considering F20

I'm going to buy a small point and shoot for an upcoming backpacking trip. The F20 sounds really great from the posts I've been reading. My question is this: Does the F20 produce images as sharp as the low-end Sony's like the S650 in daylight w/ISO between 100 and 400? I looked at the images in Steve's Digicams (S600) and the Sony looked sharper in daylight. However, it's really hard for me to compare since all the images are taken under different conditions (even the ones of the same scene).

Anyway, I love the F20 in lower light but 80% of my shots will be in daylight outdoors. Do you think the F20 is the right pick for me?

Thanks for your replies.

If you are shooting 80% outdoors, this camera thrives in low light conditions rather than in outdoor conditions where the high contrast can blow out highlights in bright conditions - some people have some workaround techniques to prevent this.

In samples posted in this review of the F20
trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2007/03/13/Fujifilm-FinePix-F20/p7

see image statue and leaves
trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/4233-FujiF20telefull.jpg

and side of building.
trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/4233-FujiF20widefull.jpg

My F20 should be delivered sometime next week, I'm keen to find out myself how often it does this in sunny conditions.

I also have a F40 and I tried a challenging high contrast situation in a shadowed area inbetween two brick walls with strong sunlight beating down on the background. This seems to cope better with dynamic range, http://wan.smugmug.com/gallery/2647145#139898383-L-LB
but will run a F20 and F40 side by side test to confirm.

Here is another test which Chuck_IV kindly posted on this forum, conducted with an F40 and F31,
http://www.pbase.com/chuck_iv/f31_vs_f40
I simply took crops:-
F40 is on top
http://wan.smugmug.com/photos/144304038-O.jpg

However you may not mind this for outdoor use, and price wise, it is certainly very good value for money.

So far, I have been very happy with the outside shots by F20 has been taking (See link below)

I have been using the ESS settings in manual mode... (Eric's F20 Settings)

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Loving my Fuji F20 and Z5

No PP on any of these...
http://s150.photobucket.com/albums/s100/Kuroth1/Pics/

Depending on the metering mode and scene- you may need to dial in -1/3 ev so that highlights aren't blown.

But- the photos from the F20 are about as sharp as any digicam you'll find. Yeah- you may see a difference against some of the high Mpix cameras, but you'll never notice it in anything smaller than an 8x10" print.

It's $139 at NewEgg and there's a $30 rebate available from Fuji. so- it's hard to beat $109 for a quality camera.

Personally- if I were getting a digicam for outdoor/backpacking use, I'd consider a little Panasonic FX series. Their high ISO performance is abysmal, but they've got a great 28mm 3.6x Leica lens. that wide angle will capture just that much more scenery.
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morey000 said:

It's $139 at NewEgg and there's a $30 rebate available from Fuji.
so- it's hard to beat $109 for a quality camera.

Click to expand...

Please, if you're going to mention the rebate, make sure the store you mention is eligible. Newegg is NOT an authorized Fuji Dealer, and therefore, purchases there are not eligible for the rebate, unless the people at the rebate center are very flexible, which is unlikely. If you want to use the rebate, its best to buy it from Dell.

Authorized Dealers: http://www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/proPhotoOnlineDealers.jsp

morey000 said:

Personally- if I were getting a digicam for outdoor/backpacking
use, I'd consider a little Panasonic FX series. Their high ISO
performance is abysmal, but they've got a great 28mm 3.6x Leica
lens. that wide angle will capture just that much more scenery.

Click to expand...

Agree. I have the pany fx01 and the fuji f20. The fx01 28mm wa is a definite winner for outdoor backpacking. The f20 can hold it's own outdoors (and is considerably better indoors/lowlight) except for its poor close-up/macro focus. Thus, the fx01 is superior not only on the wide angle but also on the macro/close-up. The fx01 is about $100 more than the f20 but some of that savings will be taken up by the more expensive xd memory card (vs fx01 sd) and an external battery charger which the fx01 comes with but the f20 doesn't. Additionally, the fx01 has a sturdier build, IMO.

If price is not a big issue, the pany tz3 (~$320) is probably your best bet. 28mm with 10 zoom is really the perfect outdoor/backpack camera. In 16:9 aspect ratio it's horizontal field of view is actually
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Fred

I just got an F20 after looking at a few options. I bought it to take images while I am in the back country. It came down to the F20 or the Lumix FX07 (28mm WA). There is a $30 Fuji rebate floating making the F20 a real bargain at just a hair over $100. I find the imagse to be reasonably sharp and while IMHO the low light performance is a bit overstated by fans of the camera I will agree that it is better than other P&S cameras (just don't expect it to rival a DSLR).

The camera itself if light, easy to pocket and simple to use. The LCD can be a bit tough to see in bright light but operation couldn't be simpler. I think it could be said that you wouldn't be making a mistake with the F20 and certainly at the price I don't much compares. Are there better cameras? Sure, but that comes at a higher price. If you are looking to shoot a lot of scenery a wider angle (like the Panasonic FX series) might be a better choice but I don't think you would fund the F20 to be a mistake.

A lot of people grouse about the increased cost of the XD cards vs other options like CF or SD cards. 1GB XD cards are about $22 at Costco. Yes it is more expensive, but not THAT much mre. Realistically a 1GB card hold about the maximum amount of photos you can get on a single battery charge (at full resolution) so I have never found the "more expensive media" argument very convincing.
--
--
'You're like a teabag - not worth much till you've been through some hot water'

...anon

The main argument for wanting SD over XD is more than just price. SD is MUCH faster than XD in operation, especially when copying files from the camera to the PC.

Thanks for your input. I ordered an F20 last night. Some of the photos you sent convinced me that the daytime photos are going to be pretty good and the low light are sufficiently better to go with the F20. Guess I'm looking forward to some good museum and restaurant pics too during our trip (backpacking in Europe with some roughing it and some not so rough).

Thanks again!

PS Ended up paying $144 w/$20 rebate. Couldn't find an active site that definately had the $30 rebate working. Anyway, I'm happy at $124.

flemingms said:

the F20. Guess I'm looking forward to some good museum and
restaurant pics too during our trip (backpacking in Europe with
some roughing it and some not so rough).

Click to expand...

Given a fairly high % of museum/restaurant pics, you made the right decision. Good luck and enjoy!

flemingms said:

PS Ended up paying $144 w/$20 rebate. Couldn't find an active site
that definately had the $30 rebate working. Anyway, I'm happy at
$124.

Click to expand...

Where is did you get it with the $20 rebate? The $30 fuji rebate seems to only apply to Fuji authorized dealers, which apparently means only Dell for the really low ~$110 price after rebate.
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Fred

ordered it at http://h1photo.com/15652157.html .

They are authorized so maybe the $30 rebate will work? I'll see after I get all the paperwork.

I had no idea that this was the case-

and frankly- still find it hard to believe that NewEgg isn't an 'authorized' dealer, given the number of cameras that they likely move for Fuji, as well as their consistently high top-notch rating for service.

Sorry if I misled anyone
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Well, could be that Newegg is simply a reseller and not an authorized dealer, which I'm guessing means a company gets their product directly from Fuji, which guarantees the quality of the product, that it is in fact the US Version with warranty, etc.

The other possibility is that the dealer list is out of date. This happened to me when I was shopping for an Onkyo receiver. One of the companies I was looking at claimed to be an authorized dealer, but was not on Onkyo's list. This is a big deal for Onkyo, as they only honor warranties if the system is bought from an authorized dealer. I emailed Onkyo and the company was in fact an authorized dealer, the list just had not been updated.