It’s now been 18 months since I got my x100s. It was my second one, the first was sold after a few months to make way for the 23mm 1.4 on the X-T1. However, I missed having a carry everywhere sort of camera and I realised I’d not fully utilised the capabilities of this mini beast so I bought another one. 18 months on and I’ve taken some of my all time favourite images with this camera, so I thought I’d summarise my experiences and throw around a few images.
The Positives..
1.The look and feel of the camera. Some people just don’t get on with it, but after taking the time to really get to know it, I love it.
2.The OVF – I don’t always use it, but its there when I need it and I love being able to see people walking into the frame. Like at this wedding…
3.Sharpness..when used correctly, images just have a great feel and tone to them and are super sharp ( with one exception, see negatives ). I’ve used it for group shots at weddings with no problem and the clients have loved the results. And I’ve used it on my kids..alot.
4.The leaf shutter – this is a big one for me, as this year I’ve really been pushing myself to use flash more in my fashion work. This camera is a sunlight killer, you can do great things with it once you figure out that the sweet spot is 1/1000 at f2 with the nd filter on.
5.The pop up flash..the above shot was taken using an SB700 flash, the flash was off camera and triggered by the x100s using its pop up flash in commander mode. I was at f2, 1/1000 and iso 200. The sun was in a horrible spot, awful shadows all over the place, but my little x100s killed it.
6.The silent shutter. I love using this thing at weddings, no one notices you, the priest/vicar loves it. It makes candid shots a breeze, like this one, where I was very close to the couple and the priest had given me a stern talking to about not making too much noise. After the ceremony she thanked me for being so quiet that she never knew I was there.
7.That 23mm lens..good for so many things, from landscapes to weddings to people/portraits if used correctly. I’ve also used the teleconverter a lot this year and its amazing.
The Negatives:
1.Battery. Everyone knows this. Plus in a hurry its easy to put it in the wrong way round.
2.If you get too close at f2 your images come out soft.
3. AF could be snappier but I’ve found it pretty good over all and fine for my uses.
4.Soft skin at 3200 ISO above if using the otherwise excellent jpegs.
OK..overall its basically my favourite camera of all time. I didn’t upgrade to the x100T as the upgrades were not big enough for me to justify the cost, plus, this thing does pretty much everything I want as it is now. OK, time for more pics..I’ve used the x100s for just about everything except sports and wildlife, and increasingly I’ve been using it in the studio. The shot below was using an x100s and 3 flashes.
