Added to the Arsenal

Just added to the arsenal here at TOP. One of the more famous cameras of the past half decade or so. I'm looking forward to making friends with it.

Mike
(Thanks to K.T.)

[UPDATE: To answer a few questions, it's a Fuji X100S, a gift from a friend who doesn't need it any more. The current model is the X100T. —Ed.]

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

John Krumm: "New house and new camera. Your cup runneth over. You are now going to get some of that Midwesterner sense of impending doom after too many good things happen (Garrison Keillor jokes about this)."

Chris S.: "Welcome to the club. Once you get past all the things it doesn't do well, you'll love it for all the things it does do well."

Ricardo Silva Cordeiro: "I always asked myself why didn't you have this camera since the day one Mike (maybe the bad rep regarding slow operation/focus)? But I guess it was only a matter of time  :-)  I still got the original model and love it. I carry it almost every day, everywhere. Even with all its faults, it's clearly my favourite camera ever."

Paul De Zan: "Finally! Jeez, you can be slow sometimes."

Dennis: "I rented one of these to try it out and when I did, it was love at first use! I sold all my other cameras and bought a used X100S on Ebay immediately. Finally, a digital camera that works like a camera. The controls are exactly where you need them. And oh, that luscious viewfinder, how I've missed you! What the heck took so long? A guy stopped me in the street the other day and said 'Wow, that must be a really old camera!' Made my day."

Comments

[MikeR]

Doesn't that little lever on the front just tempt your finger to cock the shutter?

[Steven Major]

The readers are supposed to guess what it is or not care?
Did you mean to write past half century?

[Hugh Smith]

Once one gets used to the DEEP menu, it's a dream.
I used it and it alone in Europe last year and will again this year.
I never felt undergunned and it performed beautfully.
Yes. It has some quirks like short battery life, and could use a bit more heft (which I fixed for under $15) but it is an excellent sidearm for the streets and country side.
Glad you finally caught on...kidding.
My two pesos, Mike.

[Richard Parkin]

At last! I just could not understand why you had not bought an X100 since it seemed to be the camera you were calling for years ago. I expect you will be disappointed :(

[Eolake]

I had one, but felt too limited by the single prime lens. But it's funny: When I see a picture of it, I'm still in love with it. Now that's "a camera".

[Dave Harrington]

Now I am worried...I have enjoyed my X100 series cameras, smug in how much I look like a real photographer with an updated Leica-like cam. If you expose this puppy as an ersatz Leica for a wannabe Robert Frank, I will go from connoisseur of fine equipment to another dupe of a tech company. At my age, I might not live long enough to see it change state again.

Cancel my subscription!

Dave

ps...great post

[kirk tuck]

Good luck. I tried two versions. It's a bitchy friend.

[Spencer H.]

I bought the original and bummed around a few foreign countries with it. When I got back I never used it, so I sold it, oddly enough for more than what i bought it for (pretty strong used market for it)

Planning on getting another one for a trip next year, its really the only camera and focal length i need when i travel.

[Pete F.]

I owned the original X100. I too felt limited by the fixed focal length and traded it in for an XE-2 about a year ago. I still miss the optical viewfinder and the basic form factor. If I can find a used one cheap enough I may buy another.

[Simon Griffee]

The best current 'David Vestal shirt camera'.

[Mark Cotter]

It was the camera I was intending to buy before thinking 'what the heck' and purchasing the xPro1 and a couple of prime lenses.

[Ken Bennett]

I bought an X100s a few months ago, used, not sure if I would like it. I've been shooting all Fuji for 2+ years now, but hadn't owned any X100-series camera.

Well, I love the X100s enough to sell it to a friend and buy the new X100t. :)

I'll be interested to see your reaction, Mike, given how many checkboxes it ticks on your DMD list from all those years ago.

[Bill Bresler]

I really like this camera, especially the color quality. The lens is my favorite focal length, too. But I do like to make a tight headshot every now and then. I don't want to see a zoom on this camera, but how about a dual-focal length lens. 23mm and around 70mm. Perfect. Can this be done? I'm no engineer.

[Nicholas Condon]

Can I ask a very stupid question? What do you get from this that you wouldn't get from your ILC Fuji with a 23 mm affixed? The viewfinder? A smaller package? OR is it purely the knowledge that you can't change the lens, which I know might have an impact on your shooting mindset?

[Rob L]

I keep trying cameras to better this one, and failing - it's not perfect, but that's perhaps it's selling point. My 'I'm really not going to carry too many cameras' package now is my x100s, and occasionally a Nikon Coolpix A as my even simpler companion.

And agreed with Eolake - this is a camera you fall for.

[PCMunson]

I don't see the film winder lever.

[david]

I also just acquired an X100T earlier in the summer and am totally enjoying it. The lens is frick'in amazing! The optical viewfinder was the main selling point for me.
Mike, I recommend getting the Lensmate X100s Thumbrest. The camera does feel much better in your hand, especially as I have larger hands. Cheers.

[toto]

What's a Fuji non-aspherical lens? :)

[Nicholas R.Von Staden]

I love the B/W jpg. files...with red filter...quirky menu and strange "Q" edit save function.....but great files all round.

[Jim Tardio]

My favorite camera. Haven't found anything better yet for travel & street stuff. Here's some from my last trip:

https://jimtardio.exposure.co/istanbul

[Rick Vander Meulen]

Love Mine.

[Ash]

The X100 is brilliant, I used one for two years and miss it now.
Will you really carry this and use it in place of your 23mm 1.4 lens?

[Bob Rosinsky]

That is one sexy camera. And it's smart too.

[Stephen Scharf]

Congrats! Bought mine in January and I find it surprisingly versatile. My X-T1 gets used half as much as last year. I've used both the original X100 and X100S extensively on long-term rentals, and find the X100T to be best of the three by quite a bit; it's snappier and zippier in operation, and I like the knob/dial tweaks, the three way OVF and the improved menu structure. Really a wonderful camera and mine goes with me literally everywhre.

[Marvin G. Van Drunen]

Have it. Love it. Use it for all travel photography. No need for the big gun cameras gathering dust in my camera equipment closet.

[Chris Nicholls]

I'll bet you find the controls too cramped for your fingers.

[Anthony Bridges]

I've owned the X100s since December 2013. I really enjoy this camera. It's my primary walkabout and travel rig. I'm one of those oddballs who usually walk out of the house with a camera and it is much easier unit to carry than a typical dslr.

[Steve Biro]

Congratulations, Mike. The price you paid for your new-to-you X100S was perfect. I have the X100T, having held off through the first two iterations of the camera.

One reads Internet posts from those wishing the X100 series stuck with the Bayer sensor but I think you'll love the camera and the results it gives. There are those who say they couldn't bond with the camera or were frustrated by it. I say a good number of those people were trying to use the X100/S/T as something it wasn't and isn't.

This is a camera intended for thoughtful, relaxed photography. Those who came up in the age of film and manual controls tend to take to it best. I will be interested to learn about your experiences with the Fuji X100S, Mike.

By the way, I met a professional photographer who was rocking an X100S at a Blues jam on the Jersey Shore a month or so ago. He told me he also has a full-on Canon 5D Mark whatever kit but finds he often gets better results from the Fuji.

[john]

Sad to say, it's my favorite camera that I hardly ever use. Can't part with it, but it always gets left behind as I head out with another camera...

[paul richardson]

I have the x100T, and it's the closest thing to a "real" camera that I've found in the digital age. It reminds me a lot of the Canon QL 19 I bought from an army recruiter who'd picked it up in Vietnam, back around 1970 or thereabouts. I think I paid 50.00 for it.
But I digress. The Fujis are great, and I haven't looked back.

[Christer]

Well, it's no LEICA.

Meaning it has great high ISO performance and autofocus.

Love my M9 but it makes the X100 look like a swiss army knife in comparison. Hope you enjoy it!

[PVS]

I liked it but never could have loved it. Tried first version as well and something in those files shot @1600ISO and over just didn't look right. I tried and tried to love it but just couldn't. Sluggish to none AF also didn't help close the sale for me.
Eventually went for FF equivalent - A7 + 35/2.8 Zeiss. Don't get those sexy looks but up to 5000ISO files do the job and the lens nails AF every time.

[Bruce Mc]

Note that Fujifilm makes two add-on lenses for this camera: a wide angle and a telephoto, 28mm and 50mm respectively.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/861781-REG/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1032495-REG/