Fujifilm FinePix S1 Pro

Opinion: I've had my Fuji S1 Pro for about a month now. I purchased it as the key piece of a startup digital photography business. I am by no means a Professional in this field, just a practical user with 15 years of computer support background, my wife’s the Photographer in the family, I’m just Tech support.
First off…. I LOVE the resolution you can get with this camera. Taking a typical half body portrait shot at about 10 feet with a 20-200 lens, you can get clarity that when looked at on the computer does not begin to pixelize until you enlarge down to the reflection of the light box in the eyes. A full sized TIFF file runs about 17.5 megs. The camera only came with a 16 meg card so I had to shoot it tethered until I got a supply of larger ones, you think for 4 grand Fuji could have thrown in a card that at least let you get one full res shot in. I've tried it tethered and untethered. Untethered it's great but mine eats batteries, It takes 4 AA batteries to run the processor and screen (I think). I can get about 40 shots (no flash) and the AA batteries are gone. I’ve used 4 different brands of batteries they all are about the same. The manual doesn’t give a very good description of which batteries run what. There are 4 AA's in the bottom, when these go out I get about 5 seconds of warning on the back screen then the camera's dead. It also holds two lithium batteries like the N60 would run off of.. my guess was for the flash and the Nikon side of the camera. And a large watch battery, for memory I suppose. These have given me no problem. The strange thing is if you run it with the AC adapter, it comes with a battery adapter to replace the lithium batteries not the AA’s…. I have yet to figure that one out. About the adapter, Fuji uses a “cheesy” little rubber door to protect all the ports on the camera, I expect it to last about 3 months. About the location of the ports… I’m not impressed, located in the front right underneath the lens, with no room to adjust your lens with out bumping the connectors. If you have anything plugged in you will definitely have to be on a tripod, the normal way a photographer would hold a camera is to support the lens from the bottom with the left hand and the right hand holding the grip and finger on the shutter release. You lost this ability when anything is plugged in to the ports on the front, “What was Fuji thinking?” The USB, AC and the Video out… ALL are bunched up together under the lens, If they had supplied right angle plugs, that may have helped, I’m looking for them now and not having much luck. The short AC adapter cable won’t even touch the floor when the camera is mounted on a standard tripod, this causes stress where the plug goes in to the camera, the same for the Video cable that comes with it, only 3 foot long, mine already has a short in it from getting bumped the first time I used it. I’ve had to mount a power strip on the tripod leg as an extension source and to keep the camera port from being destroyed “when” someone trips over the cable or moves the tripod too far from the wall. You can not use the internal flash when using the AC adapter, not that that’s a big deal but Fuji didn’t supply an external flash sync port either. You will have to buy an adapter for the hot shoe. I have had lots of problems with the auto focus working correctly. There is no setting to select how wide your focus target area is, I have had to shot manual several times because my subjects weren’t right in the center and the camera focused on something 20 feet behind them. I guess that is one of the N60’s limitations. I wound up with a piece of trash on the CCD, how it got there I don’t know, since it is protected behind the shutter and I have not shot anything over about 1/30 sec. A spec barley visible to the naked eye covered about 6 square pixels. I was told that the CCD being electrically charged would attract dust to it. Anyway the manual tells you how to have a Fuji Rep clean it with an air bulb (for a charge of course). Since I work in a laboratory environment, I took it to work and sucked it off with a small vacuum source. Shipping it back and paying a Fuji service tech to blow the debris off into a corner of the camera where it could come back didn’t make much sense to me.
My final words… I actually went and looked at a D1 this weekend. For the 1K difference, it looks to be a lot better built device, but I would hate to lose the Res. Can anyone who has a D1 comment on similar issues..ie working around cabling, battery life, resolution quality vs printout @ 16x20…. If I could have a D1 with Fuji’s Super CCD I think I would be in heaven.

Opinion: I am a long time amateur photographer and I am having a ball with this camera. It may not be as sturdy as the D1 but it ain't as heavy either. For anyone out there that doesn't use their camera everyday the S1 is plenty sturdy, I have always been pretty careful with my equipment anyway.
As far as image quality the S1 is great , I used it at the US Grand Prix at Indy with a Sigma 170-500 which with the 1.5 multiplier made into a 750 and got some great shots.Got some good closeups without lugging around an 10 pound lens which cost $4000 I think the 1.5 multiplier is great for long range stuff like wildlife , auto races , it allows you to buy relatively inexpensive lenses and get shots that normally would be possible only by a pro. I could never justify spending 4 grand for a lens to use occasionally.
One thing I have noticed is that the camera won't tolerate cheap glass, I had purchased a Tokina 19-35 $199 and the pics with it were not very good, sent it back and bought the Sigma 17-35 $569 and was like night and day. I think the S1 reveals lens faults more so than a film camera
If any one has questions or has a fast connection and would like a to see a couple of images e-mail me, I have DSL

Opinion: a. Image quality is top notch

b. Colour reproduction is just brilliant

c. Have had no problems with battery life (using rechargeable 1600mAh AA NiMH batteries). Hmm.. just noticed it is actually rated higher than the 1100mAh units with the EOS D30

d. Yes, I have encountered the problems listed below, but the quality of the shots more than compensates for those niggles

Opinion: Based on extensive internet research, I decided to buy the S1 for it's image quality, compatibility with Nikon lenses and price.

I shopped around the online shops linked to from the Fuji site and only found 2 willing and able to take an order online and ship to France where I live. E-Commerce should be about making life easier guys! Compared to the UK shop I chose (Ffordes), the price in France at the largest national photo and electronics retailer was £700 more expensive!

I use the S1 with a AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8D IF (3.5x) lens and a SB-28 flash. I am a keen amateur (portraits, landscapes, cars, planes and boats). Digital for me has been a dynamic shift, allowing me to 'process' the images minutes after taking the photos.

The development of Hi-Tech electronics is forever moving on at an incredibly fast rate. After already using a Nikon CoolPix 900 for 2 years and the S1 now, I see a future of more advanced and economic photographic equipment. I am prepared to pay for quality, but the D1 and the best Kodak digital cameras are too expensive for a product that has such a short time in the spotlight. One shouldn't have to change cameras too often, but it is good to keep abreast with technology especially as standards are changing as well.

The S1 is a great camera. A good choice for Y2K.