I grew up in a Nikon family, and continue to use a Nikon DSLR as my go-to camera. When we were looking for a good camera for my wife for a trip, we picked the Fujifilm X10. It has been over a year, and I have grown to love that little camera. When I don't want my heavy DSLR, I reach for the X10. I have found one other great use for it as well: it is a great bridge camera for learning a DSLR.
To be honest, I have the camera with custom settings that are mostly auto-everything. Program Auto, DR400, size M, and ISO Auto provide a pretty good base exposure. With the exposure compensation dial right on top and the histogram in live view, it is pretty simple to get a good exposure with these settings. When more control is needed, just flip the command dial to go to a different mode. We never really go into the menus at all.
This has been a great configuration for my wife to both learn more about the DSLR style of controls while getting great pictures. It seems that we get an occasional focus miss, but I would otherwise consider the X10 to be about as good as my old D70 was with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 attached, but with the addition of stabilization. It holds highlights about as well at low ISO, and has better noise performance at high ISO. Also, the X10 lens feels just right when zooming, turning in the Nikon direction and everything. Even though this is meant to be a compact camera for us, live view exposure management has me a bit hooked.
I know there is some Nikon heritage in the old Fuji DSLR bodies, so some of this comfort across brands seems obvious. However, I am not too interested in the Nikon V2 as of yet, even though it finally adds some traditional modes to the dial. All of this makes me want to take a closer look at the XE1. Does anyone have any strong feelings about replacing Nikon DX DSLRs with higher-end Fuji cameras?
To be honest, I have the camera with custom settings that are mostly auto-everything. Program Auto, DR400, size M, and ISO Auto provide a pretty good base exposure. With the exposure compensation dial right on top and the histogram in live view, it is pretty simple to get a good exposure with these settings. When more control is needed, just flip the command dial to go to a different mode. We never really go into the menus at all.
This has been a great configuration for my wife to both learn more about the DSLR style of controls while getting great pictures. It seems that we get an occasional focus miss, but I would otherwise consider the X10 to be about as good as my old D70 was with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 attached, but with the addition of stabilization. It holds highlights about as well at low ISO, and has better noise performance at high ISO. Also, the X10 lens feels just right when zooming, turning in the Nikon direction and everything. Even though this is meant to be a compact camera for us, live view exposure management has me a bit hooked.
I know there is some Nikon heritage in the old Fuji DSLR bodies, so some of this comfort across brands seems obvious. However, I am not too interested in the Nikon V2 as of yet, even though it finally adds some traditional modes to the dial. All of this makes me want to take a closer look at the XE1. Does anyone have any strong feelings about replacing Nikon DX DSLRs with higher-end Fuji cameras?
