Why It's Good To Get Up, Go Outside, Take Some Photos And . . .

[Arjay]

I went back to my local store today and asked some pertinent questions of the staff who had more time with the camera than I did.

1. Is the release date still March? - Nope... it's been pushed back to sometime in mid/end of April, due to, according to Fuji "unexpected demand"
2. Is $1200 Retail or Street price? - Retail BUT apparently Fuji has informed retailers they cannot discount this camera initially. Yep.. what you see on the price tag is what you're going to pay.

Interesting - this doesn't match with what I found out today:

I went to Munich's largest camera store (Foto Video Sauter) today to find out about how FujiFilm is going to introduce the X100 in Germany. Fuji apparently has not done any retailer previews in Germany, the salespeople at Sauter's have not yet had the X100 in their hands. The responsible department manager had listened in to my conversation with a salesman, and later approached me to give me further information about how the camera will be brought to the market in Germany:

• In the first week of March, FujiFilm will make a promotional tour through various German cities, demoing the camera to prospective customers. So, call up your trusted retailer and ask for presentation details. You can bet I'll be there!
• At the same time, FujiFilm will begin shipping the camera to the stores. The store will not only receive demo cameras in March, it will also have them in deliverable stock! I.e. you'll be able to purchase the camera on the spot and walk home with it (if you decide quickly, I presume).
• The purchase price of the camera will be € 998,- including 19% German VAT. I presume this is the manufacturer's suggested retail price, as Sauter's is not known for rock-bottom prices. Rather, this store always aims to be the first to offer new products. Street prices will only develop later.

Sounds like good news, doesn't it?

 

[Andy Kibber]

My quick impressions:

...

What the? The aperture ring goes the wrong way!

 

[kevin m]

Oh, like packages are being delivered in CT. FedEx is holding a box of mine from KEH hostage because there is too much snow on the ground. Are you telling me that life in the quiet corner hasn't stopped because it has been snowing out?

I must confess my "package" was theoretical. But I think you must be right. My UPS driver stops about halfway up our 330ft. driveway in good weather. I can't imagine what the 5ft. walls of snow lining our drive now would do to his fragile psyche! 😛

 

[cpharris]

What the? The aperture ring goes the wrong way!

Guess they prefer the Nikon way. At least you can flip the focus ring direction to your preference. Coming from Nikons myself I've been trained in doing things the wrong way 🙂

 

[keepright]

Gavin, I don't have much that I can contribute about the AF performance - I divide cameras into "noticeable and annoying" and "unobtrusive and not annoying". The X100 is definitely in the second category, but I wasn't in a position to really put it through its paces. (and it's also a preproduction unit, so it might not have really mattered.)

Dave;
"…apparently Fuji has informed retailers they cannot discount this camera initially…"

Not to nitpick, because the effect is the same, but Fujifilm can't tell the stores what they can sell the cameras for. However, Fuji can control where the initial allotment of stock goes, so 'preferred retailers' that stick with an MSRP/MAP may get their orders filled first. (And maybe not, who can really say? Warehouses are such difficult things to predict.) On the other hand, some retailers are including 'bonus' items, and others may have unadvertised specials in the store, so it may still be worth looking around even though everyone will be quoting the same price.

videogamemaker, no worries, I didn't feel attacked, and I know the feeling of trying to squeeze every possible nuance of meaning out of inadequate information. I understand that you're trying to evaluate two different sources, and having to balance the credibility of Some Guy On A Forum and the largest camera-review site that Amazon's ever owned. (In my favour, I've never called Live View "a solution looking for a problem.") But I personally don't see a massive yawning chasm between the build quality of the Lecia X1 and the Leica M9, certainly not one big enough to say that my opinion is 'diametrically opposed' to DPreview's. And for that matter, I only said "build quality" while DPreview compared it to the M9's "build quality and beauty as an object". (emphasis added) So if their opinion of the X1's beauty as an object is the same as mine, that would explain the different points of comparison.

And for what it's worth - in my personal, biased, and marginally informed opinion - both the M9 and X1 are superbly built, but the X1's build and function isn't compromised by the unnecessary complications of being a camera. Your milage, as the saying goes, may vary.

 

[Frankie]

......but the rep said these were not the 1.1 million pixels that the production model would eventually be.......

The [Fuji] rep. was wrong.

The X100 uses an Epson EVF panel, which is 800 x 600 pixels @ 12u size [~ 1/5 of the average thickness of human head hair]. This Epson panel displays RGB pixels discretely and sequentially [very fast] which your own brain integrate into colours. Specsmanship translated all that as 800 x 600 x 3 [RGB] = 1.44 million pixels.

See: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0910/09101501epsonhtpspanel.asp

The X100 now, or later, will never have 1.1 million pixels in the EVF.

This EVF panel is also used in the Oly EP's but not in the Pany GF1... [coarser].

 

[dcsang]

1.1.... 1.4... what's 300,000 pixels between friends 😀

Basically the Rep said that the EVF is impressive (and even the prototype I saw was) - and really.. let's cut the rep some slack.. he's in sales and not a "techie" per se 😉

Dave

 

[Frankie]

1.1.... 1.4... what's 300,000 pixels between friends 😀......

All sales reps I ever know are the same...they don't know much, don't do homework, but talk, talk, and talk some more.

There is a big difference between 480,000 pixels to 1.1 or 1.4 million. Personally, I don't care and ignore their talks anyway. I have seen what the Oly EVP can do and more than impressed. After all, whatever there is beyond human visual acuity does not matter...if there was a difference or not, you can't see it anyway.

[Think about it...if the O/EVF has a 0.5X magnification, then 12u EVF panel pixel size becomes 6u...; humans eyes is said to be able to resolve 1 arc-minute, or 330u at 1m [apparent focal distance], you or I could never see it.]

However, there are EXPERTS in these forums who insist EVF is no good...without ever understanding why or what. They don't understand and won't believe the biggest problems is unmatched refresh frequency to AC, easily seen in florescent lighting. You will never have EVF problems in daylight...another long discourse.

All that doesn't matter between friends...really.

 

[jsrockit]

I've been using the Panasonic G2 (I bought for my girlfriend) and I can even handle the EVF on that. As long as it is as good or better, I'm ok... tjough I'll probably prefer the OVF.

 

[Quash]

Well, 800x600x3(rgb) appears to be 1.4 million dots, not pixels. 1.4 mill dots vs. 1.4 pixels is quite different.

 

[Quash]

On Feb. 2nd, Fujiguys (Fuji Canada marketing) said the X100 would be released March 18th. Not sure how this stacks up against whatyou heard about it being pushed to April. Hey, I'm okay if the date gets pushed so they can ramp up supply to meet demand. This will mean better prices after the early adopters have bought at full price.

 

[Frankie]

Well, 800x600x3(rgb) appears to be 1.4 million dots, not pixels. 1.4 mill dots vs. 1.4 pixels is quite different.

I [and the aerial imaging industry that I am in] rarely use the term "dots" in describing resolution. In fact, no serious aerial camera uses the Bayer pattern. [The latest is the Zeiss RMK/D with a monolithic 11,200 x 11,700, 7.2u pixel size panchromatic chip...131Mp; colourized by 4 discrete channels (Ir/R/G/B) of colour overlay.]

In general, I think of dots as in half-tone dots that you see all at once.

In the Epson EVF panel, you only see 800 x 600 [480,000] pixels at any one instant of time. Rapid "flashing" of RGB fools your brain into seeing colour...and of course they say 1.4 million dot/pixel, or 1.67 million colours [256 x 256 x 256...8bit RGB]...sounds more impressive. 😉

 

[Frankie]

I've been using the Panasonic G2 (I bought for my girlfriend) and I can even handle the EVF on that. As long as it is as good or better, I'm ok... tjough I'll probably prefer the OVF.

The Pany G1, G2...uses a proprietary EVF panel also of the same resolution as the Epson panel; while the GF1... uses a coarser one in their external EVF and inferior to the Oly EP offerings.

I had the experience of playing with the G1, GF1 and Oly EVF and optical, side by side, one after another in a Tokyo camera super-mart. The optical VF is best in fluorescent lighting, but if you aim the camera to an outdoor scene [no 60Hz AC frequency lighting mismatches], the higher resolution EVF is very, very close. I expect the same comparison within the X100 O/EVF.

 

[ZeissFan]

From our description, it sounds like Fuji has a winner on its hands. I wonder if some people will be put off by the light weight, as some people equate weight with quality.

From photos of the camera, I was expecting a smaller camera, something in the neighborhood of an Olympus 35 RC.

 

[willie_901]

... I wonder if some people will be put off by the light weight, as some people equate weight with quality.

No doubt–some certainly will.

 

[videogamemaker]

From our description, it sounds like Fuji has a winner on its hands. I wonder if some people will be put off by the light weight, as some people equate weight with quality.

From photos of the camera, I was expecting a smaller camera, something in the neighborhood of an Olympus 35 RC.

It is in the neighborhood of the 35RC. The 35rc is 425 grams, the x100 440, and this image uses sizeazy to show them in relation. (pink is 35rc and purple X100)

As for weight, the lighter the better. Heft does make things seem nicer or better made, but after you have decided you like the device, if it's something you have to carry around, every gram less is a blessing. Several people who have had them in their hands say that it feels very solid, has an appropriate heft and felt solidly built.