Fujifilm X100S review

Premium compact cameras are often billed as lightweight companions to a DSLR, but few people would spend £1,000 on a backup camera. That means the Fujifilm X100S needs to appeal to photography enthusiasts enough that they make it their primary camera, which is a tough challenge for a camera with a fixed lens and no zoom function.

Even so, it’s a challenge the X100S rises to admirably. It’s exquisitely handsome, with a rangefinder design that holds its own against classics such as the Leica M series. It isn’t only the looks, however: like those cameras, the X100S has dials dedicated to shutter speed and exposure compensation, plus lens rings for aperture and manual focus.

The only control this camera doesn’t put at your fingertips is ISO speed, but it’s still pretty quick. A customisable Fn button is assigned to ISO speed by default, and the rear wheel allows quick adjustment. The behaviour of the Auto ISO mode is customisable, with options to set the default and maximum sensitivity and the minimum shutter speed.

Other dedicated buttons cover white balance, drive mode and autofocus point, while a Q button reveals a grid of 16 functions that are accessed using the navigation pad and rear wheel.

The show-stealer is the viewfinder. There’s a large electronic viewfinder with a crisp, 2.36-million dot (XGA) resolution, but a quick flick of a lever makes it disappear to reveal an equally large optical viewfinder. Being able to switch so easily between the two is a huge asset: the optical viewfinder works best in bright conditions, and comes into its element when providing an uninterrupted view during burst shooting; the electronic viewfinder is better in low light, and also gives a preview of exposure, white balance, focus and depth of field.

The camera switches automatically from the optical to the electronic viewfinder when adjusting manual focus. There’s a choice of focusing aids, too, including a peaking mode that highlights areas of sharp focus, plus a Digital Split Image mode that recalls the split-screen focus systems used by film SLR cameras. The optical viewfinder includes an electronic overlay display, allowing both viewfinders to display a wide array of information including a histogram, a virtual horizon and the active autofocus point.

It’s a reasonably fast performer, with responsive autofocus and the ability to capture photos at a shade under one per second in normal use. Burst shooting is at 6fps; we measured 5.6fps in our tests, which lasted for 44 JPEGs or eight raw frames before slowing to the speed of the card.

For all their strengths, the controls aren’t perfect. Its command ‘dial’ is actually just a rocker switch, which isn’t as useful for making quick adjustments, and it mostly duplicates the navigation wheel’s functions anyway. The built in neutral density (ND) filter is only accessible by delving through the main menu, and the small on-screen ND icon proved too subtle to remind us that we’d inadvertently left it on.

The 2.8in, 460,000-dot screen is smaller and coarser than the 3in, 900,000-dot screens that prevail these days. These are minor quibbles, though. Overall, the X100S is easily the most rewarding compact camera we’ve had the pleasure of using.

Image quality warrants the same high praise. With its 16-megapixel APS-C sensor, it has no problem competing with DSLRs at this price. The unconventional sensor design, dubbed X-Trans, dispenses with an optical low-pass filter to maximise details, and it’s backed up by sharp focus from the lens. The fixed 35mm (equivalent) focal length might take some getting used to for those who are accustomed to a zoom function, but it works well for a wide range of scenes.

For situations where the subject looks lost in the frame, there’s enough detail for liberal cropping after shooting. Colour reproduction in JPEGs was exceptional, with Fujifilm’s simulation of its own film stock striking a sublime balance between accuracy and flattery.

The most impressive results came in low light. Noise levels in JPEGs were lower than from any other APS-C sensor we’ve seen to date, and impressively close to the latest generation of full-frame SLRs. Combined with the bright f/2 lens, we were able to capture photos under subdued artificial light that stood up to close scrutiny.

The video mode feels like an afterthought, with no dedicated record button and only basic control over settings. Its 1,080p clips at 30fps or 60fps looked clean and attractive, though, and while autofocus was lethargic at times, it didn’t spoil the soundtrack. This isn’t a serious video camera, but it’s a welcome ancillary feature.

People are likely to choose the X100S with their hearts rather than their heads. It’s quite extravagant to blow £1,000 on a fixed-lens camera rather than a more versatile compact system camera (CSC). Still, there’s no CSC we know of that matches the quality of the X100S’s controls, viewfinder and photos, except perhaps the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujifilm X-E1, but they won’t save you any money. The X100S isn’t as versatile, but it’s smaller, lighter and the most handsome of the three.

Fujifilm X100S sample pictures:

Shot at f/11, 1/280s, ISO 800. Click this link for the full resolution version

Shot at f/2, 1/60s, ISO 2500. Click this link for the full resolution version

Shot at f/2.8, 1/75s, ISO 12,800. Click this link for the full resolution version

Details
Image quality	6
Basic specifications
Camera megapixel rating	16.0mp
Camera screen size	2.8in
Camera optical zoom range	1x
Camera maximum resolution	4,896x3,264
Weight and dimensions
Weight	445g
Dimensions	127 x 54 x 74mm (WDH)
Battery
Battery type included	Li-ion
Battery life (CIPA standard)	300 shots
Charger included?	yes
Other specifications
Built-in flash?	yes
Aperture range	f2 - f16
Camera minimum focus distance	0.10m
Shortest focal length (35mm equivalent)	35
Longest focal length (35mm equivalent)	35
Minimum (fastest) shutter speed	1/4,000
Maximum (slowest) shutter speed	30s
Bulb exposure mode?	yes
RAW recording mode?	yes
Exposure compensation range	+/- 2EV
ISO range	100 - 25600
Selectable white balance settings?	yes
Manual/user preset white balane?	yes
Progam auto mode?	yes
Shutter priority mode?	yes
Aperture priority mode?	yes
Fully auto mode?	yes
Burst frame rate	6.0fps
Exposure bracketing?	yes
White-balance bracketing?	no
Memory-card type	SDXC
Viewfinder coverage	100%
LCD resolution	460k
Secondary LCD display?	no
Video/TV output?	no
Body construction	Aluminium
Tripod mounting thread?	yes
Data connector type	proprietary USB
Manual, software and accessories
Full printed manual?	yes
Software supplied	RAW File Converter
Accessories supplied	none