Do I need another camera?

Need? Of course not. Want? Well… :D

So, why do I want one then? I thought it'll be great to have a carry-everywhere camera. I've been walking around the town area lately in Jakarta after work and carrying the 60D with me would be impractical, not to mention dangerous.

Yes I have the G11. But knowing its slow-ish AF speed, it's not practical for street shooting here. I thought of getting a camera with a faster AF speed and still be discreet. I boiled my choices down to two cameras, which are more or less in the same price range and within my budget.

Olympus EPM-1

The so-called PEN Mini. This is the baby of Olympus successful E-PEN line. They sport a Micro Four-Thirds sensor (M4/3) which is bigger than a compact but about half the size of a Full Frame sensor, therefore there is a 2.0x crop factor.

The EPM-1 is the baby version of the EP-3, which by all accounts has an AF speed on par with a DSLR. I won't go through the technical specs here (you can get it here) but safe to say, the sensor has been proven to be more than decent for everyday shots. The kit lens is a 14-45mm f3.5-5.6 which protrudes out of the body so I would need to get a smaller and faster lens. That'll be either the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 or the Olympus 25mm f1.8. The combined set will bring the total to about USD 1,000.

Some observations from my research:

+ Small and discreet
+ Fast AF (based on EP-3)
+ My wife can use the standard lens if we go traveling

- The sensor is decent, but it's getting on in years
- Olympus introduced the EP-3 only 9 months after the EP-2, too fast for my comfort
- 2x crop factor with affects depth of field, so the dof of f1.8 you get looks more like the dof of f2.8 in a full frame DSLR
- AF speed is dependent on the lens you use. Doesn't that lead to obsolescence down the road?
- I'll be tempted to get more lenses and end up dumping my Canon kit

Fujifilm X100

Now this is my dream digital camera ever since it was announced. Sporting an APS-C sensor (bigger than the M4/3 but smaller than a Full Frame so it has a 1.5x crop factor) and a 24mm (35mm equivalent) f2 fixed lens. Also very important is how exceedingly beautiful it looks heh. It also happens to cost about USD 1,000.

What I found out about the X100:

+ Since it's a fixed prime lens, I won't be dumping my DSLR kit
+ Image Quality is very good (both RAW and JPG)
+ Looks like an old film camera so people don't really notice it
+ So pretty...
+ Builtin ND filter which helps to tone down contrast in sunny situations
+ Superb hybrid viewfinder which takes on elements of both traditional OVF and rangefinder style viewfinders

- I'm used to shooting long instead of wide due to the crop factor on my current 60D. A fixed 35mm will require bit of getting used to
- Reviews have mentioned the quirky nature of the camera. Basically if you shoot automatic, you'll love it. If you try to do manual stuff or think too much though, it'll frustrate you
- Slow buffer, freezes, so-so AF speed, weird Macro implementation and manual focus that's a PITA
- Lack of customization
- There's been a pervasive problem of the shutter sticking in small apertures which causes the camera to overexpose it's images (i.e. you're shooting in f16 but the shutter refuses to close and is basically has an f2-sized opening). The solution so far is to send it into Fuji to replace the whole shutter unit.

Some of these issues have been addressed by a firmware update. Other issues will probably be less of a problem for me as I plan to shoot almost everything automatic (like I do on my DSLR). The sticking shutter though, that might be an issue. The only way to get around that would be to either always shoot in f2-f2.8 (nahh…) or make sure there's a local warranty.

So there you have it, two very similar yet very different cameras that I want (not need). Both aren't cheap by any means, but I think both have pretty persuasive pluses. Which one will I get if at all?

I'll have to ponder more...