S3 Almost as good as 1Ds at 1/4 price

[HKdom]

I read an interesting post over at FM forums

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/70284

Being a 10D owner myself and already neck high inCanon gear, I was wondering what you all thought about the image quality to price ratio being offered up by Fuji.

Sorry if I'm way off base.

-If only I could afford the 1Ds, yet alone have the talent to match.

[nosquare2003]

I saw something different:

"One poster said that the resolving power of "S2" is nearly the same as 1Ds at 1/4 price."

1. I have no knowledge of the above;
2. There is not enough information of S3 in your link even for price, image quality and even specification;
3. I always hope other camera manufacturers to produce better bodies with lower price!

[defordphoto]

If it comes to pass, and is a technical success it has the potential to have excellent dynamic range, but it is still a 6mp, 1.5x sensor camera. They're playing the same game as Sigma is with that Foveon chip. The Foveon has been a huge disappointement. Let's see what Fuji can do with multiple sensor sites.

In the meantime, I'll stay with what's been proven to produce stunning results.

[CyberDyneSystems]

The S2 allready had amazing detail and resolution. There was no question that Fuji's "SuperCCD" added resolution ability beyond it's inherent number of photosites when compared to standard CCDs

Allthough it does not double the actual level of detail with its doubled number of image pixels,. it seems it does add a perceptible improvement simlar to roughly another third or half as manny photosites...

The S2 with its actual 6.1Million photosites COULD and DOES out resolve the 10D with the same number of photosites. Again, the consensus seemed to be that it was performing about equal to what an 8 or 9 MP camera could produce... personally I think even this number is exagerated,.. now that there is an 8MP slr on the filed,. it will be interesting to see how the S2 ranks against the 1DMkII ....

(Had I had Nikon lenses,. the S2 would have been my choice over the D100.)

But,. no interpolation is likely to get the S3 quite up to the 1Ds level.

[HKdom]

Thanks fellas, -it will be interesting to see how these matchups pan out these comming months :)

[defordphoto]

The S2 allready had amazing detail and resolution. There was no question that Fuji's "SuperCCD" added resolution ability beyond it's inherent number of photosites when compared to standard CCDs.

If it's so great, how come we never (NEVER) hear about this camera? Is it THAT much a sleeper that no one knows about it? In all the boards I go to (I hit 4-5), and they all cover all brands except for here, when comparing cameras and such I have seen no one raving about the Fuji cams.

[OviV]

I've met a couple of wedding photographers down here in Miami that use the S2 and love it but I agree that you do not hear a whole lot about it.

Ovi

[CyberDyneSystems]

The S2 allready had amazing detail and resolution. There was no question that Fuji's "SuperCCD" added resolution ability beyond it's inherent number of photosites when compared to standard CCDs.

If it's so great, how come we never (NEVER) hear about this camera? Is it THAT much a sleeper that no one knows about it? In all the boards I go to (I hit 4-5), and they all cover all brands except for here, when comparing cameras and such I have seen no one raving about the Fuji cams.

It's really not that much of a sleeper in the circles that I frequent.. all the Nikon pros that went Digital.. if it was there own gear they got Fuji S2's.. the press aroiund here all shoot with D1X and D1H... but the press photographers... if they bought there own camera.. they seem to moslty have gone fo rthe S2. (It may be because it was less costly than the D1X)

The S2 has it's share of problems as well.. it has similar shortcomings to the 10D (when compared to a pro body like 1D or D1X..) long wait for image review,. slow card write speeds.. etc..

But I've never heard anyone argue with it's CCD technology.. it is truly impressive. Read the old DPreview.. the camera simply blows away all others in the resolution tests.

I have not followed the word on the newer S3 in comparison.. but I suspect the differences between it and the 1Ds are more profound where ergonomics and pro build features and functions are concerned. The Image quality may be closer than you would imagine.

[Arnie]

My 10D has been working side by side with the S2, which is my partners choice. We do weddings BTW. He also preferred S2 over the D100 when we went digital.

My impression is that it produces better picture straight out of the camera. The jpeg image sizes are larger even with the same jpeg setting. I really like its bright LCD display.

I also think Fuji Frontier digital labs is calibrated with the S2 because when we ask the printer to print with no correction, the shots taken from my 10D is dark while the S2 is ok.

Some of the drawbacks (according to my partner) are: it doesn't have a vertical control (now available on S3); less sophisticated softwares; his shooting is sometimes interrupted because he has to change batteries so often (S2 uses AA batteries and was retained in S3).

My guess why it was not that much regarded is, FUJI is not of the same league with NIKON and CANON as a major DSLR manufacturers. Although their CCD is really good, they don't have their own body and lenses to make up a complete DSLR system. They have to go to Nikon for the F80 body and lenses.

The biggest advantage i see with FUJI is that they have their own digital mini labs, the Fuji Frontier, which i think is calibrated with their digital cameras.