Fujifilm X100S Performance

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Fuji X100S Performance

Timing and Performance

Mixed performance from the Fuji X100, but generally faster than its predecessor.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	~1.9 seconds	Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.
Shutdown	~1.0 second	How long it takes camera to turn off before you can remove the memory card.
Buffer clearing time	3 seconds after 16 Large/Fine JPEGs*	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card.
	8 seconds after 8 RAW files*
	11 seconds after 8 RAW+ L/F JPEG files*
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Startup time is a bit on the slow side for its class, but noticeably improved over the X100's 3.2 seconds. Buffer clearing times are pretty good with a fast card. (Note, we now use a 95MB/s UHS-I card versus the 30MB/s non-UHS card we used when testing the X100, so clearing times are not comparable.)

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	~1.5 seconds	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to play	~3.0 seconds	Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	~0.8 second	Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching is sluggish, and didn't improve over the X100. (Record to Play is actually much slower versus the 1.5 seconds we measured for the X100.) Note that Play to Record requires two presses of the shutter button.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus, Single-area AF mode	0.320 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.
Full Autofocus, Multi AF mode	0.349 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.
Full Autofocus, Single-area AF mode Flash enabled	0.462 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting, auto flash enabled.
Continuous AF	0.453 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.
Manual Focus	0.034 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".
Prefocused	0.011 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Fuji X100S's autofocus speed is about average for a compact camera these days, and 20-25% faster than the X100. The Fuji X100S produced full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) that ranged from 0.32 second using Area AF mode (center), to 0.349 second using Multi AF mode. These times are a bit slower than most consumer SLRs, but competitive with the average CSC these days. Enabling the flash increased lag a bit to 0.462 second, because of the preflash metering involved. Continuous AF mode lag tested at 0.453 second, and manual focus lag was only 0.034 second, very fast. Prefocused shutter lag was very fast, at only 0.011 second. This is much faster than any SLR (no mirror to move out of the way), and similar to the best digicam prefocused speeds.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large/Fine JPEG	0.91 second	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots with no signs of slowing, 1 second to clear*.
Single Shot mode RAW	0.91 second	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots with no signs of slowing, 8 seconds to clear*.
Single Shot mode RAW + L/F JPEG	0.99 second	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots with no signs of slowing, 10 seconds to clear*.
Early shutter penalty?	Yes	Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
6.0 fps Continuous Large Fine JPEG	0.18 second (5.68 frames per second); 16 frames total; 3 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 16 frames, slows to an average of 0.32s or 3.1 fps when buffer is full.
6.0 fps Continuous RAW	0.18 second (5.65 frames per second); 8 frames total; 8 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 8 frames, slows to an average of 0.90s or 1.11fps when buffer is full.
6.0 fps Continuous RAW + L/F JPEG	0.18 second (5.65 frames per second); 8 frames total; 11 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 8 frames, slows to an average of 1.10s or 0.91fps when buffer is full.
Flash Recycling	4.5 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Single-shot cycle times are a bit sluggish compared to most DSLRs, but about average compared to CSCs, and noticeably quicker than the X100. We measured 0.91 second for large/fine JPEG or RAW files, and 0.99 second for RAW + JPEG files. The X100 ranged from 1.18 to 1.5 seconds.

"Continuous 6 fps" mode speeds are quite good, at about 5.7 frames per second for any quality or file type in our tests. The X100 topped out at 5 fps (4.7 in testing.) Like its predecessor, the Fuji X100S also offers a "Continuous 3 fps" mode, but we didn't test that.

Full resolution JPEG buffer depths are decent at 16 frames, and noticeably better than the 10 frame JPEG buffer the X100 had. With RAW or RAW+JPEG files, buffer depth is 8 frames which is the same as the X100 and fair for the class of camera. Clearing is reasonably fast with a fast 95MB/s UHS-I card.

The flash recycles after a full discharge in 4.5 seconds, which is a touch slow but not bad.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	11,567 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Download speeds are quite fast, quick enough that you probably won't feel the need for a separate card reader. (Note that this test was performed with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card: Slower cards would likely show slower transfer times.)

Bottom line, the Fuji X100S's performance is mixed with fast shutter lag, good burst speeds, average autofocus speeds and slow mode switching, but noticeably better in most respects than its predecessor.

Battery

Battery Life
Good battery life for its class.

Operating Mode	Battery Life
Still Capture, (CIPA standard)	330 shots

The Fuji X100S uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with both a single battery and charger. The CIPA-rated 330 shots per charge is about 10% better than its predecessor. Battery life is good for a fixed-lens large-sensor compact, about average compared to most Compact System Cameras, but much lower than a typical DSLR. (Fuji does not state which viewfinder was used to obtain that rating.) We strongly recommend getting a second battery for your X100S if you plan any extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))