Fujifilm X10: part 2 (handling)

I want to praise Fujifilm for X10 design. It is very handy photographic tool. The X10 is my first Fuji camera, so both menu and logic behind it is new for me. After several days of shooting I can say that it is very thought out camera. For me the implementation of zoom is the selling point for the camera. You rotate the zoom ring on the lenses, and you got the right position instantly! No going back and forward with buttons trying to get the right framing. I wish the direction of zoom will be opposite but I will get used to it at some point. I mainly use Aperture priority mode and change iso a lot. Pressing the Function (Fn) button on the top of the camera allows change iso with wheels or four-way controller. The other very useful buttons are focus point selection (AF) and exposure mode (AE). I don't want pre-focus re-compose in supermacro mode, and X10 menu allows very fast selection of the focus point. I am quite happy with Auto white balance on X10, but it is handy to have dedicated button. The four-way controller is very handy, too. It turned out that I very often switch between normal and supermacro mode using Macro menu. Obviously, Exposure compensation dial on the top of the camera is very handy. I have not used RAW and/or buttons. I tried AEL/AFL, and it seems that it is better implemented compared to Olympus E-30. It just works, while I still have not figured out how to use it properly on Olympus. For my type of shooting I can changes crucial parameters on X10 with the same speed as on my DSLR camera.

There are several things I don't like. As I wrote earlier, I would prefer to have a bigger grip. The X10 is just small for me. I mean the right side of the camera. It has a small grip and rubber-like thing at the back, so it is not slippery. But it is less comfortable to use compared to DSLR cameras. I guess I have long fingers :) In addition, a bigger grip would allow a bigger battery. NP50 does not last for long. I got a spare generic battery, and thinking about getting one more.

The logic behind display button (DISP BACK) is rather strange. I wish it would just switch the screen on and off but it is not so simple. X10 has several screen options (about five including off). Pressing DISP BACK changes the screen option to the next option. In order to switch it off you need to press this button or four-way controller several times. Not really good. I usually use the same screen option for framing. So, switch it on and off is the only thing I really need. I guess it will be easy to program any other button to select different options of live preview as it is implemented in Olympus E-30.