Fujifilm may have come up with a winning formula in last year's X10, but the one thing that was missing from its product line was a compact that would attract hardcore photographers in search of a pocket device. The XF1 is Fujifilm's answer to the Canon S100 and Sony RX100.
After launching the X10 in a bid to win over the "classic" pro compacts market, Fujifilm is now taking on the "sexy" pro compacts market, sparring with heavyweights such as the Canon S100 and Sony RX100. Fujifilm's new XF1 combines features coveted by the demanding photographer with a compact body that's flatter and better-looking than the burly X10.
Electronics-wise, there's no real surprise: the XF1 has the same sensor as the X10, a 2/3" CMOS sensor (6.6 x 8.8 mm) that's somewhere in-between a regular, old 4.6 x 6.2-mm compact sensor and the ultimate reference in the segment, the RX100's remarkable 8.8 x 13.2-mm CMOS sensor.
Fuji's new hopeful has a 25-100 mm lens with an f/1.8 aperture wide-angle that extends to f/4.9 telephoto. This gives it the same brightness as the RX100, but with a much wider field of view. As Fujifilm explains, it would have required more space to use a larger sensor or a brighter lens, but the wide-angle is just as big of an advantage.
Mechanical zooms have always been considered by definition incompatible with compact lenses, because the ring just takes up too much space around the lens. But Fujifilm has found the trick: when the ring is in the OFF position, the lens retracts into the body of the camera. Once locked in place, it sticks out just three or four millimetres, making the XF1 a total of about 35 mm thick. That's a little bigger than the S100, but slightly thinner than the RX100.
The XF1 is indeed a "sexy" device with ambitious specs that actually will fit in a large-ish pocket. But it has one major hurdle ahead of it: the Sony RX100, which may not be quite as wieldy, but looks just as stylish and has a sensor twice the size and an image quality that the Fuji's may have trouble equalling... Like Panasonic with its brighter-but-less-compact LX7, Fuji may have underestimated Sony. Then again, there is the price difference: the XF1 should cost less than €500 (£400), which is at least £80 cheaper than the RX100...
> Reviews: Compact Digital Cameras
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Fujifilm XF1
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After launching the X10 in a bid to win over the "classic" pro compacts market, Fujifilm is now taking on the "sexy" pro compacts market, sparring with heavyweights such as the Canon S100 and Sony RX100. Fujifilm's new XF1 combines features coveted by the demanding photographer with a compact body that's flatter and better-looking than the burly X10.
Electronics-wise, there's no real surprise: the XF1 has the same sensor as the X10, a 2/3" CMOS sensor (6.6 x 8.8 mm) that's somewhere in-between a regular, old 4.6 x 6.2-mm compact sensor and the ultimate reference in the segment, the RX100's remarkable 8.8 x 13.2-mm CMOS sensor.
Fuji's new hopeful has a 25-100 mm lens with an f/1.8 aperture wide-angle that extends to f/4.9 telephoto. This gives it the same brightness as the RX100, but with a much wider field of view. As Fujifilm explains, it would have required more space to use a larger sensor or a brighter lens, but the wide-angle is just as big of an advantage.
A Retractable Mechanical Zoom!
But what about the handling? That's what Fuji seems to consider the angle that really sets the XF1 apart. The X10 before it was unique in the first place, with its large viewfinder and mechanical zoom. Well, the XF1 uses the same logic. While it necessarily has fewer buttons, it also, like the X10, has a thumb wheel and a click-round control wheel on the back. What's even more surprising, it retains the mechanical zoom! That means you can zoom quickly and easily by simply turning the lens ring, without having to wait for an electronic motor to kick in. That's an obvious advantage over the competition.Mechanical zooms have always been considered by definition incompatible with compact lenses, because the ring just takes up too much space around the lens. But Fujifilm has found the trick: when the ring is in the OFF position, the lens retracts into the body of the camera. Once locked in place, it sticks out just three or four millimetres, making the XF1 a total of about 35 mm thick. That's a little bigger than the S100, but slightly thinner than the RX100.
The XF1 is indeed a "sexy" device with ambitious specs that actually will fit in a large-ish pocket. But it has one major hurdle ahead of it: the Sony RX100, which may not be quite as wieldy, but looks just as stylish and has a sensor twice the size and an image quality that the Fuji's may have trouble equalling... Like Panasonic with its brighter-but-less-compact LX7, Fuji may have underestimated Sony. Then again, there is the price difference: the XF1 should cost less than €500 (£400), which is at least £80 cheaper than the RX100...
> Reviews: Compact Digital Cameras
> Photokina 2012: See all news
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