I watched Olympus announce the EM-5 in February.  On February 7 I put in a pre-order through Amazon, the first day it was available for pre-order.  Olympus originally estimated the camera would ship in mid-April.  That passed with no announcements.  

I have always had a little thing for retro cameras, particularly late 50′s and 60′s. Rangefinders have a special place in my heart.  In high school, I had a Leica IIIf and loved it.  I still like the idea of a rangefinder.  I would love to have a Leica M9.  But, that’s a major financial investment that I’m not ready to make, yet.  At this point in my life a DSLR is really the right tool for me, I’ll get an M9 (or M10, M11…) down the road.

Guess what happened last week?  Fuji came out with a really great looking camera, the FinePix X100 will be a new camera with a retro design and an interesting twist.

Let’s start with the basics, there’s a 12 megapixel APS-C sized sensor, 23mm f/2 lens (roughly a 35mm for a full-frame camera), magnesium alloy top deck, and so much more.  The X100 has full manual controls with a shutter speed dial and aperture ring, it also supports aperture priority, shutter priority and full automatic.  The view finder in this camera is where they put the real magic.  Like a rangefinder, it gives a true image, so it’s bright and easy to use.  There is also a bright-line frame that includes information similar to what a DSLR gives you.  You can also flip a lever and transform the viewfinder into an electronic viewfinder.  Very cool stuff.

Rumors on the blogs indicate this camera will be released in Q2, 2011 at a price of $1,199.

You can get more information at http://www.finepix-x100.com

P.S. – Wouldn’t it be cool if Canon came out with a retro-looking micro 4/3 camera…with L series lenses?