X100 In Action | FUJIFILM FinePix X100

Peng Xueping

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Born in Pingxiang city, Jiangxi province in 1956, Peng graduated from China’s Photography Correspondence College, and now is an instructor in Pingxiang Railway Club. He has been an amateur photography since 1982 and has held exhibitions of his work in Xiangping and in Nanchang. In 2000, he held an exhibition entitled “Love of Railway” in Nanchang and Pingxiang. His works have been published in journals and exhibited at many shows and he has received a number of awards.

Peng Xueping was the first person in Xiangping to have exhibited their work nationally. ‘Road’ won a gold medal at the Jiangxi 13th Photographic Art Exhibition. ‘Fisherman’s Song’ won a gold medal at the Jiangxi 19th Photographic Art Exhibition. ‘Magic Exorcising’ won a gold medal at the Jiangxi 20th Photographic Art Exhibition, and ‘Finishing in Early Morning’ won a gold medal at the Jiangxi 1st Photography Art Festival. He was named one of the ten best photographers by the Chinese Photographers’ Society in 2006 and in 2008 and for Popular Photography in 2007, 2008 and 2010. In 2009, he received a gold medal at China’s 13th International Photographic Art Exhibition.

Typical themes of his photography include natural scenery and folk customs. He is currently a member of China’s Photographers’ Society, an executive member of Jiangxi Photographers’ Association and the Photographers’ Association of Ministry of Railways, and is chairman of Pingxiang Photographers’ Association.

Tell us about your experience of using the X100’s Hybrid Viewfinder? How does the hybrid viewfinder add to your picture creation?

Fuji’s X100 combines an optical and an electronic view finder into one, providing the advantages of the optical viewfinder - clean, bright images and no time delay with the electronic view finder’s advantages of better performance in low-light. Another advantage was that the X100’s shutter sound is minimal due to the lack of reflector structure allowing me to take shots in quiet situations.

What’s the biggest advantage or feature of X100’s prime Fujinon 23mm F2 lens?

The quality of Fuji’s camera lenses is unrivalled. The ability of Fuji’s engineers to match the lens and sensor to provide the best image quality is ideal for photographers like myself, where image quality is critical.

The X100’s APS-C CMOS image sensor is designed for the perfect image quality. I’m wondering whether the X100’s light processing, imaging and the expression of images under different ISO settings can meet your expectations?

The pictures I shot using the Fuji X100 in a low ISO mode represent excellent quality images with outstanding accuracy, colours and detail. At a high-ISO mode, the pictures’ image quality rivals full-frame single lens reflex cameras with top hardware settings! The image quality is astonishing when the aperture is relatively reduced. The detail present in pictures is quite astounding.

The elegant classic design of the X100 is one of the main features of X100. What do you think of its styling?

It looks very nice. I have to say that the physical design of Fuji X100 is a true classic. To those old photographers like us, it reminds us of products we have used in the past. People know it is a good camera at the first sight, it’s solidly built and very well designed.

What are your overall comments on the X100?

Advantages: outstanding imaging quality and accuracy; the best noise reduction among APS-C cameras; exquisite physical design; precise and careful build ; simple and clear interface with a cool dial and lever design; superb hybrid viewfinder; 360˚ panoramic function, high-definition; fine packaging and high-class fittings.

Disadvantages: the lens is not interchangeable; the focusing speed can’t match that of single-lens-reflex cameras; the reaction speed of menus is relatively slow and the navigation keys are easy to be operated wrongly; the image quality is not satisfactory when applying the highest aperture F2.0; the price of almost 10 thousand RMB is very expensive.

What’s the most unique feature of X100 which can’t be replaced in your opinion?

Disregarding noise control, small details, or the lens’ quality, I think that the X100’s image quality is outstanding other than when applying a big aperture setting. Honestly speaking, the X100’s physical design and build makes it one of the top Japanese cameras. Its portability is one of the biggest features of this camera.