Rocky Nook : Mastering the Fuji X100

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Digital cameras have improved quite a bit over the years. Their sensors have increased in resolution, shutter lag has all been but eliminated, and low-light sensitivity has improved to a point where it may actually be better than film. With all of these advancements, one would think that a digital camera would be unrecognizable compared to the cameras of yesteryear. However, the truth is oddly the opposite. The fact is, today’s camera designers have taken stylistic cues from the past and modeled digital cameras to look and feel much like rangefinders (minus the LCD screen and a few discretely place LEDs) from decades ago.

We are, of course, referring to the Fuji FinePix X100. When this camera was unveiled at Photokina 2010, it took the show and the photographic world by surprise. The Fuji X100 became an instant classic. By all accounts, the camera is a masterful piece of work. It was crafted out of chunks of metal, has impressive technical specs, and looks like something Cartier-Bresson would have used.

Mastering the Fuji X100 by Michael Diechtierow is a handbook, not an owner’s manual. The difference is a manual shows what the buttons are and how they work. A handbook is more of a guide. The author gave tips and suggestions on how to get the best out of the X100 based on his own experience with the camera.

So, if you, like everyone who has ever seen the X100, covet one, then you should get a copy of Mastering the Fuji X100 before pulling out the credit card. We are not saying the camera is not worth the price, it’s just that at $1200, it is not an impulse buy. Read about the features and what it is like to use them. Learn about the camera’s quirks and idiosyncrasies. Don’t get us wrong, in the end you will still want one. All we are saying is, don’t let the camera’s great looks seduce you prematurely. Leave it to the great photography in the book for that.