Craig, if you read this, any chance of a little more on the Fuji handling issue? Please!
Well I've lots of bits and pieces on configuration and handling on my blog.
But my basic recommendations are:
Use MF if in Aperture priority mode, combine with zone focussing and the camera is incredible; quiet and very easy to use, light, small and non-threatening.
Use AF-S if in Program mode. I use Program mode quite a lot, and auto-ISO too. Essentially the camera then operates as a P&S, but that's fine, it allows you to concentrate on framing and timing.
Get a very fast SDHC card - one of the 8Gb 45mb/s ones. This dramatically improved the camera's performance compared to the 16Gb 15Mb/s cards. Startup time is reduced to <2s from >3s. General operation is much better with a fast card. It's sluggish compared to a DSLR but similar to most P&S cameras I have used.
In 5 weeks I have only had one lockup where I had to pop the battery. Not an issue.
My viewfinder has gone a bit wonky I think. Perhaps I banged it. I have switched on the artificial horizon for now, which I find a bit distracting, but either I will learn to tilt the camera a couple of degrees CC or I will send it in for adjustment. This is no different to RF cameras, these things happen, though it does seem like it's fairly common with this first batch. I cannot be 100% sure though, because it's a bit tricky to tell. Anyway I have been using the OVF without my specs and that helps too.
Of course with ACR RAW support you simply don't worry about WB, picture style, sharpening, etc, etc. I'm not terribly bothered at the moment - I've just turned everything down to minimum on the JPG settings and do the normal thing in LR.
I am pretty much in the habit of turning off the power when I end a session, and turn it on as I see a situation developing. I find in practice there are very few situations where it's a real-world issue that I need to take a picture with less than 2s warning. If you commonly do that sort of thing and cannot anticipate the action that far ahead then this clearly not the camera for you.
It may well be that I will no longer need a DSLR system and that the X100 will be enough for my needs. But honestly I think this is a camera for people who also own a larger high-end system. This is the camera you take everywhere, either on its strap or in your bag when you are not going out photographing. For the people who read this site it will be predominantly an alternative to their S95 or LX5 or X1 or DP2.
It's my snapshot camera. Love it.
Also I don't think it's for people who think of cameras as "just a tool", it's too fiddly and quirky for that. It's for people who, at least some of the time, love cameras as cameras not simply for their utility. If you are the kind of person who thinks of a camera as "just a tool" then you'd be better off with something else.
X100 blog with pics