Fuji Fujifilm Finepix X100 - Pricing, Availability and general OMG

his cost was way above the cost of my own order, so i wasn't interested in buying it :) quite happy to wait.

the production unit is practically identical to the preview unit i played with 2 weeks ago, so i already know what to expect...
 
Unfortunately it looks like I missed out on Australia's first batch (which was reduced from 200 to 30). 2 of my friends have received theirs though, and one of them has put it straight onto eBay as there were a few too many quirks for him to handle...

From what I've seen on eBay, your friend is also making a tidy 85-100% profit over the purchase price, so it's like (s)he was paid to test the X100. I'd take that deal any day :)
 
Richard, thanks for the link to Miserere's blog, I enjoyed it. Ian Wilkinson's naturally written review just adds to my wanting to get my X100 sooner rather than later. Hoping I make the cut!

Yep, doesn't do much for my 'lust' either, although you're actually waiting on an order so probably more painful in some ways for you! It reiterates my thoughts on slowly creating a mirrorless system alongside my SLR system, with the potential for a complete switch... eventually. The X100 isn't the answer yet as it's just one camera/one lens, but I share a similar philosophy to Ian when it comes to wedding photography, so I certainly feel a smaller camera/system would suit the more discrete approach.
 
updated the initial post with current pricing info gleaned from the first few ebay sales. there's a substantial markup if you want one now!!

also updated with info on reverse filter trick and AF speed etc.
 
Jon, thanks so much for keeping us all up-to-date on this. Inquiring minds need to know!:2thumbs:

Fortunately for me, a friend of Don's (AKA Streetshooter's) is overseas and has been using the Fuji X100 for about a week or two now. I've lost track of how long, but I do know that he absolutely loves the camera.:D I'm excited and looking forward to the camera whenever it arrives.
 
Well, one just went for US$2600! I believe that's over twice the recommended retail price.

There's a potential for huge profit here alright! The camera's quirks better not annoy me too much or I'll be awfully tempted to jump on that bandwagon too!! :) (although not before carefully comparing it to my current gear)
 
If I'd had the foresight to acquire six (at about the price of an M9), I could have sold them for enough profit to buy an M9 and still keep one.

If only.
 
I don't think I'd buy one on Ebay right now even if the prices were reasonable. Sounds like there have been a number of misaligned OVFs that Fuji is being really responsive about fixing, but I'd hate to have any warranty questions if something like that came up on a first generation camera like this. The reports I'm reading sound like the camera has a lot of little quirks that people are getting used to, but its not a super intuitive camera. If my number comes up in early April sometime, I think I'll grab one and take it on a trip mid-month and see how I like it. But if I slip too far back, I may just wait a while and see if I can find one to borrow for a couple of hours to see if I like the OVF and silent shutter enough to put up with some of the other stuff. Its a real open question for me at this point. I'm really questioning whether I even want to stick a street camera up in my face again now that I'm used to shooting from down low. But I have to try it or I'll drive myself crazy wondering... I didn't think I'd like the Nex either and I ended up loving it instantly, so I gotta give this one a try...

-Ray
 
The frame lines on the OVF have worked beautifully for Don's pal and he's had not one single complaint. Just so you know, he has been comparing this camera to the M9 - and prefers the X100.
 
I've heard about this a couple of times - can you elaborate? In cameras with this problem, are the framelines in OVF mode just really inaccurate?

It sounds like they're actually tilted - if your image is straight in the framelines, its pretty obviously tilted once you see the file. There was a lot of discussion on dpreview that this was normal parallax and just how these OVF's were supposed to work, but a few people insisted they knew how they were supposed to work and this wasn't it. Quite an argument ensued until Fuji acknowledged a problem and started fixing them. Sounds like in the UK at least, they've been VERY responsive, turning them around in a day or two. And there was a rumor (but no more) that part of the delay in distributing the limited number of US and Canada units that were already in North America was because of quality checks and repairs to catch this problem before the cameras went out. No idea if this is true, but it would be reassuring to know that it was.

A couple of people who had the problem and had it fixed said it made a night and day difference and they loved the OVF once it was calibrated. I'm sure this is something they can fix. I'm sure the OVF will be wonderful once working properly. Its just been so long since I've used anything similar that I'm going to have to use one for a while to see if I still like holding a camera up to my face to frame, even WITH a great OVF. For everything other than long lenses, I've gotten VERY accustomed to holding the camera away from my face, with the Nex at waist level but also with my fixed-LCD m43 cams and LX5 framing with the lcd. And its gotten to feel quite natural. Using the Oly or Pany evf (the crummy one on the LX5 and GF1 or the great one on the gh2) hasn't felt right except when I'm using a longer lens, when I seem to like the steadying effect of holding it up against my face. I hope I like the Fuji OVF, but I won't be shocked if I don't. And it won't be the camera's fault if I don't - just a matter of preference.

-Ray
 
This isn't a camera I'm interested in owning, but I saw one in a photography shop today and went and had a play.
Very nice - very pretty- very light -- beautiful viewfinder -- rather plasticky - not my sort of thing ...
the gentleman in the shop (clearly an enthusiast for both photography and the x100) told me he couldn't sell me one even if I wanted, this one was only for display and he had presold every one he could get his hands on & was waiting to fulfil all his orders .
#
 
Not quite sure what the prices are on the X100 now; but I received a catalogue from a photographic company I'd bought from and they were advertising it at £899. it also has a rather nice brown leather case £89.99 which looks Every ready.
What these prices are in Euros or dollars is for your interest.
How the prices are dropping before it is readily available is beyond me!
 
That price you've quoted is above the suggested retail prices showing here in the USA of $1,199.95, shown here at B&H, Penny. And the sales of cameras via eBay are going hot and heavy at way over retail.
 
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
 
When this camera was announced I was fascinated and thought that I would really want to buy this camera. But then came the marketing and the hype. I am a skeptic and promises, which are as great as the marketing did, and such hypes before the hyped object is available are suspicious to me. In the meantime it got clear to me, that this is not the right camera for me, because I would not want to shoot with only one focal length and if I had to, I would prefer a fifty. I am a zoom guy.
 
That's interesting Pictor. I don't share any of your issues with it, but reached the same conclusion. I don't care about the hype one way or the other - its all about the finished camera and it sounds like it lives up to most of the hype anyway (with a few inevitable first generation issues). And I'd be OK with a camera that's fixed focal length and I'm a wider than longer guy, so something in that 28-35mm range is what I'd want (I even have fun walking around with the 24mm equivalent with the Nex and its 16mm). For me its just about how I like to hold the camera. As popular as eye level viewfinders are among traditional photographers, I've just had to accept that I'm happier without it than with it. On the GH2, I use it because its there and often the best way to hold THAT camera, but I prefer most types of shooting with the gf1 or LX5 or, particularly, the Nex. And if you DON'T love an eye-level viewfinder, I don't see much else compelling about the X100 relative to a few other cameras out there.

The preference for a good viewfinder (and a good optical version is generally the best of 'em) is such a given among so many that it took me a while to realize that it just flat doesn't appeal to me. It almost feels like an admission of a disease! :)

-Ray
 
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