My first posts will be about Fujifilm X10. I bought this camera as a replacement for my wife's Fujifilm A700. She wanted a small camera with video, preferentially Fuji (she likes the Fuji colors). On other hand, I eyed high end compacts for quite a while to complement Olympus E-30 with something smaller and not that heavy. In meantime Fujifilm announced X10. Bright lenses, big sensor (for compact camera), optical viewfinder, external control (buttons, wheels) and high dynamic range/high iso modes were very tempting. On top of it, price in Australia for this camera was comparable to price in US (kudos to Fuji!). I bought it from the Photo Continental as soon as it became available in Australia. Now we negotiate within our family who take the camera for a day :)
It turned our that many of my expectations for X10 were not true. For example, I have not expected such good low light / high iso performance. It is not without problem in this area but it is really amazing. I have impression that X10 produces better high iso photos than my Oly E-30. NOTE: this is just my impression, I have not measured the noise, and I suspect that something strange is going on with my E-30. However, the shady areas with a lot of details are very mushy in my photos from the X10, especially if underexposed. It is not an issue for me, it is still makes a nice pictures, and I do not print my photos at A3 size. I suspect it is a common problem of modern compacts with small sensors and high pixel count.
It also turned out that I use the rear screen for framing and shooting more often than expected compared to my previous experience with compact cameras. The viewfinder is still very useful especially on sunny day but I use it less than anticipated. I made a very short neck strap and use it as a stabilizer when shooting with rear screen. Quite handy, and I am happy with the results. Also, my eyes do not sore even after long shooting session with X10.
The supermacro mode is limited to wide angle, which is equivalent to 28mm of 35mm format. It is fun to use with flowers or static things but it is less useful for insects and anything moving. Got me right, I am spoiled by Olympus implementation of supermacro mode. It is still possible to take pictures of tiny bugs with Fuji X10 (100% crop) but it does require patience. It is definitely very useful mode, especially with combination of excellent high iso performance, and it turned out that I use it more than expected. It is just fun to use.
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