[JohnR]

In recent months, I have agonized over buying a used DSLR, lusted after full-frame, fallen for a compact, and even pontificated on staying out of the digital rat race.

Today, the solution (to what, I'm not exactly sure) came to me. A refurbished Fujifilm S5 Pro. At well under half the price of a (new) D90, and an official Fuji 3-month warranty just in case, I couldn't go past it. Well actually, I rushed to the store to get it, when they told me they had one in. This is a funky deal from Fuji with their 6 aka 12 MP sensor built into a Nikon D200 body. The sensor has an extra, smaller, photodiode next to every regular photodiode, giving the camera a higher dynamic range - apparently up to 3 extra stops if you're careful. No more underexposing by two stops in order to avoid clipping highlights??? (nathanm you would love that!) Well, we will see...

Compared to my D40, this thing feels like a tank. My AIS 85mm/1.4 fits it perfectly. (And meters as well.) Here is a picture of the happy couple:

Why so cheap? Well, my guess is that Fuji marketing boo-booed big time with this one. They introduced a 6MP sensor in the same body that the competition were selling with a 10MP sensor and for less $. The enhanced dynamic range just wasn't enough to compensate for the lower pixel count in the marketplace. And now that everybody believes that Fuji is getting out of the DSLR market altogether, prices are in freefall.

But, it's good for me. I have a lot of learning to do this weekend! Three cheers for technological obsolescence

[byteme]

that's a screamin' deal especially for that body.  Thing must be like a tank!  Does it use Nikon lenses as well?  The megapixel race is really kinda pointless anyway - I've got a D50 which is also 6mp and I've blow stuff up beyond 11x16 and its fine.  If you're not making posters...  And some of the newer stuff out there, 25mp?!?  WTF?  To me, all that does is serve to fill up memory cards.

Enjoy!

[nicksgem10s]

Hi JohnR,

I bought the FujiS5 shortly after it came out and have been loving it ever since.  It is an incredible machine.

There are a great group of photographers who have worked through some of the quirks and have shared some very beneficial information regarding best lenses for the S5.  The new Zeiss lenses are stunning on the S5.  I used the 50mm 1.4 Zeiss for about 6 months and really enjoyed it. 
I regret selling it now. 

I am still new to the hobby and have a lot to learn.  I had a Nikon D80 for about 6 months and thought it was a really nice camera.  Once I checked out the S5 in person at a local photography store I was sold.

The build quality is second to none. It makes the D80 seem like it came out of a vending machine.

There was a new firmware just released that you will definitely want to get if you don't have it already.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1020&thread=29464057

All the other info can be found on dpreview fuji forum

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1020

I paid full price when new and do not regret it for one second.  Many S5 owners have bought other systems from Canon & Nikon including the newest pro models and many have gone right back to the S5.

It just depends what type of photography you are into.  It is a great tool.

I just need to find the time to take some photography classes and some more photos.


I don't think I ever took the time to thank you for running this wonderful site.  It is my favorite audio website and one of my favorite sites period.

Thanks for all you do!   

Best Regards,

Nick

[nathanm]

I was all set to get a Fuji SLR before I switched to large format.  I liked how it was marketed as having better color fidelity and less highlight clipping rather than just the megapixel race.  The high ISO noise was also impressive, although by now I'm sure it's been eclipsed.  John, now you can become a wedding photographer with those great fleshtones! Heh!

[WerTicus]

If your doing large prints you really need more pixels, 6 is fine for ... a4 - and probably fine for a3 but any bigger and its going to start to be very noticeable.
I find 14mp isnt enough for me, id like... 30+ or more, could not care less how much memory a shot takes up sd cards are almost free they are so cheap now.

good deal though hope you have fun

[JohnR]

Thanks guys. Nick, you're welcome, and how cool that we have an S5 user here already? ooheadsoo - yep, works with AIS, AF-D, and AF-S that I've tried - that pretty much covers it, I think, except for non-AI and I have only one of those. nathanm, I couldn't imagine anything worse, but thanks for the thought 

[ooheadsoo]

I can't wait to see your shots.  If the price continues to drop, I may become very interested.  The weather sealing (it does have it, right) is a big plus for me, if I can get it at a low price.  Otherwise, the D90 still might have the edge for me in terms of high iso performance and video capability. 

It would be really neat to compare the active d-lighting capability of the newest generation of nikons to the expanded dynamic range of the fuji s5 pro.

[JohnR]

I'm not sure about the weather sealing - it seems that people assume it has because it's the D200 body. However the manual says things like "Do not use this camera in locations affected by oil fumes, steam, humidity, or dust."  So I guess it depends on what exactly you are trying to do with it.

Anyway I had my first day of shooting today. Without having processed any images yet (downloading now...) about all I can say is that I like it so far It feels huge compared to the D40 but when you are actually using it, you don't notice at all. The Fuji DSLRs have a rep for being slow, but I was shooting a friend's kids with RAW + fine JPEG and never had to wait for the camera. The card fills up pretty quick in this mode though, 68 shots on a 2 Gig card.

I think mine may have a fault, with two of the buttons being electrically interconnected internally. Still looking into this but fortunately I still have 2.9 months left on my 3-month warranty from Fuji There is a workaround, it's just a bit more tedious, but I wasn't prevented from making use of the camera today.

I don't know much about Active D-lighting. I did some experiments this morning and the dynamic range setting certainly does make a difference with highlight clipping. I ended up leaving it set at 400% as I couldn't see a reason not to.

JohnR

[JohnR]

Without having done any processing, this one is a sure entry in the favourites for today. This is the JPEG from the camera, 85mm, f/2, ISO800, 1/60 sec.

Denny, chef at Burnt Fingers Cafe

[Russell Dawkins]

Wow! Those flesh tones look notably good to me.

[ooheadsoo]

John, how about a D40/S5 shootout?  aa

Ok, I know it's a ton of work, but how will you really know how much better one is over the other?  Ok, one costs about 4-5x more than the other, and I certainly don't expect the S5 to outperform the D40 by 4-5x, but it'd still be interesting to see just how far the sensor tech takes it.  Would be even more cool if someone could loan you a D300, D90, or D700/D3 to compare active D-lighting.   

[lazydays]

Thanks guys. Nick, you're welcome, and how cool that we have an S5 user here already? ooheadsoo - yep, works with AIS, AF-D, and AF-S that I've tried - that pretty much covers it, I think, except for non-AI and I have only one of those. nathanm, I couldn't imagine anything worse, but thanks for the thought 

I've had an S5 pro for about six months now, and it's a killer. I was looking at it and a D300 for $500 more. It kills the D300 in everything but shear speed. Has some of the best software I've ever seen, but still not without a couple gripes. I still long for the camera(s) that will do an ISO 50 in black & white, and would have at least liked to have seen it take the ISO number out to 5600 if not 6400. Also the S3 has a couple little features I missed on the S5 (I still use both). But for photo quality the S5 is better. I like shooting macro with the S3 a little bit better due to the way I can handle the odd positions easier.
   I've yet to see a camera (digital) that does B&W as well as a Fuji (including the $9K Canon), and we all know that Fujis are the ones that get colors right from the start. With Fujis I almost never mess with RAW photography (P.I.A. for me anyway).
gary

[lazydays]

I can't wait to see your shots.  If the price continues to drop, I may become very interested.  The weather sealing (it does have it, right) is a big plus for me, if I can get it at a low price.  Otherwise, the D90 still might have the edge for me in terms of high iso performance and video capability. 

It would be really neat to compare the active d-lighting capability of the newest generation of nikons to the expanded dynamic range of the fuji s5 pro.

I have compaired them, and that's why I bought the Fuji S5. I also used the new 14.4 Pentax K20D, and actually liked it. Not alot of difference between it and the Nikons, but about $650 less.
gary

[JohnR]

Gary - I would be curious to know what features the S3 has that you miss on the S5 - ? Anyway, great to know that I've got more company here

ooheadsoo - that does sound like a lot of work For now anyway, I'm just learning. The S5 is so far proving very easy to get good results on (IMO), I've shifted to RAW and am mostly having very few issues. Here is an album of candid "portrait" shots from last weekend - any comments appreciated -

http://www.lostupnorth.net/shoots/0810d/

Generally shot at 800ISO, f/2.0. It's a bit hit and miss at that aperture hand-held and moving subjects. This is one of my personal favorites, from my other favorite cafe:

Alex and Yen-yen, making coffee at the Newport Patisserie