Things kind of fell into place for me this year. I won a trip to Puerto Rico thru work and I didn't want to bring my XT-2 with a set of lenses and a bag. The X100V has been pre-ordered to death and it is very hard to find one before the end of March as a common buyer. I almost settled for an X100F but I feel like I may have regretted it just because that would have been the easy way. So here is the part that had me feeling like I should buy a lottery ticket. Every local store had no idea of when they would get a shipment in that hasn't already been accounted for. All of the major online stores semi-local and national just had the dreaded "Pre-order now. Expected delivery soon". I made one last ditch effort with Dodd Camera in Cincinnati Ohio and had the pleasure of dealing with a guy named Cory. He put a request in, crossed his fingers, and said he would call me back mid to late week.
Well, Thursday rolled around and I was assuming it was a bust. Friday....still nothing. Friday night.....phone rings and BAM! I have your X100V. The part that makes me want to play the lottery is from the simple fact that NO ONE I had talked to has gotten this model in yet and here is the kicker.......the black model isn't even released to pre-order takers for another 4 or 5 days. I feel like I slipped thru the matrix and cheated somehow. I'm not into numerology but I think my lottery numbers should be X,10,0,V.
I ran out yesterday just to test in JPEG only. I already know how Fuji .raf files are so I don't see a need to dive into that. I just want to get comfortable shooting this little camera and have it custom set to my liking so I can shoot on the fly without thinking. Nothing is more irritating than missing a shot because you are fiddling with settings. The new Classic Negative film simulation is a pleasant surprise to me. I had it set with +2 on the shadows and highlights. I have +1 on the color, +2 on sharpening, +1 on clarity, and daytime WB set into the red once and down in the blues twice.
**These are all Straight Out Of Camera**
These two shots are with the Kodachrome and Acros pushed recipe. You can easily find them online. Kodachrome is one of my favorites for just about all shooting except for people in contrast heavy scenes. I fooled around and shot my cats at f/2 in a low lit room. ISO was at800. f/2 renders a sharp image and the dynamic range and color tone blending is smooth.
Finally, I walked around the woods for a bit just looking for some contrast and colors. In the first pic you can see the nice smooth transitions of tones. The 100% crop to it will show you what pixel peepers want to see. I myself......I am not a pixel peeper. I prefer subject and story over sharpness. The X100V will deliver to the pixel peepers as well as the story tellers.
Here is a leaf underwater. Don't mind what appears to be paint on the rocks or blown highlights. It is just the sun reflecting off the shallow water and I have the JPEG settings in this sim kinda heavy on highlights. I can't get over how well Fuji renders color tones. There is no other company on the market with these unique colors. Sure, you can get a preset and edit your RAW files to mimic it but you can't snap a shot and upload it in 30 seconds unless you are into the Fuji system.
So there you have it. If you are looking for a small camera with a fixed lens that has the power and specs of pro level DSLR or Mirrorless this may be your answer. You can stuff it in your pocket or hang it off your wrist. It will be an excellent travel/street camera. It will be the mecca of an everyday camera to carry on you.
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