Hello Alt friends...
I am a lover of this section of FM, yet have not really been an alt photographer. I am a Nature/Wildlife shooter who uses canon. I've flirted with a move to Sony, but just could not get use to the ergonomics and the direction they are heading w/ their evf/slr design. You can see my work at: http://bruceleventhal.blogspot.com

In addition to wildlife & landscapes, I travel quite a bit and have been searching for a street/city camera as well as a body I could throw around my neck while shooting wildlife. My slr's are too heavy & cumbersome for this type of use. After wanting an M8, I came back to earth after realizing that it is a $3000 to get a nice body and decent lens, I began looking for other options.

My second choice was the XPro-1, but the issues with Aperture/Lightroom really put me off. So... after hunting through Amazon, I discovered that Amazon Warehouse had a few LN X100 Special Edition bodies for around $1200. With the inclusion of case, lens hood and black finish, I bit the bullet and made a purchase.

I am heady to NYC (my hometown) in two weeks and am looking forward to bringing just one camera for a change!

Now for the help... I'm looking for some tips/suggestions for camera settings. I am a manual exposure guy and want to shoot this as if it were more like an M8 than my Canon DSLR's... also... post some inspiration here... I'd love to see where the camera excels.

thanks for your suggestions and regards,
bruce

my advice would be to embrace auto ISO. it will make your life much easier. the control dials are really awesome on the x100. i just check every once in a while to make sure the exposure compensation dial is at 0.

I just sold my XP1 in favor of the X100... IMO it is a fantastic camera. The 35mm equivalent lens is fantastically sharp L/G quality sharp and the camera is fast enough for my uses.

The files take processing fine but are a little different than say Nikon/Canon files in terms of BW conversion.

Also you paid 1200$ for the X100!!!! Holy Moly I just picked up a second one with everything you described for 750$ and it was like brand new.

I do not like auto ISO because I never shoot in any auto mode. Why let the camera decide? Set the iso, aperture and shutter speed and just go.
I love the fact that you can easily setup a custom WB as well which I always do. The Auto WB is great inside but outside the AWB seem to always expose on the cool side.

The X100 sensor is FAR superior to the XP1 sensor IMO. The cannot figure out why Fuji went with the Xtrans sensor.... it kinda blows.

Thanks for the info.. Looks like i overpaid... Really wanted the black body, as i'm not wild about a chrome finish. I'm not sure if I'll keep it, but need to check it out before making the final decision.

Bruce

yea, my gets 4x more use than my d700.
set the raw button to the nd filter,
use the manual focus setting and press the afl button on the back to set focus,
exposure and wb are perfect so leave those on auto auto iso is great but in really low light you need to set 6400 manually the flash is amazing too,
set the function button to change the camera profiles i use two provia tweaked settings one for portraits and another to cover every thing else and shoot jpgs there perfect and pushable in pp,
get one of those simple leica style leather neck straps and a normal lens cap to use with the hood holder (don't use the hood it blocks the flash and there's no need for it the lens is really resistant to flare...

I may get flack for this, but the X100 is the only camera/lens that I generally use a clear protection filter with, because it allows me to always have the camera ready by not using a cap, and it seals the lens from dust coming through the front, and dust in the lens is a common complaint with this camera.

The cool thing is, if you're willing to spend a little money, the Pentax MH-RC slim hood for their 40mm f2.8 pancake lens fits the X100 perfectly (using a filter adapter from Fuji or ebay,) and you can screw a small, high quality B+W filter into the UNDERSIDE of the hood, so it remains very compact, and only slightly impedes the viewfinder. Plus, the whole thing looks very good and OEM...outside of the Pentax labeling.

If I'm ever concerned about an IQ issue with the filter, I just unscrew the whole thing and throw it in my pocket. Of course, one can also use the Pentax hood without a filter at all, too.

Below is a pic of the hood+filter combo, so you can see what it looks like. The pic is from user Moonshine4Ever on flickr:

Outside of the whole filter/hood thing, I'd also recommend a speedy 95mb/s SD card. Fast SD cards really improve the speed of the camera in day to day usage.

Hi Bruce,

I was an early adopter of the X100. I still use it a lot. I have the OEM leather case and OEM hood. I normally use the camera on a Domke Gripper 1" strap, with the hood attached and the 'body fixed' part of the case on the camera. The other part of the case that flips up and over the top, to cover the front of the camera (the original speed case concept) doesn't fit over the attached hood. It might fit over the Pentax MH-RC slim hood mentioned above by Douglas, but the very similar Voigltander Ultron 40/2 hood that I have does not fit under the case, because you have to stack step rings to get it on. So to speak.

I don't use a protective filter on the X100; the hood keeps me comfortable.

I suggest you get a stash of extra batteries. The three Lenmar DLF95 batteries that I picked up are undistinguishable in terms of performance from the two Fujifim OEM NP-95 batts that I also have. Too bad the X-Pro 1 takes a different type.

Cheers, Jim

douglasf13 wrote:
Outside of the whole filter/hood thing, I'd also recommend a speedy 95mb/s SD card. Fast SD cards really improve the speed of the camera in day to day usage.

You have a RRS grip and plate on the x100 .How are the ergonomics of that grip with the camera

Reagan

Reagan wrote:
douglasf13 wrote:
Outside of the whole filter/hood thing, I'd also recommend a speedy 95mb/s SD card. Fast SD cards really improve the speed of the camera in day to day usage.

You have a RRS grip and plate on the x100 .How are the ergonomics of that grip with the camera

Reagan


Nope, not my camera. That was a picture from someone else on flickr, and I referenced them above the pic.

I can see that now


Reagan

Thanks for all of the tips,... keep them coming.
My camera just arrived... it's an Amazon warehouse / return in LN condition. While the box and manual look a bit abused, the body is immaculate. Because I chose to go with the black "special edition," I got the hood, case and fuji filter included. I'm a hood guy, so I will keep that on all the time and just use the bottom case for a bit of extra grip and protection.

As indicated, I'm a nature shooter and will use this as a travel/street camera. I'm charging the battery now and will give it a spin this weekend (locally) and in NYC in the following week. Too bad there isn't a lens cap that fits over the hood. I'd use it when stashing the camera in my work bag. If anyone knows of a cap that fits on the OEM hood, I'm open to suggestions.
regards,
bruce