On my X100 with V 1.21 firmware, focusing in strong and low light is fast and sure, new functions are assignable to the RAW and Fn buttons and overall camera operation is much quicker.

I just think that semiconductor technology has continued to move forward since the D700 sensor was designed and the X100, by combining the design of the sensor and the lens as a single system, represents state-of-the-art technology, and the results are visible in the images.

While limited to 720p with very limited control on the settings, the X100 nonetheless can take very good video even in low light due to its clean images at high ISO.

When setting the ISO manually, it takes priority over Dynamic Range: if you have DR set to 400% and drop the ISO, the X100 will successively reset DR back down to 200% at ISO 400, and 100% at ISO 200 (and highlight these changes in yellow in the viewfinder).

The following ISO examples were taken with the aid of a tripod and available daylight and run the gamut of the Fuji X100's extensive manually adjustable range, expandable at both ends of the scale to ISO100 (from ISO200) and ISO12800 (from ISO6400) respectively to give no fewer than 18 incremental settings.

The X100 also has a dedicated ring for manual focus and dedicated buttons for metering, auto-focus point position, changing OVF/EVF/LCD, macro mode, flash, white balance, shooting mode (aka "drive"), menu, and a custom function button that can be set to the ND filter or ISO (among others).

The X100 has dedicated controls for aperture, shutter speed, and exposure compensation.

What has also become of great help is the ability to see the aperture, shutter and exposure compensation settings of the X100 in one glance without needing to view these through the viewfinder.

The X100 uses a distinctly traditional control layout, clearly inspired by fully-mechanical compacts from the 1960s and '70s, with top-plate dials for shutter speed and exposure compensation, plus aperture and manual focus rings around the lens barrel.

Fujifilm unveiled the FinePix X100, a compact camera with an SLR-size APS-C sensor and traditional analogue control dials, that hides ground-breaking technology inside a retro-styled body with looks to die for.

One of the advantages of the X100's APS-C sensor and fast F2 lens is the ability to blur the background to some degree (and rather more than with typical small-sensor compact cameras).

Overall, with its APS-C sensor and perfectly matched 35mm equivalent f2 lens, the X100 is a powerhouse in the image department.

With Velvia mode selected the Fuji X100 has delivered superbly realistic colours and an almost three dimensionalimage, letting the viewer feel as if they could reach out and touch the fronds atop the mossy wall here.

If you know anything about shooting manually, you will find the Fuji X100 to be a very easy and fun camera to "have & to hold.

No camera is perfect but the Fuji X100 in the right hands will make you a better photographer, when all is said and done it's what you get out of the camera that counts.