Camera Labs

I had the miss fortune to buy me a Fujifilm Finepix S2000HD and after seeing the terrible things she does to pictures and videos I returned her straight away.

If you want to know a bit more, go here:http://sx10-is.blogspot.com/2009/06/you-need-bad-camera-to-learn-what-is.html

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http://hx9v.blogspot.com/

Interesting report Joe...

Gran Canaria - I have one of those "very interesting" S2000HDs - they're very "educational" - as in - why didn't one read Gordon's superb Canon SX10 IS Review first....? Answer - I hadn't found this Forum yet.... Sighhhh...

Actually, I got mine cheaply via an employee at a store selling them, on his employee discount, so I couldn't take it back. I knew nothing about cameras at the time, apart from using old Coolpix P&S 2 / 4Mpix P&S.

By the time I discovered - via Forums, mainly here - what Aperture Priority is - I also discovered that the S2k doesn't have it.... It also doesn't have a lot of other things - such as a Manual Focus that doesn't work via the Zoom-Lever...

I've had to fight the darned thing trying to get photos from it 1% better than from an old "Auto-All" 2Mpix Coolpix. Which has been quite entertaining - and I've learned much. Including - if buying a Camera, research the dratted thing properly, first!

The S2k's 640 x 480 "video" levels are woeful - to be polite.

The 1280 x 720 HD-Lo has issues - starting with a 1-stage Zoom lever - unlike an SX10's (and SX1's) - 2-stage. Early-on, it's very stiff and jerky, but the lever "wears-in" rapidly. Then you can bump-bump-bump it gently - and, hand-held - the "focus" sometimes keeps up....

It's rather better on a firm tripod - but still neater to get the distance and focus - then roll video. At that, if you edit and join the pieces later, the results are okay. The camera does compliant MPEG4 with *.mp4 extension. Edited, joined, then converted to 720 x 576 for Std PAL DVD - it's reasonable. Trying to use it as "HD" - Lo or not - is doubtful.

The S2k gives the impression that somebody had the idea of a "low-cost" HD-Lo device, invented a cheap body to put it in - and as an afterthought added the vague-idea of lower-end P&S functions to it. Why they put the 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 in - I've not yet found out - neither is usable for anything practical.

It does have one unusual function - it can do 33 frames of 5Mpix size in about 8-seconds in "Burst" mode. That can occasionally get you 1 or 2 "usables" at that size of a moving object - out of the 33.... There's also a "faster Burst" mode - 33 at 3Mpix - from which I've never had anything "usable".

All in all - the Fuji S2000HD is a remarkable piece of machinery! What a pity they didn't think a bit further and make it a camera, instead...

I'm all-twitchy at present - with my SX10 IS on firm-order - just waiting for Digital Camera Warehouse to phone me that the new shipment has arrived! Then see if I can actually do a bit better with that!

> Yes, I know that it's usually the User that does poor-quality photos - not the camera... But in the case of poor old Fuji's S2000HD that might not be entirely so.

Regards, Dave.

Dave, you are so right what you are writing, and yes, you will have much more fun with the sx10.
Just the video mode will lack on resolution but if you want it for pal dvd you will be pleased
hope they merge the sx next season or bring at least a sx20 with a 720p hd mode out

and i read some reviews from the finepix sad thing was i just had the more positive ones from people who have no idea about what they were writing.

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http://hx9v.blogspot.com/

Gran Canaria - Thanks for the reply.

I'm getting "all-twitchy" - I had a phone-call from Digital Camera Warehouse to say that the new shipment is in, and I can pick my SX10 up on Friday!

I've been using the "Show us Your Best with SX10" thread here as a sort-of "Tutorial" - particularly what Roy says about using the Aperture Priority mode... As the S2000HD doesn't have that, I'm going to have fun trying to do as he describes!

If I can get even halfway to the quality of some of the beautiful images on that thread, I'll be ecstatic - however long it takes me to get to that.

With the SX10 video - yes, I've downloaded a couple of samples, and converted them to PAL DVD - using black bars left-right to get the horizontal to 720 - and top-bottom to 576, for PAL's needed 720 x 576.

As I'd tried it with the S2000HD's 640 x 480 with sadly-woeful results, I "wasn't expecting much" with the SX10 samples... Actually - they play "boxed" on my smallish PAL TV - very usably! At about 2 metres+ - quite adequately viewable! So - a surprise in that. Videos from own camera - that haven't been uploaded-downloaded-etc - should be even better.

> Re the sad little S2000HD - I'm keeping it for the 1280 x 720 *.mp4 - which if done on a tripod, edited and "converted down" to PAL 720 x 576, is quite good - but a lot more hassle to do! Also the "Burst" mode at 5Mpix of about 4fps can "have its moments". For the rest of it - the device can live in the zip-pocket on the end of my carry-bag (I don't have a car) - I have with me when I go out - to be a "$100.00 P&S" - for when I don't have my "real camera" SX10 along...

>> But I've learned "Lesson-1" - don't buy a camera unless it's in Gordon's "Reviewed and Approved" List, first!

(Do hope he can find time to do a Review, or at least a Summary - on the Pentax KM / K2000....)

Regards, Dave.