David Hobby Purchased the First Fujifilm X100S to Be Sold, and He Loves It
Our pal and fellow photo blogger David Hobby of Strobist is currently over in Dubai for Gulf Photo Plus 2013, and yesterday he had the privilege of purchasing the first Fujifilm X100S to be sold on planet Earth. Hobby tells us he’s in love.
- The chip is fantastic. I was worried that higher pixel density (16mp vs 12 mp) would bring noise problems. Nope, it’s truly awesome. With respect to noise, I estimate it to be one stop better than the X100 chip, a pleasant surprise given the increased pixel density.
- Autofocus was a relative weak link with the X100, but the X100s is remarkable. Super quick, confidently grabbing focus in low light. Wonderful.
- Manual focus is not only useable (which I did not consider it to be in the earlier model) but downright fantastic. It sees in the dark. The focus peaking works wonderfully. The changed pitch of the manual focus ring was much-welcomed and is, in my opinion, perfect. Bravo.
- I found the crossover point for macro focusing to be too far out in the previous model. Thanks so much for letting me focus much closer before going into macro. This is a great evolution from before.
- The redistribution of the menu controls was both thoughtful and elegant. The “Q” button was an inspiration. Fast, and all of the go-to items right at my fingertips. Great choice on the new location for the AF and Drive buttons, too. Again, very well thought out.
His conclusion: “This camera is pretty close to perfect for what it purports to be.”
Here’s a photograph he snapped of the Dubai skyline (check out a larger version on his Google+ account):
The camera will be hitting store shelves in late March 2013, but you can already preorder it for $1,300 through retailers like Amazon and B&H.
Image credits: Photographs by David Hobby and used with permission
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