X100S Cnet review

image courtesy: Cnet

Cnet tested the X100S and assigned to that camera 3.5 stars out of 5 (“One note on the rating: if it seems low — the same as the X100 despite all the improvements — that’s because it now has competition that it didn’t have two years ago when the X100 debuted. That includes the vastly more expensive but full-frame Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1, but more importantly a direct challenger in the Nikon Coolpix A. If necessary I will adjust the rating on the X100S in mid-April after I’ve gotten a chance to test the Nikon“).

It’s a great improvement over the X100, but the X100S has its quirks (which camera hasn’t?). The annoying issues are: autofocus inconsistencies, middling lens performance at f2 and an irritating control dial. Let’s focus on the Aperture:

“f2 is close to unusable, bad enough that if I hadn’t seen the same problems after looking back at my X100 shots I would have thought I had a defective unit. It’s not too bad beyond about 10 feet, but for anything closer it’s fuzzy in the center with what looks like convergence issues and extremely distorted at the corners of the image. At f2.8 it almost looks like a different lens, snapping into sharp focus in the center; you have to bump up to f4 before the edges are all relatively sharp.”

image courtesy: Cnet

But, overall, a very good camera. So the conclusions are:

“There’s enough improved in the X100S over the X100 that I think it’s worth the extra money over the now-reduced-price model: it delivers better performance, photo quality and usability. While the photo quality and lens can’t match that of the [shoplink 8518]Sony RX1[/shoplink], it’s still a great camera at $1,000 less. And though I haven’t yet tested the [shoplink 8820]Nikon Coolpix A[/shoplink], that camera lacks a viewfinder, which for some folks may merit the X100S’ extra cost.”

Check out the whole review (and see the first-look video) here at Cnet.

X100S: BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUS / AmazonDE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / DigitalRev / your ebay / your Amazon
X20:  BHphoto (black – silver) / Adorama (black – silver) / AmazonUS (black – silver) / AmazonUK (black – silver) / AmazonDE / AmazonITA / DigitalRev / your ebay / your Amazon