Conclusion
Pros
- Very compact body that easily fits in a jacket pocket
- Controls are well laid out and easily accessible
- Focus joystick is a great addition at this price point
- Lens is sharp and contrasty in the majority of situations
- Nice bokeh when shot close up
- Very good dynamic range provides for flexibility in shooting
- Excellent Wi-Fi features with bluetooth
- Fuji’s menu system is clear and well-organized
- Flash provides good fill-flash and exposure balance
- Leaf shutter is very quiet and electronic shutter works for full silence
- Fuji provides a nice leather wrist strap
Cons
- Autofocus is rather slow and can struggle in dim light or backlit situations
- Extremely small buffer means burst shooting is very limited
- Rear screen has less dynamic range than the sensor
- Lens cap is used rather than a self-closing mechanism
- Lens has field curvature that can soften edges when shooting flat field subjects
- Corners are very soft when focused very close up
The XF10 is an interesting little camera. It’s very compact, at a bit larger than a deck of cards, and can fit easily into a jacket pocket or even many pants pockets. It also packs the image quality of a good APS-C sensor and a good lens. The controls are well laid out and include two top control dials and a focus selection joystick. The rear screen is touch sensitive and looks generally good, though appears to clip highlights earlier than the actual images do. For quality imaging when you want to travel extremely light, it definitely fits the bill.
On the down side, the autofocus is really the biggest issue with the camera. It’s only moderate in speed in good light and is quite slow in dim light. It can also struggle to find accurate focus in dim light or on backlit subjects. The snapshot feature helps for street shooting, but it won’t be a camera for quick-moving subjects. The price of $499 helps to forgive some of the issues with the camera, as the overall package makes for a solid travel camera that is capable of excellent image quality. It’s a less expensive camera than most of its competition such as the Sony RX100 series, and I think it will be a great choice if you like the focal length and can deal with the slow AF performance.
Image Samples
Click on an image to enlarge:
Leave a Reply