Fujifilm X100S

the main attraction itself 

with the lens hood + adaptor, I gotta get this and put in a 49mm filter, else I don't feel secure using this

this freaking thing is not cheap at all, costs a pop

Well, I have been in the market a compact camera. I've observed quite a few.

It started with Nikon's 1 system of interchangeable cameras. Well, I didn't opt for it because it didn't offer the level of controls that I demanded. I was looking for full manual control without much fiddling with buttons toggles here and there. Both V1 and J1 didn't fit the bill so I kept looking.

Then I went and checked out a few m 4/3 cameras from both Olympus and Panasonic. They're all really attractive but then something daunt on me. There were 2 major concerns. If I go this route, what happen to my D90? Am I gonna just sell it and switch to this? Well, I might but this is not something I'm prepared to do at the moment. Not now, I still feel pretty confident with dslr although their size and weight is what drives me to look for an alternative smaller camera. So I didn't went with any interchangeable lens cameras.

And then there was Panasonic LX7 which had a good reputation based on past models of the same line. LX-7 features bright f1.4 lens and some really cool features like really nice macro and movies capabilities. The price was pretty attractive too. And hot on its heels were Olympus's HZ-2, although clocked in at a much slower but still respectable f1.8 lens, it offers more controls which were much more customizable compared to LX7 but a tad bulkier, probably because of the flip out LCD panel at the back.

Sony's RX100 was almost the next pick if not for the pricey tag of RM2k+. It was almost THE compact for me.

Then, I came across Fujifilm X100. I didn't notice this before but went on and read more about this camera. It certainly is not "compact" in any stretch of the imagination. But yet, it really caught my eyes. It's a fixed lens camera, not even zoomable but the quality is absolutely stunning. It features a large APS-C size sensor which explains a lot about the quality of the photos it takes and then it has another killer feature, retro looks. Who can argue with that? haha, I know I couldn't. Well of course look alone doesn't sell a camera to me.

I read about the new upcoming models the X100S with some improvements to the quirks people are having with the older models and seeing the projected price, it's around less than RM1k difference, I think the upgrade was justifiable, so I held on and waited for it.

Some of the key points that made the pick for me was :-
1) compact camera of non changeable lens (no more future investments needed
2) compact enough for me to carry almost daily and everywhere compared to my bulkier dslr
3) retro looks!
4) excellent image quality
5) full manual controls for both aperture and shutter speed
6) full HD video
7) a choice of optical view finder/electronic view finder that would come in handy

Price was not cheap for this but then if I can use it as much as I used to use my D60 and early D90's days, it will come to justify itself in no time. :)

Look for more pictures here as I test this baby out.