Fujifilm X10

The Fujifilm X10 ($599.95 direct) may look like an older camera on the outside, but it's a purely digital point-and-shoot with some nice features that photographers should appreciate. Along with the X100 and recently announced X-Pro1, the camera is part of Fuji's X series?a group of unique cameras that are aimed at enthusiasts. The X10 is set apart from other point-and-shoots by its larger image sensor, bright optical viewfinder, abundant physical controls, and Raw shooting capability. It doesn't manage to oust the Canon PowerShot S100 ($429.99, 4.5 stars) as our Editor's Choice for high-end compacts, but if you're looking for a zooming compact with a good optical viewfinder, the camera is worth consideration.

Design and Features
From a distance, the X10 could easily be mistaken for a 1970s-era 35mm camera. Its all-black finish and optical viewfinder fit the bill, but the camera's disguise is betrayed by the modern rear LCD and an abundance of button and dials. It's a bit larger than most compact cameras, measuring 2.7 by 4.6 by 2.2 inches (HWD) and weighing in at 12.3 ounces. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 ($499.99, 3.5 stars), which delivers a similar zoom range but lacks an optical finder, is only 2.6 by 4.3 by 1.7 inches and a bit lighter at 9.5 ounces.

Unlike most modern cameras, the X10 lacks a power switch. To turn the camera on, you must remove the lens cap and twist the lens away from its Off position. You also twist the lens to change its focal length?there are no power zoom controls like on other compact cameras. This gives you more control over the zoom action, but also makes the camera a bit awkward to use?especially if you're shooting via the optical viewfinder. Other cameras in this class have optical finders, including the Canon PowerShot G12 ($499.99, 2.5 stars), but they are generally much smaller and don't lend themselves to regular use.

The viewfinder is bright and clear enough for regular use, but it is not without its foibles. It doesn't cover the entirety of the frame, only about 80 percent, so for tightly-composed photos you'll probably want to use the rear LCD. It is also without any sort of information display. There is no focus confirmation, so you'll have to place your trust in the camera's autofocus system. By default, the camera uses a center focusing point, although you can change that manually. If you use something other than center as the point, it's up to you to remember where in the frame the camera is focusing and translate that to a position in the finder.

Placing trust in the autofocus is not something to be worried about?I was able to raise the camera to my eye for quick street shots and the X10 nailed the focus quickly and consistently. There is an option to have the camera make an audible beep when focus is locked, but street shooters are likely to disable this. There is no way to separate the focus confirm beep and the shutter sound clip, which is unfortunate as the desire to have an audible confirmation of focus lock does not go hand-in-hand with that to have the camera play a fake shutter noise when a photo is snapped.

I also found that using the zoom lens and the optical finder together could be a bit awkward. My hand would generally get in the way of the finder when adjusting the focal length, which makes grabbing quick shots difficult. I also inadvertently added fingerprints to the front of the finder when operating the zoom on several occasions, which very noticeably affected its clarity.

The 4x zoom lens is the equivalent of a 28-112mm f/2-2.8 in 35mm photography. It's a very sensible zoom range?although it lacks the telephoto reach needed for sports, birding, and similar applications. Other top-end compacts feature similar zoom ranges and fast lenses, although the Nikon Coolpix P7100 ($499.95, 4 stars) leads the pack with a 7.1x (28-200mm f/2.8-5.6) lens. The camera has a very nice macro mode to allow you to focus on objects that are very close to the lens. Enabling it also enables the rear LCD, as you cannot get accurate framing with the optical finder when shooting on a close object due to parallax. This is true for any camera that has a viewing lens that is offset from its taking lens.

The X10's rear LCD isn't the best in its class. It is 2.8 inches in size, a bit smaller than the 3-inch displays?that are par for the course in this class of camera, but does offer the same 460k dot resolution that is common to the Canon PowerShot S100, Panasonic LX5, and Canon G12. Both the Nikon P7100 and the Samsung TL500 ($449, 3 stars) offer 921k dot screens. The X10's LCD is bright, so you won't have any trouble using it on a sunny day?and the optical finder is there if you're in a situation where glare cannot be avoided?but it's easier to confirm critical focus on a higher-resolution display.

You'll find a number of physical controls on the X10. The top-mounted Mode Dial allows you to toggle between shooting modes, and another dial makes it easy to dial in EV compensation from -2 EV to +2 EV in third-stop increments. The shutter button features a standard thread, which makes it possible to add a soft release button or to use a manually shutter release cable to grab a photo. Rear controls include a 4-Way Command Dial, AE-L/AF-L, and a button to switch from JPG to Raw shooting for a single shot. There is also a standard rear command dial which will adjust aperture in A mode, shutter speed in S mode, and can be used to navigate through menus.

The menu system isn't the most intuitive; in my testing, some of the settings were a bit hard to find. The Raw shooting mode is actually located in the Settings area rather than the Shooting Menu where I'm used to seeing it. Once the initial setup is complete you won't have to spend a lot of time diving into menus?there are enough physical controls so you can avoid that. The X10 also supports a few film emulation modes, including Provia, Velvia, and Astia film stocks as well as a few different black and white shooting modes.

Even though the 2/3-inch image sensor in the X10 is larger than those found in most point-and-shoots, it is smaller than that found in interchangeable lens cameras like the Nikon J1 ($649.95, 3.5 stars), Olympus E-PM1 ($499.99, 4 stars), and our Editors' Choice, the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 ($649.99, 4.5 stars)?all of which are similarly priced to the X10. The main reason to opt for a compact over one of these mirrorless shooters is portability. Larger lenses are required to capture enough light to cover larger image sensors, where a compact camera like the X10 is able to get the job done with a much smaller lens. Canon's recently announced G1 X ($799.99) is set to change this a bit, as its sensor is larger than that of a Micro Four Thirds camera, but the camera itself is only slightly larger than the X10.

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