Very cool John, I think you'll like it lots.
Next time we get together for the SeriousCompacts NJ/PA group I'll bring mine and we can make a Fuji day of it
Thanks, Jay!
Okay, it's here and I'm seriously impressed, even in JPG which I almost never shoot. In fact, I haven't got to RAW yet.
Simply lovely performance even at ISO 3200. I have taken no photos worth posting -- just junk around home. Tomorrow I'll see if I can give it a workout at the plant and get some industrial scenes. This Saturday I have to go in at 5AM so I'll get some early morning shots then.
I was expecting a moderately unusable camera -- boy was I surprised. This thing works WAY better than I thought. No, AF is not FAST -- but neither is it so slow as to be ridiculous. Running firmware 1.30 and all is well.
I really dig the retro OPERATION, not just the look. A real aperture and shutter speed dial? How sweet is that? Very! NO MODE DIAL! Put both on "A" you are in "Program", put just shutter on "A" you're in aperture priority, put just the aperture on "A" and you're in shutter priority. Select values on both, its manual! Brilliant and refreshing -- or at least it is to an old guy who remembers cameras that worked like that.
I like the Nikon-esque control buttons on the left of the display -- reminds me of my Nikon DSLR's and I'm quite comfortable with it. I even like the idea of the 4 way control pad controlling AF point when you hold down the AF button. Perfect for shooting JPG particularly as it allows you direct access to WB, Drive, Macro and Flash. Usually I want the 4 way pad to directly control AF point, but I can get used to this easily. I like the OVF/EVF hybrid finder.
I was really surprised by the weight of the camera -- it looks much heavier than it feels. That's a good thing.
NOT disappointed with my early experience just at the house. This could be a real winner for me.