For some reason, I really don’t know, I’m obsessing over should I get a new camera or not. The camera that I have now is perfectly fine and works great. Not only that, like a lot of other people into photography, I’ve got a fair amount of money invested in lens, accessories and so on. But still, I find myself asking “Hmmm. I wonder if I should look at [insert camera name here].”

And so it goes, two good friends of mine have loaned me two different cameras to shoot with for a few days. +Brian Matiash has loaned me his Fuji X100. My good buddy Rick LePage has loaned me his Panasonic GF1 (he just got the new Panasonic GX1). I haven’t shot with the GF1 yet because I need to get the X100 back to Brian sooner but so far, I’m kind of enjoying the X100. More than I thought.

Yesterday morning was pretty cold here (at least for Portland). Not unbearable, but cold enough that there was a fair amount of frost and light ice on my car that needed to be thawed out before I was going to go anywhere. I’m not sure if the ice was that thick or that maybe my 1999 Honda Accord needs to be taken in and have the A/C and Defroster looked at, but it took a good 10 minutes for everything to heat up and get rid of that ice.

So while I was sitting there, I thought I’d play with the X100. Here’s the first shot.

Like any fast lens shot at a wide aperture, the plane of focus was pretty narrow and I really liked how the corners were nice and blurry while the middle section was more in focus. Not as much in focus as I thought it was going to be, but it’s still okay. At least for me. The AF sensor indicated it was in focus, but alas, it’s still a little soft in there. But for what it was, it’s fine.

The second shot, which is the one at the top of the post, was taken a few minutes later as the ice began to melt. I love the creamy look of the blurred areas. I’d been told by others that the bokeh on the X100 was something very nice and I’d have to agree.

I shot some video last night with the X100 and I need to take a closer look at that still. Some things about it I liked, and others I didn’t. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything yet that I couldn’t have done with my Canon 5D Mark II just yet (assuming a comparable f-stop on my lens). One nice thing is that it is definitely smaller than the 5D Mark II which makes it great to carry around. But smallness in any camera’s form factor has it’s drawbacks. Specifically, it was difficult for me to grab and adjust the focus on the X100. Maybe I’d get used to that over time, I’m not sure. But the first time out last night, it was a bit tricky.

Anyway, I’m liking the X100 more than I thought. Enough to buy one though? I’m not sure yet. We’ll have to see.