Fujifilm X10 12 MP EXR CMOS Digital Camera with f2.0-f2.8 4x Optical Zoom Lens and 2.8-Inch LCD

For those times when I don't want to carry my DSLR and all those heavy lenses, I always like to have a compact quality camera that I can grab with a moment's notice - and the Fuji X10 is my new favorite.For one thing, it's rugged and doesn't feel like a toy. It feels like a camera in your hands - a tool to take great pictures with, not something that you might confuse with your iPod. The controls are logical and well-placed, and the stuff you use a lot - lens controls, exposure, etc - are all easy to use without really thinking about it. Like all great cameras, it doesn't get in the way of making great photographs.I've never used Fuji cameras before, and it took me a while to get used to the cameras menus and user interface. Yes, everything you want is there - I've just been spoiled over the years because I use mostly Nikon equipment, and there's a sense of familiarity from the smallest subcompacts to the mighty DSLRs. Still, the menus and controls all seem well conceived and although there's a lot of settings in there, the camera isn't at all difficult to use.Image quality is the best I've seen from a camera this size. I tend to shoot RAW, and pictures taken in bright light at medium focal lengths aren't all that different than what I get from my Nikon D3. To my eye, JPEGs are also quite good...certainly good enough for online use and for prints up to about 8x10. I find images to be slightly warm and perhaps a bit over-saturated, with wonderful skin tones for portraits, although the built-in flash is a bit cool by comparison. In low light, the X10 does better than any compact cameras I've used, although here's where the size advantage of my DSLR helps...the X10 is good up to about ISO 800 - above that the DSLR is coming out.The X10 also has a few special modes that improve dynamic range (think HDR) or help you take wide panoramas by stitching multiple shots together. If you're accustomed to film, the X10 even has emulation modes for most of the Fuji classic films...Velvia, Provia, etc. While some of these are unique to Fuji, I tend to do this sort of thing afterwards in the computer, so most of these features aren't that important to me.The high-quality lens takes filters, hoods and other accessories and is quite sharp and contrasty edge-to-edge, even wide open. For close-ups, it focuses down to about half an inch. Bokeh or out of focus areas are pleasant without a lot of the harshness you sometimes see in small cameras. Indeed, I find myself shooting in Aperture Priority mode quite a bit so that I can use the f/2 end of the lens for nice out-of-focus backgrounds.There's an accessory hot-shoe on top for use with outboard flash. While the built-in flash is reasonably powerful and useful for daylight fill-flash, it's really too close to the lens axis, so you get the dreaded red-eye on nearly every shot. An outboard flash unit is the answer, since it sits further from the lens and minimizes any chance of red-eye. I tried it with my pro Quantum flash (which is several times bigger than the camera itself!) and got very good results. Unfortunately, there's not an off-camera flash system built in, similar to Nikon's Creative Lighting System (CLS). You can use various types of radio triggers or slave units to get this result, but it would have been great to have something built-in.The X10 includes all the other goodies you expect from a serious camera these days, from image stabilization and an optical viewfinder to auto-bracketing and the ability to program various shooting parameters for quick reuse. Underneath the camera is a solid tripod mount, and there's a direct HDMI output so you can connect the camera to a TV or monitor. It's fast starting up and to autofocus, and shutter lag is really excellent for a camera in this league. It will do 7 frames a second in burst mode, and the X10 can also take 1080p video, although to be honest, I have camcorders for video, so other than to verify that it works properly, I haven't done much with video yet.I do have a few minor complaints. For one, unlike the X10's big brother (the X100), there's no built-in GPS. I've grown accustomed to having my photos automatically geotagged, but this isn't possible with the X10. The other thing is battery life, which tends to be only about 200-300 shots per charge (depending on how much you use the flash).Overall, the X10 does everything I expect in a camera and takes photographs I'm proud of. It's not always the tool of choice, but for a majority of day-to-day shots, it's a wonderful performer, and for the price, it can't be beat. Fuji definitely has a winner here.Definitely recommended!

In the ancient days of film, my main camera was a Pentax 67. People thought I was a better photographer than I really was because then as now, bigger is better. So it was probably inevitable that I would end up with full-frame DSLRs. These cameras are so good, I can almost forget how big and heavy they are.Still, there are times when a big SLR is too much. Problem is, unlike the best compact 35mm film cameras (which were as good or better than 35mm SLRs), compact digital cameras are either not that good, or not that compact. Of course what "good" is, is up to you. If you think the output from an LX5 or S95 at 1600 ISO looks good, you can stop reading and save your $600. But if you are looking for that point where the camera cannot get any smaller without giving up too much image quality, that's where the X10 resides. I'm not going to go through all the features because the camera will probably be discontinued before I try everything. But here is what you can expect from the X10: Very good sharpness even in the corners at 28mm, low barrel distortion (although the camera is probably correcting), very respectable 8 x10 prints, noise that is both low and well handled, very good image quality at ISO 400 and usable image quality at ISO 800. That the X10 can handle fairly extreme dynamic range without incinerating the highlights is icing on the cake.A few likes/dislikes. The optical finder is excellent quality and has adequate dioptric correction. If it was made by Leitz, this zoom finder alone would be $600. However...unless you are focusing manually (a drag with the X10) when the camera beeps you really don't know what it is focusing on. Thus, while I love the absence of distractions in the finder, I don't use it as much as I expected to. As I have mentioned elsewhere, the front element is very exposed, the 40mm filter thread is ludicrous and the hood/adapter is barely better than nothing. The strap is nothing to write home about and doesn't even have a piece of suede for your shoulder. Unlike everybody else, I like the RAW button. On the X10 there is not a huge difference in quality between RAW and jpg (and for now you have to use the tedious SilkyPix). So, rather than fill the card with RAW files, I hit the button only rarely, if I really think I have something special. The metal cap with felt liner is a cute touch--old timers will know that the felt wears out fast and the cap falls off, but how can you hate a metal lens cap?Is the X10 for you? Obviously not if you want interchangeable lenses. Having briefly had a m43 outfit, I think multiple lenses defeat the purpose of a small camera but if this were my only camera it would be a completely different story. One thing in the X10's favor is that it produces very good results whether tweaked extensively or with everything just set to auto. If you lament the absence of viewfinders on many small cameras, the X10 should fill the bill. And lastly, although I swore I wouldn't mention this, yes, it is stylish, metal, made in Japan and even the box is pure Steve Jobs; it's black (of course) has an underexposed picture of the camera on matte paper and simply says "X10" as if to say, if you don't know what this is, you're not cool enough.(12/11/11) I'm going to add a little to this review. I suppose it was inevitable but I think some people's expectations for this camera are a bit ridiculous. If taking night shots is your main gig (and like everybody, you are a professional) no camera with a sensor this size is going to give the gorgeous, almost noise-free results you can get from a low megapixel, large sensor camera like a D700. Nor is the X10 a Leica M9 with a zoom lens that costs $600. And yes, the menus and the instruction manual are dense and confusing. But so is the list of features. Beyond (my opinion) unreasonable expectations, there does seem to be a serious issue with white clipping when shooting directly into a light source or specular highlight. I've seen this with the Sigma DP1x so I know what it looks like (awful), but haven't been able to reproduce it with the X10. Since virtually all sellers allow returns it should be easy enough to point the camera at the sun or a bright light and see what happens. I must say, I'm glad I'm no longer in the photo industry because the amount of anger, not just at the manufacturer, but at anybody who doesn't have this problem (we're stupid and obviously not professionals) has really gotten out of hand. Usually, I don't buy his "good copy/bad copy" nonsense but in this case I wonder if the problem really is limited to certain individual cameras.(2/22/12) Took my 2000th photo with the X10 today and still no white orbs. Now, the last thing I want to do is claim they don't exist or that they are in any way ok or acceptable. I have no doubt they exist and they're not acceptable. I don't seem to get them and the irony is that the cause of the problem, Fuji's EXR sensor, allows the camera to handle a somewhat greater brightness range without blowing the highlights vs. other small sensor cameras. But it is this very same EXR sensor that is the source of the white spots and that's why Fuji's firmware update didn't change anything. In other words, in high contrast situations, the X10 will hold more detail in the highlights--but if there is a super-bright pinpoint of light you may be in trouble. The reason I say "may" is because I haven't encountered it.If the camera didn't perform as well as it does in all other respects it would be easy to say, forget it, at least until the situation is resolved (and if a different sensor is required, don't hold your breath). But since the X10 has been great for my use, I'm in the unusual situation of advising against buying one, yet based on everything I've shot, I still give it 5 stars. I bought this camera to replace a Lumix LX5 which didn't have any "issues" but never, on it's best day gave the quality I get from the X10.