Fuji X10 vs. Contax G1/2 viewfinder

Never looked through either but I did see my first X10 the other day and was fairly impressed. It was sitting in the display cabinet next to an X100 at a camera store. A little less of a show pony than the X100 IMO .... very nice looking camera!
 
The G's are great, but even their advocates never praised the finder! It was adequate, though, and so is this one. A little center focus point marker would be welcome, but no biggie.
 
The G viewfinder had the little "focus here" half rectangle while the X10 has none. I don't know which is "better" per se but one could say that the X10's is far less "cluttered" . I half wanted some info in there, or at least a "focus here" semi circle or something :)

Mind you, I do enjoy the X10... :)

Cheers,
Dave
 
Never used a G1/G2 but I find the Fuji X10's finder ok for what it is. The only thing I would have liked to have seen would have been a parallax correcting af circle/square or cross indicator in it. Easy enough to learn to live without that though. Overall an enjoyable P&S to use.

Bob
 
Can I ask how the shutter lag is these days on this latest generation of such cameras. (I last had an early Ricoh GRD but opted out after three repairs.)
 
Bought one. To answer my own question: the X10's is far nicer.

Can't say I agree with that although it's now been over two years since I sold my G2. If memory serves, I believe I preferred the G2's finder by a margin.

Just played around with an X10 today. Not bad. The viewfinder is serviceable.
 
Can I ask how the shutter lag is these days on this latest generation of such cameras. (I last had an early Ricoh GRD but opted out after three repairs.)

I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Best advice would be to try one out at a store if possible.

Bob
 
Can I ask how the shutter lag is these days on this latest generation of such cameras. (I last had an early Ricoh GRD but opted out after three repairs.)

I second what Bob said. You need to play around with it in-store before buying.

I was honestly surprised at the focus acquisition speed and shutter speed. AF was better than the NEX 5N I was also playing with. That may be down to the X10 being set to a single centre focus point? Not sure. Was surprised at how slow the NEX was under similar conditions.

I thought I would like the X10 instantly but didn't. Nice build quality, but I found it small and a bit cramped feeling (and I have kid hands). Was also not sure about the VF as a useful composition tool. Better than none, yes, and better than any I've seen on that size camera. But not exactly something that brings one joy.
 
Paddy C

I agree with you on the size thing and that is what I thought initially also having big mitts. After using it for a bit that feeling is more or less gone. The VF is pretty useful as a composition tool once you get used to it and compensate by cropping a little closer. It also becomes progressively harder to use a compositional tool the closer you get due to parallax error but again you can learn to compensate. If composition is critical you always have the option to use the back screen which I do especially for macro shots.

Bob
 
I love that it has equivalent focal lengths on the lens barrel. Wonderful. And a physical EV comp dial. And that fn is preset to ISO.

Will probably use the VF for outdoor/distance photography and the screen for macro.

It really does remind me of the G1/2, in good ways.
 
You can do away with using the function button for iso changes, for the most part anyway, if you can live with setting auto iso to a range you can tolerate. I think this camera allows for a nice balance of automation vs manual input that can be tailored to the users wishes depending on how much or little control you crave. That is within the limits that a P&S can do that. Nice package really.

Bob
 
Well, now I gone and done it too. I'll have one in a few days. Couldn't resist, it just looks too nice to pass up! It even looks a little like a real camera!
 
Back
Top Bottom