Fujifilm X100F Mirrorless Digital Camera, Silver

Product Information

Again, it’s a camera designed for street shooting at subject distances of a couple of meters or more, and I should add it can deliver sharp results at large apertures, but again only for subjects that aren’t too close. As such the X100F’s speed – not to mention its coverage – aren’t ideal for sports, action or even enthusiastic kids and pets, but you could still exploit its burst speed for grabbing the decisive moment in street photography and use the continuous AF to maintain focus on small movements.

Six years after the original X100 went on sale, there’s still nothing else on the market that can match the series’ winning combination of image quality and retro charm. With both the shutter dial and lens set to manual control, you can subsequently adjust either remotely, although the longest shutter speed is 30 seconds with no access to Bulb for anything longer.You can swap between a parallax-corrected brightline direct vision viewfinder, as used in Leica cameras, for example a regular electronic viewfinder or a hybrid amalgam designed to give you optical clarity and digital information at the same time. The X100F uses Fujifilm’s new 24-megapixel APS-C X-Trans sensor, eight megapixels up on the previous model; a faster X-Processor Pro image engine; and the same hybrid phase-detection/contrast autofocus system seen on the X-T2 and X-T20 (now superseded by the X-T3 and X-T30).

It’s also possible to apply the grain settings after the event in playback to RAW files using the RAW conversion menu; this also lets you adjust the Film Simulation, White Balance (and shift), highlight and shadow tone, saturation, sharpness, noise reduction, colour space and whether the lens modulation optimiser is enabled or not; it’s also possible to ‘push-process’ the exposure by up to -2EV or +3EV in one third increments. Set the shutter dial to A and you’re effectively in Aperture Priority, choosing the desired focal ratio from the lens ring.It allows for such a smooth transition between shooting with the X-T2 and then switching to the X100F.

I love USB charging as it means I can topup or even completely recharge without having to carry an AC adapter and look for an AC socket; instead I simply connect the camera to my laptop, a vehicle adapter or a portable USB battery (like my Anker PowerCore 10000) and I’m good to go. For a classy vintage look, try Classic Chrome or Sepia or one of the four monochrome modes, three of which feature yellow, red and green filters. It’s the back plate that sees the biggest change, however, with the LCD moved all the way to the left to make space for a new joystick that’s used to select between the 91 available autofocus points.

Perhaps the most alarming omission for some, however, will be the lack of 4K video, as the X100F is restricted to 1,920 x 1,080 full HD. You can then copy your shots across for uploading to social media, or use your phone as a remote control complete with live view. The rear screen is fixed (no tilting mechanism) and is not touch-sensitive, though there is a focus lever off to the right.