Fuji S5 Pro or Nikon D300

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JonClarke

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I cant decide on what to get.

There both highly rated and theres quite a difference in price (fuji £500 - nikon £900)

I will be shooting quite a few firework displays next month.

I probaly wont be shooting any motorsport until next year so i can get a faster camera then, possibly cheaper than todays prices too :)
 
The S5 Pro produces images that are much "nicer" - superior colour, dynamic range and tonality. The D300 is quite a bit sharper per pixel and is faster.

I imagine either will do a good job.

I would always pick up an S5 Pro over a D300 (I owned both, and did not keep the D300), actually I'd pick one over any Nikon DX camera if you care about that indefinable image "niceness" and understand that sharpness per pixel and fps is less important than image tonality.
 
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the Fuji S5 based on the Nikon D200 with a different sensor?

I am not shooting it down, please understand! As a matter of fact, everything I read about Fuji SLRs is that they have excellent sensors; but am just curious!
 
Wail said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the Fuji S5 based on the Nikon D200 with a different sensor?

I am not shooting it down, please understand! As a matter of fact, everything I read about Fuji SLRs is that they have excellent sensors; but am just curious!
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Thats correct (as far as I know).

At the end of the day, its what the image looks like and not the camera. I want one badly, I am just worried about the effect it will have on my D3 ownership!!!

Gary.
 
Wail said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the Fuji S5 based on the Nikon D200 with a different sensor?

I am not shooting it down, please understand! As a matter of fact, everything I read about Fuji SLRs is that they have excellent sensors; but am just curious!
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Exactly right - when Nikon fixed "dead battery syndrome" for the D200 recently, Fuji owners got this update too a few days later.

The S5 Pro is a D200 with much better image quality, albeit with some strange menus, and its slower.
 
I have an S3 pro and its great. The slowest cam in the world (the S5 is a bit better but basically shares the same optic sensor and chipsets).

Great colours, great DR but its a 6mp camera that squeezes about 8mp out at a push and produces massive 25mb RAW files.

If you are shooting people and arent looking for speed then its a good un, watch the pink cast issue and problems with back focusing though as those are two common complaints on DPReview.
 
Now that the Nikon D300 has "D lighting" as standard it should be a close one to decide..do you want lovely fuji colour or speed (you say you dont want speed ) but I would still plump for the D300 for all round performance.
 
Now that the Nikon D300 has "D lighting" as standard it should be a close one to decide

No, it really isn't.

D-Lighting is a built in metering bias + post capture shadows boost tool, it's not a sensor level DR improvement.

The S5 Pro murders the D300 for DR. Its not in the same ballpark. The ballpark is in a different country on a different planet, such is the gulf..
 
personally i would have any camera out there providing it can portray the beautiful film like qualitites of that of Fuji film like Velvia etc ..

I have a Nikon D80 and have also have regular access to a D300 and i personally feel that both come nowhere near being able to match the Velvia quality .... but from what ive seen in example images from the S5 and S100FS for that matter both these cameras do in fact resemble the rich feel of Fuji film. I also have a friend who has a S3 pro and the examples he has emailed me are stunning ... the quality and rich colours are simply stunning .!

.. so at under £500 the S5 has definitely got to be a real bargain .. .so much so that im after one too ! :)
 
puddleduck said:
Now that the Nikon D300 has "D lighting" as standard it should be a close one to decide

No, it really isn't.

D-Lighting is a built in metering bias + post capture shadows boost tool, it's not a sensor level DR improvement.

The S5 Pro murders the D300 for DR. Its not in the same ballpark. The ballpark is in a different country on a different planet, such is the gulf..
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the s5 may have superior DR 400% according to the reviews and D Lighting is far far more than a metering bias and boost tool if you have a good look but from Jonclarkes point of view shooting a few fireworks and general photography..the d lighting should definately make it closer to choose...if he said wedding photography then it would be the S5 no doubt but if he gets the D300 then when he eventually gets around to motorsport then he has saved an upgrade.

I have the S2 myself and know that you cant whack the fuji for lovely pictures.
 
Rikki said:
I have an S3 pro and its great.

:agree: My S3 is now 3 years old. It's a dream to handle and I love it for portrait stuff.

But compared with the D2X and now the drop dead indecently gorgeous D3 I think it's showing its age a bit - reviewing images in the screen seems tortuously (sp?) slow and other minor irritants like low battery warnings are getting more annoying. My fantasy cam would be a D3 with a Fuji sensor - at an S5 price, of course. :D
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D Lighting is far far more than a metering bias and boost tool

How? It underexposes the image by about 1/3 to 2/3rd of a stop depending on contrast, and boosts shadows.

What else do you think its doing?
 
My fantasy cam would be a D3 with a Fuji sensor - at an S5 price, of course.

Close to mine. D700 body with a Fuji FF sensor. It won't happen. But its a nice dream.
 
Slightly ot, but has anyone used the IS Pro - the infrared version of the S5? I haven't seen it at the lower prices of the regular S5, but if it was, say, £650-700 it would be tempting....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Slightly ot, but has anyone used the IS Pro - the infrared version of the S5? I haven't seen it at the lower prices of the regular S5, but if it was, say, £650-700 it would be tempting....
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Its really only used for photographing jizz stains CSI stylee.

Hard to buy unless you are in law enforcement.
 
this is taken off d preview and d lighting is definately something that you cant do yourself in camera and is changing the image at pixel level..maybe a bit like the fuji super CCD
...................................................

Just a couple of quick points I have to make since I worked on both the technology behind Nikon's d-lighting and developed the "fill light" for Bibble.

Both d-lighting and fill light in Bibble have results that you can't reproduce with curves. With curves you have to sacrifice contrast in one region of the tone scale to get contrast in another. The fill light type algorithms are more like applying a different exposure curve at each pixel or region. How you determine what curve should be applied at a particular pixel is the "secret sauce". d-lighting uses a very sophisticated patented technique that not only adds light but also boosts local contrast. Bibble's fill light technique adaptively adds light to the shadows, but doesn't really boost the local contrast that much. The best images to see the difference between a fill light type algorithm and curves are wide dynamic range images with interesting scene content in both the shadows and highlights. An example would be a picture of folks sitting inside a restaurant with a nice outdoor view in the bright windows behind them.
------------------------------------------------ @flash in the pan
this is a great site for all Fuji stuff inc infra red
http://theswampbbs.com/forums/index.php
 
EdinburghGary said:
I so want an S5 pro.

Gary.
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Why? You have a D3. Better dynamic range? I can't say its ever been an issue with my 30D. Better colour? Hasn't been an issue either. Recreating old film look and feel can be done with actions. Not saying that the S5 is a bad camera but when you've got a D3 you should be ok really. I know wedding photographers with 5D's who are amazing. I know that Dave Hill uses a 5D for his work. Wanting something because its technically better just isn't an issue to a good photographer. Stop lusting after gear and take photos.
 
petemc said:
Stop lusting after gear and take photos.
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I must admit I too find it a shame how much talk is of pixel pitch ratios, number of pixels required, IQ of an f1.8 compared to an f1.4 or the bokeh differences between them as being something spectacular and incredibly desirable as a result rather than discussing images or the taking thereof

Look at any thread on the technical aspects of gear and you'll find more commentators writing more words of comment than on any posted image, which often only warrants "Nice :thumbs:", or worse "Wow - what lens did you take that with?"

So yes, :agree: entirely with your comment Pete

DD
 
this is taken off d preview and d lighting is definately something that you cant do yourself in camera and is changing the image at pixel level

Only goes to prove that you can't believe whats written on the Internet.

D-Lighting doesn't change anything at sensor pixel level. The RAW file is untouched (or it wouldn't be RAW).

It applies a highlight boost to JPEG (call it a curve if you will), and RAW sensor is untouched. No curves / fill is applied to the sensor data at all. (try this yourself, take two shots one with D-Lighting the other with it off, observe how the D-Lighting image has more shutter speed (underexpose to preserve highlights), then take the two shots in Lightroom (which doesn't know about the D-Lighteing NEF tag as see how the shadows in the D-Lighted subject are darker...)

Its purely in-camera post-processing, and its dead easy to do it later. In fact, I've done precisely that in at least two of my shots in this post, can you guess which two?

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=87621
 
puddleduck said:
this is taken off d preview and d lighting is definately something that you cant do yourself in camera and is changing the image at pixel level

Only goes to prove that you can't believe whats written on the Internet.

D-Lighting doesn't change anything at sensor pixel level. The RAW file is untouched (or it wouldn't be RAW).

It applies a highlight boost to JPEG (call it a curve if you will), and RAW sensor is untouched. No curves / fill is applied to the sensor data at all. (try this yourself, take two shots one with D-Lighting the other with it off, observe how the D-Lighting image has more shutter speed (underexpose to preserve highlights), then take the two shots in Lightroom (which doesn't know about the D-Lighteing NEF tag as see how the shadows in the D-Lighted subject are darker...)

Its purely in-camera post-processing, and its dead easy to do it later.
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yep your right, you cant believe all you read on the internet...............................................................................................and another thread goes way off topic...if I were Jonclarke I would still choose the D300 after all despite the DR issue it still has more pixels and is not interpolated and the fuji is based on the d200 body and the d300 is a newer body and probably better lcd.
 
it still has more pixels and is not interpolated and the fuji is based on the d200 body and the d300 is a newer body and probably better lcd.

The D300 has a better LCD but I wouldn't pay another £500 for that, or the body difference.

I suggest the OP tries to use both, then do make prints if he can.
 
If you use the
tags its easier to see when you're quoting someone than just italics :) Anyways, op asked about a camera for fireworks. Personally I'd say get the D300. It'll do the job well. S5 probably will too but overall I'd say the D300 is the better choice..
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puddleduck said:
I'd give the D90 a thought actually, especially as he is saving most of his expenditure til next year.
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Best idea in the thread. Cheaper and will do fireworks well. Save money on the body and spend it on the lenses.
 
puddleduck said:
Its really only used for photographing jizz stains CSI stylee.

Hard to buy unless you are in law enforcement.
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You can use it for other types of shots (landscapes etc) though ;)

Yeah, I know, Fuji require you to sign all sorts of paperwork to get one. Probably easier (and cheaper) just to buy an S5 and get it converted...
 
puddleduck said:
I don't care what he buys, but I'm just trying to correct your gross inaccuracies started here regarding D-Lighting

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=975604&postcount=10

I'd give the D90 a thought actually, especially as he is saving most of his expenditure til next year.
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nope..I stand by what I say d lighting should be a factor when choosing his camera..I know that the S5 is cheap at the moment and that us gadget people cant always wait patiently but I think that he should keep his money in his pocket and save up for the D300 after all it is October and next year he plans on doing some motorsports shots...that is what I think and there are no inacuracies..nikon did not put dlighting on the camera for a laugh.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
You can use it for other types of shots (landscapes etc) though ;)

Yeah, I know, Fuji require you to sign all sorts of paperwork to get one. Probably easier (and cheaper) just to buy an S5 and get it converted...
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For IR, I'd look at a D100 really, its the ultimate IR camera, works great with just a filter, and cheap to convert.

The S5 Pro isn't really much cop for IR with an R72 (I tried) and getting it modded would be pretty pricey, and a D100 will still leave you with loads of chance left over.
 
DING DING............end of round one........:D
 
nope..I stand by what I say d lighting should be a factor when choosing his camera..

I don't understand why you think this in an important feature though? For anyone who doesn't shoot JPEF or use NX, its not doing anything apart from a meter bias, and any competant photographer who knows how to expose will expose for the highlights and Pp shadows later in a typical D-Lighting use case.

I'm really not having a go, or trying to labour the point here... but you seem to think its doing something its not. And it isn't.

.nikon did not put dlighting on the camera for a laugh.

They put it in there for JPEG shooters. And it works fine for that.
 
I have only seen D lighting first hand on the D700 and I was truly impressed by it..it may be different on the d200.
 
puddleduck said:
For IR, I'd look at a D100 really, its the ultimate IR camera, works great with just a filter, and cheap to convert.

The S5 Pro isn't really much cop for IR with an R72 (I tried) and getting it modded would be pretty pricey, and a D100 will still leave you with loads of chance left over.
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I wasn't going to put an R72 on it, I'd get it modded, it's far better being able to do handheld IR than messing about with tripods and filters...
 
puddleduck said:
nope..I stand by what I say d lighting should be a factor when choosing his camera..

I don't understand why you think this in an important feature though? For anyone who doesn't shoot JPEF or use NX, its not doing anything apart from a meter bias, and any competant photographer who knows how to expose will expose for the highlights and Pp shadows later in a typical D-Lighting use case.

I'm really not having a go, or trying to labour the point here... but you seem to think its doing something its not. And it isn't.

.nikon did not put dlighting on the camera for a laugh.

They put it in there for JPEG shooters. And it works fine for that.
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Getting back on topic.... :agree:
 
JonClarke said:
I cant decide on what to get.

There both highly rated and theres quite a difference in price (fuji £500 - nikon £900)

I will be shooting quite a few firework displays next month.

I probaly wont be shooting any motorsport until next year so i can get a faster camera then, possibly cheaper than todays prices too :)
Click to expand...

Back on topic, before the technically anal retentives do for us all.....:lol:......, if you want speed for wildlife or motorsport the D300, if you want landscape or portrait then the Fuji............IMO only....:)
 
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