Steve (Clifton),
I take it you've been using the S95 for a few months now. Can I ask if there's anything you miss about the F31fd (barring battery life) and if there are any situations where you're tempted to use it instead of the S95.
I'm still using the Fuji F30 and still like it but sometimes get frustrated with the AF failing to lock on and the long refresh time after taking 3 continuous shots. Would I notice an improvement in these with the S95? I mostly work at maximum zoom in fairly poor light.
Thanks,
David
Hi David, an interesting question.
Before I bought the S95, I think I read somewhere on BF that digital compacts had definitely moved on in the 4 years or so since the Fuji F30/31fd were introduced, such is the pace of technological development (I mainly use the F31, but also have an F30 as a 'spare'). Already being more than happy with the IQ and performance of the Fujis, I was really looking forward to seeing what the S95 could do.
If I'm honest, I was a little blown away at first by all the bells and whistles on the S95, and yes, some of them are very useful (most have already been covered in-depth on this thread, but more about them later). The images it produces, when viewed on its large hi-res screen, look superb, and I like the DSLR-like functionality of the camera too. The possibilities to customise the S95 make it very useable to more adventurous photographers, and of course it shoots RAW, which the Fujis can't. But does it take better pictures (once you get them on the computer)?
Well, I've done very little digiscoping recently, preferring to use a DSLR if possible, so digiscoping hasn't really been at the forefront of my mind, but having had a good look back at some of of my older pictures from the F31fd, I'm really starting to think the older cameras have the edge in pure IQ. Doesn't seem possible does it? and perhaps I'm not being objective about my own work, but you can make up your own mind as I've posted some examples from the F31fd below.
In addition to the pictures from the S95 already posted earlier in this thread, I'll add a few more recent ones, just for comparison.
I've tried to summarise some of the best/worst points of each camera below. This is not a comprehensive list, I just went with my gut feeling about each camera:
F31fd (and probably applies to the F30 too as they share the same sensor)
- Produces very nice clean, noise-free images, even up to and including ISO 800, that crop and sharpen up surprisingly well for a 6.3mp camera
- AF is generally accurate and quick, though at longer distances, or through heat haze/shimmer, it struggles (obviously). At shorter to middle distances the AF is generally reliable, though at times it misses constantly. A solution is to re-focus the scope then try again. Usually this works if it didn't the first time.
- At extremely long range (60x zoom on scope, and full zoom on camera) it is clearly better at capturing distant detail than the S95 in my opinion. For very distant birds, usually taking a series of 10 or so shots produces at least one that is useable. This is for record shots only of course, but sometimes you 'need' that shot.
- Is reasonably quick to refresh after a 3-shot burst. I just timed it at about 7-8 seconds before being ready to go again.
- Very easy IMO to get very good, sharp, clean shots with minimal PP skills in free software like Picassa 3, assuming the subject is close to middle distance away
S95
- In my opinion, although the camera is very useable at ISO 400 and 800, or even higher if needed, it produces noticeably more noise than the F31fd. Even shooting in RAW its images are still too noisy for me, and as my RAW processing skills don't yet extend to reducing noise effectively, I'm a little disappointed.
- The AF at close range is very good/accurate, capturing plenty of subject detail, as does the F31fd, but as you zoom out it becomes much more likely to miss focus with the S95, producing soft images that don't crop well.
- Refresh times are very quick after a 3-shot burst. I just tried it, in JPEG only, and it was ready to go again in about 3 seconds. This was with a cheap HP SD card in the camera. Having compared the write speed with a better quality Sandisk Extreme 20MB/s SDHC class 6 card, after a burst of about 10 shots in RAW & JPEG mode, the write speed was roughly double that of the cheaper card. Actually it was ready to go again after about 5 seconds, so a clear advantage here to the S95.
- Shoots RAW, so if you have the necessary skills it is probably possible to get better results (sharper, cleaner, more natural colours)than I have, though i'm skeptical about this having spent a fair bit of time with some images trying different settings in Photoshop Elements 7.
Images below from the f31fd:
Eagle Owl-fairly distant-across a 'canyon' in Spain, so about 50-70 metres or so at a guess
Griffon Vulture-middle distance, about 20m or so
Purple Sand & T-B Crossbill-quite close, I think about 6-8 metres
Tree Pipit-about 10-15 metres
I think most/all were at ISO 400, although the Eagle Owl was at ISO 800. I generally crop to about half the original image size.
