I just got my s770 back from having a focus problem on the left side, as well as not showing images in preview mode. They replaced the lens assembly, and a circuit board (free warranty). I love this camera. I also have a z850 which I love too. The s, though, is so small and smart looking, has the wide screen, and the super-easy panel menu, that I think it wins in my mind, even if the pix are a tiny bit less sharp on high magnification.
The other thing is, using the bestshot high sensitivity mode, it goes into iso800, and the pix are very usable! Much better than the z850 iso 800 or 1600. I did some spur of the moment comparisons as shown here. The first is the s at iso 800. This was at 1/50th, hand held. Total night, with just illumination from the chandelier and table lamp in the picture. I printed this out on an inkjet as a full 8.5 x 11 sheet, and it looks great! Little discernible grain except in the darker areas, and it is no more grainy, from my experience, than a film iso 800 print of this size would be. The best thing is, when enlarged, the grain is crisply grainy, like film--not like the smeared grain of the z in iso 800 and 1600, which I find irritating.
Here's the pic (be sure to scroll to the right to see the main part of the pictures):
Unfortunately, I forgot how to get the z into iso800 and don't have an 800 bs to do it. So for now, I'm using iso1600 which is what it went into on the high sensitivity bs mode. I know this isn't a very fair comparison (and the s doesn't go up to 1600) but as I recall (before my cross country move a few months ago) when I was able to take iso 800 shots with the z, they were very much like this 1600 pic, with the smeary grains (seen later). This first pic is just the whole scene, the z at 1600, again hand held. The z chose 1/80th.
Notice that the s is a little bit warmer than the z in color. And to my eye, the overall s picture is just more appealing. Ok, ok, I know, again, the iso's aren't the same, but this is using the default settings of both cameras as they came back from repairs...so the point is, this is what you get if you want to take low light, high iso, non-flash with the two cameras, without any special tweaking or fiddling with special bs modes.
Now, here's a 100% crop of the plant on the table from the s shot:
Sure, you can see a lot of grain here, but this is much more enlarged than an 8x10 would be. As noted before, you see little grain on an 8x10, and almost none in the well-lit plant. Now, here's the same crop of the z's 1600 (the sizes are slightly different, since the z is 8mp and the s is 7mp):
This grain is downright ugly. As noted before, it's the same kind of grain I got when using iso 800 before on the z. The z's algorithm for anything over iso 400 is BAD...nasty at anything over a 5x7, I would think. By the same token, the s is very impressive: at iso 800, the grain holds up under enlargement. It's a better processing algorithm. So it has something of the low light usability of the Fuji F30 (though certainly not equal, with the F30's apparently usable 1600 and 3200 ranges).
At iso 400, the z chose 1/13th and the s picked 1/15th. I took those shots by resting my hand on a tripod. The z and s both produced very nice shots. Again, the s was a bit warmer in color, preferable to my eye. The z picture was a tiny bit sharper, which was only noticeable on quite big enlargements.
When you combine the low light ability with the factors I mentioned before, to me, the s770 is a lovely little camera. The z is too, but it's hard to beat the slim size, midnight blue color, and ease of use of the s.
The other thing is, using the bestshot high sensitivity mode, it goes into iso800, and the pix are very usable! Much better than the z850 iso 800 or 1600. I did some spur of the moment comparisons as shown here. The first is the s at iso 800. This was at 1/50th, hand held. Total night, with just illumination from the chandelier and table lamp in the picture. I printed this out on an inkjet as a full 8.5 x 11 sheet, and it looks great! Little discernible grain except in the darker areas, and it is no more grainy, from my experience, than a film iso 800 print of this size would be. The best thing is, when enlarged, the grain is crisply grainy, like film--not like the smeared grain of the z in iso 800 and 1600, which I find irritating.
Here's the pic (be sure to scroll to the right to see the main part of the pictures):
Unfortunately, I forgot how to get the z into iso800 and don't have an 800 bs to do it. So for now, I'm using iso1600 which is what it went into on the high sensitivity bs mode. I know this isn't a very fair comparison (and the s doesn't go up to 1600) but as I recall (before my cross country move a few months ago) when I was able to take iso 800 shots with the z, they were very much like this 1600 pic, with the smeary grains (seen later). This first pic is just the whole scene, the z at 1600, again hand held. The z chose 1/80th.
Notice that the s is a little bit warmer than the z in color. And to my eye, the overall s picture is just more appealing. Ok, ok, I know, again, the iso's aren't the same, but this is using the default settings of both cameras as they came back from repairs...so the point is, this is what you get if you want to take low light, high iso, non-flash with the two cameras, without any special tweaking or fiddling with special bs modes.
Now, here's a 100% crop of the plant on the table from the s shot:
Sure, you can see a lot of grain here, but this is much more enlarged than an 8x10 would be. As noted before, you see little grain on an 8x10, and almost none in the well-lit plant. Now, here's the same crop of the z's 1600 (the sizes are slightly different, since the z is 8mp and the s is 7mp):
This grain is downright ugly. As noted before, it's the same kind of grain I got when using iso 800 before on the z. The z's algorithm for anything over iso 400 is BAD...nasty at anything over a 5x7, I would think. By the same token, the s is very impressive: at iso 800, the grain holds up under enlargement. It's a better processing algorithm. So it has something of the low light usability of the Fuji F30 (though certainly not equal, with the F30's apparently usable 1600 and 3200 ranges).
At iso 400, the z chose 1/13th and the s picked 1/15th. I took those shots by resting my hand on a tripod. The z and s both produced very nice shots. Again, the s was a bit warmer in color, preferable to my eye. The z picture was a tiny bit sharper, which was only noticeable on quite big enlargements.
When you combine the low light ability with the factors I mentioned before, to me, the s770 is a lovely little camera. The z is too, but it's hard to beat the slim size, midnight blue color, and ease of use of the s.