Fuji X100T - initial impression

Image courtesy of ©Fujifilm

I had the opportunity to use the Fuji X100T this weekend.   Thought that I would share my initial thoughts with you all.

Went down to the local camera store (Midwest Photo Exchange) and gave the X100T a good walk through.

For those that have read my previous article where I compared the X100s, X-T1, and the Oly OMD - you'll know why I picked the m43 camera over the Fuji.   The main issue was performance speed of the cameras and the auto focus.

The first thing I checked was the AF performance,  and Fuji had definitely made improvements here.  The lighting conditions were the same as the tests in the previous article.   However,  this time the Fuji had now of the back and forth shuffle that the X100s exhibited. The AF speed was still not as fast as the m43 camera,  but it was confident and sure.

In the hand,  the X100T felt solidly built.   The materials feel top notch and it felt right in my hand.  

Another great improvement is having the clicky, 1/3 f-stops directly on the aperture ring.  The grip on the aperture ring and the manual focus ring feel better as well and seemed easier to find and manipulate without having to look at it.  The rings had a feel almost like an old Nikon manual focus lens.   Just enough resistance to make precise adjustments without you feeling like you are fighting it.

The rear buttons on the case feel far better then previous iterations of the X100 series cameras,  too.

I did like the view finder as well.   I'm still liking the performance of the OMD EVF more,  but the Fuji EVF is excellent as well.  The obvious benefit of the Fuji is the OVF for those who like that. It also has improved with tons more info and customization.

My big take away is this question; why could Fuji  not have done this from the get go?   Had they done this camera with this implementation of the hardware feature and AF, they would have a ton more market share.  Let's not Monday morning quarter back it though, it is what it is.

Bottom line,  the X100T appears to be the best and most solid implementation in the series.   If you don't already have an X100, definitely get this one.  If you have the X100s, there might not be enough there for you to want to spend the money on the upgrade. Coming from the X100 might be a different story,  as the improvements are a lot more noticeable.

Again, with any camera purchase, generally a 2-3 generation time frame gives the camera manufacturer time to get larger improvements. That would apply here too when going from X100 --> X100T.