Camera Labs

I like taking pics of people. It's the reason I ended up with the Fuji F30 as it lets me take people pics without using a flash due to excellent high ISO capability.

I just recently realised another merit of this camera that I think recommends its successors and spin-offs (F31fd and the super-zoom s6500fd): the extra large sensor means better background blur which makes for better portrait photos (even better with a super-zoom, presumably). And when I mean portrait I don't mean formal sit-downs with studio lamps, I mean people pics in whatever circumstances.

However I may be wrong about the background blur. Camera reviews tend not to explore background-blur, particularly as non-SLRs tend to have the same, tiny sensor size, and for SLRs it's more about the lense. I haven't had oppotunity to compare my pics with other cameras.

So, anyone game for a bit of bokeh (background-blur) experimentation with compact and other non-SLR cameras? and posting their results?

Has anyone experience with the s6500fd Fuji? How does it do for bokeh when zoomed? Nice, nasty?

Hi Lorriman, I agree the F30 can be a great portrait camera due to its low light capabilities, but the sensor itself isn't physically that different in size from other compacts. Fuji just uses the area differently and hasn't packed in a ridiculous amount of pixels!

As for bokeh and background effects, the small sensor and short actual focal length used in the F30 and other non-DSLRs will generally mean it's harder to achieve that out-of-focus effect due to their inherently larger depth of field.

But if you zoom in, get close to your subject and seelct the widest aperture, you can get a reasonable effect.

If you want a really blurred background though, there's no substitute for a telephoto lens on a DSLR with a bright aperture. Here's a shot taken with the Pentax DA 70mm on a K10D at f2.4.



Gordon