Fuji Finepix S9500

[treeve]

Hello .. this is my first posting;
I have been "into" photography since I was 10, when I was bequeathed the sum of £10 when my grandfather died. I bought a Digna Dacora. Worked my way through various cameras, including Regulette and Voigtlander Vitesse; got into SLR via Zenith B, two actually, saved swapping lenses, very useful on building sites, as it just mattered not one wit if it was dropped (or even lost), and they were dropped on many an occasion without the slightest damage internally. For creative work I used a Pentax - model escapes me, I gave it away as the Sigma 70-300mm lens got stuck and unusable, and got an Olympus OM10 and a Nikon F2, with F2SB Photomic Finder DP-3 and 500mm f8 reflex lens. All manner of lenses and tubes, bellows etc. This became rather a massive amount of stuff to carry around.
At 65, I found that retail therapy was part of passing through a massive unwelcome life change, and I bought a Fuji Finepix S9500, as this has 28-300mm lens, and this was my first inroad into digital photography. Subjects that interest me are just about anything, but particulary ships and the sea, fishing vessels and ferries. All manner of moods and weather. Buildings and scenery, cloud formations, moods of the sea, animals, flowers ..... I also use the camera for photographing historical documents at Records Offices. I have taken 35,000 images in this way (and more to be taken), let alone the pictures on holday and of harbour scenes and ships. I also have a Kodak V550 as it is so portable.
I have a two pronged query on the Fuji camera.
a] I have noticed that focusing can be irritating and slow, and is often not as resolved and as sharp as it used to be. Particularly for shots in very bright sunlight. I have had the camera for a year. It never was that fast that instant focus could be obtained (but then I was used to the Nikon, which was point, focus and frame all in one action). Is it possible that focusing action is deteriorating? Is focusing better/quicker on other digital cameras?
b] I am happy with the one lens as it suits my need for quick change of shot from close up to wide, instead of fiddling in the bag and then removing and attaching. I would like to know of anyones views on this camera and its lens, and if they have any suggestions as to a recommended alternative camera. I have a limited budget, but I am off to Egypt next year, and I do not want to come home with a lot of pictures of less than desirable quality. I took 1500 on my holiday in Crete and Santorini, and there were around thirty which had not focused. Am I too fussy, am I expecting too much? It may be that I have not explored all of the settings that are available. I certainly cannot afford some of the cameras on the street at over £800. I have six 1Gb XD cards for the Fuji, a necessity.
Best Wishes

[greypoint]

Difficult to say if you have a problem with the actual camera. Sending it to Fuji for testing might be an option but, if it's out of warranty, that might be costly [see the thread about the S3Pro]. It may be that as you've got more into the swing of using it, it's limitations with regard to speed of focussing etc. are becoming more noticeable to you. I remember the S9500 had a few reliability problems when it was first released - speaking to someone at a big photographic retailers she told me people had been exchanging them for the earlier S7000.
As you have such a collection of XD cards your options for another camera are limited to Fuji and olympus. Olympus do make a similar long zoom all in one but results from it seemed a bit of a mixed bag. If you could run to 480.00 [the S9500 would be saleable!] then it's still possible to get the Olympus E-400 with two lenses - might even find a cheaper one on Ebay. This is the ultimate travel DSLR - tiny and lightweight compared to others, it's fast become my favourite camera. It would mean changing lenses but the anti dust system means you don't have to worry about getting stuff on the sensor [taking the usual care]. I think you'd be impressed with 'from camera' results and the camera would be far more responsive than a bridge camera.

[treeve]

Thanks for the reply ... having seen in another post of sensors
having to be clean, I have had a careful look at the distance
metering, and they are coated with a layer, probably sea air!
I will give thema clean and see what happens. I may even get
another camera anyway, as well. I still have and use the Nikon
and Olympus (both neg film). My limit for budget would be around
£500. lens changing facility does have the distinct possibility of
adding further lens at a later date, particularly 500mm or more.
Best Wishes and Thank you

Stay focused!!

[treeve]

Having looked at the E400, I came across the SP500, at
around £270, what is the opinion of the Olympus SP500,
I see it has a 500mm zoom (x18) and shake reduction.
7Mb though. Dilemma ... The focusing problem is with
very bright sunshine and for "long shots". May be an answer.

[treeve]

Just been out on a test run after cleaning the sensor screens.
Right into the sunlight and of clouds, etc... all fine again.
Focusing is quick and accurate. Technology moves so fast
in development, who knows what will be available over the
next few months; looking for a body and lens or a zoom camera
that can give me 500mm zoom or more for a figure I can afford
to go with the cameras I have. I have been told of multipliers
which can be added to the front end of a lens, any thoughts?

[Joe]

Hi Treeve,

There's plenty of 'add-on' screw teleconvertors that'll fit on the front of your current Fuji. It's probably the cheapest option...around £100-150 will get you one of the better ones.

If you're wanting something with better image quality, so would prefer not to use an 'add-on' lens with your current camera, don't limit yourself to Olympus or Fuji due to the card compactability....There's adapters available (between £15-30) to fit your selection of xD cards into a CompactFlash sized module. The module can then be used in DSLR's that take CompactFlash.
It's not an ideal solution in terms of process speed (if you want to shoot rapid mode, there can be a delay processing the images)....but it does open up the world of Canon!....with more than one or two Nikons also taking CompactFlash.
Secondhand opens up more possibilties...quite a few of the older DSLR's Canon 300D, Nikon D70, with a 500mm mirror lens for example, should give you plenty of change from £500.
Just some ideas I thought I'd share with you

Good luck hunting

[treeve]

That is very helpful Joe, thank you.
I suppose it would be too much to expect that the mounting
set up for the Reflex-Nikkor 500mm lens I have can be fitted
to a DSLR? I will have a look for the options you have mentioned.
Best Wishes

[Joe]

treeve, thinking about it some more...don't throw away your Nikkor lens just yet!...
I asked a similar question a while ago,along the lines of "I got manual lenses, which can fit an older Nikon with the right adapter..but"
here's the link;
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=1840

I got some very good answers from the folks on here.
In summary, something like a D70 will be fine...but you'll have no metering...something like the D100, D200, D1,D1x,D2 etc etc I believe will have the metering.
The 5.7 megapixel D1x is around £400 at the cheapest S/H price I've seen...Not the highest megapixel DSLR around, but really quick. (it's a pro spec body, based on the Film F5 counterpart, so there's some really battered ones around, as well as good well looked after ones)
Interestingly, D100's tend to fetch the same sort of money. I believe these also use CompactFlash cards. However, D40,D50 and D80's are no go as they use SD cards.(which you can't get xD adapters for)
The D1x is one I would possibly like to get my hands on some time in the future, for the same reasons as you.

hope this helps

[Joe]

One other thing I just remembered...
Some of the high end Nikons also have interchangeable focus screens....so manual focusing can be made easier by putting in a split screen or microprism screen, as your F2 and OM10 would have had, as apposed to the blank AF ones fitted as standard in digi bodies these days.... This is something Jacky and I have found when using her Canon eos digi body (with a fixed/ non-interchangeable AF 'blank' focusing screen) with my old manual lenses!

I think the Pentax digi bodies also have interchangeable screens, but unfortunately I think they all use SD cards (did an early one use CompactFlash?). The nikkor wont fit a Pentax digi body anyway.

If I remember anything else I'll post, but I'm sure there's other's who offer up their thoughts too.

good luck

[treeve]

That is brilliant; the Nikkor could not be metered, in any case on the F2.
It was a matter of working out the exposure with a hand held meter,
and making the shutter speed to suit. I have a Weston meter, very
old and very reliable. DSLRs have a setting for "film speed" equivalent.
Well, my Fuji Finepix does. I don't feel like getting away from the Nikkor
just yet. Many thanks again.