FujiFilm X100F jpg OOC
So, I am going backward but I think I have to. It was Friday and the weather was nice and I wanted to go and work. I got a note from Adorama that my camera has shipped and would arrive Friday.
So I told Tanya that I didn’t feel like going to the VA and I just wanted to sit on the couch. Not just on the couch but the precise spot where I can see the door and out the window when UPS arrives. I had that kinda nervous twitch and also the look of fear on my face, nah… all over me in fear of missing the long awaited knock on the door. She looks at me and raises her eyebrow and just,,,, hmmmm. I think maybe she found out that I’m in the “waiting for my new camera so leave me alone to sweat and just let me breathe mode. She ask me if I want coffee and I said no because I’d be painting the walls and then cleaning the house nervously. No, I’ll sit this one out. Tanya walks to the kitchen, CNN is on and I’m just like in limbo but it’s not limbo because the frigging world is moving and I don’t have my camera! She say’s Donusha,( semi Russian for Donald. I made the name up and her family agrees that I am part Russian. Please don’t tell CNN or Congress or Pres Trump. ) She ask me what I’m waiting for? Uh oh, she knows the mode I’m in. I’m dead I tellya, it’s over, the wife finds out about a new camera and nothing for her move, it’s not pretty I tellya, it damn sure ain’t gonna be pretty. Then, harken, I hear the voice from an angel, an angel sent from mother Light and Father FujiFilm…. is this the new Andre’ camera’?
GASP! The Horror! Oh, you mean the camera I’m waiting for, sure, it’s the new X100F but hold on, I have to watch Jake Tapper. I’m pushing 68 real hard but not yet, oh no…not yet. I remember when I was young when Mom got us all a present, well the feelings I had them followed my all thru these years.
I would be all excited and feeling special and loved, well that’s how I’m feeling now. So, now I know Mommy, er…Tanya won’t be mad at me for buying a new camera. All is well in the universe and I’m feeling….hey, wait a minute… where’s the damn UPS truck? Ya think he dares to make stops before he gets to me, nahhh, I don’t believe that for a minute. Tanya brings me a cup of black tea with lemon. I inhale it in .3 sec. I have not mover from this sit and wait for UPS spot in a few hours.
My face is sweating and I’m fighting my natural water waste removal system. she looks at me and smiles, would you like me to do the waiting duty while you go pee? I told you she was an angel and I smile and make it upstairs to the bathroom in .7 sec flat. A new record. I spend more time then I wanted doing the Lizard Draining Procedure. shake, wash hands and back on duty in less then 3 min.
So, I’m waiting and then, all the sudden FEDEX comes down the street. Sooo anti climatic. I pick up the iPad and look at messages from Olivier and some other ppls about things that I am normally concerned about but at this minute I don’t remember what planet I’m on and don’t care BECAUSE UPS IS HERE! The guy, like the Santa Clause of Photography hands me the box. This is the box from the never ever land of FujiFilm. This is the box that contains my beloved Andre’. Adorama as so many times is right on the money and they mad me happy again.
So I need to be cool right. I mean Mrs Shooter is sitting there looking at me and I have to restrain myself and act as this is no big deal. I sit on the couch and holding the box on my lap. Inside me is this teen boy that is looking at the most beautiful girl ever existed and she wants to kiss me. This is a metaphor and for real, don’t come close to my excitement about this camera.
So I just sit and then Tanya says, “aren’t you going to go upstairs and open the box”? Before the question was finished, I was upstairs in my office, had the box open and everything laid out neatly on the desk. There, there on the desk where all cameras from recent history have been given their name and birthday sits the still unnamed Fujifilm X100F.
I feel this familiar energy buzzing around my head and heart… it say’s, yo pop, let me go home already. Quickly I close the door to the office, Barsik the Cat is lying on the floor watching. I close the blinds on the window and then walk to the unnamed Fujifilm X100f and pick it up. I close my eyes and raise the camera to the sky and I chant, and then there was Andre’. The energy used as Andre’ transforms into the camera henceforth named, Andre’ the Fuji X100F is miraculous. I place Andre’ on the desk and look at the manual. He says, shooter, put a battery in and a card. Together we will make the path we follow without interference from manuals etc. I turn around and think, I’m not crazy, my camera is.
So I realize Andre’ the Fuji X100F is right. Without looking at the manual, the camera is extremely intuitive. Well, I have had all the X100 series, XE models, X-Pro1 and some other things so maybe it’s learned intuition but regardless the X100F is very intuitive.
The first photo is with the X100F and a jpg OOC. Not by choice but by force from Adobe as there is no way to process Raw files yet. The others are from Serendipity the Oly Pen F.
If you’re looking for a technical review of this camera, I am not the one for you to read. If you believe in Don Quixote and the magic of love and photography and the love a shooter has for his cameras, your home my friends.
I’ll be working starting tomorrow heavily with Andre’ and using jpg, Acros. I’ll post during the week as things get interesting.
be blessed all………………………………………………………….
Love your enthusiasm, mate.
Thanks Ian, I knew someone would get it, glad it’s you.
Love the post Don. You’ve expressed so well the excitement of getting a new camera. Damn you – my G.A.S. is kicking in again. And I haven’t even taken my new Pen F out yet. Waiting for the weather Gods to cooperate here in Minneapolis. Looking forward to see what images you make with the 100F. Interesting – both cameras end in F. Is there some deep meaning to this? Take care out there!
Dave, only you know and I know the secret meaning of the Magic F Cameras. I have to tell you. I had to sell some cameras to get this and it’s worth it but I never considered moving the Pen F.
Don, do you sell cameras online? If so … what do you recommend … Craig’s list or eBay or what?
Dave, I use ebay for a number of reasons. It cost more to do it but you have protection and if you deal with established members, you have more security. I do the 3 day auction.
Thanks Don.
Oooooo baaaaaabbbbbbbbyyyyyyy!
Oooooo baaaaaabbbbbbbbyyyyyyy! You can say that again!
Hi! Congrats on new Fuji. I am actually in the process of camera switch. Maybe you can advice. My OMD EM10 doesnt make me happy. For me the shutter sound seems too laud. And also I thought my camera could be smaller…
So I was thinking…
1. Maybe GR2 would be great…I wanted it before, but I bought that OMD instead…why?… because so many people complain about dust…and I hated dust on my dslr sensor decade ago. So, to avoid this problems. It is risk that I dont want to go through…
2. Than I thought I might get some of the PENs. No PEN F, because it is too expensive. But maybe something like EPL 5 or 6 or 7. And use my 14mm 2.5 with it. I dont use viewfinder or flash, so it should work for me. But I am afraid EPL would be as laud as OMD.
3. So I thought about Fuji X70…it is quiet, it has 28 mm lens ekv. It is small. Price is reasonable. All I need. So I am seriously considering this Fuji now…
What do you think?
Pavel, seriously, try to hold onto your camera and just get the Fuji X70. I used Polly’s for a little bit and I gave it back cause I liked it too much.
Great choice and the price is coming down. For my 28mm camera, I use the GRII. Bunk what others say, the best out there.
Thanks…but I want to use the cash for new one. Also I am camera monogamist. I would not like to have both ….
I get it bro, for real. Hope it all works out, and I’m sure it will.
Great post as ever, Don!
I can relate very well to that ‘sitting there with the new boxed camera before me waiting for the wife’s thunder’ feeling!
You made me smile.
Thanks Frank….. I think there are many closet sitters waiting for a camera to arrive…around.
Enjoyed the experience. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Jeff but I’m not done I tellya… you’ll see.
Hi Don,
Your delightful theoretical and empirical discourse, that helped our understanding, of what it’s like to risk manage that ‘knock on the door’ is acutely understood and experienced by.
You have, quite succinctly, communicated how that process and its outcome affects more than the planner of such a strategy. In sum, you can fool your significant other momentarily, that is, because in the land of reality, your significant other can justifiable ‘make your ears bleed’ in as few words possible, due to that ‘knock on the door’.
But then again, when they understand that your ‘childhood hobby’ has turned into a ‘dependancy’ they’ll accept what’s happened and offer a cup of tea as a salve to the ‘affect’ caused due to that ‘knock on the door’ – because they always are a fortnight ahead of you, regardless of how well you planned your ‘knock on the door’.
Lastly, i’ll pen this: ‘Oly, Oly, Oly. Oi, Oi, Oi’.
Regards
Sean
Sean, your so right as usual. Enthusiasm is the central core of love and understanding. Without it, there’s not much chance of anything surviving. For real and I have 3 ex wives to verify that. Tanya doesn’t really care but she’s happy to see me excited about living instead of just sitting there dying.
I think the sad part of being an adult is allowing and watching the child in us die or grow old and become an adult. I have always nurtured the little boy in me and I treasure him. She knows that and that’s why she’s still here.
Andre’ and I will be out working shortly and I’ll make a post soon.
Thanks my friend, peace
Hi Don ! This chronicle makes me laught ! Love it. They say that one should embrace child’s mind in photography, stop thinking about complicated stuff. You’re 13 years old Don ! Good to see your enthusiasm. Nice writing and nice shots !
Thanks Jean, youtr right about age and the child’s mind. I always thought myself younger then 13 bit I appreciate your vision.
Congrats Don! But whaddabout the Pen F? It’s going to be broken hearted.
Nooooo, Serendipity the Pen F is happy for a small rest period. I notice Andree’ taking a fancy to her and I wonder about leaving them alone. But really, I want to know Andre’ really well and at least be able to use raw files and process them. Then the X100F and Pen F will be together in my bag.
The X100F and the Pen F would make beautiful effin’ babies! I’m so tempted by both. But buying either would make it hard to feed the M3 and CL. 😉
Doug, ya know, I haven’t bought a new camera in a year. I bought the Pen F and exactly to the day, 1 year later, the X100F. I still have a Leica Darkroom in my basement and it’s all anyone could desire. I visit it a few times a year just to look and see how my past has shaped me now. I won’t use it again. I still have a few M’s around but I know I will never use them again.
The PenF is damn hard to not want to use. There’s mojo in her and she just does it for me. The X100F, amazing camera and I adore them both, and a few others. The M3 is a fine camera especially the single stroke version. I even had the take up spool modified by Ernie at Leica NJ. I had the I believe CLE and that was a gas to use. That camera pointed the way for the digital revolution. Compact and efficient.
Do what you think is right for your vision and work, not for the cameras you use.
Hey Don. Did you get your x100F silver or black? I am wondering whether or not black is really stealthier. A black box might scream “I wanna be stealthy” and people react to the threat, when the silver one might say “I’m old fashionned”, and people think “gran’ pa’s taking a stroll, nothing to worry about”…
Talia, My original X100 was silver, then the X100s and was black, then the X100T was silver so I got the X100F in Black. That’s a bout all the science that goes into a color choice for cameras. I am not nor ever will ever be a Camera Racist. As far as stealth, that’s the worst mentality to adopt. First off, you seem like your taking something or sneaking around.
I like to be as a tourist. I’m out to MAKE photos and not TAKE photos. The difference is intent. So, as a tourist, even if you have a camera around your neck like I do, most don’t care. A tourist is the highest form of human and shooter there is. They are in love with the experience of living and seeing. We are all tourist in life, no one gets a permanent visa.
Hello Don. I see what you mean, make vs take. Interesting point! Yes, if I were to jump into street photo big time, I would not like people to feel I am stealing their soul. A non aggressive approach is what I’d look for. So I guess I must decide whether or not silver is too shiny for “sunny South California” (though it rained quite a lot lately! Thanks for your blog! I’ve always wondered if I ever spotted you when I lived around Philly until the summer. But I’ve never! 😉
Talia. Thank you kindly. As shooters, we need to make the photos. Having a slightly passive approach is like letting energy surround you and the scene and allowing you to be an observer and a participant.
Having a more aggressive approach, well…that spells disaster. I happen to prefer silver cameras and my Pen F is as well as some others.
Good luck on your journey.
Reading a new book is very intuitive when you already read some others before. 😉
Yessir, but we should read the new book with as little preconceptions as possible. That way, seems to me, we see the beauty of each single book among a library.