X20??

[dazedgonebye]

All my DSLR gear is on ebay, finishing tomorrow and Sunday.
I just decided I didn't have the need for all that firepower and that I was tired of carrying a big bag of crap around.

So began the hunt for a carry around do it all replacement. I wanted something to have with me all the time and figured I carry film gear for the work I find more interesting when I have the time.

I went through all sorts of options in my mind for this camera. I looked at superzoom "bridge cameras" like the Panasonic FZ200. I looked at smaller compacts with long lenses, the new Olympus Stylus 1 looks really nice. I went back to looking for a longer lens but larger sensor and that brought me around to the Fuji X-S1.

When I realized that the X-S1 is about the size of a DSLR with about an 18-135 mm lens on it, I knew I was unlikely to carry it around all of the time, in spite of the much longer (600+mm lens).

So, round and round I went and I think I'm settled on an X20. The image quality should be good enough, considering I'm not likely to print from it. The 4X zoom is limiting compared to the superzooms, but it comes in a package that I'll actually carry.

Hopefully I'm making the right choice.

One question? How usable do we all find the optical viewfinder? I really don't care to use the screen on the back.

 

[jpfisher]

The viewfinder on the X20 is the best you'll find in that class of camera--much bigger/brighter than say the Canon G16.

If I was buying a pocket shooter for myself, the X20 would be very high on my list.

 

[dazedgonebye]

I'm kinda thinking of it as my Digital Hexar, albeit with a zoom.
The X100S would fit the bill of digital Hexar better, at twice the price...and I'd like to have a bit of zoom.

 

[daveleo]

I had an X10 for about 2 months (Nov - Dec 2013).
I also have an X100, which is MUCH closer to your "digital hexar" than the X10/X20.

I traded the X10 away - I always grabbed the X100 (which is not very much bigger).

For family P&S, the X10/X20 will be more that "good", but you may want to consider out a used X100 also.

 

[dc5]

Nowadays,when I go out to shoot for fun, I have a choice of Leica film, aps-c dslr, and evf...but my camera of choice is the X10. It just fits me...2 handed operation, clear viewfinder, and excellent image quality. Some complain about the viefinder not showing all the image, but the Leica M4 only showed around 87% of the image captured on film...but still took a lot of great photos!

 

[JoeV]

I've been using an X10 for about a month, along with my venerable Lumix G5 and a recently acquired Sony A-390 DSLR. Of the three, the X10 has the best build quality, and the smallest sensor. But for street photos, I'm finding the wide DOF of the X10 to be an intrinsic advantage. In all but the most subdued lighting, it's about equivalent to the G5 in terms of dynamic range and holding detail in the highlights (actually, in the EXR-DR mode it's a bit better than the G5), while sporting about the same pixel resolution.

I find the OVF a bit less accurate than desired; I cut my digital teeth on micro-4/3, and have grown to like an EVF, so with the X10 I hold the camera out in front of me, at the length of the neck strap (which helps to steady my arms) and use the rear LCD.

If I'm not shooting in the EXR mode, I'll shoot in raw, and find it a joy to "develop" JPEGs in-camera, where you can adjust highlight and shadow contrast separately. Here I must say that I've gotten used to Silky Pix as a raw developer through using Lumix G cameras, and find it very capable.

BTW, as an aside, the Sony A-390, though a massive brick by comparison to the X10, I'm findiing is very suited for available light shooting, especially in high-contrast daylight, because its now-almost-outdated 14mp CCD sensor seems to hold highlight detail better than the newer CMOS sensors.

~Joe