The Fuji S5 Pro, my most filmic camera

Often I see the question raised "How can I get a filmic look?" My answer invariably is to buy a Fuji S5 Pro.

The reason is simple. Color negative film is known for being somewhat low resolution, a bit soft, having a wider dynamic range than traditional digital, and with the ability to roll off highlights gently instead of clipping to white.

That's pretty close to what you get from the S5 Pro by default. It's low resolution (6MP), a bit soft after being interpolated to 12MP, possesses an exceptionally wide dynamic range thanks to it's SuperCCD sensor, and (for the same reason) has a gentle highlight roll-off reminiscent of film.

Here's a quick example of this effect generated by Fuji's Hyper Utility HS-V3.

Fuji S5 Pro with the Nikkor 17-55mm/2,8G and on camera fill flash

The sunlight on my daughter's back would have clipped harshly with traditional digital cameras but the extra highlight pixels of the SuperCCD her shirt retains traces of detail in the brightest parts along with that gentle highlight roll-off as described above. I find this reminds me of film. Do you agree? Let me know!

fPrime

Neil-O wrote:

I'm a relative newcomer to this camera and I was drawn to it by the remarks made on this and other forums regarding its film like qualities. Admittedly, harsh sunlight is not an everyday problem here in Scotland... but I agree the way in which it renders highlights is unlike any other digital camera I have used. I think the Nikon D810, from what I'm told, has similar characteristics but I can't justify the cost of one of those.

The dynamic range of the D810 may be similar, but the approach is completely different. With the S5 Pro one exposes normally and the camera pulls back the highlights either SOOC or in RAW. With the D810 one exposes for the highlights and then brings up the shadows but this must be done in RAW.

Much is made of the lack of resolution and sharpness of the sensor, a product of a strong AA filter apparently, but I haven't found it wanting at all - and I have a Sigma DPM to compare it with. I don't have a huge portfolio yet but here's a couple of my attempts:

Nice shots. Thanks for adding them to the thread!

Of course the other issue that will put many modern day photographers off this camera is how sloooooow it is, but to repeat, I have a DPM...

Haha, yes, I've heard war stories about the slowness of Foveon sensors.

What is a frustration is the necessity of using Hyper Utility 3 which is absolutely essential to get the best out of the raw files - it seems at first that ACR does a reasonable job but it isn't as good as the Fuji software, just more convenient.

Sometimes I prefer the Lightroom rendition, sometimes I prefer what Hyper Utility HS-V3 gives me. One thing for sure, I find that Hyper Utility's auto-WB is much more accurate than Adobe's auto-WB for the Fuji S5 Pro.

Having said that, I've shot jpegs side by side with raw and most of the time there's little to be gained. Fuji do have some magic dust when it comes to in camera processing.

Indeed, it is so good that DPR should use a Fuji S5 Pro as their comparator camera for SOOC comparisons against all other cameras. Dare I suggest that a few more modern cameras would be embarrassed by the S5 Pro's color and auto-WB ?

Finally, why oh why didn't fuji make the s5pro battery the same as in the D200? I have a D200 and others that used the ubiquitous EN-el3 or whatever it is called, so I have a host of these batteries which are useless in the s5pro. I find like the D200 the s5 is quite power hungry so spare batteries are a must.

I know. The S5 Pro uses the D200's body. It was foolish for Fuji to chip the NP-150 batteries, as the Nikon batteries are ubiquitous.

I am actually looking forward to using this camera in the Winter where I hope it might work well on the subtleties of white on white landscapes. Though a bit of harsh sunlight would be very welcome at the moment..

Please update the thread when you do. My problem here in California is the reverse... we have harsh sunlight 90% of the year here. This makes the S5 pro my favorite CCD to carry mid-day as it is so forgiving under those circumstances. Look at this shot, I am 1/4000 at f/2.8.

Fuji S5 Pro with the Nikkor 17-55mm/2,8G and on camera fill flash

fPrime

So why did Fuji stop making these sensors and is there any other recommended cameras to try using this tech?

Spazmaster wrote:

So why did Fuji stop making these sensors and is there any other recommended cameras to try using this tech?

Fuji has never said why they stopped, but I have a good idea of what may have been involved.

Shortly after the S5 Pro was released the full frame Nikon D3 came out cutting deeply into Fuji’s wedding niche. The D3 offered a true 12MP full frame which, for resolution at least, bested the S5 Pro’s interpolated, crop 12MP. Thanks to its CMOS design the D3’s dynamic range was also much improved yielding less of a DR advantage to the S5 Pro.

If Fuji wanted to have stayed competitive back then they would have had to have developed both a full frame SuperCCD sensor and secured a third generation Nikon body to put it in. Nikon may not have been willing to release its flagship D3 body to Fuji nor may Fuji have wanted to use a DSLR that big. The combined challenge seems to have been too great. Moving forward Fuji decided to build their own bodies and stick with APS-C.

fPrime

Spazmaster wrote:

So why did Fuji stop making these sensors and is there any other recommended cameras to try using this tech?

Nikon didn't want to have an at home competitor so they simply quit the agreement on camera bodies and that was the end of the S-CCD era, unfortunately the X-Trans, for those who like me thought it might be the follow-up, has been a big disappointment in comparison.

Neil-O wrote:

Would it have been so difficult to accommodate the S-CCD sensor in something like the X100 chassis? The film-like output combined with the retro look would surely have been a winner.

As far as I know the development of the S-CCD has been long time interrupted and, generally talking, CCD left room to CMOS technology long time ago

Hi, fPrime:

The S5 does a fantastic job in highlight  recovery and their smooth roll off but the depth and richness of the colors is also there in spades. It is the combination of these two attributes of the Super CCD  that makes the camera special, IMO. Special mention also goes to the excellent AWB which makes life a heck of a lot easier.

A couple of snaps:

Great photos and thread!

Have a good one,

Serge

Serge 07 wrote:

Hi, fPrime:

The S5 does a fantastic job in highlight recovery and their smooth roll off but the depth and richness of the colors is also there in spades. It is the combination of these two attributes of the Super CCD that makes the camera special, IMO. Special mention also goes to the excellent AWB which makes life a heck of a lot easier.

Great photos and thread!

Have a good one,

Serge

Hi Serge,

Thanks for chiming in... and with some beautiful example photos to boot!

Yes, I agree that in bright sunlight (like the first example in your post) the S5 Pro holds onto deep, rich colors incredibly well thanks to its SuperCCD sensor. This is where many modern cameras can clip colors even if purposefully set to expose for highlights. The reason for this is that certain color channels (like red in particular) often reach a saturation clipping point well before there's an overall highlight clip.

I meant to ask you earlier, but what are you using these days to do your S5 Pro RAW conversions with?

fPrime

SamfromAL wrote:

A good example, I shoot Kelvin mostly using an XE or XT to find it

Wow! Look at how the S5 Pro holds the orange tones from dark to bright in that Lambo. Thanks for adding, Sam.

fPrime

fPrime wrote:

Serge 07 wrote:

Hi, fPrime:

The S5 does a fantastic job in highlight recovery and their smooth roll off but the depth and richness of the colors is also there in spades. It is the combination of these two attributes of the Super CCD that makes the camera special, IMO. Special mention also goes to the excellent AWB which makes life a heck of a lot easier.

Great photos and thread!

Have a good one,

Serge

Hi Serge,

Thanks for chiming in... and with some beautiful example photos to boot!

Yes, I agree that in bright sunlight (like the first example in your post) the S5 Pro holds onto deep, rich colors incredibly well thanks to its SuperCCD sensor. This is where many modern cameras can clip colors even if purposefully set to expose for highlights. The reason for this is that certain color channels (like red in particular) often reach a saturation clipping point well before there's an overall highlight clip.

I meant to ask you earlier, but what are you using these days to do your S5 Pro RAW conversions with?

fPrime

Hi, fPrime:

I mainly allow the S5 to do its thing and use the JPEG files with a bit of tweaking in Lightroom. The settings are default with color +1, noise reduction low and DR set to auto, firmware 1.09.

Since I have Hyper Utility, may start experimenting with the raw files which should be fun.

Take care,

Serge

Just chiming in as a former S5 Pro (and S3 Pro before it) owner. I found that CaptureOne could handle the S5's RAW-files very well. It really allowed you to optimize the filmic look this camera could produce.

By the way: calling the S5 a slow camera made me smile just a wee bit. Because as I said, I also had an S3 before. That was definitely glacial compared to the S5 

Serge 07 wrote:

fPrime wrote:

Serge 07 wrote:

Hi, fPrime:

The S5 does a fantastic job in highlight recovery and their smooth roll off but the depth and richness of the colors is also there in spades. It is the combination of these two attributes of the Super CCD that makes the camera special, IMO. Special mention also goes to the excellent AWB which makes life a heck of a lot easier.

Great photos and thread!

Have a good one,

Serge

Hi Serge,

Thanks for chiming in... and with some beautiful example photos to boot!

Yes, I agree that in bright sunlight (like the first example in your post) the S5 Pro holds onto deep, rich colors incredibly well thanks to its SuperCCD sensor. This is where many modern cameras can clip colors even if purposefully set to expose for highlights. The reason for this is that certain color channels (like red in particular) often reach a saturation clipping point well before there's an overall highlight clip.

I meant to ask you earlier, but what are you using these days to do your S5 Pro RAW conversions with?

fPrime

Hi, fPrime:

I mainly allow the S5 to do its thing and use the JPEG files with a bit of tweaking in Lightroom. The settings are default with color +1, noise reduction low and DR set to auto, firmware 1.09.

Since I have Hyper Utility, may start experimenting with the raw files which should be fun.

Hi Serge,

Thanks for sharing your processing details. So basically you are enhancing the JPEG’s straight from the camera. People don’t believe me when I tell them the SOOC output from the S5 Pro is so good that it’s hard to beat in RAW but that’s the truth!

For what it’s worth I’m also on firmware 1.09, standard profile, sharpening STD, NR org. I do vary my color and DR settings dependent on what I’m shooting, though.

You’ll find Hyper Utility to be full of quirks compared to LR, but it is the only way to match the SOOC output. It does allow you to change the exposure, WB, and DR settings at will so nothing is lost from tweaking.

fPrime

Indeed, images from the S5 have real texture. No camera has excited me more to print since I left black and white dark rooms. When I saw the first images out of the S5, my first thought was I have to get these in prints. Still running the Canon PixmaPro and it's here because of the S5

fPrime wrote:

Often I see the question raised "How can I get a filmic look?" My answer invariably is to buy a Fuji S5 Pro.

The reason is simple. Color negative film is known for being somewhat low resolution, a bit soft, having a wider dynamic range than traditional digital, and with the ability to roll off highlights gently instead of clipping to white.

That's pretty close to what you get from the S5 Pro by default. It's low resolution (6MP), a bit soft after being interpolated to 12MP, possesses an exceptionally wide dynamic range thanks to it's SuperCCD sensor, and (for the same reason) has a gentle highlight roll-off reminiscent of film.

Here's a quick example of this effect generated by Fuji's Hyper Utility HS-V3.

Fuji S5 Pro with the Nikkor 17-55mm/2,8G and on camera fill flash

The sunlight on my daughter's back would have clipped harshly with traditional digital cameras but the extra highlight pixels of the SuperCCD her shirt retains traces of detail in the brightest parts along with that gentle highlight roll-off as described above. I find this reminds me of film. Do you agree? Let me know!

fPrime