Our focus at The Sussex Photography Project is very much on photos and photographers rather than camera gear, but occasionally we will highlight particularly interesting developments in equipment.
The Fujifilm FinePix X100, if the buzz its recent announcement has created is anything to go by, probably counts as an interesting camera.
Fujifilm FinePix X100
For the non-enthusiast, it might be difficult to see what the fuss is about. It doesn't zoom, you can't change the lens and it doesn't come with image stabilisation or a built in flash. And although the X100 may be classed as a compact, it is not particularly small.
So why has it stirred so much interest?
The key is the particular combination of sensor size, fast f/2 prime lens and hybrid viewfinder (optical and electronic). These are the three features that many enthusiasts have been waiting for in a digital compact. Combine these features with some retro styling and mechanical control dials and it's a camera that hits all the enthusiasts' buttons - promising that extra usability and image quality they are looking for.
It should be remembered, however, that this is a 'development annoucement' and that it will be many months before production models are produced. While the camera looks good on paper, the quality of the lens has yet to be tested and the autofocus system - often a weakness - may well let it down.
There is also the small matter of price. The early rumours, and reading between the lines of the Fujifilm marketing blurb where the X100 is being pushed as a 'quality without compromise' camera, indicate a price somewhere between an Olympus E-P2 (with 17mm lens) and a Leica X1 - and probably nearer the Leica end of the range. So don't expect much (if any) change out of £1000.
Fujifilm say the camera will be available in early 2011.
Download the X100 Catalogue.
More discussion about the camera at The Online Photographer and Photography Blog.
Simon C
