wide apertures let in more light, letting you shoot at faster speeds in less light, which means lesser chances of blurry shots due to handshake. The 35mm lens is a flexible length, not as tight as the classic 50mm, but wide enough for landscapes as well as portraiture.

The X100 isn't designed to be an everything, everyday camera to be used by everyone. Instead, it's specifically designed for the enthusiast who welcomes the challenge of working within limits, and appreciates the possibilities of a compact camera with an f/2 lens.

Great for Portraits

Another effect of having a wider aperture is that backgrounds become blurrier - an effect photographers like to call bokeh. It helps call more attention to your main subject, and is why portraits are usually shot with a wide aperture. It's also what makes the X100 a great portrait camera.

Here's a visual example of what we mean, sampling through the entire aperture range of the X100, with focus locked on the white owl.

Fujifilm Color

Like some of its other digital cameras, Fujifilm includes three film simulation modes in the X100, based on Fujifilm film. Provia for standard color (unless stated otherwise, all test images in this review were shot in Provia), Velvia for vivid colors and Astia for softer color and contrast; together with monochrome, monochrome+Ye (yellow) filter, monochrome+R (red) filter, monochrome+G (green) filter and sepia modes.

Velvia certainly brings more saturated colors and contrast, while Astia looks less saturated and lighter in tone.

Image Performance II

While the wide aperture produces beautiful background blur, the real surprise is in the X100's ISO performance.

The X100's ISO performance is nothing short of extraordinary, equal to and even surpassing some of the DSLR cameras in the market with similarly-sized APS-C sensors. Images are consistently clean up to ISO 3200, even ISO 6400 looks usable. Combined with the fast lens, the X100 is a camera which shines in low-light.

Image Performance III

Resolution ranks highly on our chart as the X100 captures a fine 1800 x 1800 LPH horizontal and vertical at least. The fact that we can get such stellar ISO performance and capture this level of clarity in a camera this compact is extraordinary.

Edge to Edge Goodness

We're happy to report edge to edge sharpness across our tests, with some slight blurriness on the edges at f/2, likely due to the vignetting darkening the edge, rather than blurry capture. Here are the samples, with the four corners and center scaled to fit.

Vignettes Around the Edges

Slight vignetting can be seen at F2, less at F2.8, and not any beyond (the test shots shown have been converted to black and white to better see the vignettes).

Video Performance

Getting into video mode takes a couple of steps as there's no dedicated video button on the body. To get into video mode, you tap up on the d-pad to access the Drive menu, and select Video from the list. Alternatively, you can map the Fn button to video mode for a faster switch.

The X100's videos show good clarity, but noticeable wobbling. The X100's microphone captures a wide variety of detail with excellent sound capture. The weak point is again, as with the stills, in the X100's auto-focus, which can arbitrarily switch focus even on still subjects. Woe betides you if your subject moves within 80cm of the lens, as the X100 can't switch in and out of macro and normal focusing modes while shooting.

Video focusing might be easier if you were able to half-press the shutter button and force the X100 to re-focus while shooting, but you can't. Even a half-press of the shutter button will make the X100 stop recording.

We have to say though, that when you nail that focus at f/2, videos look great. Check out the first and last shots in our video sample to see what we mean. Click here to view it in full HD.

Fujifilm FinePix X100 Test Footage from videoman on Vimeo.

Pricing & Availability

Fujifilm X100 ownership comes with a hefty price tag; in the US its official price is US$1,199.95, while in Singapore it's S$1,699. What other comparable cameras in terms of size and performance can you get around that price range?

Granted, the X100 is a unique camera and the chart isn't a clean 1:1 comparison. But if you look at the mirrorless interchangeable lens category you might find something that comes close to the X100.

The Sony NEX-5 has a comparable sensor size and is smaller and lighter, but has no E-mount lens as fast as f/2 today. The Samsung NX11 also has an APS-C sensor, and they have a 45mm (35mm equivalent) f/2 lens. The Olympus E-P2 and Panasonic GF-2 have smaller-sized sensors but Panasonic has a 40mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.7 Micro Four Thirds lens, which is faster than the X100, and can be purchased separately.

And all the Micro Four Thirds cameras will allow you to swap lenses, unlike the X100 which has a fixed lens.

For comparisons' sake, let's take a look at what the same money can get you in today's DSLR market.

For roughly the same price, you can get a very decent DSLR camera, which offers more flexibility and expandability. The kit lenses included won't get you the same results as the X100's 35mm f/2 lens, but you can get similar lenses for varying prices. Just for fun, we've included the the Leica M9, the only other digital rangefinder camera you can find, which comes with a larger sensor and far larger price tag as well. Next to the Leica M9, the X100 is the most affordable digital rangefinder you can buy. 

Even though we can't make straight comparisons with the X100 and other cameras, a quick glance at the charts should help you understand why we say the Fujifilm X100 is pricey.

Availability

At the time of writing this review, Fujifilm had halted production of the X100, but it has since resumed.

On March 8th, Fujifilm announced a shortage of the X100 cameras due to higher-than-expected demand. Fujifilm Singapore managed to bring in a limited number of X100s for its launch during the , approximately 70-80 units. By 10th March, the first day of the show, we heard that they were nearly sold out, and it's likely they were all sold before the IT Show ended.

On March 11th, the 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, and the nearest major city to the earthquake was Sendai. We learned from Adorama that Fujifilm's Taiwa-Cho factory, located 20 miles from Sendai and responsible for producing the X100, was damaged in the quake. On March 14th, Fujifilm officially announced that the factory had been "temporarily shut down due to safety concerns."

The latest update from Fujifilm on March 30th says that production has been resumed, and it looks like sales might resume in April.

Sample Photographs

These are sample photographs shot with the Fujifilm X100. The photos have not been post-processed and are copyright to SPH Magazines. They are provided for your reference only and we ask that you do not reproduce them elsewhere. Click to see the full-resolution originals.

Conclusion

We've been trying to find a way to sum up our feelings about the Fujifilm FinePix X100, and the closest we can come to is this: The X100 is like an eccentric genius; mostly brilliant, but interrupted by head-scratching quirks.

The design is stunning, let down by an upper deck that looks more plastic than metal. Image performance is exceptional; the f/2 lens provides speed and beautiful background blur with edge-to-edge sharpness, while the low noise in high ISO settings is exemplary. You'll have to work at getting the shot however, because the auto-focus is slow and inaccurate. Manual focus might have helped, but the focus ring is slow to respond and needs too many turns to make the smallest of changes. And if you plan to shoot with that lovely, large and clear optical viewfinder, be prepared to give up manual focus altogether, as the focus can only be previewed through the electronic viewfinder.

(Since the speed of the focus ring is controlled by software, and so is auto-focus, these are things Fujifilm could possibly improve with firmware updates. But whether they will, nobody knows.)

Other touches of genius abound, like the innovative hybrid viewfinder and the viewfinder lever. And then you find a dedicated one-shot RAW button on the back, where another more useful button could have been.

So you'll need to work the X100 a little bit more to get the shots you want. Besides the limited focal length, it's limited in other ways as well. Because shooting in Burst mode will lock up the camera afterwards, and because of the slow AF, the X100 isn't the best camera for action shots. Rather, it invites more careful shooting, where you can get your focus right, and select the decisive moments instead of gunning the release. And when you do take that shot, the X100 complements you with a satisfyingly soft click rather than a loud clack.

The X100 isn't a camera for everyone. Rather, it's a camera designed for a niche audience, one which will appreciate working within its limitations because of its limitations, as well as the other benefits the camera brings; a compact size, beauty, exceptional image quality, beautiful background blur and a quick lens.

The question from the audience is whether or not the X100 is worth the hefty $1,699 price tag Fujifilm is asking for it. Granted, when compared to the $11,388 Leica M9, it's the most affordable digital rangefinder on the planet. Still, buying a X100 is rather like buying a Ferrari Italia. It's expensive, you certainly don't need it, and as a photographic tool you'd get more bang for your buck by investing in a DSLR setup with a comparable prime lens.

But like a Ferrari Italia, the X100 is fun and beautiful. If you have a Ferrari, you probably have another car you use to zip down to the supermarket. If you want the X100, you probably have a primary camera for everything else the X100 doesn't do. Whether or not the X100 is worth burning a hole in your pocket is up to you and your wallet, but we can tell you that for what the X100 does do, it does it very well.

Which is why we love it despite its quirks. The Fujifilm FinePix X100 is an instant modern-day classic, representing a technological breakthrough in digital cameras, exists as a work of art on its own, and produces stunning images to boot. We only hope that this isn't the last we'll see of the X-series, or of digital rangefinders.

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