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I currently have a D70 and would to upgrade this year to a different body. I had my mind set on the D200, but it has come to my attention that the FujiFilm S5 Pro is the basically the same camera with a superiour sensor.
Does anyone have any first hand knowledge on the S5 who has also used the D200. I like family photos, aviation, motorsports and an article I read stated that the D200 is better for the motorsport side of things, I am sure that the S5 would still be capable enough though.
Any insight / advice would be great.
Cheers
Carl
D200. No question.
Just check the specs side-by-side - there's an S5 review here on EPZ - Oh.. and the S5 is a 6Mp sensor. The '12Mp' is interpolated.
Just like to add to Mike's comment, In a recent issue of Amatuer Photographer magazine, The D200 & S5 Pro had a head to head review.
The outcome was very much in favour of the D200, This was for a number of reasons, But one that stands out as a basic requirement of any camera, That of being able to capture fine detail, You can always play around with colour renditions from any output, BUT you can't replace lost detail, If it's just not there, Or indistinct.
Therefore the D200 wins hands down
Quote:
S5 Pro is the basically the same camera with a superiour sensor.
This is not correct, It's different maybe, But not Superior in anyway.
The Fuji has less pixels.. but they are 'better quality' pixels.
I spoke to someone who has used both camera's, and he was very complimentry abourt the S5's image quality.
However if Motor sport is your thing, then the faster wite times and larger buffer of the D200 make the Nikon more suited to your photography.
Quote: The outcome was very much in favour of the D200, This was for a number of reasons, But one that stands out as a basic requirement of any camera, That of being able to capture fine detail, You can always play around with colour renditions from any output, BUT you can't replace lost detail, If it's just not there, Or indistinct.
Therefore the D200 wins hands down
Hi cameracat,
Thanks for you input. I have a copy of Digital Camera World (April 07) edition and the review there states that the tonal qualities are far superior and there is even a function which "gives your colours you havent seen since your last roll of Fujifilm Velvia slide film"
Also the review states how good the S5 is at retaining detail as a result of the 'interpolated' pixels.
You can see my confusion here...
Detailed is retained as a RESULT of interpolation??? What??? Interpolation means the processor is, effectively, guessing (all be it intelligently.) How can this ever be better than actually recorded data - as with the D200?
There should be no confusion. I've never even heard of digital camera world.... but AP has been around for donkeys years. I'd trust it's review over the other mag you're refering to.
Quote: Also the review states how good the S5 is at retaining detail as a result of the 'interpolated' pixels.
No confusion here.
'Interpolation' is just that - interpolation. That means it's a 'fudge', a 'best guess' performed by someone/something else rather than YOU - the artist creating the image.
EDIT:
(MUST do that typing course!!!!!!!!)
Hi guys,
I am not the best in regards to technicalities, I was just quoting DCW magazine.
Doclassie, it is a British mag and I like you I live in Oz (I am assuming by the photo on your portfolio) and yes it can be hard to get hold of but if you do see it, grab it as it is a very good read.
My understanding is that there are two "sets" of 6 million pixels - S type pixels and R type pixels which cover "everyday photography" and those "which hang onto detail in highlights". As you can see I am just quoting the review, but not being technically minded it seems to make sense to me.
As I said at the beginning of the thread my preference was to go with the D200 but this article and a couple of other peoples comments have confused the matter.
Cheers
Carl
I've owned both and got rid of the S5 in favour of a second D200.
Cameracat's comments are spot on here - the S5 just doesn't have the resolution that the D200 has. The S5 has a different sensor, but it's in no way superior.
The S5's sensor records info in a different way, resulting in a smoother tonal rendition due to the increased dynamic range of the sensor. The D200 can be setup so that it replicates that increased dynamic range, though it's not quite as good. You'll probably have seen posts from others saying that the D200 blocks up the shadow detail (which is correct) - but this can be corrected somewhat during processing.
I also noticed that the S5 has a typical Fuji trait of inconsistent flash exposures (just like the S2/S3). The D200 seemed much better in this respect, offering a much more accurate exposure. Quite why this should be I don't know, as the flash electronics are meant to be the same in both cameras (bad sample ??)
Hope this info helps !
The S5 or S3 for that matter does not interpolate, it has 12 million pixels, they are just different types of pixels S and R, you do not get a 12m pixel image, but there again it's not a 6m pixel image either when extended DR is used, by all scientific accounts at lpi, it provides the equivalent to 8.6m pixels.
As far as a comparisons go otherwise between the two, then the tonality and IQ of the S5 is better in JPEG mode, though much closer in RAW, the S5 handles highlights far better and the AWB is more accurate. The togs I know that use/own both are divided about 60/40 in favour of the S5. Either is a great camera. If you can Carl, take a memory card, shoot an equivalent scene with both on the same settings then PRINT the image, by far the best way to tell rather than pixel peeping on a TFT.
For me I'd be happy with either for what you want to do; (I own an S3 and find little issue with regularly taking sports shots). I think you would be pleased with the more user friendly menu system of the D200 and faster response when machine gunning, but prefer the tonality of images when taking people shots of the S5.
Quote: If you can Carl, take a memory card, shoot an equivalent scene with both on the same settings then PRINT the image, by far the best way to tell rather than pixel peeping on a TFT.
Don't know much about either camera I'm afraid but surely thats the best possible advice to anyone trying to make a decision about which camera to buy.
Quote: The S5 or S3 for that matter does not interpolate, it has 12 million pixels,
'ere we go...
I think this piece from someone who reverse engineered the fuji RAW file explains what I was saying well: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1020&message=20465073
Black and White Photography magazine made the S5 the SLR of choice if you do a lot of B&W images - because of its superior tonal range
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