Old School, New Technology: The Fuji X10

This is NOT a complete X10 review of this new product from Fuji, but it is a first of many posts I will likely make about a more than interesting hybrid camera that has recently come available from Fuji.  It has been said by many of my friends here in the South, that once you own a pick up truck, it's really tough to go through life without one.  I have found this also to be the case with owning a Leica M series camera body and lenses.  As my own financial situation has ebbed and flowed throughout my career of the last 25 years, I sometimes find myself with a Leica but mostly without one for cost reasons.  In order that I can remember, I have owned the following Leica cameras:  M4P, M3SS, M4, CL, CLE, M6, M6, M8.  The last time I had a camera, I put together an M8 kit with all Voigtlander lenses and took it all to Rome with my wife and had a gas.  Still, even buying the M8 used for $3000 + glass, it remained too rich for me to keep and so off to the internet chopping block it went.

  Like many shooters that have held and shot Leica's, I always miss the feel, process, and results of shooting a rangefinder.  It is the true street photography camera from way back.  Now days, they are similar in size to Best Buy point & shoot cameras so they are non-threatening, small, black cameras that no one takes seriously.  This is the key to getting closer to your subjects.  Last, they have no mirror flapping up and down creating noise that draws attention to the photographer.  Think stealth bomber technology coming to photojournalism.  The advent of the first Leica rangefinder in 1913 changed forever how people made photographs and we left the tripod and bulky view cameras behind, allowing for the first time, for cameras to go where they had never been before.  It also created a new job title: photojournalist.
  Alas, the current Leica M9 which offers a full-frame chip, small size, and excellent files costs $7,000.00.  Oh yeah, and no lens.  So that put myself and a bunch of other photographers out of position to own the ultimate rangefinder and they were left once again in the back closets of the silly rich who are the only people that can afford them.
  Then Fuji announced it would make a real digital rangefinder and after a long wait the X100 came out.  This is a really cool camera and the closest thing yet to a real Leica M body.  But the achilles heal of this guy is that there is only one lens which is permanently fixed on the body.  It's a great camera and give you a real 35mm f/2 field of view (lens is actually 23mm but it's a crop sensor), but for $1200, I was hoping for more flexibility.
  Then, with little fanfare and not too long after the X100 has been out, the X10 was announced.  Late one night when I should have been sleeping, I was on the net and found a link to a review of the camera.  I read it and then went to Amazon and just bought one right then and there.  The next morning I had no buyer's remorse but I hoped that the camera would meet my expectations.  I have no regrets and feel it was the best $600 I have spent in a long time.
  I can go places, get closer, change the boundaries of my access, and make solid images that I would have difficulty making with a big fat scary looking Nikon
DSLR.  I just recently shot an entire assignment with the X10 over a two day period as I traveled with the Tennessee men's basketball team.  As you look through these photos, keep in mind where I was when I shot some of these.  My subjects barely noticed my presence as we traveled so this $600 bet has paid off big dividends.  This camera makes no noise when you shoot and it can fire up to 5 fps.  It's a little black ninja!

Please click this link to see:  ON THE ROAD WITH THE VOLS (FUJI X10)

  I always look forward to the quieter jobs, away from the screaming fans and NCAA rules.  And when I head for those assignments, you can bet I'll have this little guy in my hands.  Is it a replacement for a Leica M9?  Absolutely not!  But will it tide me over until I can buy a used M9 in four years for $2700? Probably, but if Fuji comes out with a new digital rangefinder with interchangeable lenses will I wait for that M9?  Nope...