Fujifilm X-M1 Compact System 16MP Digital Camera Kit with 16-50mm Lens and 3-Inch LCD Screen (Black)

Oddly, I've become a bit of a Fujifilm lover. Not sure why. First camera ever was a Canon fTB-n 35mm brick. got so tired of carrying that 6 pound monster (with 35-105 Hoya zoom) that I gave up SLR's and bought an early Ricoh point and shoot and loved it. When the digital revolution arrived I started with a 1 mp Sony Mavica with a floppy disk! Moved up to a fantastic 2 megapixel Toshiba....then bought a series of Fuji's just by chance. Back in 2007 when I was flush and wanted a real legacy camera I went into my local dealer and said give me a Leica....and they asked me a few questions and I walked out with a Fuji F30 point and shoot, 6mp. Took it to Croatia and it is still some of the very best pictures I've ever taken and they compared very well with my Nikon D40. Fantastic battery life, fantastic low light, tiny, what pictures. Still have it, still take it with me on trips. I currently have an Olympus OM-D EM-5 which was the treat I gave myself, and i love it. Weather sealed, the whole deal. Very complex and even a couple years later I still have trouble using all its features. But something happened a few years ago...I saw the Fuji X10. And I said, I have to have one of those. I bought one as a closeout after the white orb fiasco was fixed. And I have to tell you, that's probably the best camera I have ever owned (and that includes the D40, Lumix bridge camera, a bunch of Fujifilms including the F30, F40fd, F100 exr, e550, Canon S95, Canon G10 and a few others). Then I bought my wife an X20 which I think is even better. STarted coveting an X20 but then the X30 came out and I started pricing it. But in reality, it didn't offer much I wanted beyond an X20, and the X20 is arguably incrementally better than the X10....and while I was researching that I hit on a few reviews of the XM-1 that said it took...oh...extraordinary....exceptional....DSLR quality....pics. APS-C sensor. Not just good images, or acceptable....but extraordinary. It has cool lines. And then I found an open box brand new XM-1 for $417 with the 16-50 lens. It took me a couple days to get its features down and OK, yes, it doesn't have panorama, which I like but I'll have the other two cameras with me....and it doesn't have a viewfinder, but you know? Neither did my S 95 and my F30....and I don't use the viewfinder THAT much anyway; i mean, hardly ever on my G10,....but I wish it had pro low light. Level? Never use it. It is funny to me (I'm 59) to hear people talk about disappointing it is that it is plastic....horrors! Sit down kids and let gramps tell you a story....back in the 70's great cameras were things like the Nikon F, the Nikkormat, the Canon fTB-n, the Canon F1, Canon EF and Canon A-1, the Pentax K1000....all solid steel, designed to go to the moon and survive a nuclear blast. Then, around the early 70's two things happened. First olympus came out with the OM-1 which sort of blew the whole idea that an SLR had to be "big" out of the water...then Canon came out with the AE-1. Small, light, and....horrors...plastic....But it changed the whole ballgame, friends, and the beauty of the XM-1 is that it is solid and light. Yes, the lens isn't as solid as my Olympus 14-150 but it moves smoothly, is razor sharp, and does the job. The whole package is a bit remarkable. It took a bit of getting used to to set it up so it focused properly, learn how to use MF, but the versatility in general is there. This isn't my everything camera; that's my EM-5, but I bought this because I wanted a sensor that wouldn't leave anything to chance for spectacular pictures. I'm planning on taking this to Europe in a few weeks and will put it through its paces; i'm looking for reliability, fantastic pics (I shoot jpg), looking forward to trying the wi fi and wireless transfer to my Ipad. It has enough filters and enough modes to keep me happy. Yes, Fuji, if you can put the same advanced options like pro low light and panorama in the next upgrade I'll be thrilled, but for now this camera has everything - very compact, lightweight, solid feel, good kit zoom, initial pictures I've taken are razor sharp, fast focus, fast start up, built in flash, and I like the tilting screen. Very minimalist and as you can tell from my opening sentences I am leaning toward simple. The joy in photography for me is taking the picture and enjoying it rather than sweating out over which setting to use and this fits the bill. It's got enough user settings to keep me happy and it will be very interesting to see whether I continue to use my EM-5 as much, although when the weather's lousy or I need my 2X digital zoom and 14-150 zoom lens It'll be with me...oh yeah, that's the one other thing my XM-1 lacks - the digital zoom. And as far as lenses go, invariably once I put a wide-tele zoom on my camera - 14-150, or 12-50 on my EM-5 or the 24-112 on my X10.....that's all I ever use. I never remove it. Carrying more than one lens is what killed my interest with my fTB-n. So, 1-2 month update. As I said, i bought this because I am an X10 user and fan; my "high end" camera is an Olympus OM-d EM-5 and you can see from prior reviews that I've owned Canon, Nikon, Lumix, and a bunch of Fujifilm. For some reason I like fujifilm. Not that I don't like my G10, or D40....anyway. I bought this because I wanted an X30 but found this open box XM-1 with the 16-50 lens for $400 on Amazon. It has an APS-C sensor and I thought it was time to see what the big deal about sensor envy is about. I just used this in France and stopped using it after one day for two reasons - one, there was a spot of dust on the sensor (as an open box camera this came - I am not kidding - with the body in a plastic sandwich bag. Once I found the spot and got rid of it - that disappeared. The other problem, and I wasn't sure why - was that many of my pics looked seriously over exposed on the monitor. I had to fiddle with the exposure control to make them look decent. It turns out this was related to my settings and the actual pictures on a PC or my Ipad were perfect. But for a day or two I was kind of concerned. battery life is great. I have found that low light is kind of tough to shoot with any setting except auto. Those are terrific. I find the Olympus is more customizable and that leads me to my conclusion that this camera is sort of a compact interchangeable mirrorless "bridge" camera, in that it is best suited for snapshots, travel, etc with some versatility. It is very lightweight, the 16-50 lens is tack sharp; yes, it doesn't feel like a metal camera but it is very solid and well made. I do wish it had digital telezoom and panorama function. I am confused why they'd leave those off. So it isn't as customizable as an em-5 but it doesn't purport to be. If you understand what this camera is, and that it takes, as DP Review said "astounding" pictures, you should be happy. I have learned that I am a fair photographer; i am not going to win awards, I love good travel pictures and put them in Blurb albums, I love color and love re-living my overseas trips, and occasionally I find a picture is really artsy. So for professional versatility and delusional fooling myself that I am really creative I love my Olympus; for amazing retro looks, feel, size, and complete versatility I am completely sold on the X10/X20 (and look forward to seeing what the consensus is on the X30) but if I was just going out on a trip and wanted superb jpg in a great package I'd happily take the XM-1. I guess there is aftermarket panorama software but I like the panorama function on the X10. Oh, and another oversight - no voice memo on the XM-1. Deal killer? No. Would I downgrade? Not unless I felt I was misled by Fujifilm, and it was all right there in front of me when I ordered. If I wanted to spend more on a Fuji with those features I could have. if I want those features, I'll schlep my EM-5 along.

If you're a novice photographer and you're reading this review, stop reading now. This review isn't going to talk about any of the features you'll want to use and this camera is going to be unrecognizable (see the photo). once kitted it out with those really cool and useful accessories. However, if you're curious about my experience with the X-M1 using adapted lenses and a screen viewfinder, read on! When I like a camera, I do my internet homework. I check specs, legit reviews, user comments,price trends long before I actually hold the camera in my hands. In this case, I was heavily influenced by a recent purchase of a Fuji X-A1 for my daughter and was really impressed with the 2 kit lenses that came in that bundle package (see my review in Fujifilm X-A1 Body - Blue Compact System Camera, Body Only . Since I had already owned a Fuji X30 for about 9 months, I was pretty sure I'd like the x-trans sensor image quality, but not have to work as hard to separate my focal plane from the rest of the image. But perhaps the best surprise came when I discovered certain features can be greatly improved upon with the judicious purchase of high quality accessories, like a VF-4 viewfinder NEW Photography & Cinema PNC VF-4 LCD Universal View Finder FOR DV Camera LED Light SLR B , the Fotodiox Pro Lens Mount Adapter, Nikon G Lens to Fujifilm X Camera Body (X-Mount), for Fujifilm X-Pro1, X-E1 , and the ever useful OP/TECH USA Cam Strap - QD (Black) for holding onto the whole rig. I'm only partially kidding when I say that if you had hipster dreams of walking around with this compact little rangefinder with a black pancake 27mm lens, fagettaboutit. You're low rent cover is blown as soon as you bring it up to your bespectacled eye and you realize you can't look through the viewfinder. Instead, this camera has a great 3.0" diagonal hi-res tilting rear screen instead, three really well-placed control dials, a five button cluster to move your focus point and access some occasionally used functions, and (thankfully) no buttons on the left side of the rear of the camera. This is a blessing in disguise when using a large viewfinder like the VF-4, because it allows you to keep your left hand braced under the lens, where it should be. The folks from DigitalRev have criticized the placement of the two rear control dials, saying that they are too close together, but that's ridiculous, because you're gonna need to use them in manual without lifting your eye from the VF-4 viewfinder to nail focus and exposure, esp. while the magnified eyepiece of the VF-4 is braced against your face. When that big eyepiece is braced to your eye, I found that I could control the most important aspects of the camera, namely, focus, ISO, aperture and shutter speed using the live view screen for confirmation. Here's how I use the camera rig with my manual Nikkor lenses. 1) Setup the function button mapped to change ISO, so you don't have to fiddle with changing it in the Q menu. 2) Figure out your working f-stop, like you would shooting studio strobes, and set it on the lens. This will be your smallest aperture, but you may actually end up using a wider one in the next steps, using the declicked Fotodiox adapter ring. 3) Set your shutter speed with the rightmost thumb dial. Pick one that you can safely handhold like 1/(effective 35mm focal length in APS-C). 4) Click on the rear dial to activate the check focus magnifier and look for the wave of little white pixels washing over your focus area. Click again to return to normal view. This one feature alone is so incredibly useful and easiest with your eye to the viewfinder. 5) Half-press the shutter to get the live view exposure settings and with your other hand dial in the aperture ring on the lens adapter clockwise until you get the exposure you want. If you find it is too dark or too light, use your function (ISO) button and thumb wheel to dial in a better ISO. Repeat from step 4. Again, this half-press feature is SO much better than the opposite default (on the X30 and others) where it is always dark while using strobe and you have to menu dive to change the global setting, with no easy way to setting it back! 6) Shoot when ready The image of my dog was captured this way in late October light using the adapted Nikkor 35/2 Nikkor O, wide open at f2. I actually used a bounced strobe to reduce the contrast and open up the shadows behind the dog. The ability to focus first before previewing exposure is key to being responsive and nailing focus. Since I can easily mount or remove the VF-4 housing from the quick release foot, I found that it adapts well to the X-M1 body without much effort, however, you will not be able to charge the battery without removing the foot plate, and the SD card too is blocked. The shutter noise is nicely damped, but I have to say severely limited by a 1/160s sync speed (almost worth a point off), but no better than any of the other interchangeable lens Fuji rangefinders. The ability to custom set individual color maps for each WB setting is unusual in an entry level camera. About my choice of lens adapter, I liked the design of the Fotodiox because it felt solid and the declicked aperture makes it perfect for video and stills use. The first image of the wood box shows the Fotodiox Pro adaptor, using a 55 Micro-nikkor at f2.8. However, I did try the Nikkor to FX Fotodiox Excell+ speed booster adapter with this X-M1 body but quickly sent it back as I could barely acheive focus with it (barrel distortion was considerable too, as in the second image of the box, but somewhat fixable in Lightroom). Anyway, I'd recommend that you pick the X-M1 up used, as it's a steal at just north of $200 for incredible 16MP X-Trans quality.

Quick delivery, both the picture quality and the built quality of the camera are excellent... love it!