X-100 Soul Searching
In case anyone is interested, I've decided to cancel my pre-orders for the X-100. I'm intrigued by this camera and may well end up owning one (or a next generation of it) someday, but not right now. But this camera has really caused me some photographic soul searching and I had to go through several bouts of "I've GOTTA try this thing out" before deciding, no, I really don't gotta.
I know its a great camera in a lot of respects, but the primary reasons I saw for getting this are the OVF (well, the hybrid, but you can get an evf on a lot of cameras, so its really about the OVF), the silent shutter, and the depth of field guide to help with zone and hyperfocal manual focus shooting. I've got a silent shutter and even better hyperfocal and zone shooting options with the LX-5 (just because of MUCH more depth of field with the small sensor - I'd have to shoot the X100 at about F10 to get the same DOF I get wide open with the LX-5). So its really down to the OVF. And the more I play around with other cameras, the more I've concluded I really don't like shooting with a camera glued to my face unless I really NEED to. And I generally only really need to with a long lens or on a really sunny day with a bad LCD screen. But if I can see the screen and don't need to steady a telephoto, I'm much happier with the framing and compositional opportunities at being able to hold the camera in various different positions and still compose the shot. On most of my cameras I can see the screen well enough on a sunny day and on the Nex, I can see it brilliantly. And for street photography, which is quickly becoming my jones, my face is the LAST place I want the camera. So I've come to realize that even if the OVF lives up to ALL of the hype and is the best of its kind ever created or even imagined, I don't think its for me.
And there are a bunch of little niggling features/quirks/bugs turning up in the early reports that I could learn to work around if it was my primary camera, but it wouldn't be, so I think I'd just get frustrated by them a lot.
So, I'm gonna wait for the Zeiss 24 to show up for the Nex and keep shooting with cameras I love that actually encourage me to shoot from places other than my face - with the X100 I think I'd feel guilty about shooting any other way, give the strength of the OVF.
Don, if you get one and like it, I'd love to check it out over breakfast or coffee some day. And maybe if its as popular as it looks like, and competitors jump into the game, I'll get one of these or something like it a generation or two down the road. But as much as I wanted to want this camera, my gut just isn't feeling it. And its a lot of money unless you're really feeling it.
I hope everyone who gets one likes it as much as anticipated and more!
-Ray