After six years of constant use I love the Fujifilm x100s more than ever. It's small, unintimidating and looks sheer class. I reckon it was truly a ground-breaking camera both conceptually and technologically, with a fixed 35mm equivalent lens, a silent leaf shutter and a hybrid viewfinder that is both a traditional evf type and a rangefinder, the first of its kind. Add to that the new x-trans sensor and you've got a package able to produce simply stunning results.
My Canon 5D Mkii has spent the majority of the past six years gathering dust on the shelf. I find I'm much less willing to carry around the extra weight these days, and it doesn't make it so easy to get candid shots or to avoid unwanted attention. Despite the smaller form factor of the Fuji, the fact is that the image quality, to my eye, is just as good as the fully professional, full frame 5D Mkii even at high ISOs.
It really puts the joy back into taking photos and it's a camera that makes me want to pick it up and take it out. It still gives me a feeling of anticipation over what I might be able to capture with it that day. It just gets out of the way and lets you get on with taking pictures.
Before buying it I agonized over whether having a fixed lens would be a limitation, being used to the large selection of Canon lenses I'd acquired over the years. I even limited myself to a 35mm prime on the Canon for an extended period.
I needn't have worried however. Just having the fixed 35mm lens on the Fuji wasn't limiting at all. In fact to my surprise it was completely liberating. I started really paying attention to my compositions, zooming with my feet and exploring my subject, often getting much closer than I would have had it had a zoom lens attached. It just seemed to open up a whole new world.
I've since picked up an x-t20 and a used x-pro1 which I'm using with the 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses, and which I both love. However they don't quite have the magic of the x100s. If you have a chance I highly recommend picking one up. You won't regret it.
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