When Fujifilm announced its FinePix X100 retro-styled large-sensor compact at Photokina 2010, it instantly captured the imagination of serious photographers. Its combination of 'traditional' dial-based handling, outstanding image quality and an innovative optical/electronic 'Hybrid' viewfinder brought widespread plaudits, making it something of a cult classic. On launch its firmware was riddled with frustrating bugs and quirks, but a series of updates transformed it into a serious photographic tool. However certain flaws remained, apparently too deeply embedded into the hardware to be improved.
The X100S sees Fujifilm revisiting the concept and, while the external design is essentially unchanged, it's a very different camera inside. It uses a 16.3MP X-Trans CMOS sensor similar to that seen in the interchangeable lens X-Pro1 and X-E1 models, but now with on-chip phase detection promising much-improved autofocus speed. This is supported by a new processor, the 'EXR Processor II', which includes a 'Lens Modulation Optimizer' function that according to Fujifilm 'overcomes' lens aberrations such as diffraction and peripheral aberrations. The electronic viewfinder has been upgraded to a higher-resolution 2.35M dot display (from 1.44M dot); however this isn't the OLED unit used in the X-E1, but an LCD instead.
Two additional manual focus aids are available when using the EVF or LCD - a focus 'peaking' display that outlines in-focus elements, and an all-new 'Digital Split Image focusing' display that uses phase detection data from the sensor, and is designed to offer a similar experience to manual focus film cameras. In addition, the sensor on the manual focus ring has been upgraded to detect movement with greater precision - which Fujifilm says will make the dial more responsive.
The user interface gains all the improvements Fujifilm has made in its X-series cameras over the past few years, including an onscreen 'Q' menu to access major settings, and a much-improved tabbed menu system. We haven't yet seen a fully working camera, but on paper the X100S certainly has the potential to be very special indeed.
Fujifilm X100S key features
- Fujifilm-designed 16.3MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS II sensor
- On-sensor phase detection autofocus
- Novel colour filter array to suppress colour moiré, no optical low-pass filter
- EXR Processor II image processor
- Hybrid optical / electronic viewfinder with 2.35M dot LCD EVF
- Analogue dials for shutter speed, aperture and exposure compensation
- Fixed 23mm F2 lens (same as X100)
- Improved manual focus system (more responsive focus ring, focus peaking and split-image displays)
- 2.8" 460k dot LCD
- On-screen 'Q' control panel and tabbed menu system
- Full HD 1080/60fps movie recording, 24Mbps bitrate
- Socket for electronic remote release/stereo microphone
Aside from these headline features, Fujifilm is promising a whole host of smaller tweaks and improvements covering every aspect of the camera's design and operation - no fewer than 70 in total. Many of these address bugs and quirks highlighted by users and reviewers, demonstrating once again Fujifilm's laudable desire to listen to feedback and learn from it. Some controls have been subtly tweaked, movie mode is much improved, and small but important operability issues addressed - for example the live histogram now works correctly in manual exposure mode. We'll cover these in detail on the next page.
Side-by-side with the Fujifilm X20
Here's the X100S side-by-side with the X20 that Fujifilm has announced at the same time. The two cameras are very different beasts, of course, but share a lot of common features, and the family resemblance is obvious.
