This is a long-term review of my now beloved Fujifilm x100s. I’m going to first describe how I got it as I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. The story goes that last summer I found myself in the position of being bored in my internship and making a little bit of money. So as I started to look for a film rangefinder I remembered that Fujifilm made a small digital rangefinder so I started to look around. After some time I found an article about a National Geographic photographer who swears by this camera (x100s). After almost buying one for the amazing price of $250 at Englewood Camera, but missing it, I knew I had to get one.

That summer I was spending a lot of time taking images and starting to really understand the camera that would be right for me. It had to be small portable but most of all the image quality had to be on par with the Canon. It just so happened I still had a 24-105mm L in my bag that I almost never used so that was my ticket. I spent about a month waiting for the right one to pop up on eBay and made the purchase.

This camera has been with me on backpacking trips, in my pocket skiing, and was with me everywhere on my India trip. This camera has opened up a whole other set of images for me that I didn’t know I was missing. As a lifestyle photographer often, the best images are the little things that happen right in front of you with no camera in your hands. What’s great is that you have a professional camera that fits in you pocket ready to capture each one of these little moments.

The best part about this camera is what it really is. It’s a small camera that looks almost like a toy or a non-professional camera and it is completely disarming. People don’t think much of it and therefore it doesn’t attract a lot of attention, so people act normal and people won’t mug you for it either. All great things.

For me it goes beyond megapixels and the crappy auto focus, it is the perfect tool for me to create images I want to see.