Fuji FinePix x100 - The perfect walk-around camera?

The new (not yet in the US) Fuji x100 camera has enthusiast and professional photographers chomping at the bit. I preordered mine from B&H Photo and I'm dying in anticipation of its arrival. This camera will provide high end SLR quality and control, in a light weight all in one package. There are a few similar options out there, but not one with all these features, such as the hybrid viewfinder, dials for all the manual controls, APS-C (large) sensor, and a classic look which is just gorgeous!

This camera will cost as much as an SLR with similar lens, or even a micro 4/3 with similar lens and viewfinder, so it's no break in price. But if you know what you are doing with a camera, the Fuji x100 is the camera to have when you don't want to look like a pro, or carry the weight of a full SLR kit.

My next best choice is the Olympus E-PL1 or 2 with a Panasonic 20mm 1.7 lens.

I'll post more about it once I get it. My wife took over the E-PL1 I had, but I'm not letting her take this one!

Loving my new camera... Olympus E-PL1

My friend ditched his rebel and bought an Olympus Pen. I told him he was crazy. Then he started a blog about his camera (Though he is slow to add content sometimes). His images looked great with no editing.

So life goes on and I buy a Canon s90 for my 'casual' shooting. My problem was although the s90 provides the best image you can get in that pocket size, I am too used to SLR quality. I was never happy. Finally I am at a shoot and another photographer was using a Leica Point and Shoot. It got me excited when he touted the quality. However after some research it's no better than the s90 unless you get the $2000 fixed focal length P&S leica. My wife would kill me.

Well after a lot of research, Micro 4/3 options ended up being the best option. Noise, image quality, hot shoe, it's all there. There was a trade in size, as it's not as micro as it sounds, but still not an SLR. Here is a picture of the Micro 4/3 camera with kit lens vs. a 30D with 50mm 1.4


As you can see, I went out and bought the camera right away. This has the wife pissed at me, but at least I'm not dead. I had to look for a while to find the Olympus E-PL1 camera locally. It's hard to find right now, in fact all micro 4/3 stuff seems to be hard to get so don't expect any deals, even online. I checked dozens of stores and only Ritz of all places had one in stock.

The quality of the camera's images are great. I don't want to post process this kind of casual shooting, I just want to take pictures. I also don't believe in getting a lot of lenses for this camera as that would destroy the portability. However I do plan to get a lens that I will leave on somewhat permanently (the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7) This lens is even smaller than the lens above and with a lens this fast I should not need any flash.

The E-PL1 has it's downsides, no view finder, no knobs and dials for fast adjustment, not yet compatable with adobe, etc. However it does have Image Stabilization in body, outstanding image right out of the camera, and a low cost (relative).

Well, I'm cutting this off as I always ramble. Here is a link to some sample pictures.