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

Some tips

– 9 Tips for becoming a better travel photographer at photographytalk here. “7. Pack lighter: […] I’m also in favor of advanced compact cameras. I love those things because you hardly draw any unwanted attention to yourself. My favorite used to be the Fuji X100, but the X100s is now out and the new features look delicious.“

– What makes a good photographer? mingthein gives his answer to this question here in his blog. An original, unusual vision, inspiration, high observantness, but low observability, curiosity, consciousness of the light (don’t focus just on the subject and start looking for the light instead!), ability to work fast… there is much more to read here. Is there something you’d have added to mingthein’s list?

– Why, when, and how to use Lens Hoods in this youtube video. (via digital-photography-school)

X100S

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FR-Reader sgoldswoblog send me his X100S review, and I’m glad to share it with you (click here). Here a foretaste: “The minor quibble is that the switch to 14 bit RAWs seems to have caused some minor issues in RAW files at 100%. I’m pretty sure (since this isn’t an issue with X-Pro1 and X-E1 files) that this is quickly solvable. Everything else about this camera is a distinct improvement or no worse than the X100. This won’t be a camera for everyone, I’m pretty sure that most people would benefit more from an ILC with a range of lenses if that were their only camera. But as a conscious choice of fixed focal length or as a second camera it is magnificent. The new sensor really improves the output and gives more latitude around exposure and the lens remains outstanding. There is very little to dislike here!”

image courtesy: sgoldswoblog

X20

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– “first photos with the X20 – So far, so good :)” That’s what FR-reader Mat wrote on twitter. See his images here.

– focus numerique posted his full French review. For everyone interested in ISO-comparisons with many other cameras and more, just click here (translated version).

image courtesy: focus numerique

X-E1

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– You wanna see how the X-E1 performs with the [shoplink 9774]Sigma 12-24mm[/shoplink]? “Focusing was OK. The adapter has an aperture adjuster, but there is very little travel in it and selecting an aperture is pretty much guesswork. Images were sharper than I was expecting.” See the shots at soundimageplus here.

X-PRO1

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“Late Night shoot with the effortlessly stunning Chloe-Jasmine Whichello… As this was a very unplanned shoot, in fact  zero planning whatsoever,  Chloe-Jasmine found ourselves shooting one evening as I still had the Lingerie with me from a shoot the day before. The Fuji X-Pro1 always is with me and it was lucky that I also had my Nano Lighting with me also. Totally loved how well it all came out in the end!” See Dave Piper’s beautiful shots here.

image courtesy: Dave Piper

XF1

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– Digitalcamerainfo posted his XF1 review here. From the conclusion:

“Can the XF1 compete on even footing in the marketplace with [shoplink 9888]Canon’s S110[/shoplink] and [shoplink 9891]Panasonic LX7[/shoplink], or even Sony’s higher-priced [shoplink 8524]RX100[/shoplink]? The answer is that it doesn’t have a chance. It simply doesn’t do enough to overcome the huge brand-recognition advantage those companies have, and it possesses some unfortunate (if well-intentioned) design missteps. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad camera—in fact, it’s quite good from an image quality standpoint. Stills from the XF1 are just as good as those from the upmarket X10, which is to say they’re among the best results you can get from a compact that isn’t the RX100. (You just can’t beat that 1-inch sensor). If you can get over the camera’s operational quirks, it’s a solid shooter at a very attractive price—just $389 from reputable sellers at press time.”

And to all FR-readers out there, Happy Easter!

DigitalRev X100S Hands-on Review is now online (click here). Thanks to Fujirumors reader Andrew who send me this video via email. FR-reader Jay summarized (on facebook) the review saying: “Entertaining but not very informative.”

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

– The photographyblog X20 review is now online. Defintily passed the test. It gained five out of five stars, again! (also pocket-lint assigned five stars here, calling the camera “the new champion of the high-end compact cameras”)  But now read the photographyblog review here.

“We ran into some issues in bright sunlight when shooting in aperture and shutter priority modes, where the top shutter-speed limit of 1/1000th second at f/2 or f/2.8 often caused under-exposure. Unlike the X100S, the new X20 still doesn’t feature a built-in Neutral Density filter (something that we complained about with the X10), so you’ll have to stop-down the aperture and sacrifice some depth-of-field to avoid blowing out the highlights. […] Fujifilm have cleverly made the focusing ring more sensitive to how you use it – turn it slowly and the focusing distance changes slowly, but turn it more quickly and the camera quickly moves through the distance scale. It now takes less than 2 full turns and a couple of seconds to jump from the closest focus distance to infinity, a big improvement on the X10. […] Shutter lag is virtually non-existent on this camera, so once you have set the focus, you’ll never miss the moment because the camera can’t fire the shutter quickly enough. […] The Fujifilm X20 is a much faster version of the original X10, with a few handling tweaks that make it even more intuitive to use. […] The Fujifilm X20 produces images of outstanding quality […] an excellent performance for a camera with such a small sensor.”

– The German site digitalcamera posted his review here (translated version). A bit too big for a compact camera. The image quality is more or less what you’d expect from a 2/3 sensor. With the new technologies inside the X20 (X-Trans, no low pass filter…), they had a bit higher expectations.

– Now something for our Spanish readers. dslrmagazine posted the review here (translated version).

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