Fuji X100S Review | the Teenager vs the Princess
Having this camera for just about a week now, I've already come to some heavy handed conclusions about her. For reference, I've owed and LOVED my Fuji XPro-1 for about a year now, using it on every major shoot I had from weddings to commercial and portraiture work. That said, let's get down to business.
THE TEENAGER VS THE PRINCESS
DSLR's are like teenage boys, full of hormones and always going off half cocked. They beg to be pushed around, always wanting to show you how many frames they can take or how many autofocus points they have. They're big and clunky and like kids at the mall, wear you out after an afternoon with them. They scream "look at me", and "guess how big my lens is". The point is, they're still evolving and although they certainly have their place and can be very reliable in certain instances, they simply demand too much of my attention.
The X100s, oh she's a princess. Far more refined and seasoned than her older sibling (XPro-1). She's delicate and petite, and needs to be lightly held not man handled like those teenage DSLRs. Her focusing, although vastly improved from her predecessor, is still worlds slower than a DSLR, but that's not what she's about. She doesn't care about being the fastest or the most megapixels, she's not there to be bullied or pushed around. She is a princess and will not be pushed around, however if you calm yourself down and treat her with respect, she'll capture unbelievably beautiful images for you.
The big difference here is that one style of camera demands vision, while the other inspires vision. The X100S makes you want to go out and create images, the clunky DSLR only cares about taking pictures.
PHILOSOPHY
One of the things I live by is the old addage by Orson Welles, "The absence of limitation is the enemy of art." Limits allow one to start thinking creatively. Much like twitter, say anything you want to the world, but you mustn't use more than 140 characters do say it. You must enact creativity to get your point across within the limits they've provided.
These beautiful little cameras with all their quirks and nuances have revived some deep sense of creativeness inside me, something I lost in the pursuit of the biggest and the fastest. Like Jack White says, "music is a struggle, you have to pick a fight with your guitar." I echo that same sentiment, photography is a struggle, and I must wrestle with my camera!
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Here are some pics I took during a little walkabout I had with some friends. I was pleased as punch with the little princess!
a big thank you to the always inspiring Luca Venter, Alec Vanderboom, and Jarrod Renaud for playing model. Loved the fellowship and the shooting my friends.