My mom was in the hospital earlier this week—and not for the first time in recent months. On March 29, 2017, I walked about the neighborhood while chatting with her on iPhone 7 Plus; left hand to left ear. Over my right shoulder, from the ONA Lima strap hung the Fujifilm X100F, which I am loving for its convenience, easy-carrying, and one-handed operation.
While ambling up a steep street, I spotted a cute arrangement of child collectibles nestled under a tree. Without interrupting the conversation, I pulled off the lens cap, spun the aperture ring from f/11 to Auto, turned on the camera, and clicked the shutter with my right hand—crouching down for better perspective as I looked through the optical viewfinder.
I nabbed the single shot and continued chatting with mom, unsure what the result would be. Hey, auto-everything—what to expect? Vitals tell something: f/3.2, ISO 200, +0.33 ev, 1/140 sec, 23mm; 2:13 p.m. PDT, using Classic Chrome film simulation. The JPEG is straight from the camera, and the file is a hefty 12.9MB. Depth-of-field is fairly shallow, giving some oddly-placed—but not necessarily displeasing—bokeh, as items blur going up the little hill.
Like changeable-lens siblings Fuji X-Pro2 and X-T2, the X100F moves all backside controls to the right of the rear-LCD and includes a joystick, which I use to quickly change the point of focus. These ergonomic adaptions, the smaller camera’s compactness, and the fixed lens—with dedicated and tactile aperture ring—make one-handed use extremely manageable.