Fujifilm FinePix x100, Sony RX1, Nikon J1

davetucker

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Dave Tucker
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Well, I have looked, researched and "drove myself mad", I am looking for a compact camera that I can put in my coat pocket and carry around when out and about, I have come to 3 cameras:

1) Fuji FinePix X100, refurbished around £460

2) Sony RX100 £410

3) Nikon J1 £380 (twin lens kit)

all seem to have great points, however £400-£450 is a lot of cash to spend, and would appreciate any comments views, or is there another camera in this price range I should consider:thinking::thinking::thinking:.

Regards
dave
 
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I'd say that the rx100 is the only one of those that will comfortably fit in a pocket. My x100 will squeeze into a big pocket but you wouldn't want to use it like that. Q
 
Hi Graham, how do you find the X100??
 
I got the Fuji X10 in the end.
Didn't want any risk of GAS so Nikon out the window (lenses ;) )

I'm still not sure whether I should have got the X100 yet (after about 3 months now). I dont 'think' it does 1080 HD video though where the X10 does. Funny, i had no interest in this with dslr, but shows how different the concept a little camera is (to me anyway)

Just something about setting the x10 to Provia 'film' and the jpegs SOOC :) i'm sure the x100 would be that same sort of thing. The Fuji's seem quite quirky if you know what i mean, but very very good imo. Smaller sensor, but lens (i think x10's is great) and a few other bits and bobs almost make up for it....battery is a shocker after dslr, but fair enough, and a second is cheap as chips anyway....

Depth of field important?
Low light?
Video?
Lenses? ........
 
Thanks for the response Craig, it is just so difficult to make a decision, re:

Depth of field important? Yes
Low light? Oh yes
Video? Not so important
Lenses? no, not really

Have nearly pushed the "buy" button on the X100 twice, but keep whimping out....
 
Hi Graham, how do you find the X100??

I love it!

It's not for everybody though. I'll get the negatives out of the way first. The AF is poor in low light. It's not bad at all in good light but if you're used to a DSLR, there is no denying it struggle when the light drops a bit. You just need to be a bit more picky with finding some contrast to help the camera. A few of the controls I'd like at my finger tips are a bit buried in the menus, there are a couple of shortcut buttons but two is not enough! The exposure compensation dial is way too easy to knock. It's too big for most pockets. It's not particularly easy to just pick up and use, it's a photographer's camera rather than a snap shot camera if that doesn't sound too poncey. And lastly, some won't like the fixed focal length lens but again it's a personal thing.

After all that negativity, to redress the balance, the good stuff. Firstly the IQ is just superb. The colour rendition is lovely and it even works well at high iso in very low light (if you can focus!). It's actually surprisingly similar in noise performance to my D700. The aesthetics, maybe it shouldn't be important but I love the way this camera looks, very retro but very high quality. I also love the ergonomics, all the important controls other than the shutter have a lovely mechanical feel to them. Makes the camera a joy to use in the same way i love using old film SLR's. What I like about owning an X100 is that it gives me a compact camera that I can carry anywhere and I never feel like I've had to compromise on image quality in the name of portability. Never had that before even with quite decent compacts.

There you go then, a bit marmite but you might just love it.
 
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For just carrying around when out and about in your pocket then the RX100 may be a better choice.
I had an X100 and loved most things about it but it didn't fit in my coat pocket very comfortably so I never just carried it around. As I had to deliberately take it out I decided to just go back to using a DSLR (didn't realise how much I missed DSLR focusing!)
 
Agree about the focussing of the X100. My wife and I both use my camera and focussing up close and in dim light is frustrating. Especially as the wide lens lends itself to getting up close. This really wouldn't be an issue if you could switch to using the manual ring but the increments are so pathetic you end up spinning it about 10 times before you get where you want to be by which time its too late.

This is why i'm moving back to DSLR.
 
Hi thanks for all the responses, looks like I am going to opt for a re-furb x-10 from fujifilm £257 with discount applied,

Regards
Dave
 
D-man said:
Agree about the focussing of the X100. My wife and I both use my camera and focussing up close and in dim light is frustrating. Especially as the wide lens lends itself to getting up close. This really wouldn't be an issue if you could switch to using the manual ring but the increments are so pathetic you end up spinning it about 10 times before you get where you want to be by which time its too late.

This is why i'm moving back to DSLR.

I have no problem focusing in low light, i us AFc and macro for close up
 
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