The earth would need to spin a few more times before I experienced the X100;  talking about missing the hype.  It seemed as though every blogger and photog in the industry was raving about this little beast called the X100 by Fujifilm over a year ago.  I must admit that my initials thoughts were "the hell with a small camera with only a fixed lens.  That camera will never compete with my D700."  But the sexy looks of a vintage 35mm and portability had me thinking I need to explore this camera first hand.  First, I dove deep into Zack's post and other blogger dudes to see what all the hype was about. 

Conviced that the X100 was the compact camera for me (over the pricey XPRO1), I rolled the dice and bought a used one off Ebay for $810 which included the lens hood, filters, leather 1/2 case, extra battery and leather strap.  Yesterday, I felt like a little kid with excitement as I plopped out of bed at daybreak to test drive my new X100.  I blazed out the door with rain jacket in hand and throttled over to downtown Fort Worth with a @$%&* grin on my face.  Thanks to the internets I was prepped and prepared with all menus and functions familiarized.  If you want to skip my ramblings and check out my 500px story click here.  READ MORE

I'll keep all the techy jargon to a minimum because there are just too many good blog post ,like Zack's, videos  or Fuji forums for nit picky information on "sticky aperture blades" or "slow exposure times."  I'm not a pixel peeper, I'm a @$%^& artist and I all care about is whether I can create art. 

I'll break down this post into creative and things I like about it.

Downtown Ft. Worth

I decided not to bother people on the street for my test drive.  I would spend time learning the menu and performance by taking images that would tell a story.  Fascinated with the 1920's deco architecture of downtown Ft. Worth,  these buildings would become my subject.  Check my 500 px for more images.

Deco Subway...nice!

I love my DSLR Nikon D700.  It's a big beautiful beast.  I can dial in a wonderful image in seconds with that baby.  She's built for performance and my muscle memory cranks out the appropiate response immediately.  The X100 is going to take some time to crank out the shot that's in my brain on the fly.  Why?  Well,  I'm much more than a just pull the trigger kind of guy.  I need to apply the appropiate response to my vision.  I spent an entire day with the X100 and it just takes time to dial in say ND, slow shutter, aperture or to change the filter settings.  Maybe it's because my muscle memory isn't there yet...but that being said.  I do like that the camera makes me stop and think.  While I am changing settings, this gives me a moment to ponder the shot itself.  What is the meaning?  What is the purpose?  Why am I taking the time to get this picture?   For that,  I love it.

While bouncing to another side of Ft. Worth I see a baby blue Chevy Belair out for a cruise.  I rolled down the window and popped off a few shots while driving.  Try doing that with your big honkin' DSLR~~~~!   I didn't have time to think about going for a slow shutter on this one.

The black and white film settings are awesome.  I fiddled around with them and changed highlight and shadow settings througout the day.  I haven't done an actual A/B testing yet.  I just went for what I thought would be the best outcome.  One big like, is the auto ISO.  I have never set my DSLR to auto anything...the ability to set a max ISO and shutter is sweeeeeettttt!  Less time to think about those settings and just dive into the shot.

At f2.0 you can get a really nice shallow depth of field.  Dig it!   For this shot I used the macro mode.  It's kind a bitch to get used to switching at first and then it became second nature. 

In camera "motion panorama" is a little funky.  It doesn't stich perfectly but who cares.  The post office in downtown Ft. Worth looks more like the colosseum in Rome.  I broke out this mode a few times and really enjoy the "look" it provides.  It's good to break out and get funky!

Not sure if this is monochrome G, R, Ye or plane monochrome.  But, the presets are kick butt.  Why bother shooting big ass RAW files when you get results like this?   For me,  this camera is all about having fun and the portability factor...I love it.  I really would love a $15,000 Leica and a few lenses.  The X100 is satisfying my thirst for something I can carry around all the time.  I also look cool sporting that vintage vibe.  One guys said to me, "cool old film camera dude."

Bottom line is that I'll take the camera with me everywhere.  I can't do that with my DSLR.  That means more opportunities for photographs which is important for me. 

Other reasons:

1. I'm more creative.  I think differently and more methodical.  It also has a different feel because it's small.  More on this after I have shot with it a few more weeks.

2. Looks cool.  I can imagine pimping this little X100 out with a red soft release and funky red strap.  I'll be like a hipster with this baby;  I might even buy a bowtie to wear on X100 days.

3.  Give me another shoot or two.  Excited to see what it's like to break out a trigger and flash...

Mikey