Fujifilm X10

Pros: see bellow for pros

Cons: see bellow for cons

Summary: PROS:

+ Unmatchable buildquality & decent materials! Better than many compacts and DSLR-s.

+ Bright , compact , sharp and precisely assembled metal barrel lens ;

+ Unique and flexible EXR Technology considering if used manually; AUTO EXR Mode is in most cases inadequate; I recommend DR mode @ 1600% DR because of unmatchable tonal range.

+ Exellent Low light ISO performance even at full 12Mega resolution in competition with best Hi-end compacts; Useful up to ISO 800; /surprisingly better than my old FinePix S5Pro DSLR/

+ Option to tuning major *.jpeg opitions like sharpness, tone, contrast, WhiteBallance fine tuning, noise reduction;

+ Best of a class serial shooting & fast shoot to shoot performance!

+ Exellent colors and resolution especially in daylight situations; Deep tonal and dynamic range better than any other compact camera.

+ Nice metal lens cap

CONS:

- Disgustingly blooming effect when pointed at direct light rays caused by luminous objects and light reflections. Hpe soon will be resolved via firmware update...

- Good but not perfect ergonomics. Though better than most Hi-end compacts:
* Lens barrel is near to the center of camera body. It will be much more better if it was placed like that in SONY NEX near left corner of the camera. And the focus mode switch to be moved on left side of the camera just like one found on X100;
* Tottaly awkward rear central control dial, too small and unuseful for manual focusing! just like one in Canon PowerShot G series;
* Lens cap is not bounded - serious misunderstanding!

- Meager poor battery , short battery life, especially if shoot in *.RAF /enough for about 120-150shots, depending on flash usement/; Should have bigger NP-95 @1900MaH

- Mediocre TFT display not bad at brightlight but average resolution nonflexible and not even tilt screen!

- Mediocre Movie performance with incorrect seeking AF especially when face detection is turned on. No any control over aperture, ISO or shutter speed unlike SONY NEX 5N;



Conclusion: Despite my criticism this is a precious piece of art very useful in most common situations. Great images even in *.jpeg with nice fuji colors & superior dinamic range.


The price is JUST FINE !
Here in Bulgaria, Eastern EU it cost exactly 900BGN approx $600

For example Canon's products politics SUCKS -> Canon Powershot G12 cost 1150BGN approx $750-760; Canon S100 999BGN ~ $660;
Panasonic LX5 cost $660; OLYMPUS XZ1 899BGN ($600)

So My opinion is that X10 is a class by his own but in size is in par with best Hi-end compacts and some of the Intercangeble cameras. Highly rcomend it to these users who knows how to shoot in RAW and in Manual modes !!!