Fuji S3

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Howdy!

What do the people here think of the Fuji S3? I have a bunch of Nikkor
lenses my dad was using in the 80's, and was looking for a nice digital
body to try them out.

So far, I've only seen negative opinions, eg:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/ [...] -pro.shtml
Thanks,

Dorian, mountain_reef@yahoo.co.uk

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"mountain_reef" <mountain_reef@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1104312610.323212.268090@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>
> Howdy!
>
> What do the people here think of the Fuji S3? I have a bunch of Nikkor
> lenses my dad was using in the 80's, and was looking for a nice digital
> body to try them out.
>
> So far, I've only seen negative opinions, eg:
>
> http://www.luminous-landscape.com/ [...] -pro.shtml
> Thanks,
>
> Dorian, mountain_reef@yahoo.co.uk
>
Perhaps a second-hand Fuji S2 ?

I have been using an S2 since they were first released here in August 2002
and am delighted with the camera in all respects other than the use of two
different sets of batteries.
I read the S3 review, and although there was a slightly negative slant to
it, I guess it was perhaps that the reviewer, like myself, was looking for
something really significantly better than the S2. If I were to replace
my S2, I would go for the S3, without much doubt. Just hear what the
reviewer says about the image quality from the Fuji chip. That is what
swings it for me.

Of course I don't have a lot of experience with other options, so I will be
watching this thread closely to see what others think.

Dennis

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Robert Strom wrote:
> On 29 Dec 2004 01:30:10 -0800, "mountain_reef"
> <mountain_reef@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >
> >Howdy!
> >
> >What do the people here think of the Fuji S3? I have a bunch of
Nikkor
> >lenses my dad was using in the 80's, and was looking for a nice
digital
> >body to try them out.
> >
> >So far, I've only seen negative opinions, eg:
> >
> >http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/s3-pro.shtml
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Dorian, mountain_reef@yahoo.co.uk
>

Luminous landsape's review is useless!

Nevermind lumionous landscape. I've watched this site for a while and I
don't find it reliable ('you can't see it on this little thumb 'cos you
have a sorry-ass cheap monitor unlike mine, but take my word on it!').
It's too biased towards Canon. Its review of the fuji s3 was
predictably unfair and didn't surprise me. The S3 is capable of much
more dynamic range than the unfair testing he did. He basically
processed the fuji's s3 raw images the same way he processed the
Canon's, that's effectively ignoring all the innovation fuji put into
its sensor and yet having the face to say it's not good enough.
Likewise, most reviews I've seen of the fuji S20, f810, e550 were
equally unfair. Those 'professional' reviewers really do a lame and
lazy job when it comes to testing fuji's products; they just don't seem
willing to learn how to use them!

For example; here's a processed RAW image from dcresource's review of
the s20, which has a fuji superccd SR (older generation sensor - the S3
has SR II)

http://tinypic.com/14a5jb

After looking at this image the dcresrouce guy concluded that the s20
offers some dynamic range advantage over the other camera he was
comparing it against, but not much. What he didn't realize was that by
processing it conventionally he wasn't actually using its advantage.
Lumionous landscape made the same mistake. Now look at what a fuji user
from the fuji talk forum on dpreview did; he downloaded the RAW file
from dcresource and processed it for FIVE minutes(!), just a little
better, processing for BOTH the S and R pixels, and look at what he got
(he could've made it even better, but a 5 minutes' job proves the
point!)

http://tinypic.com/14a5tz

See the difference in dynamic range?!!!!

Luminous landscape made the same stupid mistake. Their s3 raw image
processing that they compared against the Canons was the equivalent of
the dcresource image. This is especially unfair because the S3 is even
more capable than the S2, given that its pixels are bigger and more
spaced out on its SR II sensor than the SR of the S20, so it should
have a higher dynamic range.

















> Dp Reviews has a very active Fuji forum with many comments from new
S3
> owners
> http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1020
>
> Bert Strom

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I've got an S2. Its an EXCELLENT camera for what I NORMALLY shoot...
Which is stuff that doesn't move much, or fast, or require good, FAST,
autofocus.....

The two sets of batteries don't bother me much, but the fact that the autofocus
is SO slow compared to, for example, an F100, is a huge problem if you're going
to try to shoot fast moving objects like birds on the wing. It also hunts a lot
more than I'd like when using a long lens like the Nikon 80-400 VR.

Even worse, I have found the follow focus to be very poor. A fast moving object
coming mostly toward the camera will NOT be very well focused for repeated
shots.

The histogram is VERY small and the viewer does NOT have any indicator for blown
out highlights.

Last, for me, the very slow continuous shooting speed and small buffer aren't an
OVERWHELMING problem, but I've gotten caught a number of times having to wait
while things were stored before I could shoot again...

Overall, I believe the S2 is a great camera with a couple shortcomings. BUT,
having looked at the S3, I think its a mediocre camera with VERY few
improvements over the S2 when the technology has improved HUGELY in the
intervening two years..... It STILL has poor speed shooting continuously
compared to the competition. It STILL has very slow autofocus compared to the
competition.

BUT, it has the advantage of being cheaper than a Canon 1D(or s) Mark II or
Nikon D2X.

It all depends on what you're going to shoot. If its mountains, the S3 is fine.
They move pretty slowly and you won't run into problems with running out of
buffer. If its Formula 1 or fast moving birds or wildlife, its not such a good
choice. If its the kids running around and you need fast autofocus, lots of
buffer, and fast continuous shooting, not so good.

If I was adding another body, or replacing my S2, I'd most likely get a D2X
PRESUMING it addresses these shortcomings...

As ALWAYS, YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY!