I realize it's been a while since my last post. Quite a lot happened in my life.
We had a wonderful gift for New Years Eve' in form of a beautiful baby girl, Daria. That little adorable monster does, however, consume a lot of time, so the blog was neglected as a result. Last month we moved to a bigger apartment. You never know how much crap you own until you have to move it! But I digress...
I wanted to write a short post after I spend a year with the Fuji x100s and say that my initial excitement about the little camera still stands after 12 month of constant use. Since that the camera is small and light I carry it anywhere I go and I ended up documenting a lot of family moments I wouldn't have otherwise, since I would have been to lazy to log the SLR around.
Lately I went to Singapore for a short visit. Unfortunately I had really little free time. Of course owning the x100s, means you always have your camera with you. Singapore seems like a cool place and I really hope I'll have an opportunity to properly explore the city next time I'm here (also, I hope there will be next time soon :) ).
It amazing how liberating living with Fuji-x system is. The camera stayed with me all the time, without weighting me down. I just kept it in a side pocket of my messenger bag. In contrast to that my friend was traveling with a separate suitcase where he kept a bag with his Canon 7D, 17-40mm f/4, 70—200mm and a Rokinon fish eye, a tripod and a bunch of other stuff. I had the x100s and a spare battery. Now I know it's not really fair to compare our gear. We have different shooting styles, and I can see how his gear can offer a lot more shooting options. That being said it reminded me why I bought the x100s and how pleased I am with it.
Another thing that became abundantly clear to me is how unobtrusive the camera is when on the street. I didn't talk about it in my review, but It really is a more "people friendly" camera. People just react to it differently. My college's Canon made people react much more to it. Whether it's turn around or stare at it with suspicion.
The way Fuji cameras interpret color is really impressive. I almost never shoot raw files. The jpegs strait out of the camera are really good and I really like the film simulation feature. The "films" I use the most are Astia and the B&W. Man, I love the B&W out of this camera. Being able to see in B&W through the viewfinder really helps visualize the shot before it happens.
Fujifilm recently introduced a new film simulation called "Classic Chrome". It's inspired by the legendary "Kodachrome" film. From the photos I saw, it looks awesome. Very Eggelston-ish. So far it was not made available to the x100s, but I hope Fuji will continue their Kai-zen philosophy and bring the features from the newer models to the old ones through firmware updates.
Battery is still a bit of a sore spot. battery life compared to a DSLR is significantly shorter and the metering is really annoying. It will warn you about low battery when the battery is practically dead. I carry 2 spare batteries with me but never needed more than one in a day.
Something about this camera just makes it special. Maybe it's the classic design. I really enjoy the physical manual control and the ability to control my aperture from the lens. Beyond being intuitive and practical, it evokes a sense of heritage and nostalgia.
So after a year I'm still really exited about the camera. In fact I celebrated this little anniversary by getting a Fuji X-E2 for my wife. I'll write a review on it soon, I hope. One thing I can say right away is the the Wi-Fi feature is great and I wish my x100s had it.
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