In recent weeks I became increasingly unhappy with the performance of my trusty Canon s95 point and shoot digital camera. I’ve been using an s95 for years now and it was perfect for riding: small enough to fit in a jersey pocket, easy enough to operate one-handed in most cases, and used ones could be found cheaply on eBay. But since I started to do rides using my Nikon DSLR I found the quality lacking to what I had become used to, but the problem with a DSLR is that even though the DSLR Slinger from Porcelain Rocket makes transporting one on a mountain bike easier, you are STILL hauling around a heavy DSLR (often on an already heavy fat bike).
So I started looking into a new camera that is smaller than my D3200 but better than my Canon s95. In my research for a new everyday camera–for both on and off the bike–I kept coming back to a couple of different cameras: The Sony RX100 and the Fuji x100t. Sadly both where WAY out of my price range.
In my research I also found that the x100t’s predecessor the x100s is also a damn fine camera, it’s just lacking a few upgrades, a couple of which–like WiFi capability–I can live without. I poured over shots on Flickr, read message boards and watched reviews on YouTube. Sadly the x100s is also a very expensive camera. However a used one is closer to my budget and I ended up finding a nice x100s used package (camera, filter, two batteries, etc.) on eBay for less than half the cost of a new one. There was much rejoicing!
The x100s is bigger/heavier than my s95, so I can’t exactly keep it in my jersey pocket, or roll and shoot one handed, but it’s small enough that without a lens hood I can fit it in a Revelvate Designs Mountain Feed Bag until I can get my hands on a Mini Slinger from Porcelain Rocket or other slightly larger bar mounted bag.
Test shot with Jake (the dog).
The new camera arrived yesterday and I was anxious to put it through its paces, so after a few quick shots with one of favorite subjects (Jake The Dog) to make sure my version of Lightroom handled the Fuji RAW files (it did), I got kitted up and headed out to ride dirt roads on board the fat shamed Farley.
I have to say with just a few clicks of the camera’s shutter I was geeked! I am finding it to truly be nice cross between a pocket-sized quality point and shoot and a DSLR. In fact there are many things about the x100s that I like MORE than my Nikon D3200.
Hump shack No. 1.
For 95% of the shots I took yesterday I shot in Aperture Priority mode with auto ISO on. In hindsight I should have just set the ISO at 400 for the cloudy day, but most shots turned out fine.
Buzzing at 1/1000.
As I rolled the fatty down the dirt roads I came upon a bunch of daisies clinging on to life as fall approaches. I stopped when I noticed that there were several bees buzzing around; I figured this would be a chance to test the camera’s shutter speed and auto focussing. While I missed a few shots due to a poor choice in aperture settings, I did come up with a few good ones including the (slightly cropped) photo above shot at 5.6 and 1/1000 and the one below shot at 5.6 1/800.
Buzzing at 1/800.
OK enough of that talk, I don’t want to give the impression that I fancy myself anything more than an unprofessional picture taker. Having said that I was pretty stoked with the performance of the camera. The only thing that took any getting used to was the fixed, 22mm (35mm equivalent) lens.
Hump shack No. 2.
I ended up rolling over 31 miles on the shamed one which always feels like 50. The weather which had been on the hot and humid side for a few weeks has finally cooled off and it was nice to finish a ride with some water left and not feeling like I might die. Of course in a month I’ll be bitching about how cold I am and how I long for the heat of summer.
Digging what you’re laying down.
There was lots of fresh dirt being laid down and graded by the county, so having the fatty to roll through several miles of pre-graded soft dirt was super nice.
Barn under partly cloudy skies.
During my ride I rode past the Neely Preserve and stopped for a look around. I’ve been past several times before, but this time it was clear that the CWC has been doing a ton of trail work to make it visitor friendly for hikers and folks on non-motorized vehicles.
***
After I messed about for a bit, I realized I needed to start making my way back home, so I put the camera away and tried to make some good time. Well, at least until I hit a series of steep for Isabella County dirt road hills that had me bombing down at nearly 30 mph and crawling up at nearly 6. It’s on the hills that I regret using a fat bike, every time.
The ride accomplished just what I wanted; I got outside to burn some calories for the first time since a crap hike on Tuesday and got familiar with my new (to me) camera. I’m sure I’ll still be rolling plenty of miles with my s95, especially in crap weather, but I am looking forward to spending more time with in the Fuji in the coming months. Of course there won’t be much riding this weekend as B-Man has a soccer tournament Friday evening through Sunday afternoon (4 games in 3 days) but there will be many photos taken, mostly with my DSLR and a big assed zoom lens.
Later.