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In amongst all the cameras announced at Photokina 2010 - including enthusiast SLRs such as the Nikon D7000, Canon EOS 60D, Pentax K-5 and Sigma SD1 - one utterly unexpected model stole the show. Fujifilm unveiled the FinePix X100, a compact camera with an SLR-size APS-C sensor and traditional analogue control dials, that hides ground-breaking technology inside a retro-styled body with looks to die for. It's the company's first camera with a large, APS-C sensor aimed at professionals and advanced amateurs since the S5 Pro DSLR of 2006.
Fujifilm may be a company that’s currently best-known for its prolific production of compact cameras, but in reality it has a long tradition of making somewhat left-field, unique cameras aimed at serious enthusiasts and professionals. The company regularly sought out market niches in the days of film, from its Fujica 6x9 format rangefinders, through the GA645Zi medium format ‘zoom compact’, to the TX-1 35mm panoramic rangefinder (better known in Western markets as the Hasselblad XPan), all of which still command premium prices on the used market today. In the digital era it has concentrated mainly on its innovative SuperCCD sensor technology, employing it to provide class-leading dynamic range on cameras such as the S5 Pro and the EXR series of zoom compacts. Along the way it has made some genuine cult classics, including the F30 and F31Fd compacts which earned a reputation as excellent low-light performers.
The X100, though, is something totally different. It’s a beautifully-designed rangefinder-styled camera that squeezes an SLR-size APS-C sensor into its compact body, and sports a fixed, fast F2 maximum aperture semi-wideangle lens with a classic 35mm-equivalent field of view. It uses traditional analogue control dials for shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation, alongside an electronically coupled (‘focus-by-wire’) manual focus ring. But the biggest story is its innovative and unique hybrid viewfinder, which combines a conventional direct-vision optical viewfinder with a high-resolution electronic viewfinder, offering the best of both worlds plus a few unique tricks of its own.
The large-sensor, fixed-lens compact isn’t a new idea, of course, and both Sigma’s DP series and the Leica X1 have already visited this territory. However these haven’t been entirely convincing products, plagued by slow operation, low-resolution LCDs and, in the case of the Sigmas, a somewhat quirky interface. For this reason they’ve struggled to establish a compelling raison d’etre, especially in the face of competition from the new breed of interchangeable lens mirrorless compacts typified by the Olympus Pen series and Sony NEXs. So the big question is whether Fujifilm has managed to refine the concept, and produce a camera that’s as compelling to shoot with as its specifications (and looks) suggest.
