Rob-F
Likes Leicas
OK I went and got one. I have a little time to decide if I want to keep it. To talk about it, I will have to bring in the Leica/Panasonic D-Lux cameras that have become second nature to me over the past several years.
Impressions on taking the camera out of the box: Nice looking camera! And what a good size it is; not too tiny and not too big. There is a little grip in front and a little rubber piece in back that makes a right-hand only grip easy, in a way that the Pan-Leicas are not (There I go about the Pan-Leicas). I took it out in the evening, sans neckstrap, for some after-sunset photos and found it to be a comfortable hand-held camera with nothing attached. The next day, I tried it on a neckstrap. I used the strap that came with the D-Lux 4, as the Fuji one seemed a bit overlarge for the size of the camera. I think I might rather have a wrist strap in the right strap lug, than to use it on a neckstrap. The camera just feels good in the hand.
Everyone raves about the real metal lens cap. But I found it too bulky in the pocket. I took it off and used a 40.5mm snap-cap, which fits fine.
The optical viewfinder is for emergencies only, when you can't see the screen well enough in bright sunlight. There's no info in this finder; you can't even tell what you have focused on. And although they don't claim that the optical finder is accurate--just 85% according to Fuji--it annoyed me that I was getting too much around the edges that I didn't mean to be in the picture. I quickly started using only the LCD screen, which is much better.
This camera gives you a lot of control, with options I didn't expect to get on such a small camera. If you press the "AF" button, you can use the 4-way control to move the point of focus to where you need it to be, just like on a D-700 or similar. And with the "AE" button you can select Average, multipattern, or spot metering. There is an AE lock/AF/lock button you can press with the thumb, while the index finger stays on the shutter release. Again, just like a DSLR. And like my D700, there is a confusing choice of whether to have this button be for AE lock only, AF lock only, or both. And if you make it be for AE lock only, then you can hold it down while you half-press the shutter button for AF lock. Or was it the other way around? Excuse me while I go read the manual--which, by the way, is not the last word in clarity or thoroughness.
Speaking of the manual, I couldn't get the flash to work. Pressing the flash option on the 4-way did nothing. According to the manual, it should then offer you a choice of several options that Fuji is pleased to call "Super-Intelligent Flash." I finally figured out that I had to press the top edge of the 4-way to select "still image" rather than a bunch of other things it does, like bracketing and movies. I saw nothing in the manual about that. However, the flash works well once you figure that out.
More on controls: there's a programmable function button. The default option is for ISO setting. You can make it be something else, if you want. And there is a WB white balance button. Very handy to have that so accessible.
The optical finder has a diopter wheel whose range of adjustment is so great I can set it to correct my minus 4.5 diopter or so vision, and not need my eyeglasses. However, I can see in the finder just fine with my glasses on.
One thing I'm still investigating is whether the pictures are really as sharp as the ones I get from my D-Lux 3 and D-Lux 4. I don't know that are are--but I don't know they are not, either. My initial impression was that they are not--but the sky was hazy, and details were not standing out in sharp relief. Take this with a grain of salt until I get a chance to shoot the same scenes with both--or maybe all three--cameras. It should be better; the sensor is larger than the PanLeicas; but I'm not sure about the lens yet. I worry they they may have gone too far in trying to make a fast 28-112. Maybe a 28-85 would have been wiser. We'll see. Don't start any rumors about this. I have to gather some facts.
It has 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 options. But it does it by cropping the basic 4:3 field. I feel that Panasonic got it right with the LX/2 (Leica D-Lux 3), when they started with 16:9 as the full image, at 10MP; then 3:2 at 8.5MP; and 4:3 at 7.5MP. It just makes sense to me for the widest image to have the largest file. Then they screwed it up on the D-Lux 4, which has 9MP in 16:9; 9.5 MP in 3:2; and 10MP at 4:3. But I digress.
Ending on a positive note: the high-ISO performance is awesome for such a small camera. It's light-years ahead of the PanLeicas (and I hardly need add, my M8.2 as well).
Fuji X10, ISO 1600, f/2.8
Impressions on taking the camera out of the box: Nice looking camera! And what a good size it is; not too tiny and not too big. There is a little grip in front and a little rubber piece in back that makes a right-hand only grip easy, in a way that the Pan-Leicas are not (There I go about the Pan-Leicas). I took it out in the evening, sans neckstrap, for some after-sunset photos and found it to be a comfortable hand-held camera with nothing attached. The next day, I tried it on a neckstrap. I used the strap that came with the D-Lux 4, as the Fuji one seemed a bit overlarge for the size of the camera. I think I might rather have a wrist strap in the right strap lug, than to use it on a neckstrap. The camera just feels good in the hand.
Everyone raves about the real metal lens cap. But I found it too bulky in the pocket. I took it off and used a 40.5mm snap-cap, which fits fine.
The optical viewfinder is for emergencies only, when you can't see the screen well enough in bright sunlight. There's no info in this finder; you can't even tell what you have focused on. And although they don't claim that the optical finder is accurate--just 85% according to Fuji--it annoyed me that I was getting too much around the edges that I didn't mean to be in the picture. I quickly started using only the LCD screen, which is much better.
This camera gives you a lot of control, with options I didn't expect to get on such a small camera. If you press the "AF" button, you can use the 4-way control to move the point of focus to where you need it to be, just like on a D-700 or similar. And with the "AE" button you can select Average, multipattern, or spot metering. There is an AE lock/AF/lock button you can press with the thumb, while the index finger stays on the shutter release. Again, just like a DSLR. And like my D700, there is a confusing choice of whether to have this button be for AE lock only, AF lock only, or both. And if you make it be for AE lock only, then you can hold it down while you half-press the shutter button for AF lock. Or was it the other way around? Excuse me while I go read the manual--which, by the way, is not the last word in clarity or thoroughness.
Speaking of the manual, I couldn't get the flash to work. Pressing the flash option on the 4-way did nothing. According to the manual, it should then offer you a choice of several options that Fuji is pleased to call "Super-Intelligent Flash." I finally figured out that I had to press the top edge of the 4-way to select "still image" rather than a bunch of other things it does, like bracketing and movies. I saw nothing in the manual about that. However, the flash works well once you figure that out.
More on controls: there's a programmable function button. The default option is for ISO setting. You can make it be something else, if you want. And there is a WB white balance button. Very handy to have that so accessible.
The optical finder has a diopter wheel whose range of adjustment is so great I can set it to correct my minus 4.5 diopter or so vision, and not need my eyeglasses. However, I can see in the finder just fine with my glasses on.
One thing I'm still investigating is whether the pictures are really as sharp as the ones I get from my D-Lux 3 and D-Lux 4. I don't know that are are--but I don't know they are not, either. My initial impression was that they are not--but the sky was hazy, and details were not standing out in sharp relief. Take this with a grain of salt until I get a chance to shoot the same scenes with both--or maybe all three--cameras. It should be better; the sensor is larger than the PanLeicas; but I'm not sure about the lens yet. I worry they they may have gone too far in trying to make a fast 28-112. Maybe a 28-85 would have been wiser. We'll see. Don't start any rumors about this. I have to gather some facts.
It has 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 options. But it does it by cropping the basic 4:3 field. I feel that Panasonic got it right with the LX/2 (Leica D-Lux 3), when they started with 16:9 as the full image, at 10MP; then 3:2 at 8.5MP; and 4:3 at 7.5MP. It just makes sense to me for the widest image to have the largest file. Then they screwed it up on the D-Lux 4, which has 9MP in 16:9; 9.5 MP in 3:2; and 10MP at 4:3. But I digress.
Ending on a positive note: the high-ISO performance is awesome for such a small camera. It's light-years ahead of the PanLeicas (and I hardly need add, my M8.2 as well).
Fuji X10, ISO 1600, f/2.8
