I Think I'm in Love

[DReid]

I've got a focal length question: My 35mm 1.8 lens is a DX lens for my DX camera (D5100) I see in my information window that is beside my images and in parenthesis it says "35mm equivalent 52mm" I'm a novice with this stuff and I'm thinking that if the 24mm focal length of the X100 is the same as 35mm on a 35mm camera then it would a noticeably shorter focal length, hence a wider angle than my current lens. That might be really nice as sometimes I do find myself wishing for a little wider angle. Can anyone confirm this for me?

[rhadorn]

I have nothing against people falling in love with cameras. I just find it inappropriate to take those pictures as a confirmation that this is a camera to have, because one then confuses the photographer's skills with the capabilities of the gear.

Well, if I thought that a camera can take such good pictures and make itself such goog b&w conversions, I would certainly consider it. Full sized prints would still be necessary to assess the real quality of the optic.

[CougarFool]

David,
Depends on the crop size of the sensor. My Canon has a 1.6 crop so a 30mm lens is equivalent to 50mm.

[Black Pearl]

The X100 has a 1.5x crop sensor so it's 24mm lens is the equivalent to a 36mm. I too own the Nikon 35mm f1.8 (an awesome lens by the way) and I use it as my day to day lens of choice. It's light, bright, sharp as a tack and as I spent the first ten years or so of my photography with a single 50mm lens I rather like the restrictions they bring.

I wouldn't be without my zoom lenses but I feel every photographer should hone their skills with a fixed lens. A zoom makes you lazy, watch yourself next time you are out. I'll bet you pick a spot - zoom in and out, in and out and take the picture......but it might not be the best one available. As an exercise leave it at one length and just move yourself around the scene - the resulting picture will be better as you will have thought about it more. A friend of mine passed all his SLR gear onto his missus when the Leica X1 was launched and he now uses it exclusivley.

Read his story about a road trip he took last year and see what a fixed lens compact is capable of:

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/0...-j-de-la-vega/

[Hansm]

I own the X100 for about one month now. To say I'm in love with it is a bit overt the top . But it really is a hell of a camera with superb image quality. Working with just the one lens mounted on the camera makes you think more about point of view, cropping and so on. However for very fast action shoots this camera is not the right choice, but for street photography it's very useful. It's really quite, hard to hear the click!
Next wedding shoot I will take it with me to find out how useful it is for this.
Neil van Niekerk was amazed about this camera.
If it will work out well then the next step will be the Fuji X Pro 1 to reduce the weight carrying with me.

[DReid]

Well, I pulled the trigger this morning. I hope to have my new X100 in a few days. I'm concerned about being able to shoot moving objects, but I'll just have to get the camera and spend some time with it to see how we do together. I even put the D5100 on Craigslist this morning. Not that I don't like it, but I know that I won't use it and I don't like to have things like that just sitting around. I figured that it is better to sell it while it is nice and new. I'm glad that I took the time to learn what I could about the DSLR, but I just don't see it working for my purposes. I am planning a number of motorcycle journeys in the coming days and I need something that will fit in the front of my riding jacket and be easy to pull out and use on the spur of the moment, but I need better image quality than my current compact. (Nikon AW100)

[Black Pearl]

A brave move and a challenging one - good on you.

You're range of available shots will go down but I'll guarantee the quality of the ones you take will go up.

[DReid]

Well, My new baby arrived yesterday and so far I'm pretty pleased. It is lot different from either my compact NIKON or the D5100 in use. After spending some time with it today I'm impressed with the images that I'm getting. It seemed a little slow and the controls seem odd at first, but already it is getting a lot easier.
Here is one of my first images taken with it, of my lovely assistant, Tessie.

[Marty]

Hi,
I've been using the X100 since last May and it has taken me a long time to get really comfortable with it. No other camera I've ever owned has given me so many learning challenges.

I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it and I've come to the conclusion that it really is 'horses for courses' and there are certain situations when the X100 displays distinct advantages over my DSLR and then there are others when the SLR is a much better choice. Each camera has its strengths and its weaknesses and I have to make an educated choice as to which to use for the job in hand.

I've found the Fuji to be great in the streets and market places and just about anywhere I want to melt into the background and be inconspicuous. The image quality it produces in low-light environments is fabulous and I have no worries when I see high ISOs creeping in. However I took it to a festival type event recently where things were moving quite quickly and I found that it just wasn't quick enough. I was getting too many missed-moment shots. This was due to a slight lag which is inherent in the design. Even with focus preset on manual and locked, that little lag was still just enough to miss the decisive moment. I quickly changed over to my Nikon and suddenly it seemed so fast, both to focus and to shoot.

There are some very attractive features on the X100, which make it great to use. My favourite of these is the EVF which actually shows you depth of field preview every time you put first pressure on the shutter. This is something that seems weird and uncanny for a camera that looks and feels like a rangefinder! The hybrid VF is a Godsend and lets me see detail, including focus, even in really low light environments.

There are a lot of things about the Fuji that could (and should) be improved and I won't go into them here. Anyone who's interested enough in the camera will have read all about these issues in other web fora. If only those little idiosyncrasies were smoothed out, this could be the perfect reportage camera!

marty


www.marty-johnston-photography.com

[Black Pearl]

One thing about the X100 and its speed - it MUST have a very fast card in it and it MUST be formatted in camera.

If you haven't tried this then you're in for a shock as the difference in performance is huge. Don't know why, most DSLR's will tick along with cheap cards in and still feel responsive, but not the X100. If you haven't already try a Sandisk Extreme SDHC Class 10 card - from a reputable source or it'll be a fake - I guaranty it will speed the camera up....remember to format it in the camera as this is equally important.

[Marty]

One thing about the X100 and its speed - it MUST have a very fast card in it and it MUST be formatted in camera......

Hi Robin,
Yes, you are right about this. It's true that the X100 seems to be very pernickety about the SD card. I'm using the very card you mention here and it does make a significant difference over "ordinary" cards. Thanks for the tip.
- marty

[Hansm]

This I don't understand.
Apart from the speed that the data is stored on the card, what else will be faster when you use a very fast memory card?
The only thing I can imagine is that the camera buffer gets full with series shooting, but to my opinion this camera is not the best choice for fast action.
Is there something else that is affected by the memory card?

[Black Pearl]

Usually I'd say it shouldn't matter but for some reason it does in the X100. I wasn't convinced until I tested it and there is a noticeable difference in the way the camera operates with a good fast card in it......go figure.

[Hansm]

Thanks Robin,
for sure I will give it a try. I wanted to buy a bigger size card anyway.
Good reason to get a fast one.

[DReid]

I'm getting acquainted with my X100 and overall I like it a lot. I have a lot to learn, but I had a lot to learn anyway. Overall, I like it better than my DSLR..at least for my purposes. It is a bit slower and action shots are tricky, but possible. My lovely assistant was kind enough to pose for some shots this morning.