Interested in the fujifilm x10

FrankS

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Anyone have one? I'm thinking that for my limited digicam needs, this would be a good choice. I like the f2 28mm at the short end, and f2.8 112 mm is very decent speed. One prerequisite for me is an optical viewfinder, which it has.
 
I used one for a bit, can't say for sure how well it "performed" since I mostly took pictures of items I needed to sell but the macro function was fantastic. Really good IQ for that little camera. The optical viewfinder is absolutely horrific though, you will repel quickly.
 
Anyone have one? I'm thinking that for my limited digicam needs, this would be a good choice. I like the f2 28mm at the short end, and f2.8 112 mm is very decent speed. One prerequisite for me is an optical viewfinder, which it has.

Seems like a nice camera, and one I seriously considered not very long ago. Ultimately the viewfinder, associated parallax issues, viewfinder blockage at wider lengths, and and lack of any feedback in the finder such as even focussing information (from the way I read it), killed my interest in the X10. All the other elements are there for me, but didn't like the idea of the viewfinder being regarded as a secondary aid, rather than primary one.

Interested to hear if I am wrong on any of the above, as it would be a walkabout camera I would seriously consider only for the viewfinder. Oh, the orbs issue is something worth bearing in mind, if you shoot at night with it. That was something but also made me think twice, as I like late night urban shooting.
 
Never owned one, but played with one. I very much liked it, reminded me of the Rollei 35. I found the optical finder acceptable, you have to accept it for what it is, and Fujifilm should be congratulated for putting one in there at all.
 
Never owned one, but played with one. I very much liked it, reminded me of the Rollei 35. I found the optical finder acceptable, you have to accept it for what it is, and Fujifilm should be congratulated for putting one in there at all.

As someone who handled the camera, what is the viewfinder like, is it just a dumb optical window?
 
i know someone who bought one and the front end came off when he tried to unscrew the filter...fuji canada didn't believe him and refused to fix under warranty...
 
Leica needed to come up with a uv filter for the M8, Fuji is going to have to come up with a spirit filter. ;)
 
I don't do much digital, but have been well pleased with mine. The image quality is very good, the build quality excellent for a small electronic camera and the handling is better than satisfactory (it's got a particularly nice manual zoom)--provided you don't need frequent access to the menus, which are not always intuitive.

The optical viewfinder is clear bright and pleasant to use but only shows 85% of the field--a great irritation. One can work around this to some extent by framing tightly but for me it remains a significant flaw.

On balance, though, I think if I lost this camera I'd immediately want to go out and buy another.

The "orbs" problem has been solved in the newer units by a modified sensor--if you buy an older one Fuji will replace the sensor free of charge.


Regards,
D.
 
hi frank

i just got one off evilbay for very cheap, so thought i'd take the leap. i am coming from the x100, which i love, and a whole lot of other dslr,s over the years.

now ive really only taken 'test' photos around the house inside and out, wife, dog, low light, landscape and a couple macros, so no street shooting yet, which is primarily why i bought it. but here are my thoughts.

frankly, so far ive found the IQ good, but not the 'super' level ive read about. at this point, again with limited sampling, in optimum conditions i'm not sure its any better than the $200 panasonic i bought my wife to slip in her purse. it certainly is more versatile than her p&s, with easy controls and total manual ability and the manual zoom. the low light performance is certainly better. coming from the x100, while i didnt expect it to be close IQ wise, maybe i was hoping the IQ would be 'closer' than what ive seen so far. i have it set at highest sharpness and still find the images a little soft. color is good, though i had to tone down the red a couple notches to get better skin tone.

ergonomically, its very nice to hold for a p&s, very RF like, very small but very sturdy. no complaints there at all.

theres some discussion about the OVF online, but surprisingly not a lot of depth about it, and some reviewers skip it completely. the biggest issue is it only covers 85% of the frame, if that. its better to have more in the actual picture than less, so the results should not disappoint in this regard, but for any kind of 'critical' framing, a quick check of the lcd may at times be necessary to determine if something you want in your frame is there though its not the vf. with the zoom function, that may not happen all that often, but again, i havent used it in a lot of circumstances.

ive shot at all FLs and have not found parralax to be a real issue. regardless of FL, placing my subject in the center of the vf yields a subject in the center of the photo; theres just some other stuff in the photo that i didnt see as well! the vf is bright and clear and follows the focal view of the manual zoom
seamlessly, and has a useful diopter corrector dial.

another possible vf issue for some, and a minor annoyance for me, is there is no info in the vf, not aperture, SS, iso, nothing. now as i use the camera more, and for my intended street shooting purpose, i think i will rarely be changing aperture as the IQ imo takes a beating much after f4. iso takes a little beating (but is still good for a tiny sensor) after 400. so realistically, i'm not so sure how problematic this will be as my settings are not going to need changing so much.

ive found the AF to be pretty quick and pretty accurate. ive also found the cam consistantly overexposes for my taste, sometimes up to a full stop. the files are good enough to pull detail out of both highlights and shadows, though i set the cam itself to reduce highlights.

at the end of the day, although i thought the IQ was going to be more impressive than ive so far found it to be, i do like the camera. i like its size (easily fits in a cargo pants pocket, or regular pants pocket if you dont mind a little bulge) i like how it handles, i like its customizeability, the manual zoom, the 'fast' lens, the macro function, the clear bright vf. are there things i,d change? sure. but if you remember its a p&s and not a smaller x100 with a zoom, i think you'll be happy.
tony
 
Those orbs are not so good. New sensor coming. I'll definitely wait for that.
The new sensor is on the market since May.
I really like the camera.
Good IQ, nice controls (the zoom ring is a big plus for me), the vievfinder.
The VF is without any additional information, just a simple VF. But is is comparably big and I call it a VF opposed to the peepholes on the Canon G12 and Nikon (forgot the model).

I fell in love with it the moment I handled it. Then I had to wait a month until the new sensor hit the market.
 
hi frank

i just got one off evilbay for very cheap, so thought i'd take the leap. i am coming from the x100, which i love, and a whole lot of other dslr,s over the years.

now ive really only taken 'test' photos around the house inside and out, wife, dog, low light, landscape and a couple macros, so no street shooting yet, which is primarily why i bought it. but here are my thoughts.

frankly, so far ive found the IQ good, but not the 'super' level ive read about. at this point, again with limited sampling, in optimum conditions i'm not sure its any better than the $200 panasonic i bought my wife to slip in her purse. it certainly is more versatile than her p&s, with easy controls and total manual ability and the manual zoom. the low light performance is certainly better. coming from the x100, while i didnt expect it to be close IQ wise, maybe i was hoping the IQ would be 'closer' than what ive seen so far. i have it set at highest sharpness and still find the images a little soft. color is good, though i had to tone down the red a couple notches to get better skin tone.

ergonomically, its very nice to hold for a p&s, very RF like, very small but very sturdy. no complaints there at all.

theres some discussion about the OVF online, but surprisingly not a lot of depth about it, and some reviewers skip it completely. the biggest issue is it only covers 85% of the frame, if that. its better to have more in the actual picture than less, so the results should not disappoint in this regard, but for any kind of 'critical' framing, a quick check of the lcd may at times be necessary to determine if something you want in your frame is there though its not the vf. with the zoom function, that may not happen all that often, but again, i havent used it in a lot of circumstances.

ive shot at all FLs and have not found parralax to be a real issue. regardless of FL, placing my subject in the center of the vf yields a subject in the center of the photo; theres just some other stuff in the photo that i didnt see as well! the vf is bright and clear and follows the focal view of the manual zoom
seamlessly, and has a useful diopter corrector dial.

another possible vf issue for some, and a minor annoyance for me, is there is no info in the vf, not aperture, SS, iso, nothing. now as i use the camera more, and for my intended street shooting purpose, i think i will rarely be changing aperture as the IQ imo takes a beating much after f4. iso takes a little beating (but is still good for a tiny sensor) after 400. so realistically, i'm not so sure how problematic this will be as my settings are not going to need changing so much.

ive found the AF to be pretty quick and pretty accurate. ive also found the cam consistantly overexposes for my taste, sometimes up to a full stop. the files are good enough to pull detail out of both highlights and shadows, though i set the cam itself to reduce highlights.

at the end of the day, although i thought the IQ was going to be more impressive than ive so far found it to be, i do like the camera. i like its size (easily fits in a cargo pants pocket, or regular pants pocket if you dont mind a little bulge) i like how it handles, i like its customizeability, the manual zoom, the 'fast' lens, the macro function, the clear bright vf. are there things i,d change? sure. but if you remember its a p&s and not a smaller x100 with a zoom, i think you'll be happy.
tony

Great writeup, think I've found more useful information in the above, than I have on most reviews online.
 
The new sensor is on the market since May.
I really like the camera.
Good IQ, nice controls (the zoom ring is a big plus for me), the vievfinder.
The VF is without any additional information, just a simple VF. But is is comparably big and I call it a VF opposed to the peepholes on the Canon G12 and Nikon (forgot the model).

I fell in love with it the moment I handled it. Then I had to wait a month until the new sensor hit the market.



So all new Fuji X10's have a new sensor and no orb problem?
 
So all new Fuji X10's have a new sensor and no orb problem?

Take a peek on dpreview, who covered the orb problem. As far as I saw, there was no magic bullet solution from Fuji, and the tweak to sort out the orb problem introduced compromises in other ways, I believe.
 
i do think the 'orb thing' was solved by the new sensors. i also think not all of the 'old' sensors had this problem. finally, imo, i think this 'problem' was overblown.

btw, thanks damien, very kind of you.
tony
 
I do like the X10, although I already had an X100 at the time so I passed on it.
If I was after a compact with a zoom lens it would probably be the one. From what I've read/heard/seen the orb thing seemed pretty overblown to me too, but I have no worthwhile experience to offer.

Conveniently there's an X10 that's just been put up for sale in the classifieds, if you're interested.
 
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