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taylorm21

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Hello, I'm a Nikon DSLR user, and I'm considering switching to a rangefinder type camera such as the X100 and was just wondering what peoples opinions were of them. I'm drawn mainly to fact it's size compares favourably to my D90, and it seems fairly similar in spec.
 
I got my X100 as a complement to my DSLR rather than a replacement for it; I'm not sure I could live without the interchangeable lenses!

Read the review linked above, and go try out out in a shop. Overall I'd say it is a 'flawed' camera, but nothing so serious that I'd consider giving it up - a slightly confused message perhaps, but let me explain.

Big strengths for me are the control dials - a direct, quick and intuitive way of controlling the camera - the overall IQ, brightness of the optical viewfinder and general look and feel (much easier not to be the centre of attention that with a bloody great DSLR!).

Weaknesses - the firmware is pretty awful to navigate compared to Canon's, and the thumbwheel on the back is plain awful. Useless RAW button which should be reprogrammable and other basic flaws.

None of the big weaknesses affect how I use the camera for photos, so I can choose to ignore them - well perhaps apart from the manual focus :P
 
Very happy with mine. Sure, there's still a few things I'd change about it but I've had cameras that have cost me 5-6 times as much and used them because they make good images, I use the x100 because it's a joy to use, the fact that the images out of it are fantastic is just a happy coincidence.
 
thanks for the comments, the things that really appeals is the size and the fact the controls are not buried in menus. One of the frustrating things I've found with my D90 was spinning dials whilst looking through the viewfinder only to find I'm scrolling through playback rather than changing aperture, shutter speed.
 
Make sure you try out the VF and ensure the diopter adjustment suits - there's not a lot of adjustment there - I had to return mine. Frustratingly the x10 has an excellent range of adjustment.
 
I have thought about the X100 but the main thing that puts me off is the fact that the manual focus is not reported as being very good.

It's probably fine if you use autofocus but I really don't like using autofocus.

If they did a 28mm equivalent (rather than 35mm equivalent) with true manual focus (mechanical NOT electronic-assisted) the I'd almost certainly get one.
 
boliston said:
I have thought about the X100 but the main thing that puts me off is the fact that the manual focus is not reported as being very good.

It's probably fine if you use autofocus but I really don't like using autofocus.

If they did a 28mm equivalent (rather than 35mm equivalent) with true manual focus (mechanical NOT electronic-assisted) the I'd almost certainly get one.
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Not reported as being very good?

It's less use than a chocolate fireguard! It's absolutely awful.

But it'll hopefully get fixed in firmware and other than that it's bloody great!
 
Canon Bob said:
"Philthejuggler" is using one quite a bit at the moment and there are plenty of shots on his daily blog http://philhackettphotography.blogspot.com/
Well worth having a look or subscribing.

Bob
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bob!

I love my X100. Primarily because the IQ is superb and it is a delight to carry around such a small camera with DSLR challenging quality.

You get used to the slightly finicky button in the dial on the back. I would ideally like a couple of extra programmable buttons but overall it is superb.

I bought the external flash which works with Canon off-camera flash cords - on my blog are some examples of shots taken with this setup firing onto A4 paper for soft portraits.

I also love it for candid work - soooo discrete!

Phil
 
Oh and the manual focus is hopeless - forget it! Some also claim that focus accuracy is better with live view or electronic finder than optical finder for close objects - maybe some truth in that but not reliably reproduced this yet.
 
I've just purchased a X100 which should hopefully be with me on Thursday.

Spent a fair bit of time weighing up getting one, I've twice reserved one previously but ended up cancelling it due to doubts.. the big wall for me was price and for some reason they have come down to a reasonable price 2nd hand, i think it may be down to the sticky blades or general issues in functionality..

I used to have a DSLR but ended up selling due to financial reasons plus towards the end of ownership I was finding myself leaving the DSLR at home, a lot of the time i just couldn't face carrying it around for a day.. plus it wasn't discrete in any way..

I never felt comfortable using it in public or at parties etc, low key social do's etc didn't really suit a big camera, I ended up getting an LX3 at the time as it was ultimately the best available and since then it has done me very well, infact i will definitely keep it!

I spent time looking at options in the X100 price range, and after reading a shed load of reviews I decided nothing was going to beat the X100 in terms of image quality and looks, but a lot of what I have read people find it hard work, not straight forward making you work for the photos you're used to getting easily with other cameras.. end of the day I want picture quality, I don't mind working for it.. I just didn't feel like the micro 4/3rds could cut it in comparison..

I will be back once I've tamed the beast to hopefully share my experience with the X100 :) (or sell it if the love affair does not pursue)
 
If you're looking for a replacement for your DSLR then I'd wait a couple of months for Fuji to announce their third camera is the X-series, as it should have interchangeable lenses. Supposedly named the Fuji LX. The X100 is impressive but it would be limiting as your only camera.
 
I used it the other day when I was trying to get long exposures of a waterfall (cheesy subject I know!).

The camera has a pretty fast max shutter speed anyway so I haven't needed to use it to allow me to use a wide aperture for DOF effect or anything yet, maybe in the summer.
 
Laudrup said:
The Sony NEX-5N or NEX-7 might be worth a look.
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Agreed!
I was going to buy an x100, but the focal length was too wide for the type of stuff I do, and I know it would have sat on the shelf. (Another ornament!)

I then looked at the alternatives, and Sony had a test day at Cambrian with the Nex 7 and the 5n. The 7 is amazing, but not yet available, so I bought a nex 5n. I will probably buy the viewfinder to go with it as I find the image quality great, even with the 18-55 kit lens.
I have ordered an adapter to use my nikon primes on it, so looking forward to that.

I have printed an image at A3 size from approx 75% of the raw file, and am impressed with the quality - but then it is a crop sensor as opposed to the very small sensors in some other small cameras.

I have to admit that it is far better than carrying a D700 and set of fast glass around the mountains, but will never replace it.
 
Rod.F said:
If you're looking for a replacement for your DSLR then I'd wait a couple of months for Fuji to announce their third camera is the X-series, as it should have interchangeable lenses. Supposedly named the Fuji LX. The X100 is impressive but it would be limiting as your only camera.
Click to expand...

Very much depends what you're looking to use the camera for.. In a way I like the thought of being limited and not dreaming about what lens I want to get next.. I'm hoping to adapt and change how I think about shots rather than wishing I had wide angle or more reach..

I may find it too limiting and give up but time will tell..

If the LX delivers on a cheaper alternative to an M9 (full frame, small size, superb lenses, maybe m mount? and ultimately great image quality) then I think there will be floods of people including myself going for it.
 
Full frame? Doubtful.

APSC yes certainly. FF. No.
 
rapid82 said:
If the LX delivers on a cheaper alternative to an M9 (full frame, small size, superb lenses, maybe m mount? and ultimately great image quality) then I think there will be floods of people including myself going for it.
Click to expand...

Its confirmed to be a proprietary mount?

//edit - well, the leaked pictures are anyway.
 
rapid82 said:
Very much depends what you're looking to use the camera for.. In a way I like the thought of being limited and not dreaming about what lens I want to get next.. I'm hoping to adapt and change how I think about shots rather than wishing I had wide angle or more reach..

I may find it too limiting and give up but time will tell..

If the LX delivers on a cheaper alternative to an M9 (full frame, small size, superb lenses, maybe m mount? and ultimately great image quality) then I think there will be floods of people including myself going for it.
Click to expand...

You'd be better getting a Leica M8/8.2. A proprietary Fuji mount is most likely to sell Fuji lenses and a full frame sensor looks unlikely given the problems Leica and Kodak had with their sensor in the M9.

I'd probably compare it more to the NEX-7 competition than the M9.
 
Just picked up the £699 used one that's been on SRS microsystems for ages. It came in mint condition with the filter adaptor and a couple of surprise hoya filters thrown in, with a 6 month warranty. Spoke to them on the phone and they said that they'd tested it for the sticky aperture blade problem.

It was about £50 cheaper than a 2nd hand one off eBay with +6 months warranty as a bonus, so seemed a good deal :). So far I'm loving it, the experience is akin to when I used to shoot film with the Nikon 35Ti. Optical view finder, 35mm, manual dials = heaven. The optical viewfinder is an absolute revelation and has surprisingly accurate framing for anything more than 1m away. Night time shooting is going to be very fun indeed.

Camera seems a lot faster than I've heard from reviews (I think the key is a very fast SD card), and autofocus is a smidge faster than my GRD3. So slower than a DSLR or the newer u4/3 cameras, but fast enough for me. No accuracy problems so far.

As stated, manual focus by itself is useless. But in MF, you can use the well-positioned AEL button to get an auto-focus lock on something, and then tweak it with the MF ring. Works well in the dark, when you can get a fast lock on something with high contrast, then tweak the MF to focus on your target.
 
fixedimage said:
I used it the other day when I was trying to get long exposures of a waterfall (cheesy subject I know!).

The camera has a pretty fast max shutter speed anyway so I haven't needed to use it to allow me to use a wide aperture for DOF effect or anything yet, maybe in the summer.
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Did it work ok with the water shot?
 
Aye.

Well, kind of.

I said up there that the max shutter speed isn't an issue but the other end isn't actually that fantastic with the longest exposure on the dial being 1/4 second.

Rather handily though in Bulb mode the rear screen displays a timer so you can make pretty accurate exposures without having to involve a stopwatch or anything.

Hmm ok, was just having a look at the camera again and I was sure that T on the shutter speed dial was click once to open shutter, click again to close it but it's totally not, it's a further range of shutter speeds set by the rear control dial, from 1/2s to 30s. I'm a dunce!
 
Both handheld, think the ND filter was on for both images but can't find anything about it in the exif so far. Looking at the apertures I could have just closed down a bit and not bothered with the ND filter but I was just playing about really.

1.5s f8 iso200
DSCF2785-Edit.jpg


1/4s f5.6 iso200
DSCF2791-Edit.jpg
 
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I think I took this with the ND filter (ISO 200, f16, 1/4s):

DSCF0735.jpg


Used a 10 stop filter for this (you could use both if you wanted I suppose!):

DSCF1330-Edit.jpg
 
fixedimage said:
Both handheld, think the ND filter was on for both images but can't find anything about it in the exif so far. Looking at the apertures I could have just closed down a bit and not bothered with the ND filter but I was just playing about really.

1.5s f8 iso200
DSCF2785-Edit.jpg


1/4s f5.6 iso200
DSCF2791-Edit.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting those, I don't think they're cheesy!
 
osh said:
I think I took this with the ND filter (ISO 200, f16, 1/4s):

DSCF0735.jpg


Used a 10 stop filter for this (you could use both if you wanted I suppose!):

DSCF1330-Edit.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting these, the 10 stop filter is particularly striking. Was that a normal filter attached to the lens or internal?
 
Hi, I used a B+W 10 stop filter for the second. One thing that's useful is that you can use the EVF/liveview to compose the scene with the filter on (and obviously the OVF!) and sometimes autofocus works, though otherwise it's quite easy to manually focus using the electronic distance indicator given the depth of field with the lens stopped down. I should try using the built in ND filter more - I keep forgetting about it. I'm going to buy a polariser soon so I suppose that with the ND filter it would be like having a five stop filter.
 
You could try setting the Fn button to toggle the nd on and off, might encourage you to make more use of it.

Be good if/when they make the RAW button programable too as I prefer to use the Fn to change Iso.
 
What sort of photos do you find the X100 particularly suited too? I've got a couple of kids and shots of them, places visited etc has become my main photographic staples.
 
I find it really good in low light, it seems to have an ability to find light where the naked eye sees very little.

Also use mine a lot for street type photography, it's small and doesn't stick out like an SLR does and it's virtually silent, it is silent if you put silent mode on.
 
taylorm21 said:
Has anyone used the built in ND filter? Is it useful or just a gimmick?
Click to expand...

It's necessary when shooting in bright light and wanting the aperture wide open. I've used if for that and it does its job pretty much as advertised.
 
After the new year due to the floods in Thailand I think. I was waiting on one myself, but the 5N is supposed to be very good too.
 
Is there much difference between the NEX-C3 and the NEX-5N? They seem very similar in spec.
 
Looking about on the net the 5N has higher ISO 25,600 vs 12,800, 1080P vs 720P video, magnesium alloy body, longer battery life and a touchscreen. If it was me I'd go for the 5N over the C3. I am reading that a lot of folk would like the 5N sensor in the NEX-7 body, but this might be a bit premature as the NEX-7 isn't really available yet.

I've got a NEX-5 myself and it is a nice little capable camera. The new 5N would probably get my money if the NEX-7 is going to arrive in March.
 
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