Photo Walkabouts: First Time Out With The Fujifilm X100s

Here are a few of the first pictures I shot with the latest offering from Fujifilm, the new X series Premium Compact Fujifilm X100s. I've had the camera for a week now and I have mainly shot indoors because of all the rain and bad weather we've been having lately. I finally managed to go out for a mini photo walk this week and so I took my first "real" photos with the X100s. The lens is a fixed prime with a focal length of 23mm (35mm equivalent in 135 format) which is not a focal length I'm used to shooting with. So it's kind of a challenge for me. Without a zoom, let's just say that I have to use my feet a lot more than I usually am used to. I've become a human zoom. Nonetheless, I was up to the challenge. Now let's see how I did.

The Fujifilm X100s

The first picture I took outside my home was actually... inside a metro wagon. I was playing with my camera, making some final adjustments before the start of "the big day" when I candidly shot this Goth girl sitting right in front of me. She was dressed in black from head to toe. She had this huge hood over her head the whole time. I got off before her. I never got to see her face, but at least I got to take this souvenir of her with me.

"Awkward Goth Girl"
1/60 sec at f/2.8 ISO 2500. Custom preset in Lightroom 3

Exit Sherbrooke station. Out the metro we go, and onto rue St-Denis for the first outside shooting with the X100s. The sky was mostly cloudy but now and then the sun was piercing through. Setting the camera to Auto White Balance is the key for me. I shoot in RAW anyway so that I can always play with the balance later in post-production.

A few shots of signs with a lot of details to see how well the X100s performs image quality wise. Not bad.

Below is a 100% crop showing the quality of the image at the center of the lens was the focus was made. You can see how detailed and sharp the X100s' 23mm lens performs, where it's specially noticeable around the black script graffiti. You can also make out the letters on the bolt pretty easily.

Another shot of the sign with some custom color editing in Lightroom to boost the contrast and color saturation (mainly red, blue and green ― while cutting slightly on yellow, purple and magenta). The bokeh is pleasing to the eyes, although there is a lot of noise in the background to really appreciate it.

"No Way!?" ― 1/500 sec at f/2 ISO 200.

I had originally planned on getting the latest compact pro shooter from Ricoh, the GR (V). It's also a fantastic little camera with great looking JPEGs straight out of the body. It's specially good for it's black and whites in street photography (Read more on the Ricoh GR philosophy in this blog). But, just like the Nikon Coolpix A, it doesn't get good ratings in reviews for its auto focus performance in low light which is a very important factor for me. I also prefer the X100s over the GR for its Fuji film emulation capabilities. With the X100s, you benefit from Fuji's longtime experience in film making and can simulate the looks of Fuji Provia, Velvia, Astia and Pro Negative film on your JPEGs. The color rendering is very good on the Fuji.

A wall painting by Canadian artist Labrona. ― 1/500 sec at f/2 ISO 320

"Bar Passeport 2"

"A Personalized Sign" ― 1/500 sec at f/2 ISO 320

"Le Saint Bock", rue St-Denis.
Vintage cross processing in Lightroom

"Rue St-Denis" ― 1/250 sec at f/4 ISO 400

"St-Denis et ses terrasses"

A few musicians in front of Pub l'Île noire taking a break

Now... let's see how these guys look like a little closer.

Mmmm... not bad... not bad at all! (Shot in RAW)

The auto focus on the X100s is lightning fast and very accurate. I usually set the auto focus point in the center of the view finder, aim at where I want to focus and then recompose the image. I'm not a big fan of moving the focus points around, unless I shoot multiple shots of the same subject (i.e., portraiture).