I got to spend a little time with a pre-production X100 in-store yesterday and posted some notes on the experience at my blog. I'm pretty impressed, and I had fairly high expectations of it in the first place...did a size comparison with an S90 & Epson R-D1s as well in case anyone's interested in that. Have a look at http://robertcatto.tumblr.com/post/3323199711/a-brief-visit-with-the-fuji-x100 if you've got a sec. All the best, R!

I wrote this on another site one night after a few drinks, so forgive me reusing it here, but I don't think I can improve on it! Frankly, I messed around with countless other smaller-than-an-SLR digital cameras over the years, the list goes something like Canon G3 / Fuji F11 / Ricoh GR-D / Canon G9 / Leica D-Lux 4 / Canon S90 - and that's quite aside from the 7 SLR bodies! I can say to you in all honesty, if I'd found & bought an Epson R-D1 in the first place, I would never have bothered with any of them. (Apart from the SLRs, that is.) If you like control over depth of field, this is your camera. If you like vintage lenses, this is your camera. If you like feeling like you've achieved something - simply by remembering all the steps, winding / stopping down / setting the shutter speed & ISO / focussing, THEN capturing the moment you were doing all that for; this is your camera. I liken it to why I enjoy driving a manual car: when you nail it, when the downshift is perfect and smooth halfway round a corner, or when a perfectly crisp & exposed image pops up on the LCD and you know YOU did it - not the AF / AE / AISO system in the camera...well, that's why we all got into photography, right? To capture those moments that fly past us, through a bizarre mix of skill, luck, persistence, determination, practice and timing. Love it. R!