Fujifilm XF1 retro EXR camera has yesterday's style, today
The vintage-styled Fujifilm XF1 is clad in a retro leather-effect, but with image stabilisation and full manual controls on board.
Ah, the past. Where carefree young ladies untroubled by thoughts of work or voting cavorted happily with properly moustachioed and hat-ioed young bucks. The music was better, the clothes were better and the children jolly well knew not to talk back. No wonder that we hark back to the glorious halcyon days of yore with retro-styled kit like the Fujifilm XF1.
The vintage look sees the XF1 clad in an aluminium body with pleather-effect grip in brown, black or red.
But turn the camera on and you quickly see this is no antique, no vintage gewgaw, no mere nostalgic recreation. Inside is a 2/3-inch, 12-megapixel CMOS sensor and EXR processor. The EXR chip is Fujifilm's thinking engine -- it adjusts how the sensor deals with light depending on lighting conditions, such as boosting the sensitivity while cutting down on noise when lighting isn't so great.
On the back is a 3-inch screen, and on the front is a f/1.8 Fujinon lens with a 4x optical zoom, equivalent to 25-100m focal length. Harking back to the days of manually twisting the lens barrel to adjust your settings, you zoom by grabbing the front of the camera and twisting in an old-timey fashion.
The XF1 follows the premium Fujifilm XE-1 camera announced last week, which was the follow-up to the unspeakably decadent X-Pro 1. They're part of a wave of new cameras for 2012 unveiled at Photokina, the annual photography trade show in Germany -- look out for more cool cameras right here on CNET this week as we bring you the best snappers to consider for your Christmas stocking.
What do you think of the Fujifilm XF1? Do you like your high-tech kit with a retro feel? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.