Anyone using the fuji s5 pro?

evilonion

evilonion

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Dave Peacock
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Just wondering if anyone has a fuji s5 pro?
I have been reading reviews that a lot of people use them for weddings due to good high iso and colour?

Im considering moving over to nikon soon and thought about getting one of these as well as they can use the nikon lenses.

As a dedicated camera for shooting people is it worth considering? or should i just put all my money/budget towards getting the best nikon i can afford? (likely d300 or 700 at a push)

I was considering the d300 with money spare to get the fuji s5 and some glass.
 
are you doing it professionally? if so having the backup is almost essential imho

however the d700 is a weapon of choice at the moment i think so i'd go for that over the others, that said you will need good glass however

realistically you'd get better advice if you tell us what you're intentions are (just do a couple for mates or starting up pro) and what budget you've got

however and this isn't meant to sound harsh but if you're asking these sorts of questions i'm hoping you're not intending to go "pro" straight away

hope that helps :)
 
Im not pro by any means.
my friend does pro shoots of models and also of weddings and i basically go along and do some shots as well, so im learning quite a bit as i go along.

I like shooting people and animals close up.
I find faces interesting and capturing moments where people are doing something that they can look back at and laugh.

A lot of my shots have been done in low light and tbh i just dont like the results from my sony.
Ive been reading some really good reviews about the nikon being better in low light, and very good reviews about the fuji.

Ive been given a few opertunities to do some indoor photography for a couple of clubs and also for a bar that does a music event, so again, low light but shooting people.

If i was to go pro with my work then i would consider increasing my budget by a considerable amount but as this is more of a hobby/side earner i have another business that i spend my main incomes on.

budget would be around £1500-£2000 in total to start with.
I was considering getting the s5 and some glass, and then getting a the d300 at a later date.
Or wether the s5 has had its day and if i should just go for the d700 with a decent lens.

trouble is its always the same argument... if you add another £500 you get so much more but at some point i have to realise its mainly just a hobby and spending 4k in one hit on equipment would be a bit daft.

I just thought the s5 might be a good start...
 
if you upped your budget slightly you could get a 2nd hand d700 and 24-70 lens which imho is an amazing start especially if you're bugged by noise and like shooting in low light

the s5 is fantastic but s l o w, if you weren't all about the low light etc i'd probably advise that and some glass but realistically i think you'd just end up upgrading later on

what kit do you have at the moment? (if any) :)
 
Well i bought
sony a200 with 18-55
sony 50mm 1.8
tamron 18-200
rokinon 54 flash
battery grip
various flash difusers etc.

I bought it thinking i would use it as a learning curve as i used to do film photography at uni years ago... didnt realise it would all come back to me so quickly and i personally feel im now hampered by my equipment.

The tamron is slow to focus and the kit itself produces a lot of noise when im shooting in low light.

I went to an airbase recently and shot some of the fighter jets coming in to land... all my pictures, although good, were not crisp and pin sharp, they had a fair bit of noise zoomed in at iso800 and the tamron was quite slow to focus.

My mate has a nikon d700 with the 70-200 2.8 lens and i had a go and every image was spot on pin sharp even when you cropped right into the picture... the colours really poped and everything about the images just blew me away (obviously there is a difference between a £200 camera and a £1800).

I keep getting offers from people asking me to shoot family freinds weddings alongside my friend as well as doing family portraits and other shoots where i can make a little bit of extra money... i dont feel my current kit would be anywhere near good enough.

However, im still unsre if i could stretch as far as the d700 yet... unless i did a finance deal (which im considering)
 
This is from low light, peanut iso 400, jet iso 800.

jet-noise.jpg


peanut-noise.jpg


doing shots in the day with bright light is fine, i get crisp clear images at iso 200 etc such as my zoo pics that i posted, when the sun was out i got the eye of a penguin pin sharp... but as soon as it gets cloudy and the iso goers up i run into problems.

I know in part it is the glass... an upgrade from the tamron would be good, but if im upgrading the glass i may as well upgrade everything then i wont have to keep upgrading all the time at expense.
 
Just acquired my S5 to go alongside my D90 and D60. Initial impressions:

- fantastic colour
- Very good build quality (ie like a tank!)
- Clunky shutter, much like my old canon A1, seems like it will go on forever!
- 6mp or 12? Dunno, but an A4 print from a mild crop easily matches my D90, fabulous detail
- Uses battery power rather quicker than the D90, but mine has a grip with 2 batteries so no problem
- Seems little point in shooting raw, jpgs off the camera are really good, and who needs a 25mb file?
- Slow? Who needs a machine gun to photograph people? It will shoot at 3fps for around 20 shots before grinding to a halt, not a problem for people shots, when I thought the idea was to catch the moment? If I want high speed I use the D90!

I havnt explored the camera anything like to its full extent, but overall I really like it. Cant wait to get hold of some studio flash and use it as intended.

You will have to dig around to get a good one at a sensible price, they are not easy to come by at sensible prices now.

Some sample images here:

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=227419

Hopefully more will be along with their more in depth experience, but so far I recommend.
 
Dave Pickett said:
- Slow? Who needs a machine gun to photograph people? It will shoot at 3fps for around 20 shots before grinding to a halt, not a problem for people shots, when I thought the idea was to catch the moment? If I want high speed I use the D90!
Click to expand...

Turn the DR up to it's max and shoot in raw and watch that drop to 1fps :lol:
 
Turn the DR up to it's max and shoot in raw and watch that drop to 1fps
Click to expand...

Yes I know that, but like I said, who needs a 25mb file, the camera does a very good job on the jpgs.

I have set DR to auto, as recommended on here. I have loads more experimenting to do any more tips will be handy.....
 
I have found that i can get the s5 for around 400-500 and could get the sigma 24-70 2.8 if its compatible?

fps isnt really important as i only shoot one frame at a time. and with file sizes i have plenty of cf cards.
 
I recently got rid of a Fuji S5, and overall I was pleased with it, although I found the coloured noise at high ISO's rather intrusive. For bright colours you couldn't beat it, the only downside is, is it doesn't tolerate "cheap" glass very well, you need some quality glass to get the best out of it. I'll also agree about the battery usage, and spare batteries are becoming harder to get hold of.

And just a quick sample for you :

Taken with a Sigma 24-70 f2.8

4607055974_4d7466d3ed_o.jpg
 
Dave Pickett said:
Yes I know that, but like I said, who needs a 25mb file, the camera does a very good job on the jpgs.

I have set DR to auto, as recommended on here. I have loads more experimenting to do any more tips will be handy.....
Click to expand...

how do you find it compares to your d90?
i know the s5 was brought out as a rival to the nikon d200 so comparing it to the d300 would be a bit out, but i guess the d90 is now on a par with it?

what about low light... from what i gather the fuji is better in low light than the other cameras?
 
Ady Williams said:
I recently got rid of a Fuji S5, and overall I was pleased with it, although I found the coloured noise at high ISO's rather intrusive. For bright colours you couldn't beat it, the only downside is, is it doesn't tolerate "cheap" glass very well, you need some quality glass to get the best out of it. I'll also agree about the battery usage, and spare batteries are becoming harder to get hold of.

And just a quick sample for you :

Taken with a Sigma 24-70 f2.8

4607055974_4d7466d3ed_o.jpg
Click to expand...

very nice!
the shadows and highlights are really nice in this picture!
Its what is appealing to me :)
 
I also recently sold mine. Sold it because, while it was probably the nearest thing available in digital, it didn't take film. I would have it over any other digi camera available. It is SLOW but it more than makes up for that in image quality.
 
how do you find it compares to your d90?
Click to expand...

early days yet the D90 is a totally competent camera, The s5 focuses about the same, and shutter just as instant. Fuji colours seem stronger, D90 high ISO is really good, havnt tried the S5 (not what I bought it for!) but its supposed to be better than the D200 for example. Fuji batteries are available, but also generics are cheap and available on the bay and the grip takes AAs if you want.

Cant say much more yet but if you post where you live there might be someone nearby with an s5 you could have a go of. Suppose it needs a D90 shot alongside the S5....for comparison.
 
The S5 is a great camera - and whilst most of my work is now done on a D3 there's always a place for the S5 - particulary when it comes to a wide exposure or tonal range - there's nothing to beat it. I know it 's almost 2 stops more headroom on overexposure than the D3

It responds much slower than the D3 - but to be honest I used it from when it first appeared until the D3 came out - and I only noticed it was slow AFTER I bought the D3!

See a years work in a few minutes on this video - everything you see on it is shot with the S5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdemCyEJMo0
 
Wow david, fantastic shots... i love the colours and tones! this is whats really drawing me to the camera... things like the d3 are waaaaaay out of my budget.

Im really considering the s5 with a couple of really good lenses... 50mm prime as always and the 24-70 2.8 sigma.
infact if i get to sell my sony equipment the cost wouldnt be much to upgrade at all...
 
I find it's much better with the grip - and it takes 2 batteries, which it uses one at a time... and gives an extra release button for upright pixs...

50mm prime is excellent - and the 180 f2.8 prime is another "bargain" prime....
 
do you know if there is a list available for compatable nikon/sigma lenses?
or do all the sigma lenses fit? :)

also, can the nikon flashgun be used with full control? i know its a nikon d200 body so im assuming it could be...?
 
just buy one...you wont look back :thumbs:
 
one of the main things id like to know though is how good it is in low light... both noise and focusing... ?
am i right that even at 1600 its pretty much noise free and only at 3200 it starts to show?
 
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