Oh Fuji how I love thee.  The x100F arrived on my doorstep yesterday and I was so tempted to kiss my FedEx delivery man.  I wasted no time getting it out of the box and looking it over before I dove into the setup.  Now have I REALLY tested it in less than 24 hours?  No.  However, I think first impressions are really important to get down on paper.  Because once you play with new gear for a few days you might forget something that initially bothered you.

My love for the x100T is well documented, highlighting its EVF, size, image quality (IQ), Wifi, and price.  I even took it to Disney.  So I just want to bottom line it and say the x100F is still as awesome for the same reasons, but it did get some cool upgrades.  Are those enough to upgrade from a x100T or if you are new to Fuji mirrorless should you snatch one of these or save some $$$ and buy a new/used T.

What is so much better on the x100F?

Let me first just remind you I am not like most of the photographers who have reviews of these awesome cameras up on their blogs.  I am not a street photographer so while I read all their reviews with popcorn, we don’t use the cameras in the same way.  If you are in the market for a capable camera for everyday shooting with a smaller footprint than your DSLR keep reading.  The x100 series changed my everyday shooting and I shoot the majority of my images inside.

ISO

This is where I shamefully admit on the x100T I shoot in AUTO ISO 90% of the time.  The ISO is buried in menus or you have to program a button and then scroll to change the ISO.  The x100F now has an integrated ISO dial under the SS.  Yes, in my opinion it is as clunky as it sounds.  You pick the dial up and move it around to change the ISO.  It is AWESOME they gave us a physical dial, but on Day One it was super clunky for me to use.  “Chloe stay right there while I change my settings please”.  Yeah too late, she’s gone.

The front command dial can be programmed to change your ISO when you have the ISO Dial set to A (AUTO) and COMMAND is the menus.  See here for details.  This is my current preference.

Now that doesn’t mean ISO is not at the top of my list of improvements.  On the T you could only go to 6400 in manual mode while High ISO on the F is now 51,200.  Is it pretty?  Of course not.  But now I can actually shoot in my daughter room when I just couldn’t on the T.  It gets the job done for those moments that don’t happen in the good light.

JOYSTICK

Yeah I realize this is at the top of a lot of people’s list to upgrade.  On the T I had all 4 selector buttons set to change the focus point.  That was my “joystick” as I didn’t need quick access to much else while trying to take a quick picture of Chloe.  I see the upside of the new joystick, but my muscle memory will be slow to adapt and I am not a fan of its position on the camera.  If I am looking through the viewfinder my thumb keeps hitting my eye to get to it.  I am sure I just need some time to adapt, but in the meantime I keep hitting the DRIVE button, which was relocated to the top Selector button on the F, by accident.

FOCUS POINTS

Yes, there are so many of them now.  It is a definite improvement.  I feel like the F is also just a tad snappier to lock focus than the T was.  This has been reported as the case in each new iteration of the x100, so this isn’t a surprise.  I will definitely come and update this section when I have had enough time to really judge if it is in fact that much better/faster.

MOVIE MODE

So this is where I was personally hoping for some significant improvement.  The T is riddled with what I find to be unacceptable issues related to recording video.  It has a Movie ISO buried in menus.   Once you change the Movie ISO you have no way to see a preview of the changed exposure before you hit record.  So if you want to see a preview of Movie exposure on the T, you have to determine the ISO using the regular ISO and then go match the Movie ISO to that.  Who has time for that?  By the time I am done my kid has moved on.  It also auto-focused every single time you hit the movie record button.  GRRRRRR.  I personally just record clips on my iPhone rather than bother.

On the F they have taken away your dedicated Movie record button.  Yeah I don’t think I am a fan of this, but let me give you the whole picture.  You now have a Movie mode (likely similar to what you have on your DSLRs) but you access it from a menu instead of a dedicated button.  So you now click the shutter or record video from the same button depending what mode you are in.  I wish they had given us a dedicated Movie button in place of the record button they took away.  THAT would have been helpful for me.

This new Movie Mode does fix a complaint I had on the T.  With separate Movie and Photography modes you can preview your exposure before you start recording a video.  No more separate Movie ISO and THAT is a big improvement for me.

WIFI

I was hoping for a slight improvements on the app.  The Fuji app is by far the best on the market compared to the ones for the 6D and D750.  I mean the Fuji app laps them, but there are two major items I wish the app included: the ability to set an interval timer in app and the ability to record video.  We got one of them, click the video below to see which one.  The update does NOT apply to the x100T when I tested it.

 

So is the x100F worth an upgrade over the x100T?

I know this is the bottom line everyone wants.  The X100T is still a very capable camera and you might even see improvements when Fujifilm updates the firmware (I just realized I need to update mine and see if anything changes).  For me the F was worth the update, but if your budget is tight I think the T gets you so much so you can save some money and get a new/used T.  I personally think the T and F are more alike than the S and T were.  If wifi/remote shooting is important to you and but you don’t need the High ISO/only need basic movie recording then save yourself a few bucks and get a T.

I will check this review for typos and update with more pictures soon.  Pinky promise.