Fujifilm X100s Review

Construction and Handling

The X100s is built around a sturdy magnesium alloy body. The lens cap is made of metal and is of the push-on type with felt inside. The build quality and finish of the camera is excellent.

We find the retro design very classy and it makes the camera look like a serious tool.

External Features and Buttons

All buttons and dials essential for shooting are within easy reach of the left and right hand thumbs or index fingers.

Front

On the front we find two openings for the stereo microphone (1), the EVF/OVF viewfinder switch (2), the AF assist lamp (3), the flash (4), the viewfinder window (5), the aperture ring (6), the focus mode switch (7) with three settings: single shot autofocus, continuous autofocus, and manual focus. Last, but not least, the manual focusing ring (8).

Back

A good number of buttons have found space on the back while still leaving space for a 2.8 inch monitor and the viewfinder. We prefer direct access buttons to having to go into menus for frequent settings so the X100s is right down our alley in this aspect.

The buttons and dials on the back have these functions:

Toggles between shooting mode and play back mode
In shooting mode: Brings up a list of light meter patterns to select from (multi, center weight, spot). In image play back mode: Zooms in on the image
In shooting mode: Select a drive mode from a menu. The modes available are fewer when shooting RAW. This is also where you select movie mode
This button sets what aid to use for framing: LCD monitor only, eye sensor enabled, view finder only (LCD monitor always off when shooting)
Main command dial. This is not a wheel, but a left/right toggle which can also be pushed in. The default function is to adjust the program line. This toggle doesn't work well, a wheel like on the X20 is better
Indicator lamp (indicates writing to disk, flash ready, AF not locked, exposure error, etc.)
Autoexposure/autofocus lock. The exact function is customizable
Combined four way controller and secondary command dial. The ring can be turned and the edge can be pushed in in four places (up/down/left/right) thus acting as a four way controller. The ring is used for selecting menu items among other things. The four way controller brings up the AF menu, the flash menu, the white balance menu and the macro mode menu. This dial is of a poor design. It is hard to not accidentially push it in while turning it thus calling up one of the four menus. Also when picking up the camera it is all too easy to accidentally push in on the ring
Enters the main menu. Confirms selection
Brings up the Quick-access screen from which various settings can be modified
Toggles the level of information to be shown on the screen. Within menus: Goes back one step

As mentioned both command dials are of a flawed design and before buying we recommed that you try out the camera so as to decide if you can live with these quirky dials.

Top Panel

To the very right we have the exposure control dial (f). It is quite stiff and you tend to shift too far if you have the camera in shooting position and try to operate the dial with your thumb only. But we like that exposure compensation has a dedicated dial.

Above the exposure compensation dial we find a button marked Fn (e). This button can be customized to call up the function you need the most. We had it either set to toggle the ND filter or to activate ISO adjustment: press the Fn button and then use the main command dial to adjust.

The top panel also houses the shutter button (c) with lock (d), the shutter speed dial (b), and a hot shoe (a) with contacts matching dedicated Fuji-brand flashes. Note that the shutter button has a thread that matches an old-school all-mechanical remote release!

SD Card, Battery and Tripod Socket

The X100s takes all three types of SD cards: SD, SDHC and SDXC, and also supports the Eye-Fi card. We used a Transcend SDHC 32GB class 10 card during our tests. It is inexpensive and it worked flawlessly.

The battery and SD card are located behind a sturdy access door on the bottom of the camera. The battery cleverly has an orange colored stripe that must align with the orange battery release lever. This makes it easy to get the battery inserted the right way.

The tripod socket is placed off the optical axis but close to the door so you cannot exchange the battery or SD card when the camera is mounted on a tripod. The Fujifilm X20 was better in this aspect with the tripod socket offset away from the door. The tripod socket is made of metal so you run no risk of stripping the threads.

Electrical Connections

On the right hand side are the USB and HDMI sockets behind a tiny door made of hard plastic that matches the camera body. The door is hinged and of sturdy construction.

The optional stereo microphone connects via the USB port.

There is no provision for an external AC adapter.

Click image to enlarge.

Size, Grip and Strap

The X100s is very compact for an APS-C camera. The lens itself can be made quite compact even with a maximum aperture of F2.0 since there is no mirror to take into account.

Somewhat unfair perhaps, but below we compare the X100s to a Pentax K-5 IIs DSLR with an FA* 24 mm F2.0 full frame lens. A more just comparison would perhaps have been with the DA 21mm F3.2 lens, but we do not own one. But even with the 21 mm lens, the K-5 rig would be much larger than the X100s!

The grip is nothing more than a bulge on the front paired with the protruding LED indicator on the back for the thumb. It feels a bit unsafe when you're holding it (and you don't get to see which condition the lamp indicates!). You definitely want to attach either the neck strap or a wrist strap (the latter would have to be purchased separately). Fujifilm must have realized that the ergonomics leaves a lot to be desired and sells an "Ergonomic Extension Kit", but at the ridicoulous price of more than US $200! And it's even ugly...

In order to attach the strap you'll have to mount the supplied triangular strap clips yourself. Even if you purchase the retro-styled camera case you'll have to mess with attaching the triangels. Granted, you'd only have to do this once so perhaps we're a bit picky here.

The X100s requires two-handed operation if you want to either set the aperture manually or focus manually (or both). It takes some practice to find a convinient way to place the two hands on the camera but it can be done. Had the lens protruded more it would have been easier.

Viewfinder

The Fujifilm X100s has an innovative, large and bright viewfinder, which can switch between optical (OVF) and electronic (EVF) viewfinder mode with a flip of the switch on the front (marked with an arrow). The EVF has an LCD with a whopping 2.3 million dots and a high refresh rate.

In either mode various framing aids and exposure information can be shown. In EVF mode images can even be played back in the viewfinder and menus brought up! Refer the Highlights and Specifications page for the description of the two modes.

Any viewfinder, whether optical or electronic, beats having to use the LCD monitor for framing particularly in very bright light and it also makes it easier to hold the camera steady when following a moving subject.

The EVF turns on and the LCD monitor off when you place your eye at the viewfinder curtesy of the eye-sensor. The LCD monitor can be turned permanently off if so desired. That was our preference - we found it annoying that the LCD monitor would come on as soon as the eye was removed from the viewfinder.

Toggle between LCD only, Eye Sensor control, Vewfinder only (LCD monitor off)

The information overlay in he OVF can be hard to see in bright light, but you then just switch to the EVF and all information is visible.

The viewfinder has a diopter adjustment ranging from -2 to +1.

This excellent viewfinder can handle any shooting condition and could be the main reason to buy this camera!

LCD Monitor

While the viewfinder is state of the art the LCD monitor could need an upgrade. It only has a resolution of 460,000 dots (half-VGA), which is low by today's standards. The monitor doesn't tilt but it is viewable from an wide angle and we'd rather be without the tilt function, which just adds bulk.

The monitor shows the information in a well-organized manner. Which information to show is customizable.

Like the X20, the monitor of the X100s has a sun-light mode, which increases the brightness substantially and makes it somewhat possible to operate the menus and frame the image even in strong sun light. Given the excellent viewfinder this sun-light mode isn't necessary, though.

Sensor

The X100s features a 16 megapixel APS-C sized CMOS image sensor with built-in phase detection to speed up autofocus. The sensor has no low pass filter and the risk of moire has been reduced according to Fuji by using a color filter with a less repetitive pattern than the traditional Bayer pattern offers. We didn't experience moire in any of our test photos.

The "crop factor" is 1.5 and the sensor has the same size as that of a Pentax K-30/K-5 DSLR.

Since the lens cannot be detached dust won't get on to the sensor and sensor cleaning is a non-issue.

Lens and Aperture

The lens is a fast F2.0 23 mm prime lens. The focal length corrsponds to 35 mm in "full frame" equivalent terms. This is probably the most versatile focal length if you're only allowed one. The lens has a focusing ring around the lens barrel but it drives the AF motor for focusing and is thus not a true manual focusing ring.

The lens extends within the outer barrel when you turn the camera on and it moves back and forth during focusing. The overall depth of the camera doesn't change since the outer barrel is long enough to shield the lens even when it is extended the most.

The lens has 8 optical elements including an aspherical element. In macro mode the lens focuses as close as 10 cm from the subject, but with a focal length of 23 mm the maximum magnification is modest and nowhere near the 1x of a true macro lens.

Filters cannot be attached directly to the lens but standard third party filters can be used with an adapter. A lens hood is available as an optional accessory and also attaches via the adapter.

The aperture is set by the aperture ring on the lens barrel. The range is F2 to F16. When set to "A" the camera will select the aperture.

An wide angle conversion lens is available. It attaches to the front of the standard lens and widens the focal length to 28 mm (eqv.). An option must be selected in the menu to tell the camera that this attachment lens is in use. The optical viewfinder covers just about 80% of the field of view in this case. Framing is therefore best done with the EVF or rear LCD monitor. The wide angle attachment is bulky and cumbersome to attach and remove. If you cannot do with just the built in lens you're better off getting a DLSR or a mirrorless camera designed for interchangeable lenses.

Shutter and ND Filter

The shutter is a mechanical leaf shutter located within the lens. It is rated from 1/4000 sec to 30 sec. The actually available fastest shutter speed depends on the F-stop of the lens, however. This can make it somewhat frustrating to use Av and M exposure modes outdoors since you will have to enable the 3x ND filter whenever you want to use a large aperture. In the OVF the shutter speed is shown in red as a warning of overexposure and the EVF goes black, so you get some help in remenbering dialing in the filter. It would have been cool had the camera deployed the ND filter in Av mode whenever needed.

The Fn button can be set to toggle the ND filter on and off. This is preferable to setting it through the menu since the latter requires at least 5 steps! By setting Fn to toggle the ND filter we lost our quick access to setting the ISO since there is no separate ISO button. But ISO can be set from the Quick Menu, so that's not a big loss.

At F2 the fasted speed is 1/1000s decreasing gradually to 1/4000s as the aperture is closed down to F8.

The shutter speed dial covers the range 1/4 s to 1/4000s. The speeds form 30 s to 1/2 s are set by setting the shutter speed dial to T and then selecting the speed by turning the secondary command dial.

When the shutter speed dial is set to "A" the camera selects the shutter speed.

In Bulb mode the shutter can be held open for up to 60 minutes.

The shutter speed dial can be operated with just your right hand thumb and the dial has just the right resistance to it.

Flash

The X100s has a built-in flash as well as a hot shoe compatible with Fujifilm's line of flashes. The flash is turned on throgh a menu accessed from the four way controller.

The built-in flash sits very close to the optical axis of the lens which makes the red-eye effect more pronounced.

Verdict on Construction and Handling

The Fujifilm X100s is of sturdy construction. We like the many direct-access buttons and dials, which means that many settings can be done on the fly without going into the menus. The combined four way controller and secondary control wheel is a flawed design, though, and constantly leads to inadvertent activation of one of the four menus that can be reached from the four way controller. The Fujifilm X20 is much better in this regard. The same can be said of the grip - the X20 can be held securely in one hand, the X100s cannot.

The hybrid optical viewfinder as well as the electronic viewfinder are fantastic. Other brands should take notice of this elegant construction! We had no trouble at all using the X100s in Arizona's bright light since we could use the EVF not only for framing but also for changing settings through the menus.

Like on the Fufifim X20s there is a coupling between available shutter speeds and apertures - as an example 1/2000s and 1/4000s are not available at all apertures. However, in contrast to the X20, the X100s has a built-in 3 stop ND filter. The ND filter can be used in lieu of a high shutter speed to facilitate the use of the large apertures even in bright light. It is a plus to have the ability to limit the depth of field by opening up to F2.

If you want to set the aperture manually (or focus manually) you need both hands on the camera to operate the controls. It is a bit tricky to find a comfortable position for two hands on the relatively small body, but it can be done.

Even with the many dedicated buttons the X100s could have benefitted from a second customizable Fn button. We'd like to have one for ISO and one for the ND filter, as a minimum.