In 2012 I made a big decision, to ditch my dslr in favour of a small compact that had just hit the market with very little known about it.
On paper the camera sounded like everything I wanted at the time, a compact with all the controls a photographer needs to hand and in a small body.
My dslr was starting to be a pain, heavy and cumbersome to use with simple photographic needs stuffed in menu after menu.
I just wanted a great travel photography camera that didn't give me a back ache but gave me great images.
With trips to Italy and Japan planned, I decided to take a big chance, im not rich so laying down £1000 is a big deal to me.
I've no regrets.
The first real test was a trip to Italy followed by Japan.
At the time I was very interested in way a using shadow as composition, the little X100 was a joy to use allowing me to focus on the concept.
Not only was I able to do conceptual photographs but the standard style of photographic images were fantastic in terms of colour and sharpness.
For the first time in ages I finally had a camera that helped me to take Black and White photographs like I used to get from my old film slr.
Although the X100 is small and retro looking, the camera was more then capable of anything I asked of it.
It might not be the fastest camera to focus but in terms of usability and having an amazing camera that fits in my pocket, I could not ask for more.
If you ask a photographer what camera do they use then you will get many different answers, there is no right or wrong answer, for me it took years to find the right one. Both the X100 and X-Pro1 are my main tools for the job, yet for some reason, the little X100 has a little place in my heart, the spark that rekindled my love for photography (and saved me from back ache).
