I picked up my X100 again yesterday after a month of playing around with my micro four thirds kit and really had to wonder why I ever put it down. It can infuriate me at times but the images it produces have a touch of magic to them that no other camera seems to have.
I have quite a bit of travel planned over the next two years, including a potential trip to Europe. As I am the obsessive list-maker type, this has sparked quite a bit of planning as to what photography kit to bring.
To start with, I planned to take my EPM1 and as small a selection of lenses as I could but the list quickly found itself growing to a range of focal lengths to cover all of the opportunities that might occur. This then leads to my problem with interchangeable lens cameras - if I am changing lenses, I am not taking photographs. I started to seriously consider taking only my X100. If I only had a 35mm equivalent lens, would I feel I missed out on opportunities?
I turned to my archives to see how diverse a range the X100 had produced so far.
Street:
35mm is an extremely popular focal length for street photography, and the almost silent operation of the camera and it’s small size make it quite unobtrusive.
Not that I managed unobtrusive here. As I was framing the photograph a man walking past called out ‘You have your lens cap on!’
.. Thanks.
Architecture:
35mm is wide enough to get in some architectural shots, although it does require being able to move one’s feet to get further back. The X100 does have a panorama stitch mode for those situations where you simply cannot move to frame, although it isn’t perfect and can produce some stitching errors.
Landscape:
The X100 really shines at landscape shots. The sharpness of the lens gives astounding detail, and at 23mm on an APS-C sensor shooting at f/8 or f/16 is often all that is required to achieve hyper-focal distance for a scene.
Portrait:
(Via Hoodoo, who takes the best photos of me)
I have never been a fan of tight head and shoulder portraits, and so the more environmental view that the 35mm gives is a favourite of mine. The only caveat is not to shoot too close, or the wide-angle lens will distort faces unfavourably.
For holiday snapshots, this seems a good approach as the context of the scene remains intact.
Macro:
The biggest flaw in the X100’s design is pretty poor auto-focus for up close work. When it does nail it however, the results are spectacular. Of course, I can take photographs of flowers anywhere but I imagine there will be species specific to the area that I will want to document. Adding my Marumi +2 close-up filter not only delivers increased magnification but actually aids the X100 in close focusing.
One of the more interesting changes about how I see the world through the X100 is that I find I start seeing things how they will be captured by a 35mm lens. While I won’t be able to shoot birds in trees or ships off in the distance, there will be many opportunities that are well suited to such a versatile focal length if I can only learn to look for them. I may not get every possible photograph, but I am coming to realise this isn’t necessary. A single focal length will bring back enough shots to document my journey, and might even improve my composition along the way.