Nikon D200 vs. Fujifilm S3

[thins]

I am awaiting shipment of the D200 here in Australia. Its been three months and they just cannot get any stock down this way. So with the extra time I have started to consider alternatives...

Does anyone have any experience with both these cameras. if so I would be very interested in your experience & knowledge.

I am a semi pro, mainly working in fashion as an assistant but am now looking at doing my own thing. I am looking for a functional, simple and high quality camera to shoot editorial's with.

In some cases I will be mixing it up between film and digi, opting to use the digi as a 'polaroid' tool.

File size quality, skin tones and response time are what I am interested in.

I look forward to you response...

thank you

A


www.adrianmesko.com

[Rhys]

Originally Posted by thins

I am awaiting shipment of the D200 here in Australia. Its been three months and they just cannot get any stock down this way. So with the extra time I have started to consider alternatives...

Does anyone have any experience with both these cameras. if so I would be very interested in your experience & knowledge.

I am a semi pro, mainly working in fashion as an assistant but am now looking at doing my own thing. I am looking for a functional, simple and high quality camera to shoot editorial's with.

In some cases I will be mixing it up between film and digi, opting to use the digi as a 'polaroid' tool.

File size quality, skin tones and response time are what I am interested in.

I look forward to you response...

thank you

A


www.adrianmesko.com

From what I have heard... The S3 has better lattitude in JPEG but RAW is slow as molasses.

Are you really sure you want a D200/S3?

[coldrain]

I continue to be unimpressed by what I see from the Nikon D200. I know this again will trigger a very long response from a certain forum member here that owns a D200 and who is a big Nikon fan, but time and time again the colours seem not right at all. They are either too dull, too magenta, just lacking contrast, with different lenses too (I am basing my opinion on all the photos you can find in reviews and such).

Take a look at this website, it compares the EOS 5D with the D200. Both have a good reputable lens from their respective manufacturer, taking into account the difference in crop factor.
http://www.potatobear.com/ND200/D200F.htm
On the top you find a link to a comparisson from a 20D and a D200, look at what the D200 does in shadows between face and hair for instance, or how noisy it gets. The D200 seems to have a very limitted dynamic range.

I know the above mentioned member will say that you can adjust it all in NEf format, but that is half nonsense and half undoable, you can not easily recreate skin tones (or tones of other materials, like metals and such) and you can not overcome a lack in dynamic range.

The same can be seen in the photos made by Jeff Keller, he made some photos with the 200D and 5D on the same day, both cameras with a prime lens. The difference in dynamic range and contrast is huge.

The S3 Pro has a good name in dynamic range, it just is a very slow camera with its fair share of quirks.

For your application I would go for a EOS 30D if funds are too tight for a EOS 5D. And if you own quite a few Nikon lenses, I'd first look at the Nikon D50, even though it has lower resolution, per pixel the image quality to my eyes is better.

[Rhys]

I think if you're going Nikon then the D70s is fairly good. The next really decent Nikon dSLR is the D2X.

If you're prepared to look at Canon then I'd suggest the 1DsMk2. Although people can get away with the 20D/30D and XT, it is better.

[D70FAN]

Since this is a general forum, you may not get specific answers from people who have actually used either camera in a professional or semi-professional role. This is evidenced by the responses, so far.

While there is little doubt that Canon makes some fine dSLR's, experience using the Canon XT, and then extrapolating that experience as it applies to every other dSLR, including other Canons, may not be what you were looking for. I shoot a D70, have never shot fashion, my only professional experience is as a wedding tag-along, and have sold a few landscape prints, so I disqualify myself as well.

For information from photographers, with actual professional experience shooting the Nikon D200, or Fuji S2/S3, dSLR's I recommend posting this querry on those dSLR forums, and making it clear that you plan to shoot professionally, maybe better yet check out the Nikonians site (there are several people there that shoot both the S2/S3 and Nikon dSLR's (D100, D2H, D2X, D200).

[coldrain]

You could go to a Nikon only club like George suggests, or you could go to the comparative link I gave above and trust your own eyes, to really see the difference between what that Canon EOS 5D can do compared to the D200. I huge difference. Or how the 20D compared to the D200 in skin and dynamic range.

Trust your own eyes, fan clubs of one make are almost never an objective source.

[Rhys]

I always try to be objective. I can criticise the 350D/XT, the D70 and the Pentax *ist DL. Equally, I can find good things about all of them.

I'm still in year 1 of my Canon dSLR experiment. Thus far I find the image quality is excellent. The rest of the Canon system ranges from so-so to downright awful.

[Jason25]

I don't know if you're interested in Canon's lineup, or how it got into this thread, but go to the forum George suggested if you want opinions from people who have used the D200 and/or S3 Pro for your stated purpose. It's a great resource.

[coldrain]

I think it is very obvious how Canon got into this thread. The therad is super short anyway, and it got into this thread to show how unimpressive the D200 is in this respect (texture, skin tone, contrasts).

[Jason25]

Well yeah, when comparing it to a $3,000 full frame camera. I'd be interested to see a similar comparison to a 30D