Fuji F30 now, wait for Canon's s90.......

[bobbdd]

The reviews are great for Fuji F30. I don't love the memory card you need to get for it. And yes, I know you buy today and tomorrow there is a newer camera to hit the market.

I currently have a Canon Powershot S50 and love it. I have no real need to buy now. If anything, the price might go down on the Fuji camera if I wait.

It's just that I'm looking for canon's next great powershot. I know I don't need the increased megapixzels. I never enlarge past 8X11. Can there really be more features on canon's newest, or has the Fuji F30 done it.

Why are so many of us so confused??

[sjseto]

I heard that there might be a new product announcement from Canon at the end of the month, so you might want to wait until then. The F30 is a great camera and I wouldn't hesitate to reommend it, but it seems like you're fond of Canon so you might as well hold off for a couple more weeks and see what they've come up with.

I read in your other thread that you bought the S80 but didn't like the plastic front. It is possible that Canon will announce an upgrade or "companion" for it, although I hope that it won't be in the form of more megapixels (the S80 is already an 8 MP camera). What I would like to see is improved higher ISO performance, a less-limited movie mode, and optical improvement to rid the blurry corner problem at wide angle. Although if that means getting rid of the 28mm wide angle, I'd say, keep the blurry corners.

Stephanie

[bobbdd]

Thank you Stephanie.

You're right, I am a fan of Canon and think your advise is wise. What surprises me is the GREAt reviews the Fuji F 30 has received. I see you own one. What are your impressions? Your shots look great.

[tim11]

F30 wipes everything else off the shelf as long as lowlight indoors is concerned with its useful ISO capability. And for that reason alone, I love it.
But outdoors, its performance is no better than its competitors.

[jdhu]

I also own a Fuji F30...I waited from Feb. until June to get it, and it was definitely worth the wait...

The camera just has no weaknesses thus far, takes great pictures, even on just automatic settings, has a beautiful 2.5' LCD, has the 3200 ISO capability of course, and is sturdy and looks good...

You really cant go wrong with the F30, and even the memory card is not too bad, $50 or so for a XD H 1gb card...

here are some pics I took in China last month using the F30..I am a rookie photographer, but even with my lack of skills the pics came out well...

http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=170973

[bobbdd]

Tim, would you say the F30 performance outdoors is as good as or not as good as it's competitors? I know you said it's not better. Thanks for the input.

JDHU, WOW, great pictures and kinda answers my question......

[jdhu]

hey Sjseto, just to add yet another compliment on your gallery pics...look good, you have an eye for it...

I love the F30, what a camera huh?

[jdhu]

Tim, would you say the F30 performance outdoors is as good as or not as good as it's competitors? I know you said it's not better. Thanks for the input.

JDHU, WOW, great pictures and kinda answers my question......

hehe thank you sir, or maam haha...

like I said, I am a rookie, I can only imagine the quality of pics the F30 could produce once you are familiar with all of its capabilities....

[bobbdd]

sir works, but Bob is better...

I think the one thing I see with the F30 is the sky seems overexposed in most of the pictures. One reviewer mentioned this and said you can take care of it using software, but do you want to do that?

I looked at the same picture using the Canon Poershot S80 and the Fuji and the sky looks richer and deeper with the Canon. Hmmmmmmm....

[tim11]

Tim, would you say the F30 performance outdoors is as good as or not as good as it's competitors? I know you said it's not better. ......
When I typed 'performance' what I really should have typed was 'image quality'. Porformance wise.... hmm..... I don't have a F30 (yet) but I had it in my hands for about 10 minutes when checking it out. It is fast from start to taking pic. LCD is visible even under strong light. Still I personally wish it has a viewfinder.
Image quality? There is full review on F30 on DCRP, you should read it. The purple fringe is its weakness though some F30 owners have found ways to get around that. Stephanie did post some links before; if I remember right.
Images from Canon cameras always look richer to most people but to me they seem over-saturated.

[sjseto]

Bob,

It seems that every example that I've seen of the F30 producing a blown out sky is a situation that most cameras, especially compact ones, would have problems with. Basically, it occurs in situations where there is a dark foreground against a bright sky, where the sun is either overhead and slightly to the front of the camera, or almost in the frame. Sometimes the F30 tends to favour exposure of the foreground, which leaves the sky overexposed. Ideally, you would wait until the lighting is better before taking the picture - but this isn't always possible. So the next best thing to do is to take the photo with -1/3 or -2/3 EV exposure compensation, to preserve some detail in the sky. Or, if you're taking a portrait against a bright background, to use fill flash. Some F10/F30 users just have -1/3 EV as a permanent outdoor setting, which actually makes a lot of sense, since it's easier to brighten the image in a photo editor if you need to, but just about impossible to bring back detail that is lost due to overexposure.

But like I said, most compact cameras have some difficulty when there is a big range between the brightest and darkest areas. It isn't unique to the F30.

Thanks for the compliment about my gallery, by the way. :)

Stephanie

[Rex914]

Don't quote me on this, but from what I've heard from Canon reps and just perusing around shops and the Canon site, there's not going to be an S90 or any successor to the S80. Is there a particular feature of the S80 that you're after?

[bobbdd]

I think the main things I want are the ability to be somewhat creative with Aperature and Shutter Priority, the saturated color Canon cameras provide, and zoom ability. My use is more along the lines of outdoor shots, events, landscapes, interesting buildings, close-ups of flowers, etc. Megapixzels are not as important. I only enlarge to 8X11.

I know all of that is available on the Canon Powershot S80. I was not a big fan of the plastic front and cover.

Why do you think Canon would stop the development of the "S" line?

[sjseto]

Why do you think Canon would stop the development of the "S" line?

I've seen a general trend amongst camera manufacturers of simplifying - or, if one wanted to be harsh, "dumibing down" - their compact camera lines. The "prosumer" cameras are seemingly being eliminated; Canon aren't updating their G-series, and Nikon haven't updated their 5400/8800 cameras. There seems to be a widening gap between the DSLR's and the compact point-and-shoots; you don't tend to see the in-between cameras so much anymore. Maybe market research told them that most people who bought compact cameras really wanted to use them as pure point-and-shoots and didn't want to have to think about aperture and shutter speed, so they removed direct control over those in favour of scene modes instead. I think that many users don't ever take their cameras out of auto mode.

Just a theory.

I hope that Canon's S-series sticks around. Even people who have SLR's often want a second, small camera to carry when they don't want the bulk of their SLR's, but they don't want to fully give up creative control. I can't believe that there isn't a market, even if it's a niche market, for such a camera. I know I was overjoyed when I found out that the F30 was going to have aperture and shutter priority.

Stephanie

[ben7337]

*cries* does this mean no replacement for canon A620? canon better make a replacement. it si an extremely popular camera. if people like the manual controls without a high camera and all this stuff shouldn't they realized to keep middle cameras?

[sjseto]

Sorry, Ben! Didn't meant to trouble you. The Canon A-series is one exception to my "dumbing down of compacts" theory. Canon just added the A530 and A540, so I think chances are good that they will eventually update the A600 series as well.

Stephanie

[ben7337]

oh okay. you didn't upset me I was just being overdramatic like being sarcastic but a sincere sarcasm. you understand? I just would hate for them to not update a popular camera especially since I am waiting for the replacement hoping for it to have what I want.