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01/07/2004 07:41:37 PM · #1 |
Any opinions on this camera? Good, bad, indifferent? I'm checking out Steve's and DPreview but really want personal opinions.
I've been wanting to buy a Canon (Rebel or 10d) for awhile and stopped to Ritz yesterday to quiz the guy on different things about the cameras and he was trying to convince me to buy the FujiFilm FinePix S7000 at $699. He said it's a better camera than the Rebel but said there are only two lenses available for it, but that's all I'd ever need. I used the camera and it seemed nice. It was really fast and good with macros. Just curious what you guys think of it?
What would you do if you were me?
(1) Buy the Rebel from Ritz Online now (Contains 2 lenses, bag, batteries) $1200 with free shipping and no sales tax
(2) Buy the 10d now at $1500 plus extra for lenses from Best Buy or similar
(3) Buy something other than Canon now
(4) Wait until February when the new products are introduced at the PMA convention but then wait months after that for them to be released and for the prices to drop...
Getting a retro pay at work next week because they goofed. Getting $1688 (minus taxes) which is screaming camera! :-)
Help! :-)
Thanks so much!
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01/07/2004 07:51:43 PM · #2 |
Congrats on the retro pay. That rocks. I'd wait until the PMA to see what will be shaking, if you can wait that long. Patience young gwass hoppah. Salesmen will be salesmen. I would researche your various options on the Net. Good luck.
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01/07/2004 08:06:59 PM · #3 |
Hey Jen,
I know how it is when $1600 burns a hole in your pocket; been there... recently!
I would wait until after PMA. If you buy now, you may see "exactly what you want" announced, and then you'll be unhappy with your decision. So ask yourself "what would I buy now?", then wait, see what's announced, and ask yourself if your decision still makes sense, or if it makes more sense to wait for a new release.
In the meantime, if you are seriously considering a DSLR, start adding to the nest egg, 'cause with any of the DSLRs you are gonna want very good lenses; the "consumer grade" lenses do not always do justice to the capability of these cameras. You will inevitably wind up with (prolly much) more invested in lenses than in the body.
When considering which DSLR, ask yourself what features are most important to you now, and then research areas of photography you would like to move into or improve in and find out which features are required to enable this growth. Something to occupy you until PMA...
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01/07/2004 10:38:23 PM · #4 |
If I were getting that amount and could swing a bit more and was intent on shopping at Ritz, I'd get the Nikon D-100 Set with two lenses for $1,729. I do it tomorrow, but no gelt! Oy!
But I am using the Fuji S602Z and My Ritz guy says the 7000 is the replacment of same. As for the two lenses fuji sells...uh I got the 1.5 telephoto add on and rarely use it...I cannot speak for the corresponding wide angle. I love the camera very much and have not had any problems with it to date (knock on wood!!!). The ritz guy I spoke to all but swooned over the Fuji 7000 and said that he was using a Rebel in the store for Passport photos and something happened one day that he couldn't and used the 7000 instead and has been using it ever since. The color was exact and he had to make no adjustments that he had had to make when he used the Rebel.
Good luck with your new camera what ever you decide!
Message edited by author 2004-01-07 22:44:02. |
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01/10/2004 10:47:50 AM · #5 |
Jacko - LOL You crack me up! "Patience young gwass hoppah."
kirbic - Thanks for the advice. I really am trying to wait until after PMA. I know you're right...they'd introduce something new that I'd rather have. Truth is, I'm not entirely sure what I even want! Basically, I want something manual and something that I won't outgrow for a loong time. It's really just a hobby for me, but someday (when I get good enough) I would like to sell a few prints. I have a friend with a couple of B&B's and I'm sure she would be willing to hang them there to sell.
banmorn - Thanks banmorn. I'm not really intent on shopping at Ritz. There free shipping and no sales tax are a bonus though, so if they offered what I wanted I would get it there. It would save me about a hundred dollars.
Hmmm, our Ritz guy had a similar story about why they used the Fuji 7000 in-store, too. Wonder if they get something for promoting that camera? Perhaps just coincidence?
For the (very) short time I played with the Fuji 7000 there, I loved it. I'm just afraid that I'll regret the purchase when I eventually want more than 2 lenses...even though he said that's all I'd ever need. I find it hard to believe when some people have 5-10 lenses. If 2 was all that was needed then why do people have so many lenses?
ban, just curious what you like about the Nikon D100? Why not a Canon?
Thanks again you guys for your advice. I appreciate it.
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01/10/2004 11:21:44 AM · #6 |
The lens on the S7000 is a fixed zoom lens. You cannot take it off like dSLR and SLR lenses. The lenses the salesman mentioned are lenses that you attach to the fixed zoom lens. There are two types of those, wide-angleconverters and teleconverters.
The pro of these converters is that they are a cheap way to get good wideangle or telezoom reach (28mm wide or 350 to 380mm tele).
The downside is that they are extra elements in front of the fixed zoom lens. The more glass you put in front of the fixed lens, the worse the image quality gets. There is a huge difference in teleconver makes but they all increase the distortions of the fixed lens and increase chromatic abberations (sometimes dramatically), especially in the corners. Even the Olympus TCON-17 that I use and that is seen as one of the best.
The other downside, especially with teleconverters is that they limit the zoom range of your lens. You can only use it zoomed out. As soon as you zoom back in too much you will start to see the edges of the teleconverter in the image (dark, grey corners) up to the point where you will see the whole tube as a round frame around your image.
You cannot swap the teleconverter so fast like you can swap a dSLR lens. Teleconverters on the Fuji's are screwed onto an adaptor ring. Unscrewing it takes some time, especially if you want to replace a filter as well.
I thought that I could live with this, but I hate it. In the zoo or at a motorcycle race for example you always want both. Wideangle and moderate zoom for closeby animals/people/objects and the large tele of the converter for distant object. You will soon find yourself screwing the thing on and off all the time, missing photo opportunities because either the animal got to close or walked away again. Imagine this with kids.
Most of the time you can not put a filter like a polarizer, UV, etc on the converters and because they use huge curved front lens elements they are prone to lens flares.
I assume that you know how dSLR lenses work when it comes to this kind of stuff. You can use the whole zoom range of your chosen lens all the time and once you get used to them you can swap a lens in ten to twenty seconds. Most of them take filters and lenshoods, less flares and more control. No corners cut off.
On the current Canon consumer dSLR's a 70-200 lens works like a 112-320. So even a lens like that covers a fair bit of the range of the 210mm eqv lens of a S7000. The Rebel's 18-55 compares to 29-88 on the S7000, that wide is what the S7000 can only do with a wideangle converter. Take notice of that when you compare features and choose lenses.
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01/10/2004 01:06:31 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Azrifel:
The lens on the S7000 is a fixed zoom lens. You cannot take it off like dSLR and SLR lenses. The lenses the salesman mentioned are lenses that you attach to the fixed zoom lens. There are two types of those, wide-angleconverters and teleconverters.
The pro of these converters is that they are a cheap way to get good wideangle or telezoom reach (28mm wide or 350 to 380mm tele).
The downside is that they are extra elements in front of the fixed zoom lens. The more glass you put in front of the fixed lens, the worse the image quality gets. There is a huge difference in teleconver makes but they all increase the distortions of the fixed lens and increase chromatic abberations (sometimes dramatically), especially in the corners. Even the Olympus TCON-17 that I use and that is seen as one of the best.
The other downside, especially with teleconverters is that they limit the zoom range of your lens. You can only use it zoomed out. As soon as you zoom back in too much you will start to see the edges of the teleconverter in the image (dark, grey corners) up to the point where you will see the whole tube as a round frame around your image.
You cannot swap the teleconverter so fast like you can swap a dSLR lens. Teleconverters on the Fuji's are screwed onto an adaptor ring. Unscrewing it takes some time, especially if you want to replace a filter as well.
I thought that I could live with this, but I hate it. In the zoo or at a motorcycle race for example you always want both. Wideangle and moderate zoom for closeby animals/people/objects and the large tele of the converter for distant object. You will soon find yourself screwing the thing on and off all the time, missing photo opportunities because either the animal got to close or walked away again. Imagine this with kids.
Most of the time you can not put a filter like a polarizer, UV, etc on the converters and because they use huge curved front lens elements they are prone to lens flares.
I assume that you know how dSLR lenses work when it comes to this kind of stuff. You can use the whole zoom range of your chosen lens all the time and once you get used to them you can swap a lens in ten to twenty seconds. Most of them take filters and lenshoods, less flares and more control. No corners cut off.
On the current Canon consumer dSLR's a 70-200 lens works like a 112-320. So even a lens like that covers a fair bit of the range of the 210mm eqv lens of a S7000. The Rebel's 18-55 compares to 29-88 on the S7000, that wide is what the S7000 can only do with a wideangle converter. Take notice of that when you compare features and choose lenses. |
Wow, Azrifel! Thanks a bunch. Super advice. I didn't know how the lenses for the 7000 would work. I can see by your explanation that I wouldn't have the patience for screwing around (pun intended) with the lenses for the 7000. Your point about the extra glass causing distortions and things is good to know, also. My knowledge of this stuff is quite limited. I've only ever owned a p&s camera so this would be a whole new thing for me. I don't mind learning though. I like to learn by playing around and noting the differences in the pictures.
Your advice is great. Thank you SO much!! You've really convinced me that the Fuji is not a good choice for me.
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01/13/2004 06:05:33 PM · #8 |
ban, just curious what you like about the Nikon D100? Why not a Canon?
Because I like the pictures I've seen with the D100. I am impressed with most pics with DSLR's but the D100 shots that I've seen just have stuck in my mind more for some reason....Some of that of course can be the photographer, but many of the people I've known that have been able to make the DSLR change have gone with the D100 and foregone the equally priced Canon 10D or the Rebel. No change is on the immediate horizon for me and by then the market will have changed again. Nikon D70 is coming and may include a lense for under 1K. Who knows what I will do?
Good luck on your decesion and let us all know what you think of your Rebel when you get it! RoB |
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