Finepix F30 vs Powershot A710IS?

[KONE]

Hi everybody,
I am going to buy a camera and i am having in mind these two cameras. I am a student studying in Arts and Culture so I have to visit usually museums and exhibitions. Normally, it is not allowed to take picture with flash so I could not do much with my actual camera. So I need a camera that could have a good picture quality in the dim light condition of museums. I also take a lot of indoor-pictures.

Before knowing the Powershot A710IS, I had in mind the Finepix F30. But after reading the review in this site and searching for a while, I am hesitating... So I guess that I could use some helps. :P

I love the F30 for its high ISO setting and its picture quality with some manual controls. But A710IS, with the same price (a little bit cheaper), offer a lot of better manual functions. Like Jeff, I am a fan of cameras which use NiMH AA size batteries. And SD cards are not expensive.

But after all, the image quality taken in the low-light condition is to me the decisive factor. Would the A710IS have the same quality as the F30? Would its photo taken with "Optical image stabilization + ISO 400" match the photo taken by F30 with ISO 1600?

Thank you,
Koné

[BonjiB]

Get the f30. It beats everything else on the market to date at higher iso's. The iso 800 on the f30 is almost slr quality. VERY smooth not much noise at all. 1600 is a little muddy but usable and yes, it's better than the canon's iso 400 with IS in my opinion. If you are concerned with low light capability the f30 cannot be beat... period.

[JTL]

Tough choice...but the F30 is the low-light king...

[tim11]

... but IS means to minimise handshake and it doesn't add to the cleanliness of the image. I mean you can have an image tack sharp end to end but still all grainy.

[KONE]

Thank you all for your answers.

@Tim: I saw the photos taken by F30 that you posted in another thread. That's amazing! You said that they had been enhanced. I'd like to know what you did and with which software you did that. One more thing, :p concerning manual fonctions, what can we do with F30?!

[albino]

But after all, the image quality taken in the low-light condition is to me the decisive factor. Would the A710IS have the same quality as the F30? Would its photo taken with "Optical image stabilization + ISO 400" match the photo taken by F30 with ISO 1600?$

a question i'm also highly interested in, and no one did answer yet :(


also interesting for my person (yes i know, it's more expensiv) but how dos it, or would it compare with the G7 ?

A710 - Digic II / G7 - Digic III

[tim11]

I doubt anyone has used the A710 IS yet and apart from DCRP review photos, there hasnt' been many sample images.
So whatever samples available now, let your eyes be the judge.

A710 IS:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a710-review/index.shtml

F30:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_f30-review/

I'd say A710's at ISO 400 is cleaner than F30's at 1600, but F30's 800 still beats A710's ISO400. A710's images are more saturated, but to my eyes Canon's images always seem over-saturated anyway.

F30 on DPREVIEW:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf30/

and more samples:
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/fujifinepixf30_samples/

KONE. I will have to get back to you regarding that Buddha image exif info.

[tim11]

Thank you all for your answers.

@Tim: I saw the photos taken by F30 that you posted in another thread. That's amazing! You said that they had been enhanced. I'd like to know what you did and with which software you did that. One more thing, :p concerning manual fonctions, what can we do with F30?!
Kone: I use Photoshop mainly to adjust Levels, brighten/darken the images, crop and sometimes remove distractions. Nothing too dramatic.
F30 has only Aperture and Shutter priority, which I mainly use. It has Natural light mode, Auto mode, Auto with some manual overide over ISO; etc. What can we do with F30? I guess you can do whatever a camera with the same level of controls can do though F30 has one huge advantage over its rivals - useable high ISO images

[KONE]

Thank you so much for your advices, Tim! And I want to thank Jeff also for his first review of the Canon Powershot A710IS.
I bought this camera yesterday morning. After a long time thinking, I decided to buy the canon because I love its manual functions and its creativity mode (like color ascent and color swap). Sorry Tim for asking a lot of questions about F30 and then not buying it, sorry! But you helped me a lot. That was a tough choice for me. The high ISO level of F30 pleases me very much. But I want to do something more than just point and shoot.
This weekend I'll have to work so I won't have time to test my Canon immediately. At first sight, I found it smaller that I had imagined. And lighter. Very comfort to hold on your hand. You can use it with only one hand (right hand!). Great zoom. The zoom function in the image viewing mode works also well. I tested some photos with and without IS and I was quite satisfied.
I am planning to visit the World Automobile Exhibition in Paris! I'll take a lot of photos with my new DC! :D

[tim11]

Why sorry?
My purpose is to share my experience and help people getting the best camera for their needs and tastes which maybe different to mine. And these posts may benefit others who are researching similar cameras. It doesn't matter whether you buy camera A, B or C...
Enjoy your new camera!

[Andrew_G]

Greetings all

Have to say that this thread does indeed interest me.

I'm still sitting on the fence though. I am keen on a point and shoot camera especially for general shooting both in the open and indoors (with a bit of equine sporting event coverage too) so the F30 is attractive, yet I'm very keen on starting photography as a hobby now that you dont have to constantly develop 35mm films to see what the results were, thus the A710-IS is an attractive camera in that it will allow me to grow into it.

I'm rather keen on clean crisp images, I've got a few never to be repeated events in my life in the near future so would like to be able to look back on the pictures fondly and not sit there wishing "if only the noise wasnt there"

I'd like to also know if the extra 3x zoom in the A710 compared to the F30 is actualy something to take into consideration or if its just a nice to have rather than a have to have ?

Thanks all for your input :)

-Andrew

[tim11]

Andrew,
Is there any reason why you need lowlight capability of F30?
If you want to get into photography, you should buy a camera with full manual controls. A710 IS has optional flash, tele converter; etc. If you want to take sport events, even 6x is hardly enough.
I'd say buy the Canon A710.

[Andrew_G]

Hi there,

The reason I was after the low light capability of the F30 is that I usually take photos in indoor / poor light conditions and being able to avoid the disco strobe effect would be an advantage. The other would be for the sporting events, they would be mostly horse shows and events (not racing) and the like so the ability to take good clean photos without using the flash would be a distinct advantage. With the shows I'm talking about I can get relatively close so distance isnt too much of a problem.

Whilst I know that from a photography standpoint it would be better to go for the A710 I was giving consideration towards going for the F30 and then save some and get a Nikon D50 at a later point. That way I'd have a good SLR and a good pocketable F30 ... only problem is that I could buy both the A710 and the F30 for the cost of the D50 and a lense kit.

I got into digital cameras way back when they just hit the megapixel range and was disappointed with the sheer level of noise in lower light conditions. I know that a lot has moved on since then but am still a touch weary. I know that the F30 is best in its class for the noise levels at higher ISO settings whilst from what I see noise becomes noticeable past the 200 mark in the A710.

I'll fully admit that I'm a complete novice with regards photography in general, if you feel that I'm being overly cautious with regards the levels of noise the A710 gives for what I'd be using it for, then I'll happily go for the A710.

[tim11]

yeah right.... :) A beginner. In digital maybe.

It sounds like you are the only person to come up with an answer.

Do you know of the new Fuji S6000fd? I haven't seen reviews of it anywhere yet but it uses the same clean sensor as F30's, 10x optical zoom, ISO to 3200, 28 mm wide angle. It will be on the heavy side though. That will be handy for sport shooting.

[Riley]

really does seem like the F30, or if you will, the 1/1.7" sensor within is quite a breakthrough. for which a few thoughts of note, the use of such a sensor size is comparitively rare, that might give fuji a sustainable lead from other camera producers. but im hopefull that this technology or varients of it will migrate through the digicam industry

anyone know the origin of the sensor, would it perhaps be the Sharp Corp ?

Riley

[Andrew_G]

<chuckles> honest, I have very little camera experience.

Have a 35mm SLR and a point and shoot that I've had since high school (waaay back) but didnt get into the SLR as experimenting with it cost far too much in development fees. I've been a point and shoot happy snapper ever since. I'm just one of those sad buggers that reads and reads about what it is that he is going to buy before hand ;).

The most digital experience I've had, apart from that initial digital purchase, is the camera in the back of my cell phone :o

I'm very interested in a pocketable camera at the moment. The recent changes in the CCD tech have been impressive so was going to wait till I have some skills before investing in something more expensive (read as SLR) though the Fuji you just pointed out I'll definitely be keeping an eye on. I was hoping to keep my budget in the sub 250 pound sterling range and both the F30 and A710 just make it including a storage card and case. This being said I dont want to find that I've quickly outgrown my purchase, or after a short while regret not opting for the other.

The majority of the shots will be static with about I reckon 5% active shots (horses hence the question about the flash comes into play). At the end of the day for me clarity is what its all about.

I'd better end this one here before I have to apply for an ISBN number ;)

-Andrew

[dilipjshah]

Thank you so much for your advices, Tim! And I want to thank Jeff also for his first review of the Canon Powershot A710IS.
I bought this camera yesterday morning. After a long time thinking, I decided to buy the canon because I love its manual functions and its creativity mode (like color ascent and color swap). Sorry Tim for asking a lot of questions about F30 and then not buying it, sorry! But you helped me a lot. That was a tough choice for me. The high ISO level of F30 pleases me very much. But I want to do something more than just point and shoot.
This weekend I'll have to work so I won't have time to test my Canon immediately. At first sight, I found it smaller that I had imagined. And lighter. Very comfort to hold on your hand. You can use it with only one hand (right hand!). Great zoom. The zoom function in the image viewing mode works also well. I tested some photos with and without IS and I was quite satisfied.
I am planning to visit the World Automobile Exhibition in Paris! I'll take a lot of photos with my new DC! :D


Dear Kone,
How is your experience with 710 ? I am also planing to buy one. Please share
your Views.
Thanks
Dilip