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<\/a><\/div>\nPick up the new Fujifilm X10<\/a> and you’ll feel like you have a real camera in your hands. Not a point and shoot. Not a digital camera. A camera. Maybe even a rangefinder, if you’re old enough to remember that term.<\/p>\n When I first saw the X10 last fall at the PDN PhotoPlus Expo, it was love at first sight. Eventually, I got one to try out, and by the time I was supposed to send it back, I’d already decided to buy it. After about two months of use, here’s my review and my thoughts on this fantastic little camera.<\/p>\n First, let me qualify my remarks. This is the first modern point and shoot camera that I’ve ever owned. The last one I had was my ice cream sandwich shaped Kodak 110 Instamatic. Ever since then, I just never justified getting a small camera. The cheap ones had too much shutter lag and low quality to be of much use, and really<\/em> good ones cost more than my Nikon D700. Eventually, my\u00a0iPhone became my point and shoot.<\/p>\n Don’t get me wrong, iPhoneography is so<\/em> much fun, but in the end, it’s just not the same thing as using a real camera, much like strumming chords on the iPad is not the same as plucking strings on a real Stratocaster.<\/p>\n However, times have changed. Sensors are bigger. Shutter lag is gone. The age of high quality small cameras has arrived.<\/p>\n First, a brief list of the main features and specs found on the Fujfilm X10. Then we’ll move onto details. (Visit the Fujifilm site for complete specs.<\/a>)<\/p>\n Like I said, the Fujifilm X10<\/a> looks and feels like a real camera, because it’s built like one. Made from die-cast magnesium and finished with a textured synthetic leather covering, the X10 carries a simple, yet rugged, classic design that makes it look much more like a Lieca than a Coolpix or a Powershot.<\/p>\n The top deck features a real, threaded cable release ready shutter button, (when was the last time you saw one of those?) and two metal dials, one for exposure mode, the other for exposure compensation; +\/- 2EV in 1\/3 stops. It also has a hot shoe that will accept one of Fuji’s dedicated flash units, the EF20<\/a>, or the EF42<\/a>, as well as built-in pop up flash. The back of the X10 features a 2.8″, 460,000 pixel LCD screen with 100% coverage, two command dials, multiple button controls AND an optical zoom viewfinder with 85% coverage and diopter adjustment.<\/p>\n Obviously, the Fuji engineers worked closely with the design team, because in your hands, all the controls feel like there where they should be. Even turning the camera on is a satisfying event; you simply remove the metal lens cap and turn the zoom dial on the lens. As soon as you hear the smooth mechanical click, the camera comes to life. If you want to use the X10 as a fast, point and shoot style camera, it’s all there. You can turn the exposure dial to “Auto,” zoom the lens as designed and shoot away. Either use the LCD monitor or the optical viewfinder. If you’ve got a tricky lighting situation, such as snow or exceedingly dark subject matter, you can adjust the +\/- EV dial with your thumb and quickly compensate accordingly.<\/p>\n If you need a flash, pop it up and blast away. It does TTL quite well, and will light up subjects as far away as 22 feet. When you’re ready to see your shots, hit the green “Play” button and scroll with the command dial. To delete shots, hit the “Trash” button, scroll and hit “OK” to confirm. Easy as pie with whipped cream and a cherry on top.<\/p>\n When you start digging in a little deeper, you’ll find that the X10 is actually a very full featured camera that has an extremely wide array of creative and technical options built right in. The Fujifilm team packed so much in there, that I’ve had the camera for over two months and I still don’t know everything that it can do. It offers full manual control in just about every single of the entire picture taking process. Here are the main features.<\/p>\n Exposure modes:\u00a0<\/strong>Program, Shutter, Aperture, Manual, two Custom modes, EXR, Auto, Adv (Advanced), SP (Scene Position) and Video, along with three metering patterns. (See what you can do with Manual mode and the spot meter<\/a>.)<\/p>\n EXR mode<\/strong> is designed to optimize clarity, noise reduction and enhanced dynamic range. The camera automatically selects the exposure based on a preset series of shooting conditions, such as Landscape<\/em>, Sunset<\/em>, Snow<\/em>, Sky<\/em>, Portrat<\/em>, Night<\/em>, High Resolution<\/em>, High ISO<\/em>, etc… From what I’ve seen, the X10 does a pretty good job of selecting an appropriate scene and make the necessary exposure decisions. In EXR mode, you can also manually choose Resolution Priority<\/em>, High ISO & Low Noise<\/em>, or D-Range Priority<\/em>, which increases detail in visible highlights.<\/p>\n Adv. Advanced Mode<\/strong>\u00a0lets you choose between Motion\u00a0Panorama 360<\/em>, (lots of fun!!)\u00a0Pro Focus<\/em>, (short telephoto, soft background, bokeh effect for portraits or macro) and Pro Low Light <\/em>(reduces noise.) In all three modes, the camera takes multiple exposures to combine or stitch together to create the final image.<\/p>\n I’ve used all of these modes, and they work great, especially the Panorama<\/em>\u00a0360 mode, which lets you select the angle of your panorama (120, 180, 300 or 360 degrees) and the direction of your pan (left-right, right-left, up-down or down-up for vertical pans.)<\/p>\n SP Scene Position mode <\/strong>lets you choose between a wide variety of “auto” scenes, such as those commonly seen on enthusiast class DLSRs like Portrait<\/em>, Landscape<\/em>, Sunset<\/em>, Beach<\/em>, Sport<\/em>, Night<\/em>, Night (Tripod)<\/em> and Fireworks<\/em>. I haven’t really tried these modes in real shooting applications, but I imagine that they do a fine job.<\/p>\n ISO: <\/strong>100-3200 at full resolution in 1\/3 stops. In M image size (2816 x 2112) you can shoot at 4000, 5000 and 6400. In S (2048 x 1536) you can go all the way up to 12800.) The recommended setting is 400(AUTO) which limits the ISO to no higher than 400. This is adequate for general shooting. The camera also has 800(AUTO), 1600(AUTO) and 3200(AUTO).<\/p>\n I found that using ISO 100 is the only way to get the X10 down to a 30 second shutter speed. At ISO 200, the max slow shutter speed is 15 seconds, and at ISO 400, it’s 8 seconds. Max shutter speed on the X10 is 1\/4000 sec.<\/p>\n Film Simulation\u00a0<\/strong>lets you apply a classic FujiFilm look to your images. Choices are Provia<\/em> (standard) Velvia<\/em> (yes!!) Astia<\/em>, (softer color tones), four\u00a0Monochrome<\/em> modes and Sepia<\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0The effects are subtle; it’s not Instagram, and there’s no HDR mode like some newer cameras have, but it’s enough to have fun.<\/p>\n WB Shift <\/strong>allows you to adjust the white balance of your images by making incremental steps to the red\/cyan or blue\/yellow axis. I haven’t found a need to adjust the WB in any of my shooting. The X10 also has a standard WB selector, much like most DSLRs.<\/p>\n Focusing: <\/strong>The X10 has a 49-point AF matrix spread across nearly the entire frame, and three focus modes: Single AF<\/em>, Continuous AF<\/em> and Manual<\/em>. Most of the time I leave it on Continuous AF<\/em> for both moving and non moving subjects, although I do like the Single AF<\/em> to manually select the focus zone just about anywhere in the frame (Area<\/em> mode). Single AF<\/em> also lets you do auto\u00a0Multi<\/em>\u00a0center weighted focusing.\u00a0Or you can use Tracking<\/em> to follow subjects across the frame.<\/p>\n Manual focus works, but it’s not very practical. You have to spin the command dial on the back and it takes a very long time to get from close to distant focus. The X10 also features both AE and AF lock buttons, as well as an AF assist lamp for low light scenes. Overall focus is pretty fast and plenty smart, especially for a camera of this size.<\/p>\n Macro: <\/strong>Macro on the Fuji X10<\/a> is AWESOME! It’s one of the first things I loved about this camera. There are two Macro modes, and the Super Macro mode lets you focus down to 1cm. That’s WAY close. Closer than anything I can do on my Nikon lenses. I’ve already had tons of fun with this one!!<\/p>\n Combined with Single AF, the X10’s great macro capabilities allows for exceptionally creative close up photography.<\/p>\n RAW: <\/strong>To shoot RAW on the X10, you simply press the RAW button the back of the camera. This designates the the next picture you take will be in RAW, or RAW + JPEG, depending on what you select in the shooting menu. The X10’s\u00a018.87 MB RAW files are now recognized in Adobe Lightroom, but quite honestly, it’s on-board JPEG processing is so good that you’re not going to notice very much of a difference.<\/p>\n The X10 does have an internal RAW converter as well, which lets you process a RAW capture and save a corresponding JPEG image right inside the camera. I’ve only tried this a couple of times and I have to say, I’m pretty impressed by what it can do. It’s not Photoshop, but if you are shooting RAW on the X10, it certainly saves time.<\/p>\n I haven’t shot RAW with the X10 very much, but what I’ve found is that the very small difference in image quality is often not worth the increased file size and additional processing and computer time. This from the guy who says you should always shoot in RAW!!<\/a><\/p>\n I suppose that there are situations when the additional processing might be needed, whether you do them on or off camera. However, in most cases, JPEGs from the X10 are good enough for just about anything you’re going to do with them.<\/p>\nBasic Specs and Features<\/h2>\n
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Design and Feel<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nEase of Use<\/h2>\n
Going Deeper<\/h2>\n
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