Much talk about nothing.

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ponyman

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When I was a lad you could buy an old Jag for a few hundred quid! I loved the leather seats, the polished wooden veneer, the numerous dials and switches. The beautiful lines that oozed power and superiority, the shiny chrome. Throwing open the huge bonnet showed the imposing and sophisticated engine. On a good day they were marvellous to drive. Sweeping though bends with precision and devouring lesser road users with ease. Of course there were other sides to the coin. The thing only started from cold with much juggling of accelerator, and often not at all. It used 3 times as much fuel as anything else on the road. It was a nightmare in town where its size and enormous turning circle made it an embarrassment and it would overheat regularly. Realistically, it was an expensive liability. It was a something that I owned because I loved it.

What has this got to do with the X100? Well both are self indulgent items that produce results that can be equalled or in some ways exceeded by others costing far less. Both require fettling to get the best from them and respond far better after an extended period of acquisition. Both are easily be dismissed out of hand, by the majority of people, as excessive and unnecessary jewellery. Both would set my heart racing just by looking at them.

I profess to being neither a particularly good driver and even less a photographer. But both give me a certain warm feeling that would be completely lost on others. I have read many reviews and comments about the X100, both good and bad. At the end of the day, you either get it or you don't 😉
 
Cool writeup, though I don't really see how you can get the same results as an x100 for less... You'd need an APSC sensor camera with small/flat form factor and a 24mm f2 lens. Even a second hand canon 5d with a 35mm f2 would be more expensive.

I used to love the jags when I was a kid too...
 
Coming from a background of being a motor mechanic who served his apprenticeship on British vehicles (Jaguars incuded) ... this comparison worries me! 😱

I may just cancel my X100 order!

😀
 
fdigital said:
Cool writeup, though I don't really see how you can get the same results as an x100 for less... You'd need an APSC sensor camera with small/flat form factor and a 24mm f2 lens. Even a second hand canon 5d with a 35mm f2 would be more expensive.

I used to love the jags when I was a kid too...
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Good point. I never thought of that.
 
Keith said:
Coming from a background of being a motor mechanic who served his apprenticeship on British vehicles (Jaguars incuded) ... this comparison worries me! 😱

I may just cancel my X100 order!

😀
Click to expand...

Haha! No joy in Lucas Electrics. Or tuning Jag carbs. 🙂
 
Coming from a background of being a motor mechanic who served his apprenticeship on British vehicles (Jaguars incuded) ... this comparison worries me!
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I could not agree more. This said, I can't imagine any Japanese camera producer building&selling something as grand and inadequate as an old Jag...
 
A long, long time ago someone arrived at an summer afternoon party driving a XKE coupe. I'll never forget how I was blown away by every aspect of that car (and particularly by how quick it was!). The driver volunteered to take people on short, but exciting rides. Every single time he returned to the party, the XKE promptly puked the contents of it's radiator with great vigor. Of course this sort of behavior had reduced the anti-freeze content to unmeasurably low levels long before the party. So, with the engine idling, we just topped the radiator off with a garden hose and the next lucky passenger departed.

From that day on I felt the XKE was one of the most beautiful automobiles in existence.
 
The Smoke Theory of Electric Circuits Electrical Theory by Joseph Lucas

Positive ground depends upon proper circuit functioning, the transmission of negative ions by retention of the visible spectral manifestation known as “smoke”. Smoke is the thing that makes electrical circuits work; we know this to be true because every time one lets the smoke out of the electrical system, it stops working. This can be verified repeatedly through empirical testing.

When, for example, the smoke escapes from an electrical component (i.e., say, a Lucas voltage regulator), it will be observed that the component stops working. The function of the wire harness is to carry the smoke from one device to another; when the wire harness “springs a leak”, and lets all the smoke out of the system, nothing works afterwards. Starter motors were frowned upon in British Automobiles for some time, largely because they consume large quantities of smoke, requiring very large wires.
 
fdigital said:
Even a second hand canon 5d with a 35mm f2 would be more expensive.
Click to expand...

But a 5D is FF, not APS-C. One of the entry level Canons or Nikons would be a better comparison, not just in regards to sensor size but also for the smaller form factor and price.
That being said, any kind of comparison will be lacking in some regards as the X100 is quite unique on the market right now.
 
Jamie123 said:
But a 5D is FF, not APS-C. One of the entry level Canons or Nikons would be a better comparison, not just in regards to sensor size but also for the smaller form factor and price.
That being said, any kind of comparison will be lacking in some regards as the X100 is quite unique on the market right now.
Click to expand...

Problem is that neither canon nor nikon make a 24mm f2. The both make a 24mm 1.4 but you'd be looking at nearly 2K just for the lens. In that respect, the 5d with the 35mm f2 is way more comparable.
 
If you are immune to ergonomics and / or think DSLRs feel good in the hand, then you may think the X100 is overpriced... which is fair. However, if you hate the way a DSLR fits in the hand and the size of those beasts, then these small APS-C cameras are wonderful and worth every penny... especially one shaped like a rangefinder with a OVF/EVF built in. You either get it or you don't.
 
A friend had a little Nikon D40 at a party last night and looked pretty comfortable for the three hours he carried it.

Funny thing is about dslrs. I see guys complaining about the small sized ones all the time. They say hand cramping is a problem.

I would like a GF1 or 2 sized camera with built in evf or ovf that I could carry in my pants pocket.
 
I once owned 1973 Jaguar XJ6. I loved that car. But unlike my Leica X1, I had to add EVERY fluid (oil transmission, brake, coolant, etc.) at least once a week. I am very happy that my Leica X1 fits in my pocket and never leaks. I suspect the X100 is the same.
 
I had a 1966 Jag XKE for about six months back in the early 1970's. Well used. I think I worked on it five of those six months, and drove it a total of a few weeks! The electrics were nuts. You never knew what was going to happen when you flipped a switch or turned a knob. lol

Unloaded it on somebody dumber than me as quickly as I could! Fun car when it was running, though.

Have had a few cameras like that, too.
 
Interesting writeup. Can you point us to the 12mp APS-C cameras that come with a 23mm f2 prime lens for far less money? I anxiously await your list.
 
Once Jaguars were a few years old, they normally divided into the ones with great engines and bodywork you could poke your finger through, or solid bodies with clapped-out engines. Odd, but true.

They always required maintenance, but if they got it, they were quite reliable (from new). I wonder how many who had bad experiences with old Jags bough them or drove them when they were already a few years old and had received standard American (= zero) maintenance up to then.

An old friend, now dead, was a founder member of the Jaguar Owners Club, and had most models from the 1930s SS to the 1960s. Personally I preferred TRs for fast driving and Rovers (P4, P5) for luxury. Jags were neither one thing nor the other, except perhaps the XJS V12, but it was damnably complicated.

Cheers,

R.
 
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