One Lens Ring To Rule All...

A recent post regarding the Fujifilm X-100F camera drew a critical response from a reader - as much for my style of writing, I suspect, as for the content of the column. Well, to paraphrase President Lincoln, you can please some of the people all the time and all of the people some of the time, but...Nevertheless, I did look a little closer at one aspect of the Fujifilm X-100 that may seem mundane to some but remains a vital consideration for others; the business of the closed camera body. You'll have seen my recent post about finding and cleaning the bird doo off the inside of a Fujifilm 18-55 lens. And the note that another reader sent in about the dust bunnies on my Fujifilm X-E2 - one of which is a fragment that has lodged under the glass filter over the sensor and would require disassembly to deal with. I don't change lenses in a paddock at seeding time, but things just seem to happen anyway - and thus I am inclined to praise camera designs that prevent this. Users of some of the smaller compact or bridge cameras can be smug about this - they seem never to get the problem. Their sensors may be smaller, however, than the APS-C sensor of the Fujifilm X-100 series, so there is a trade-off there. And I sometimes wonder if the small cameras that have complex erecting mechanisms for their lenses are as reliable or sturdy as the fixed barrels - certainly the regular stream of sand-affected compacts each summer to our repair department is a caution. In fact, I've been reviewing the possibilities for current users and only five dust-tight solutions came readily to mind: a. The Fujifilm X-100 series - from the original X-100 to the current X-100F they all have fixed 23mm Fujinon lenses with a wide maximum aperture. In my years of owning an X-100 LS I never had a dust bunny. I have heard of someone finding contamination once in one of these cameras but it was dealt with on a warranty basis - and Fujifilm Australia are superb in their warranty work. b. The Fujifilm X-70 camera - a shorter focal length - 18mm - and a more compact APS-C body. The same sealed construction. Unfortunately, this camera never seems to have done as well commercially as the X-100 and is no longer offered new. A second-hand copy would be a valuable acquisition. Note: we may see a revamped camera with this sort of form factor shortly. Fujifilm are nothing if not prolific, and they do listen to their fan-base. The new compact fixed-lens camera might be named the X-80...but that is just a rumoured report. Fans of Fujifilm are well advised to google Fuji Rumors regularly and enjoy the mix of news and speculation. c. The Sony RX1, RX1R, and RX1RII were full-frame fixed lens compacts of superb performance - if slightly strange ergonomics.The last named is the current one and still seems to be available...but not in the cabinet right now. I should guess it to run to a much higher price than the Fujifilm X-100F. - perhaps as much as three times the price. d. The Leica typ 116 - The Leica Q - is certainly available with a fixed lens and full-frame sensor. The lens is superb and there is provision to mask it down to simulate an increase in focal length while not losing quality - plus the macro facility is delightful. The price, however, is a factor that must be taken into consideration as it will be roughly four times that of the Fujifilm. Both cameras will be appreciated by their users for what they are - great travel and general use cameras. e. The Sigma DP Quattro cameras have fixed lenses over their exclusive Foveon X3 sensors. The models DP1, DP2, and DP3 seem to differ in the lenses attached - a 19mm, 30mm, or 50mm respectively. The maximum aperture does not seem as wide as the other brands, but Sigma make some very good lenses nevertheless, and I would expect anything they fixed to a body to be excellent in that focal length. They are not a camera that echo the retro form of the Leica or Fujifilm offering but interestingly enough the advertising literature from Sigma gives a reason for this. They are trying to get sources of heat such as battery and power circuitry away from the sensor to prevent interference with the data processing. I should be interested to give one of these cameras ago in the studio if the opportunity ever presented. Will this form of dedicated sealed single-lens/body camera continue in the future? I'd say certainly, with Leica and Fujifilm in the game. And as time goes the other major makers may add larger sensors to their fixed-lens offerings as well. There may be hope yet for me and my dust devils. Additional note: There is an interesting account in the current Fuji Love digital magazine about a Berliner who spent three months in Southeast Asia with his X-100F camera - in particular his visit to a sulphur mine in Indonesia. He mentions the camera gaining a shiny new yellow outer coating, but still working well. One of WA's famous photographers - Hugh Brown - spent time photographing inside volcanic craters as well, and you should have seen what the CE workshop found inside his DSLR camera when he brought it in for service - sulphur flowers growing on some of the circuit boards. There's something to be said for photography with sealed cameras!