image courtesy: Zack Arias

Zack Arias announced it a couple of weeks ago, when he tested the X100S: “DSLR is dead”. And now, how is his life without the DSLR? What changed in Zack’s photography after he switched to Fuji? See his shots and read the whole blog post here. And if you plan to switch too, check out the X-superkit deals.

“I was recently asked on my Q&A blog whether I was switching to Fuji just to be different and not because they are better. I replied saying it is part of the equation. Not a large part. Not even half of the part, but yeah, that’s part of it. Who has a DSLR these days? Everyone. Moms, grandpas, clients, kids, that guy in accounting, everyone. Nikon this. Canon that. […]

It’s mostly a mental departure from how I’ve done things for a long time and how much of the rest of the photography world works. It makes a difference with my clients and subjects as well. DSLRs are so generic these days that when you show up with something different like a Fuji or a medium format people take notice. They ask questions. These cameras start conversations. When I shot DSLRs I always heard about what camera my client or subject had. “Oh. You shoot Canon. I have a Nikon.” Etc. Etc. And then those conversations would take place. Not any more. “Wow. What is that? I’ve never seen one of those.” is now the opening line. […]

When you change those tools there’s a mental change as well. The retro styling of the Fuji cameras isn’t just for show. There’s a reason cameras have been set up like those for decades. There’s a very practical reasoning behind dedicated aperture dials on the lens and shutter speed dials. I can “feel” where my settings are.

I say all of this to say I’m emotionally connected to my Fujis. I’ve never been emotionally connected to a DSLR. Ever. That connection matters. It’s not on a spec sheet. It can’t be tested in the lab. I look at my Fuji cameras and I want to go shoot. I want to make photos. They don’t belong in a bag. They belong on in my hand.”

Fuji X100S: [shopcountry 12883]

1) Cameralabs compared the [shoplink 12883]X100S[/shoplink] with the [shoplink 13071]Nikon A[/shoplink] and we have (again) a clear winner: the X100S with his X-Trans sensor:

“Compared with the COOLPIX A, at the lower ISO settings, the X100S looks a little sharper, but in noise terms there’s little to choose between them with the COOLPIX A’s 100 ISO crop a close match for the X100S’s 200 ISO. At 400 ISO it’s still a pretty close call, but at 800 ISO it looks to me like there’s noticeably more noise in the COOLPIX A crop. At 1600 ISO there’s clearly more texture in the wall, the text panel looks softer and the edge detail is beginning to crumble on the COOLPIX A crop where the X100S is still holding strong.

But read more and see all the ISO-comparison shots here at cameralabs.

No need to tell you which images comes from the X100S X-Trans sensor ;)

2) Mike Kobal posted his video comparison of the [shoplink 12883 ebay]X100S[/shoplink], [shoplink 13071 ebay]NikonA[/shoplink] and [shoplink 13349 ebay]RicohGR[/shoplink] at his website here.