S2 versus D100 and SD9

Jan Jacobs · Mar 15, 2003

I'm still puzzeld what camera to buy.

I have a Nikon F501 and a F401 for a long time and I want to go digital.

I like the Sigma SD9 but I can not reuse my lenses.

I also like the Nikon D100 and Fuji S2 Pro

Is there anybody out there that can give my a hint.

Thanks

Dioni · Mar 15, 2003

Well, at least there is one person around who is not thinking about the 10D (J/K).

Jan, if you make a search through the forum, you'll find tons of posts comparing both D100 and S2, not that much about SD9. Among those posts, some are from people who have used both. Most of them here have stayed with theirs S2s, but in the Nikon forum it could be different.

Best,
Dioni
You don't take a photograph, you make it (Ansel Adams)

William Carson · Mar 15, 2003

to compare with the SD9 you should go to the Sigma forum and check out the photos coming out of the SD9. They look pretty impressive. Perhaps download the full file size to really test the difference. Will

Dioni said:
Well, at least there is one person around who is not thinking about
the 10D (J/K).

Jan, if you make a search through the forum, you'll find tons of
posts comparing both D100 and S2, not that much about SD9. Among
those posts, some are from people who have used both. Most of them
here have stayed with theirs S2s, but in the Nikon forum it could
be different.

Best,
Dioni
You don't take a photograph, you make it (Ansel Adams)

jacques · Mar 15, 2003

Hi Jan,

Just forget about the SD9 and make your choise between D100 and S2.

IMHO S2 is the leader of the pack, but there can be some reasons for which you would prefer D100,

jacques.

cybercare · Mar 15, 2003

All the camera's you mentioned have strong points. It really depends on your needs.
You know where the forum members here are leaning...

If search is working, give it a go.
--
-Tim

'A good picture is worth 6.1 million pixels...'

GodSpeaks · Mar 15, 2003

I would forget the SD9 for now. Remember that it is release 1, version 1 for both the camera AND the Foveon chip. Better to wait for the second, or better yet, the third release of the chip. By then I hope they will have some of the problems worked out. Also, National Semiconductor has just signed on to manufacture (and I hope develop) the chip.

As for the D100 and the S2. Both excellent cameras. I went through the same decision some time ago (I now have the S2). The two cameras are essentially the same with some minor differences between them. I chose the S2 for the following reasons:

1: Does not require the Nikon 'digital' flashes. Will work, and it does work well, with any nikon mount third party flash unit.

2: PC sync socket

3: Firewire connection

4: Uses standard AA batteries (very important)

5: The D100 was reporting to have under exposure problems with both flash and without.

There were probably other reasons, but that is all I can remember now.

Declan

Jonathan Kardell · Mar 15, 2003

I have been a fan of the Foveon technology for some time, the reasons why I own the Fuji instead of the SD9 are:

It seems that the SD9 has a much narrower dynamic range than the Fuji.

The colors of the SD9 can be trickier to deal with.

Limited to Sigma only lenses. (They make some nice lenses, just as Nikon makes some bad ones, but the best of the Nikons seems to beat the best of the Sigmas in my opinion, for color, contrast and optical distortions.

However, given perfect lighting conditions for the Foveon chip, it can produce a superior picture. The problem is that those conditions rarely exist, and that most of the time, the Fuji will produce a better picture requiring less work - especially in those conditions that are less than ideal.

I hope to own the next generation of Foveon chip that addresses the current flaws. (and lets me use my Nikkor glass).

Best regards,
Jonathan Kardell
--
It's all good, but some stuff is better.

Zephalephelah · Mar 15, 2003

Here's some more reasons:

6. Better low-light images

7. Higher resolution (yes it is still a 6mp camera, but superCCD really is the best CCD on the market currently... although foveon will probably beat everything later)

8. Lower noise

9. Better jpegs. I categorically refuse to bother with RAW.

10. The forum. (while this has nothing to do with the camera, it is still important to me.)

Declan said:
I would forget the SD9 for now. Remember that it is release 1,
version 1 for both the camera AND the Foveon chip. Better to wait
for the second, or better yet, the third release of the chip. By
then I hope they will have some of the problems worked out. Also,
National Semiconductor has just signed on to manufacture (and I
hope develop) the chip.

As for the D100 and the S2. Both excellent cameras. I went
through the same decision some time ago (I now have the S2). The
two cameras are essentially the same with some minor differences
between them. I chose the S2 for the following reasons:

1: Does not require the Nikon 'digital' flashes. Will work, and
it does work well, with any nikon mount third party flash unit.

2: PC sync socket

3: Firewire connection

4: Uses standard AA batteries (very important)

5: The D100 was reporting to have under exposure problems with
both flash and without.

There were probably other reasons, but that is all I can remember now.

Declan

--
--

There are 10 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary & those that don't.

michel crahay · Mar 15, 2003

Jan Jacobs said:
I'm still puzzeld what camera to buy.

I have a Nikon F501 and a F401 for a long time and I want to go
digital.

I like the Sigma SD9 but I can not reuse my lenses.

I also like the Nikon D100 and Fuji S2 Pro

Is there anybody out there that can give my a hint.

Thanks

--

hi jan,

forget the sigma SD9! With S2 or D100, you can attach Nikkor lenses, wich are often better than sigma lenses, optically and mechanically. I think the S2 CCD is actually the best sensor in the APS sized category, it delivers crisp, colorfull and very low noise images. The strong point of S2 is the amazing skin tones rendering. With S2, no need of "digital" flash. The weak point is dual battery supply.

friendly

yaharc

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S2 versus D100 and SD9

Jan Jacobs

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Dioni

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William Carson

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jacques

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cybercare

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Jonathan Kardell

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