Fuji S6500fd

[cy_j]

The actual focal length at 10.7x zoom is about 66mm only.

So shooting at 1/60 or faster handheld at max. zoom should still be ok if you have reasonably steady hands.

This means no problem in most outdoor shots as it's quite bright.

As for indoor shots, if the proper exposure is 1/15 @ISO 200, then you could pump up the ISO to 800 and shoot at 1/60. The advantage is that you can avoid too much motion blur when shooting at 1/60 vs 1/15.

If avoiding motion blur is paramount, then you would need at least 1/125 or faster. In such cases where shutter speed is the priority, having good low noise performance is better than having IS because the former may enable you to shoot with a shutter speed above 1/125 while the latter does nothing to the shutter speed. For example, if an indoor shot at max. zoom (66mm) requires 1/15 @ISO 100, then you could shoot at 1/15@ISO 100 if you have IS or shoot at 1/125 @ISO800 if you have good noise performance. The 1/15@ISO 100 shot with IS has better details but 1/15 may have motion blur which you do want.

If you're shooting at the short side of the zoom (the actual focal length is only slightly more than 6mm when it's 28mm equivalent on 35mmm format), the IS is not required in most situations except very dark conditions (which may be better just use the flash instead if there is no restriction).

To me, S6500fd is a better choice than cameras like Canon S3 IS which has terrible noise performance at ISO 200 and 400.

Don't think so. Longest focal length IS 66mm (or thereabouts) if your sensor has the dimensions of a 35mm film. But it uses a teensy-weensy sensor (relatively speaking) so you have still to use the 35mm equivalent, which is 300mm. The smaller sensor diameter amplifies shakes and wobbles, corresponding to the equivalent length. So you still have to use 1/300s shutter speed, or whichever is closest. Same holds true for the shorter focal lengths.

 

[chi_noy2000]

I bought the camera yesterday from Cathay Photo...defintely less than $699

hey avo,

can you post some pics taken from this camera please?. i'm very eager to find out if the quality of the pics is better than F30 esp in high iso setting.

thanks!!!

 

[Singapore21]

The actual focal length at 10.7x zoom is about 66mm only.

So shooting at 1/60 or faster handheld at max. zoom should still be ok if you have reasonably steady hands.

This means no problem in most outdoor shots as it's quite bright.

As for indoor shots, if the proper exposure is 1/15 @ISO 200, then you could pump up the ISO to 800 and shoot at 1/60. The advantage is that you can avoid too much motion blur when shooting at 1/60 vs 1/15.

If avoiding motion blur is paramount, then you would need at least 1/125 or faster. In such cases where shutter speed is the priority, having good low noise performance is better than having IS because the former may enable you to shoot with a shutter speed above 1/125 while the latter does nothing to the shutter speed. For example, if an indoor shot at max. zoom (66mm) requires 1/15 @ISO 100, then you could shoot at 1/15@ISO 100 if you have IS or shoot at 1/125 @ISO800 if you have good noise performance. The 1/15@ISO 100 shot with IS has better details but 1/15 may have motion blur which you do want.

If you're shooting at the short side of the zoom (the actual focal length is only slightly more than 6mm when it's 28mm equivalent on 35mmm format), the IS is not required in most situations except very dark conditions (which may be better just use the flash instead if there is no restriction).

To me, S6500fd is a better choice than cameras like Canon S3 IS which has terrible noise performance at ISO 200 and 400.

thanks dude!

 

[Clockunder]

Don't think so. Longest focal length IS 66mm (or thereabouts) if your sensor has the dimensions of a 35mm film. But it uses a teensy-weensy sensor (relatively speaking) so you have still to use the 35mm equivalent, which is 300mm. The smaller sensor diameter amplifies shakes and wobbles, corresponding to the equivalent length. So you still have to use 1/300s shutter speed, or whichever is closest. Same holds true for the shorter focal lengths.

I've been able to shoot at 1/60 at the longest focal length (actual 71.2mm which is 280mm on 35mm format equivalent) on my Nikon 5700 prosumer camera for the past 1.5 years.

This issue about focal length and minimum shutter speed has been discussed numerous times in this forum. There is no doubt that shakes will be amplified more if you need to magnify the original image on the sensor more to get the picture size you want. So handshake blur on a small sensor would be much more visible than those on a much bigger sensor when viewed at the same picture size.

However, if your hands are reasonably steady, there would be very little shake in the original image (i.e. the image that forms on the sensor) if you shoot at 1/actual focal length or faster. This applies regardless of sensor size because the actual focal length remains the same regardless of sensor size and an image won't be more shaky just because the back screen (i.e. sensor) is bigger or smaller. If no shake blur is recorded in the original image on the sensor, then there is no shake to be amplified.

Samples from my Nikon 5700 prosumer cam (there is no image stabiliser in my old camera) :

1/74 at 71.2mm (280mm equivalent)

1/62 at 71.2mm (280mm equivalent)

 

[Clockunder]

Yes, can those who have this S6500fd post some pictures for us to see.

I'm quite impressed with the picture quality of the S9500 but haven't seen any from S6500fd yet. The Fuji HDR super CCD sensor is good but the lens could make or break the picture quality. So need to see some pictures from the S6500fd first.

Could the arrival of this S6500fd and the coming S9600 be the reasons for a few people deciding to sell off their S9500 fast before resale prices for older models drop? :think:

 

[cy_j]

I've been able to shoot at 1/60 at the longest focal length (actual 72mm which is 280mm on 35mm format equivalent) on my Nikon 5700 prosumer camera for the past 1.5 years.

There is no doubt that shakes will be amplified more if you need to magnify the original image on the sensor more to get the picture size you want. So handshake blur on a small sensor would be much more visible than those on a much bigger sensor when viewed at the same picture size.

Ah, that's the crux of the matter,innit? But I normally print to A3 sizes, A4 being my smallest. At those sizes, with my previously owned S9500 at the longest end one can easily see blurring at normal viewing distances even at 1/300s shutter speed. With my current F30 at the longest end, to get sharp pics at these sizes I need to go to 1/150.

If one were to pixel-peep at 100%, not following the 1/focal length rule of thumb can easily demonstrate the effects of shake.

But I agree, compressing it to a 4 x 6 will make it extremely difficult to see the effects of hand-shake. I would say, if one only prints at these sizes, then all's well in the world.:bsmilie:

 

[Clockunder]

Ah, that's the crux of the matter,innit? But I normally print to A3 sizes, A4 being my smallest. At those sizes, with my previously owned S9500 at the longest end one can easily see blurring at normal viewing distances even at 1/300s shutter speed. With my current F30 at the longest end, to get sharp pics at these sizes I need to go to 1/150.

If one were to pixel-peep at 100%, not following the 1/focal length rule of thumb can easily demonstrate the effects of shake.

But I agree, compressing it to a 4 x 6 will make it extremely difficult to see the effects of hand-shake. I would say, if one only prints at these sizes, then all's well in the world.:bsmilie:

Here are the 100% crop of the pictures posted earlier (If there is little or no shake, then there is little or no blur to be magnified. Both original pictures have more than enough resolution to print Super 8R 12" x 8". Although they have been slightly sharpened for my post-processing purposes, hand shake blur would still be very noticeable at 100% crop if there is any significant shake.) :

 

[Clockunder]

Ah, that's the crux of the matter,innit? But I normally print to A3 sizes, A4 being my smallest. At those sizes, with my previously owned S9500 at the longest end one can easily see blurring at normal viewing distances even at 1/300s shutter speed. With my current F30 at the longest end, to get sharp pics at these sizes I need to go to 1/150.

If one were to pixel-peep at 100%, not following the 1/focal length rule of thumb can easily demonstrate the effects of shake.

But I agree, compressing it to a 4 x 6 will make it extremely difficult to see the effects of hand-shake. I would say, if one only prints at these sizes, then all's well in the world.:bsmilie:

As for the short-end, here's a handheld shot taken at 1/15 with actual focal length 8.9mm (35mm equivalent on 35mm format).

100% crop of the original picture which is 2560x1920 (which is enough for you to print 17" x 12" ):

 

[Clockunder]

Another thing to note is that hand shake blur is different from motion blur.

To avoid motion blur, the general guideline is at least 1/125-1/200, depending on how fast the actual subject image moves across the sensor......(i.e. depends on subject speed, size, distance and movement direction etc.). The focal length you use will affect how big the actual subject image appears in the frame and therefore how fast the actual subject image will shift on the image sensor.

 

[sabian]

Called CP Marina they quote me $675 with a 512MB XD card. The guy told me that beside the XD card there are no other freebies.

u shd be able to get it for lesser at AP

 

[avo]

I haven't been taking photo with my S6500fd so nothing to post. But there is a nice photo shootout between F30 and S6500fd here:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1012&message=20158265

Enjoy

 

[Singapore21]

Played with it at South Asia yesterday.. 699, inclusive of 1G card, tripod and bag.

 

[chantyeroop]

hi guys, for those who just got it,

wonder if it feels heavy while using the s6500fd.

dpreview stated it as 700g, which imho, is a bit heavy.

 

[avo]

hi guys, for those who just got it,

wonder if it feels heavy while using the s6500fd.

dpreview stated it as 700g, which imho, is a bit heavy.

It's lighter than a Nikon D50 but don't expect P&S camera kind of weight. A few observations:

1. The EVF is kind of small but have enough high eyepoint for spectacle wearer.
2. You can shoot in Fujifilm propietary RAW format CCD-Raw, but you have to use their software to do edits and conversion..at least until thrid party software support it.
3. Video mode is not well inplemented as the focus mechanism noise is too intrusive and you can't disabled it during video shooting.
4.Tendency to overexposed in some situation, you have to experiment with different exposure compensation and exposure method...spot, pattern, avg weighted..etc.
5. It is good that Fuji include histogram to check for blown highlights and shadow...don't rely on just the LCD....

So far so good.

 

[takethree]

It's lighter than a Nikon D50 but don't expect P&S camera kind of weight. A few observations:

1. The EVF is kind of small but have enough high eyepoint for spectacle wearer.
2. You can shoot in Fujifilm propietary RAW format CCD-Raw, but you have to use their software to do edits and conversion..at least until thrid party software support it.
3. Video mode is not well inplemented as the focus mechanism noise is too intrusive and you can't disabled it during video shooting.
4.Tendency to overexposed in some situation, you have to experiment with different exposure compensation and exposure method...spot, pattern, avg weighted..etc.
5. It is good that Fuji include histogram to check for blown highlights and shadow...don't rely on just the LCD....

So far so good.

1. How fast does it record the RAW image. You can try using s7raw for the third party software.

2. Where is the histrogram located?

3. How much did you get it for and what comes with it.

Thanks!

 

[avo]

1. How fast does it record the RAW image. You can try using s7raw for the third party software.

2. Where is the histrogram located?

3. How much did you get it for and what comes with it.

Thanks!

1. Did not notice how fast or slow compared to JPEG but when in raw mode continous shooting is disabled...the raw convertor from Fuji is quite good liao...it can do do most of the thing that is available in Adobe Camera Raw like custom tone curve, white balance adjustment, sharpening and you can convert to 16 bit tif too.

2. Pressing exposure comp button, histogram will appear on LCD.

3. Paid lesser than $699 comes with 1GB card;p In any case I think the South Asia deal is pretty sweet.

 

[chi_noy2000]

1. Did not notice how fast or slow compared to JPEG but when in raw mode continous shooting is disabled...the raw convertor from Fuji is quite good liao...it can do do most of the thing that is available in Adobe Camera Raw like custom tone curve, white balance adjustment, sharpening and you can convert to 16 bit tif too.

2. Pressing exposure comp button, histogram will appear on LCD.

3. Paid lesser than $699 comes with 1GB card;p In any case I think the South Asia deal is pretty sweet.

Hi avo,

can you please be specific how much u exactly bought rather than saying paid less than $699? don't think it's too much to ask for.

 

[daniellyt]

Hi avo, still waiting for your sample pics....

 

[avo]

Hi avo, still waiting for your sample pics....

ISO.200, F3.2, 1/180s

ISO.1600, F2.8, 1/50s

 

[Singapore21]

thanks dude.. can give 100% crops?