Write Times of an S2 Pro

[Hand of Ike]

I am about to go into digital photography and I am finding myself torn between the S2 Pro and a Nikon D100.

The S2 seems a lot of camera for the money and just about pips it for Image Quality - plus as the D100 has no B&W mode and cannot go TTL with my SB-24 The S2 seems to be the more atractive ...... here are my queries tho'

I have heard the the S2 writes from the buffer to the memory significantly slower than the D100 and the files sizes seems to be larger for the S2 also only 27 Images to a 1Gig card (at top quality) I know that the S2's top Image setting goes to 12.something million so that is why but the equivalent S2 setting to the Nikons top setting only gives 87 to Nikons 107 is this true or are the settings non comparable.

Next issue is compatablity of the Fuji with my iMac - will they talk to each other or will I need a media reader?

Lastly - The S2 I can get for very good money comes with a 17 - 35mm Lens (Sigma) and a IBM 1Gig Microdrive, are these memory cards as bad and unreliable as I have been reading?

Many thanks for reading

Paul.

[Bill C]

Paul - I'm sure you will get quite a few responses, but here's a couple of quick comments ....
At full resolution the S2 should get 75 or 76 pics per 1GB card (not the 27 you stated) ...
As far as write times - a lot of variables go into that of course...resolution, how quickly you are filling up the buffer. I suggest you do a search on these forums as this has been discussed before. Here is a link to one of those discussions:
http://www.theswampbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=744&highlight=write+times+flash
Regards,
Bill

[Swampy]

You shouldn't have any problems with the MAC, however, everyone will strongly recommend getting a card reader anyway regardless of whether you're on a MAC or PC.

Bill is right. 75-76 RAW images on a gig card, 27-28 in TIFF mode, 208 in highest quality JPG mode. This may be what your problem is. You're comparing the D100's RAW format write times with the S2's TIFF write times. There is no reason to go with TIFF. Either RAW or highest JPG. TIFF doesn't do anything for you over JPEG other than no compression. RAW will give you more lattitude for adjusting images after you shoot them.

The S2 really does blow the D100 away in all of our opinions, whether it be the higher res that you can get (reviewers estimate about a true 9 megapixel output when shooting in 12mp mode, at least a comparible 9mp output anyway). Or possibly the more ergonomic controls (much easier to control the camera over the D100)... Or many of the other features.

Again, I'm sure more people will reply, but I think we solved your slow write speed problem down. :)

[Igor]

Paul,
I've never tried the D100, but I trust Bryan's opinion.
I LOVE my S2 and I'm sure you will love it too when you start shooting with it. Most of users on this site (almost 1,000 of them!) will confirm our words I'm sure.

[Hand of Ike]

Thanks for the replies - keep em coming I need all the info I can get as this is a large investment for me.

I must say that practically everyone I have spoken to prefers the S2, the Nikon holds interest for me as I am a current Nikon user and the battery life is also a big plus sign.

I am leaning way towards the S2 now especially as for around the same money that I can get a D100 + 1Gig MicroDrive I can add a Sigma 17-35mm lens (which I will be able to use at full 17mm on my F80!!!) with the S2 - this coupled with the image quality - some the shots I have seen in the forums on this sight (especially a picture of a female body builder in B&W, breatht takeing!!), Make it look a clear winner.

A couple of add on questions - I am right in thinking that the S2 has a PC socket for strobe flash?

And can I use my SB-24 flash with my SC-17 TTL sync lead?

Thanks again for your help.

Paul

[Swampy]

Originally posted by Hand of Ike
I am right in thinking that the S2 has a PC socket for strobe flash?

And can I use my SB-24 flash with my SC-17 TTL sync lead?

Thanks again for your help.

The S2 does have a PC socket and you can use the SB-24 on top of the camera on the Hotshoe or with the SC-17, both in TTL mode.

Battery life doesn't seem to be an issue with the S2 over the D100. The D100 uses a proprietary rechargeable, the S2 uses standard AA's and CR123's. You can get rechargable AA's and shoot no on-board flash (but with your SB-24 if flash is needed) without the CR123's. Now you're on a rechargable system and, if they run down, you don't have to run to the nearest AC outlet to charge, you just pop in some Energizers or what have you and keep on going. But a good set of rechargables will last you for the day at least under normal conditions. A set of AA's usually lasts me 2 weeks shooting 40 shots a day average.

[sandman]

Paul
If you go into the old town , just where the one way starts ,you have one of the best digital camera shops in the U.K. with a pretty knowledgable staff , why not check them out . DIGITAL DEPOT. you proberbly know about them , but just in case ...
i come up often to buy cards and things.

Brian

[Hand of Ike]

Brain,

I went there but they didn't have any S2's in stock I tried a D100 and was quite impressed - I'll just have to wait until they get some in (but that may be too late as I want to get one ASAP!).

I think that with what has been said I will end up regreting not getting an S2, it does seem the camera in this price bracket of choice - Can't wait to get this all sorted and get out there shooting with it!!

Thanks again all for your replies

Paul

[GaryB]

I can recommend the S2, but can't compare it to a D100 not having tried one. I personally would steer well clear of microdrives, having had read errors on two different ones. I use Sandisk Ultra 1Gb cards which seem to work well.

Gary

[easternherp]

Originally posted by GaryB
I can recommend the S2, but can't compare it to a D100 not having tried one. I personally would steer well clear of microdrives, having had read errors on two different ones. I use Sandisk Ultra 1Gb cards which seem to work well.

Gary
Hi Gary,

Where do you get the 1Gb Sandisk cards from and what price are they?

[GaryB]

Easternherp,

Mine came from www.warehouseexpress.com. They are about to change to Ultra II so the Ultras are £199 at the moment - Grab one while you can!

Gary

[Hand of Ike]

Thanks for all your advice guys - I've made my mind up I'm going to get an S2 Pro I have tested a friend of a friends and the image quality is superb + the menu system is great really easy to use...

... in all areas I am finding myself ticking more boxes for the S2 rather than the D100, B&W mode, TTL Flash, ISO100, Pc Socket, Firewire ... etc the camera is amazing.

So order will be placed next week... I will hopefully be posting some images etc to the forum and keeping in touch.

On the memory card side of things I am going to have to see how the Microdrive goes as I am getting a package deal that has Camera, 17-35mm lens, 1Gig card, Battery pack and card reader for a really attractive price - if needed I will upgrade to a CF at a later point.

One last question, the Smart Media socket - can it be used at the same time as the CF socket? And once the image is taken or when the image is on board can I select where the file goes or move files between cards. Ideally I would like to shoot RAW to the Microdrive for pro style images and Jpeg to a 256Mg SmartMedia card as snap shots, any thoughts?

Paul

[Igor]

Paul,
you can switch between the cards via main setup menu.
You must select BEFORE taking the shot though.

I use the SM card for backup mostly. When I run out the space on the CF I always have 20 backup shots left :)

[Wichita Wayne]

I believe that the D100 produces pictures at its lowest ISO that contain the most noise of any DSLR on the market. On the other hand the S2 makes pictures with the lowest noise. This fact alone made me choose the S2 over the D100.

The 1 GB microdrive in the S2 is plenty fast enough and will hold nearly 80 RAW files. If you store the files as TIFF files then you will probably get less than 30, but nobody I know ever uses TIFF mode. It just does not make sense when a 12 MP TIFF file is twice as big as a 12 MP RAW file. I have also noticed that the TIFF storage takes longer than RAW. This might be the reason you have heard that the S2 is slow to write to the microdrive. If you want to use that high of resolution then it is much more efficient to store the smaller RAW files on the microdrive and do a conversion to TIFF (or JPG) with your computer. If you want to the Fuji software will do the conversion for you automatically (with camera settings) during the Automatic Save function.

[Ol'coot]

Paul,

I am new to the S2 only been using mine since xmas but I did purchase a new 1 GB IBM Microdrive to use with it. Prior to the S2 I had a Minolta Dimage 7 with another IGB IBM Microdrive. Not one complaint, it has worked flawless since August of 2001 and have taken several thousand of shots, I am keeping the older microdrive as a backup and for additional use when traveling. One things that is different from me and a lot of the other people posting here is that is I am not a pro and if the drive did fail I would be upset over the loss of my photos but it would not be anywhere close to the nightmare of loosing someones wedding photos. With the current price of $149.00 US the microdrive was lot of bang for my buck.

[VA_Shooter]

Paul,

You have made a very good decision. You will not regret your purchase of the S2. The gentleman in the office right next to mine at work is a professional portrait photographer who raves about his D100...gave up film 3 years ago and sold all of his Hasselblads and Mamiyas because the "D100 [is] tremendous...so much sharper than film". He has yet to show me a file that is better than anything that can be done with an S2. No comparison between the two cameras. Put good glass on the front of it and you'll never be disappointed.