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S2, What did Fuji do???

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SteveX said:
Here is the solution to your problem:

GET A D60!

i know that is of little help, but all i can think of at the moment
lol
Click to expand...
Hi Steve,

Thanks for the good chuckle! I'm keeping my S2...I have learned how to deal with what I thought were problems. I really think this camera is superb! I do highly recommend the S2! I am sold more and more on the camera with each and every photo I print out......

--
Alissa
http://www.pet-personalities.com
 
In reference to the speed/sharpness issue: I took a few shots with my S2 three days ago of airliners on very short final approach in non-sunny late afternoon conditions to see how good the ISO 800 is. I was using a Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D lens and was at 5.6 or smaller. The shots were taken under the aircraft as they approached me and they were probably doing 120 to 140mph at the time. Each aircraft was sharp as hell on every edge, and I was very happy with the results. I'll get the pics posted on my pbase site in a day or two.

Don747
alissa behn said:
Thom Hogan said:
.Ray said:
I believe depth of field is governed by the lens and aperature only.
Click to expand...
Well, Carl Zeiss thought that the diagonal of the capture area was
important, as it determined how much you were going to magnify the
blur circle to make a print for viewing.
Alissa Behn said:
So if you're getting small depth of field, then the aperature
simply isn't small enough, maybe the camera is faulty and is lying
about the aperature it's using? Maybe the aperature is stuck wide
open?
Click to expand...
I think the original poster was talking about MOVEMENT blur, not
depth of field.

--
Thom Hogan
author, Nikon Field Guide
author, Nikon Flash Guide
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D100
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D1, D1h, & D1x
http://www.bythom.com
Click to expand...
I was concerned about the movement I was getting at a high shutter
speed 1/1000-1/1500...I am still catching movement...Even with dogs
that weren't exactly speeding bullets. I was shooting at 800 ISO,
and my aperture was at 11-16 (most of the time) I was shooting in
Manual & Program, to see if it was me, or the camera. The photos
also seemed unclear to me. Shooting a fast moving object is not the
same as shooting a static object. It's a little more difficult to
shoot when you don't know exactly where your moving object is going
all the time either. Sharp photos are why people can't have enough
of my photos of their dogs. I can't settle for kind of in focus,
anymore! I use the smallest aperture & shutter speeds I can get
away with (and as low an ISO as I can get), to help me achieve my
sharp images of action.

After I printed out a bunch of orders on my dye sub printer, I
realized the images on my screen (blown up to a max of 100%, and NO
higher!) was showing me way more info than I needed to know! Maybe
my 19" monitor is too big? NEVER!

I then went outside and shot a flower with my S1 & S2 with the same
lens. The S1 images blown up to 100% looked dirty (for lack of
knowing the correct terminology) on my screen yet very sharp. The
S2 shots blown up the the same size were smooth & sharp, but the
sharpness looked quite different. I shot both cameras at nearly the
same res S1 at 3020, S2 at 3024.

My conclusion at the end of the day was.....The S2 has a MUCH nicer
image. The highlights are not as hot as the S1. The color is very
different. The sharpness IS there, but it looks very DIFFERENT on
the screen. I wasn't complaining about jaggies or moire. I wasn't
blowing images up farther than 100% on screen to make my images
look so bad. I now realize that I am trying to compare 2 COMPLETELY
different cameras by the same company. They are not nearly the same
in any respect. The S2 IS a FANTASTIC camera, and once I get the S1
on screen images out of my head, I will be just fine!

If you are going from an S1 to an S2 the differences in the 2
cameras are unbelievable. If you are going from another digital to
the S2, you won't know what the S1 images were like, so you will
probably be extremely happy with what you get.
--
Alissa
http://www.pet-personalities.com
Click to expand...
 
Thankyou very much Alissa for such a comprehensive and useful reply. I shoot wildlife, mostly waterfowl on the river nearby, and one of the shots I have most difficulty with is when a flight of seven or more swans are coming in to land, flying almost straight toward me. The autofocus on the S1 just can't seem to cope with it and the whites are often blown out. A pity, it's such a magnificent sight. I will try out some of your technique, but not just now, the swans have moulted and aren't flying so much at the moment. It's the heron challenge right now, but that's another story. Thanks again.
alissa behn said:
john orchard said:
Why so high an ISO on a bright sunny day?
Click to expand...
To get the shutter speed fast enough to stop a very fast moving dog.
Alissa Behn said:
Why stop the fast 2.8 lens down so far? At 5.6 to 8 you could have gone > for a higher shutter speed to freeze the motion, no? Please correct me if > I'm wrong, I'm just a novice
Click to expand...
And sometimes I do...but for the most part I try to keep my speed &
f stops to a minimum.

I need the depth of field for two reasons.

1) It's not easy to focus on fast dogs, especially some of the
REALLY fast ones. So I take advantage of a smaller aperture to
increase my depth of field. The minimum I prefer, is f 8. That way
my focus area is a bit longer. This is most important when I am
shooting a dog coming right at me.

2)If I don't have the longer DoF, I tend to get a small area in
focus, and the rest is off a bit. (Shooting a moving object from
the side doesn't require the same amount of DoF.) I try to keep my
focus on the dog's eyes, but sometimes it ends up being the nose or
the dog's body, if I am not paying attention to how the dog propels
itself over a jump, or across the ground. If I am on the ball, (and
no one is yacking at me, or vice versa. while I am shooting) I am
pretty accurate in my evaluation of where the dog's eyes will be
when I shoot the photo.

The ONLY times I open my lens up is if I am indoors, in poor
lighting or on nasty rainy day (Yes, I shoot in rain too, in
downpours. The shots are really cool!) or very cloudy days....Then
I also must comprimise my shutter speeds too. The results are not
as good as the outdoor shots, but to my amazement, people STILL buy
those photos too! I have shot pics at 1600 ISO, f2.8 at 1/180th,
and gotten sort of reasonable results. Lots of noise or on film
grain, but what elso can I do in poor conditions, when people WANT
those shots!

I also use exposure compensation a lot on the S1. So far I haven't
used it much...Only on some really black dogs. The shutter speed
and aperture also depend on the meter reading I get off an
indiviual dog's coat. So for a white dog I may lower my ISO, and
increase shutter speed to help to not over expose in bright
sunlight...A dark dog I may open up a stop or two or increase my
ISO or change the shutter speed. I also shoot the vast majority of
my outdoor shots when the sun is straight up, so I need to
compensate my exposures for that too. Theres a lot to think about
when shooting these speed demons. I have a speed demon myself, I
try to get any photos from other photographers I can...But they
can't stop her action most of the time. I named her well, High
ISO!(the exclaimation point is part of her name) what an
appropriate name.

--
Alissa
http://www.pet-personalities.com
Click to expand...
--
John.
 
Alissa,

does S2 make a txt file that contains the exposure information for all images? or perhaps that info is stored in the image attributes? If such info exists, did you check if the exposure and aperture were in fact as you expected?

Anatolii
alissa behn said:
john orchard said:
Why so high an ISO on a bright sunny day?
Click to expand...
To get the shutter speed fast enough to stop a very fast moving dog.
Alissa Behn said:
Why stop the fast 2.8 lens down so far? At 5.6 to 8 you could have gone > for a higher shutter speed to freeze the motion, no? Please correct me if > I'm wrong, I'm just a novice
Click to expand...
And sometimes I do...but for the most part I try to keep my speed &
f stops to a minimum.

I need the depth of field for two reasons.

1) It's not easy to focus on fast dogs, especially some of the
REALLY fast ones. So I take advantage of a smaller aperture to
increase my depth of field. The minimum I prefer, is f 8. That way
my focus area is a bit longer. This is most important when I am
shooting a dog coming right at me.

2)If I don't have the longer DoF, I tend to get a small area in
focus, and the rest is off a bit. (Shooting a moving object from
the side doesn't require the same amount of DoF.) I try to keep my
focus on the dog's eyes, but sometimes it ends up being the nose or
the dog's body, if I am not paying attention to how the dog propels
itself over a jump, or across the ground. If I am on the ball, (and
no one is yacking at me, or vice versa. while I am shooting) I am
pretty accurate in my evaluation of where the dog's eyes will be
when I shoot the photo.

The ONLY times I open my lens up is if I am indoors, in poor
lighting or on nasty rainy day (Yes, I shoot in rain too, in
downpours. The shots are really cool!) or very cloudy days....Then
I also must comprimise my shutter speeds too. The results are not
as good as the outdoor shots, but to my amazement, people STILL buy
those photos too! I have shot pics at 1600 ISO, f2.8 at 1/180th,
and gotten sort of reasonable results. Lots of noise or on film
grain, but what elso can I do in poor conditions, when people WANT
those shots!

I also use exposure compensation a lot on the S1. So far I haven't
used it much...Only on some really black dogs. The shutter speed
and aperture also depend on the meter reading I get off an
indiviual dog's coat. So for a white dog I may lower my ISO, and
increase shutter speed to help to not over expose in bright
sunlight...A dark dog I may open up a stop or two or increase my
ISO or change the shutter speed. I also shoot the vast majority of
my outdoor shots when the sun is straight up, so I need to
compensate my exposures for that too. Theres a lot to think about
when shooting these speed demons. I have a speed demon myself, I
try to get any photos from other photographers I can...But they
can't stop her action most of the time. I named her well, High
ISO!(the exclaimation point is part of her name) what an
appropriate name.

--
Alissa
http://www.pet-personalities.com
Click to expand...
 
Allisa,

Sorry to say that my wife took my daughter to riding lessons on Monday so I wasn't there to do the test shots I spoke of. I will try it next Monday.

Also, enjoyed your comprehensive explaination of your setting to capture your speed demons below.

Ed
alissa behn said:
Ed F said:
Alissa,

One thought is trying one of the auto exposure modes (S/A/P) only
to try to isolate the pblm. Otherwise, I'd call Fuji. It maybe
your camera is faulty.

I'll try manual on my S2 this afternoon with my Nikkor 80-200 at my
daughter's horse riding lessons. I'll let you know what I find
tomorrow. (Maybe I'll send an example). I'll try around
1/1000-1500 at f11-16.

Ed F
Click to expand...
Thanks Ed!
I'll be interested to see how your images come out.

I was mostly shooting in manual....But I was also going to program
as well, to see if it was just the wrong mode, or if I'd get better
results from one to the other. Everything seems about the same. I
also have the in camera sharpening turned on, as I always did in
the S1.

It seems that If I just hit Auto Levels in PS7, It fixes the color
cast nicely....At least on screen. I'll see how they print out in a
while. I normally tweek the levels myself, but I got lazy! My
printer is still packed up. I have been working on getting orders
formatted, so I can just print them out later.

You guys are GREAT! Thanks for all your help & concern!
--
Alissa
http://www.pet-personalities.com
Click to expand...
 
Man, those highlights are really blown out!
yuri777 said:


or how about this 100% closeup below.. look at hair moire pattern..
it looks like a newspaper scan!!!
Unacceptable!



or look the jagged edges on this 100% close up below.. it looks
like a mall stepping ladder!!!

Horrendous!



i am returning my S2 tomorrow and buying whatever brand they
recommend at the nikon forum!

Yuri
danilo piccioni said:
Hi Alissa,
I have to be honest with everybody here at this Forum:
I'm very concerned for this camera (S2), I will get mine in middle
August, but in the meanwhile I just keep reading problems about it.
First the Moire effect and then the jagging on the lines, and as if
it wasn't enough now every thread seems to deal with unsharp
problems somehow.
I'm really scared.
I think I could handle the jagged edges on lines and the moire, but
certanly I expect sharp images form this expensive camera.

Ciao
Danilo

http://www.danilopiccioni.com
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
Andy C
 
I'd be interested to hear what the causes were and how you overcame them ... (Sorry if you have already posted the answers... I went through the threads but couldn't seem to find them)

I hope it's not something inherently wrong with the camera...

Dien.
 
alissa behn said:
I was shooting an agility trial over the weekend. I had the camera
set to 800ISO...I was mostly shooting in manual from around
1/1000-1500 at f11-16, with my prime Nikkor 70-200 2.8 lens. I was
Click to expand...
Nikon doesn't make a 70-200 2.8.. yet. BTW, a prime is normally
considered a fixed focal length.
 
Justin Case said:
Nikon doesn't make a 70-200 2.8.. yet. BTW, a prime is normally
considered a fixed focal length.
Click to expand...
Sorry....I have more than just a few lenses and cameras around here...I'm lucky to remember what I have. It's an 80-200 Nikkor 2.8 (I think) I have other Nikkor and Tamron and Tonkina lenses with similar zoom lengths. And other Nikkor Tamron Tokina & Sigma fixed focal length lenses...Also several meduim format cameras, and many other 35mm SLR cameras, and now two Fuji digitals. It's not always easy to keep things straight..I have accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. My apologies.
--
Alissa
http://www.pet-personalities.com
 
Of course Andrew..
how horrible!

but wait look at this pic by Dave Ferrua..



it looks like his highlights are blown out too..

what an amateur.. i wonder how he shoots for the German, Italian & Spanish editions of Vogue

Duhh..

Did it occur to you that exposing for the highlights in this kind of light will give you an almost completely dark image because the stop difference between the light specular and the diffused shadows?
Andrew Chiciak said:
yuri777 said:
Oh my Gowd!
This camera does have lots of problems.. just look at this horrible
unprocessed-straight-from-RAW image taken with a 50mm lens f1.4
open wide, hand exposed using spot metering..



or how about this 100% closeup below.. look at hair moire pattern..
it looks like a newspaper scan!!!
Unacceptable!



or look the jagged edges on this 100% close up below.. it looks
like a mall stepping ladder!!!

Horrendous!



i am returning my S2 tomorrow and buying whatever brand they
recommend at the nikon forum!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://zenphoto.com
 
If one part of the image is sharp and the other not then it can be (apart from a lens defect) (a) dof not enough or (b) the shutter speed was not fast enough (eg rear of dog moving faster than head) or (c) both. If you feel you set these correctly, then either the camera is lying and is faulty or the lens is. You can eliminate the lens by using the S1 body. Perhaps the lens is incomaptible with some change in the S2. Can you try another lems of the same type to check?

LCD
 
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