Fuji F30 - more thoughts (1 Viewer)

The main advantage of the F30 is the high speed (iso 100 - 3200 ) , low noise sensor, but another interesting feature is the First 3/Last 3 frames . I thought I would test the Last 3 feature today. This enables you wait for action to happen with the shutter pressed all the way down and the camera starts shooting , but not recording, at 2.2 frames/sec up to 40 frames. When the anticipated action starts happening you release the shutter and the camera records the last 3 frames only. I tried it out on my favorite night heron this morning. Unfortunately there were no fish around for him today so I couldn't capture that but he did strike several times and I got this frame. By selecting iso400 you would also be able to freeze the action with shutter speeds up to 1/2000th of a second. Useful for birds arriving/leaving perches/feeders or moving around on the ground and walking into the frame. It might also be useful for hand-held flight shots which I'll try tomorrow if the heat's not too much .
Neil

Fujifilm Finepix F30 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw22x eyepiece and Scopetronix EZ-Pix Adapter
Lamma Island,
Hong Kong,
China.
July 2006

I tried out the 800 iso setting on the Fuji F30 today on birds coming in and out of water in very dull/hazy light on one of the hottest days of the year so far. A little bit of noise if you look closely but I wouldn't have been able to get any decent photos otherwise.Neil.

Fujifilm Finepix F30 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw22x eyopiece and Scopetronix EZ-Pix adapter
Lamma Island,
Hong Kong,
China.
July 2006

Hi Neil,
the ISO 800 images looks a little bit ironed by a NR software and still has good amount of noise. They also look over sharpened to my eyes.

Did you try to compare the result against the Olympus 8080 results ?
How about shutter speed ? are you able to compare these to the 8080 shutter speed (having same ISO or even using the full ISO capabilities of the F30 ?)


I just read an article suggesting the F30/F10/F11 High ISO capabilities is only partially due to the sensor and is mainly due to an innovative internal noise reduction processing.
Are you able to see small details when viewing 100% crops ?

Awaiting more images and highly appreciating you sharing these results,

RedBishop.

This photo was taken at iso 800 and I haven't done much adjustment , just a crop,re-size and minor Unsharp Mask (300,.2,0 ). I lot of the work is done in-camera by the looks of things. Neil.

This photo was taken with finger on shutter in Continuous Mode (first 3 ) at iso 100. I was getting 1/900th sec at half zoom on the camera. I am quite impressed with the quality of the lens in the mid-range. I couldn't zoom out to the mid-range with the Olympus with most of my eyepieces without getting vignetting. Neil.

Neil said:

This photo was taken with finger on shutter in Continuous Mode (first 3 ) at iso 100. I was getting 1/900th sec at half zoom on the camera. I am quite impressed with the quality of the lens in the mid-range. I couldn't zoom out to the mid-range with the Olympus with most of my eyepieces without getting vignetting. Neil.

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That image is superb. The continuos mode seems a real boon to the digiscoper.

Do you have information on how this can be connected to the kowa tsn 823. I currently have the set-up for the cp990 if that helps...

Neil, what's your impression regarding the final results from the F30 ? is it as good as the 8080 ? better ?

Marcus, As the F30 doesn't have a screw thread and there is no Fuji adapter for it as far as I know, you'll have to go the universal adapter route (Scopetronix EZ-Pix type ) or make one up. The other alternative is to fit a short tube into the eye-guard that will hold the camera centered and enable you to hand hold. Neil.

After playing with the F30 for a week now I can definitely say that there is not much in it qualitywise (see attached photos). Two photos were taken on different days but from the same distance (about 25 meters). The light for the second photo (Olympus 7070wz iso 100, 1/1000sec ) was slightly brighter which was why I was getting such a good shutter speed. The first photo with the Fuji F30 was at iso 200 and 1/800th sec.
These are the things that are important to me with the two cameras -
Olympus 7070wz
- a lot of manual functions that are easily selected by buttons around the camera body
- wireless and wired remote control (wired with optional battery pack )
- RAW
- screw thread for adapter to fit Swarovski DCA
- solid construction - will take knocks (many times) and drops (once)
- rotatable screen for viewing at any angle
- ED lens so no fringing even against the light
It's main disadvantage is only 2 frames in fast mode and slow RAW processing.
Fuji F30
- low noise sensor (little noise up to 400 iso and not much at 800 ) and goes up to iso 3200
- up to 3 frames at 2.2 fps and 0.9 fps until card is full
- last 3 frame feature is very useful for action series
Main disadvantage is no user selection for Contrast/Saturation/Sharpening and no RAW (so you have to take what the camera gives you) , no screw thread for adapter and no rotatable screen (I sit on the ground and in hides a lot and this is a major problem (you can't stand upright in any of the hides at Mai Po so you have to bend down and if you sit down the scope/camera is above eye-level ).
The Fuji though is a very fast camera and will help a great deal to freeze action in low light situations or when there is subject movement. Also to capture anticipated action (last 3 frames feature).
If I could only choose one I would keep using the Olympus, mainly because of the Rotatable Screen and RAW , but I'm going to be using them both from now on ( I use them both on the Swarovski 22x and the Televue 32mm Plossl ). I will continue to watch what Fuji come out with that may have more features for the advanced photographer.
If anyone has any questions or comments don't hesitate to ask, Neil.

Hi Neil,
Thanks so much for this very interesting thread.

The F30 image was taken at ISO 200 and allowed for 1/800, with the 7070 you used 100 ISO and got to 1/1000. It seems that the 7070 is at least 2 stops faster than the F30, do you agree on that ?

If that is indeed the case, doesn't this ends the whole point of the F30 high ISO ? after all you need to shoot in ISO 400 to have the same speed as in the 7070.
Compare the final product, that is (to my eyes), very artificial, and I can't seem to find the reason to use the F30 for digiscoping.

-RedBishop

The light between the two days was probably was more significant than I indicated. The day of the Olympus was one of the best/brightest days we've had in Hong Kong as you can see from the quality off the blue water. The Fuji day was very hazy. The Fuji perfermed well in the conditions. As I mentioned in the set of three photos the Fuji will freeze action with little noise up to iso 800 where the Olympus wouldn't be able to get a decent shot as it only goes up to iso 400 which is very noisy so I never use it. Here is a photo taken with the Fuji on the same day as the Olympus photo (exposure comp of -0.7, so nett 1/560 sec ) at iso 100 and 1/1000 (exposure comp of - 1.0 , so nett 1/500th sec ). The Fuji was set to "Chrome" look instead of "Natural" for this photo.
If you live in a brigh light area like Australia or Arizona then the Fuji's only real advantage is the fast shooting modes as the Olympus is a notich better and it also does have iso 80 which is better again. If you like to shoot at dawn and dusk or on dull winter days the Fuji leaves the Olympus for dead. Also very good if for a 65 mm scope or through bins.
I hope this clarifies this , Neil.

There is a comprehensive review of the Fuji F30 at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/FujifilmF30/ which is worth reading if you are interested in this camera. Neil.

I've been digiscoping for a month or two with the F30, and my Nikon ED80 scope (to clarify: this is my first time digiscoping at all). I'm keeping the best ones in flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/57784510@N00/sets/72157594232712496/ - search using "digiscoping" for the digiscoped ones.
I'm hardly a great photographer, but maybe this will be of some use if you're thinking of this camera. So far, I'm very happy with it (although I have nothing to compare it with).

Lachlustre,

What adapter are you using, if any, with the F30 and the Nikon? Also, what eyepiece do you have on the scope?

Thanks,
Brennan

Neil I can't believe those pictures are so good. Everyone is pin sharp, the fugi must be a great with your set up.

so any new results from digiscoping for fuji f30 ?

I'm still using the F30 on a regular basis as backup to the Olympus 7070wz which I prefer for reasonable light and slow subjects, but when the light gets dim or the action gets furious , I switch to the Fuji. My biggest gripe with the F30 is the non-rotatable screen. It is very difficult to focus on the screen unless it's straight in front of the eyes (unless you switch to vertical mode which for some reason makes the screen easier to see from above ), so if you are angled up into the trees on a straight scope you have to crouch down. The new Canon A630/640 have a rotatable screen which may overcome this shortfall. Here are some recent photos , some taken in low light.Neil.

thanks neil for the post and if i purchase this camera, means i have to search for adapter ...

Langooney said:

Lachlustre,

What adapter are you using, if any, with the F30 and the Nikon? Also, what eyepiece do you have on the scope?

Thanks,
Brennan

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Brennan:
the Baader microstage adapter and the DS30 x eyepiece. The latter gives no vignetting whatsoever. I also have the 25-75x zoom eyepiece. This only works well with maximum zoom on the camera

Neil said:

I'm still using the F30 on a regular basis as backup to the Olympus 7070wz which I prefer for reasonable light and slow subjects, but when the light gets dim or the action gets furious , I switch to the Fuji. My biggest gripe with the F30 is the non-rotatable screen. It is very difficult to focus on the screen unless it's straight in front of the eyes (unless you switch to vertical mode which for some reason makes the screen easier to see from above ), so if you are angled up into the trees on a straight scope you have to crouch down. The new Canon A630/640 have a rotatable screen which may overcome this shortfall. Here are some recent photos , some taken in low light.Neil.

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neil i've checked the canon's website but couldn't find the A630/640 models ...