What is it with camera companies coming up with a great idea, developing it then stopping one killer feature away from completing it? The latest example of this, well at least in my opinion, is Fuji’s new Finepix X100.

I’ve been mulling this camera over since it was announced on the 20^th, and I have to say, it’s hard not to get excited about it. The X100 is a near-compact camera that is clearly aimed squarely at the serious photographers.

Actually, the Finepix X100 is, to me, a hairs breath away from being the digital Leica M for those of us that can’t afford a Leica M9.

The design is pure “reto” genius. If there ever were a camera that packaged the sensibilities that made rangefinders attractive into digital body while preserving the functionality, this would be it.

The X100’s design sensibilities are straightforward and follow and in many ways that makes for some strong queues that the X100 is targeting serious photographers.

The X100 disposes of the modern “soft” controls that pull double or triple duty for controlling exposure settings. Instead, they opted for a set of dedicated dials for shutter speed, exposure compensation, and aperture setting. Not only are the exposure controls dedicated; the aperture is controlled by the closest thing to a proper aperture ring I’ve seen on a digital camera.

However, the design goes further than that. One of the first things that makes me think this is could be a serious shot at serious photographers is the lack of a mode dial. When there are only 4 modes, a mode dial isn’t necessary. Instead of a mode dial, the X100 appears to put the control of the modes in the hands of the exposure controls.

To put the camera in Program AE, “auto”, set both the aperture and shutter dials to ‘A’. Setting only the shutter to ‘A’, gets you aperture priority. Likewise, setting the aperture to ‘A’ gets you shutter priority. When neither control is set to ‘A’, you have full manual. Now that’s not to say there won’t be scene modes that are accessible when the camera is set to full auto, but it’s clear from the external UI that those aren’t going to be dominating features.

How does it compare? Other than SLRs, Canon’s S95, or the $7000 Leica M9, there’s no other compact digital camera that exposes the exposure controls quite as well.

The X100 also has what appears to be a large edge-mounted optical viewfinder. Again, a feature that is strongly indicative of being targeted at serious photographers who don’t like using electronic viewfinders if they can avoid it.

More importantly, the viewfinder isn’t your daddy’s optical viewfinder with a few superimposed crop lines and range finder; it actually blends a LCD EVF with an optical viewfinder and the ability to switch between them at will.

How does it compare?

This is no Leica M9. The viewfinder has only 0.5x magnification with, if the 90% coverage reported DPReview is accurate, a focal length of about 26mm. The magnification is comparable to what an SLR user would see using a lens with a similar field of view, but worse than the M9’s 0.68x magnification.

The bizarre decision was to make the optical viewfinder 90% coverage (assuming that’s correct). Less than 100% coverage isn’t abnormal in many SLRs, but it’s very odd when it comes to rangefinders. Not copying that design seems odd, and will certainly turn away some hardcore rangefinder photographers.

The other complaint I have with the X100 is the lens.

The first place is the lens. The X100 has a fixed 23mm (35mm eFoV) f/2 lens. The f/2 is nice; the fixed lens, in my opinion, not so much. Sure, there are people who have no problem with fixed lenses; I am not one of those people. I prefer to make a creative choice about the scene I want to shoot and have a camera that lets me work from there. Not a tool that dictates what I can shoot.

The real interesting question for me though, is how much size and expense would adding a interchangeable lens system really add? My guess is not that much, in either case.

There are still a lot of things that aren’t quite clear, based on the info I’ve been able to find so far, but the camera is still a ways away from release and I’m sure that info will trickle out between now and it’s early 2011 expected availability.

Either way I have high hopes for the X100. Unless the initial reviews show serious problems, I’m very seriously consider picking one up if they are priced in the $500 to $600 range. For a large sensor relatively compact camera with the limitations of the X100 that’s about the only reasonable price point I can come up with. Much more than that, and I think the idea dies before it can get any traction. However, truthfully I’d be willing to spend a lot more if it had interchangeable lenses.

Image courtesy of FUJIFILM Corporation.

1. Press Release
2. Finepix X100 Site