Fujifilm FinePix XF1 Point & Shoot

Overall Review

Design and Build Quality

Built and ergonomics have been the major strengths of the X series of Fujifilm products, and like the cameras before it, Fujifilm X F1 is also a very nicely built camera, and contains absolutely no flex or mobility in its framework. Well, icing on the cake is the reduction of the weight of this product, it is lighter than you would expect it to be, but never judge a book by its cover, and Fujifilm XF1 weighs just 225grams when fitted alongside a memory card and a battery. The exact dimensions of Fujifilm X F1 measure 107.9 mm x 61.5mm x 33mm, the device is almost a portable device, easy to carry, but still we recommend you to carry it in a small camera bag or pocket of a large coat. There are some buttons made of plastic on the camera, most noticeably, the lack of excellence of built is felt on the memory/ battery compartment and the rear circular control wheel and buttons, other than that, the design and build quality of this product is nothing short of superb, considering the way it is priced so aggressively. The handgrip on the camera front is unavailable on Fujifilm X F1, although there is a little plastic thumb rest on the rear side, but you get a huge help from the textured faux-leather surface, which accompanies the entire width of the device. There is a small eyelet present in one of the horizontal sides that is used to connect the wrist strap; this frankly is not as exquisite as the rest of the enclosed. Off centre from the lens, away from the memory card/ battery compartment, there is a metal tripod mount such that you do not have to remove the camera from the tripod, in case you want to change either of them. 

Focus and Face Detection

Glad news, the AF speed of Fujifilm X F1 is decent and faster than many of the compact devices available today.  Fujifilm has made claims that the focus acquisition time comes out to be as small as 0.16seconds. In practice, yes, there is a slight delay when you lock on to the subject, but this is more than enough for everyday’s routine shooting, essentially when the accurate strength of the device is 100% in good and bad light conditions. Normal focusing is from 50cm to infinity, a 25mm wide angled mode, the problem here is that if you want to get closer to your subject than this and still be able to employ the EF, you have to remember to make use of Macro mode, in which you can get as close as 3cms to the object. 

Lens and Image Stabilization

One cannot really expect the brightest of things from this device in this division, for Fujifilm X F1 sports a modest 4x, 25 – 100 mm zoom lens, which is built on the maximum aperture of f/1.8 at 25 mm set at wide angle. What is really sad, however, is that this quickly falls off down to a much more slow f/4.9 at the full telephoto mode, but when you combine this with the all-embracing ISO range of 100-3200 at full 12 MP, the f/1.8 still somehow manages the device to perform satisfactorily in low light conditions. What this allows you to do is that you can hold on to the camera (hold it in your hands) in places where you would normally depend on a tripod or other support, and aids to that is an in-built optical image stabilization. 

Screen and Menus

Fujifilm X F1 has a wonderful, above the price tag feature in the form of 3inches LCD monitor on the back, that being said, the screen almost covers the entire back of the device, the screen has 460,000 dots and gives 100% screen coverage. To make the camera a little less prominent, there is the availability of Silent menu options that turns off the speakers, AF assist lamp, flash, and probably most importantly, the shutter release sound which is artificially created and can be annoying at times. All said and done Fujifilm X F1 fits perfectly for candid photography.   

Battery

Fujifilm X-F1 draws out its power from NP-50 A Li-Ion battery, which is a good to go for 200 shots (certified by CIPA).

Video Mode

When we talk about video mode, Fujifilm X F1 has the ability to record full HD 1080p movies at the rates of 30fps with the help of stereo sound; this sound is turned on once you play the record button mentioned on the camera back. Some slow motion options are also available for the device, which are - 70fps at 640x480 pixels, 120fps at 320x240, and 200fps at 320x112.

Sensors

Sensor is a device that converts optical image to electric signals for further manipulation in the device, sort of changing one form of energy to another, just like a transducer does. At the heart of Fujifilm XF1 lies a 12megapixel 2/3inches EXR CMOS sensor, this is a size little or not seen in any of the devices today, but was used in many bridge cameras earlier and has fallen out of favor as the days are passing by. The sensor is larger than one you see in regular day to day compacts and only promises to deliver very high end image quality, although not touching a DSLR at any level. 

Pros

·         Retro super stylish designing

·         3inches big LCD screen

·         Fast f/1.8 Maximum aperture at 25mm

·         Full manual controls included with raw capture

Cons

·         Quite a bit of play in zoom at 100mm

·         Worries over long-term durability of zoom

·         Slow performance at high ISO settings