I rarely blog about equipment.  As I’ve grown older, both chronologically and as a photographer, having “better” gear has become less important.  Digital camera gear is so incredibly good these days that there’s no practical reason to continuously upgrade or debate the nuances.  The best gear is the gear you already have …. get out and shoot!   I’ve grown to love the challenges of the creative process and improving my craft much more than coveting additional pixels and newer technology.

That said, I’ve struggled for a long time with two aspects of my expansive DSLR kit:  Size and weight.  My 5D Mark II and lens line-up serve me extremely well for the critical stuff – portrait work, and my love for artistic landscape and nature photography.  When I’m shooting very intentionally and for a specific purpose, I’m happy to carry all of the gear required for the job at hand.  However, the size and weight becomes a huge barrier when I want to be at the ready while traveling for fun or business, or when I want to simply shoot for fun in a spontaneous, creative way without lugging 10-20 pounds of equipment along.

Enter the Fuji X100s.  I had tried a couple of smaller cameras on for size, but just could not connect with them.  They were either sluggish or had too many compromises vs. my DSLR.  After reading so much about the X100s and its virtues, I decided to give it a try.  It took a while to become accustomed to it.  The controls and ergonomics are so different compared to my Canon, and the electronic viewfinder is both a stroke of genius and a new-fangled approach that has caused this old dog to open his mind to learning new tricks.  In the end, I’ve come to love the camera.  Image quality is superior, it is quick and has many fantastic features.  Dynamic range is incredible, and being a diehard raw file guy, I can tell you the in-camera JPEGs from Fuji’s film emulation modes blow me away.  I’ve finally found a professional grade camera I can carry under most any circumstances and have fun shooting “on the fly”.  It weighs virtually nothing, but it is built like a tank.

There are many, many reviews on the internet.  Among others, the info available from Zach Arias and David Hobby led me to seriously trying this little gem.  So I’m not here to write another review, but only to give it a big thumbs up and share a few recently images.  These were captured while test driving it under circumstances in which I would have normally left my DSLR behind due to the hassle factor.  Most are JPEGs with little or no adjustments.

Enjoy.

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