Advice for Hopeful S2 owner

[Matthewob]

Hi all,
I have been reading alot of reviews and post about the S2 and thought I had made my decision for the S2. I have read some of the S2's strengths are a sharp clear image with exceptional color. My excitement has dropped off as I have read many posts on this site which talk about all the focusing problems with the S2. I am not a professional, but a father who is tired of getting off color pictures of his kids from my olympus 3030 especially the skin tones. I intend to put the time into learning the camera, but I am sure I will rely on a certain amount of 'automatic' settings'. While I don't want a simple 'point and shoot' I do want a camera that I can 'point', 'focus' (either automatically or manually), an 'shoot'. My expectation is that the camera will give me, for the most part, a sharp and in focus photo. Is not the case with the S2.? I know to get spectacular photos requires expeirence and knowlegde which over time I hope to acquire, but in the mean time, I want to take better, more 'true' colored images than my present camera offers.

Please help I really want to upgrade but the price tag is hefty for a camera with a significant focusing problem.
Is this a digital thing? Would the D100 have the same problem? (From everything else i've read the S2 seems superior to the D100 in image quality)

Thanks,
Matthew

[lightwrangler]

I don't have any problem with focus, although I realize that there have been legit concerns about that. I really like the S2, it's a fine camera and the images, provided you are using good lenses, are spectacular.

That being said, I wonder if you have considered other cameras. I regularly use an Olympus E10 when shooting family and recreational shots, the S2 is a mitt full to carry around especially with lenses. I find the colour on the Oly to be quite good. Other cameras to consider are the Minolta D'Image, Nikon's 5000 and Fuji's DSLR line (can't remember the number at this moment).

Don't get me wrong, if you are ok with the size and expense of a S2, then I think that it is the best deal out there in it's category. However, if all you want is good snapshots and the ability to manually control your shots, the cameras above will do that in a much smaller and more handy package. There is plenty of "learning" room in these cameras.

[Paula]

Hello,
This is my 1st post to this forum. I'm a wedding photographer and I just purchased the S2 (2 weeks ago) as a back up camera to my Nikon D1x.
Well, I used the S2 on Friday's wedding

Jennifer and Michael's Wedding Day (www.photosbypaula.com/sears_wedding.htm)

and I love the S2! So much in fact that I may very well sell my D1x for another S2 as back up. Wonderful skin tones and no flash problems (inconsistensies) like I have with the D1x. Also, I have had "back focus" issues with the D1x and none with the S2.

The only thing that holds me back is the flash sync on the S2 1/125 as opposed to the flash sync on the D1x 1/500. I shoot a lot of beach weddings and that is my only reservation.

For now, the S2 will be my primary camera and the D1x will sit in my bag as back up.

~Paula

[Swampy]

Originally posted by Paula
Hello,
This is my 1st post to this forum. I'm a wedding photographer and I just purchased the S2 (2 weeks ago) as a back up camera to my Nikon D1x.
Well, I used the S2 on Friday's wedding

Jennifer and Michael's Wedding Day (www.photosbypaula.com/sears_wedding.htm)

and I love the S2! So much in fact that I may very well sell my D1x for another S2 as back up. Wonderful skin tones and no flash problems (inconsistensies) like I have with the D1x. Also, I have had "back focus" issues with the D1x and none with the S2.


Paula,

Welcome! There's a lot of good people here that are full of information about the S2 and accessories. You'll enjoy the information here I'm sure.

Wierd that your url shows up with .com at the end and isn't a hyperlink. Anyway, I did get to it at http://photosbypaula.com/sears_wedding.htm and looks like you did a great job!

The backfocus issue seems to be a problem in manufacturing, so it woudl seem to me. I had a similar problem with my very old S2, but I sent it back and they gave me a new camera that was about 25,000 newer in the serial number than the original. Everything is great now! (see my hummingbird pictures in the gallery here under nature>animals).

Bryan

[Paula]

Thanks Bryan,
I look forward to frequenting this board! :)

~Paula

[Swampy]

Originally posted by Matthewob
Hi all,
I have been reading alot of reviews and post about the S2 and thought I had made my decision for the S2. I have read some of the S2's strengths are a sharp clear image with exceptional color. My excitement has dropped off as I have read many posts on this site which talk about all the focusing problems with the S2. I intend to put the time into learning the camera, but I am sure I will rely on a certain amount of 'automatic' settings'. While I don't want a simple 'point and shoot' I do want a camera that I can 'point', 'focus' (either automatically or manually), an 'shoot'. My expectation is that the camera will give me, for the most part, a sharp and in focus photo. Is not the case with the S2.?

Matthew,

You may have read my recent posts on the S2 where I was experiencing focusing problems which turned out to be quite the discussion. It was a bad camera. It was so old, that it was even on the recall list with an electrical problem (that I never did experience). Anyway, as I posted above, Ritz Camera got me a new one, no waiting, no down time. Now, my photos are coming out extremely sharp. In fact, I'll just post the link to the gallery where I posted a recent picture... http://www.s2pro.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=166&size=big&papass=&sort=1&thecat=503

Actually, that was a bad crop and I don't even know why I posted it with the tail cut off, but, it's sharp none the less. I shot 1000 pictures and couldn't get a sharp picture like this and with the replacement, they're all pretty much razor sharp. I do take a lot of pictures in automatic to semi-automatic mode and it does well with the right lens. I wasn't very happy with the Nikkor 24-120mm lens, but I should borrow that one again and try it out since I got a replacement camera. But my nikkor 80-200mm and my Sigma 24-70mm perform perfectly for me.

Don't let the focus issues get you down here, these were almost all older cameras where it seems they must of had some quality control issues during that manufacturing time period. I would guess that there were only 4 or 5 people here with focusing issues at the most, but a few hundred extremely happy people. You're bound to get a bad apple once in a while, like the D1x above with her back focus issue. I know a guy at work who has the D1x that has no problems at all with it.

Anyway, worth the money if you want to get serious into photography and have the money. I'm not a professional, and I'm really happy I spent the money.

Bryan

[Matthewob]

Bryan, I thiink I sent you a similar post as a 'private message' but I'm not sure so I posted again here- again thanks for your previous comments -

...I saw on a recent dpreview post that someone was having problem focusing on landscapes. The suggestion was to use a tripod. Do you find this to be the case? I'm assuming based on your previous comments that the answere should me "no" but I want to make sure. I know that certain shots require a tripod, but I need a camera that I can pick up and take a candid of my children with out any real special treatment. Do you think the S2 is particularly sensitive to the "shakes". I've never had any problem with my Olympus 3030 or a film based Canon EOS.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Matthew

[Swampy]

Originally posted by Matthewob
Bryan, I thiink I sent you a similar post as a 'private message' but I'm not sure so I posted again here- again thanks for your previous comments -

I got the private msg and replied back to it. Since you posted here, I'll paste my private reply back so people are left hanging out here. :P

Aboslutely not to the should use a tripod to get a sharp picture. I mean, every little bit helps, but, I don't use a tripod for all of my shots. In fact, I'm usually in a very stressed state when I've taken many of my pictures. Take a look at my S2 portion of my website. http://theswampbbs.com/s2 . Under the "Highlights" photo section, only 3 of the pictures taken there were on a tripod, the humming bird and obviously the dark two pictures of the tree and the bulding at night.

The other four shots are handheld. The two on the right were taken in the most stressed state...I have my S2 with a neck strap around my neck in front with my 80-200mm nikkor. I've got a backpack that also has a waist strap that I use to secure the lens to my stomach. This is how I carry my camera while I'm MOUNTAIN BIKING. So, I'm doing about 25-30mph downhill for about 15 minutes, huffing and puffing up a few smaller hills...I ran across this coyote, slammed on my brakes, slide off the bike while it was still going slightly, popped the stomach strap and started taking pictures. So those are hand held, I'm out of breath, my leg muscles are beat to hell (I had already been riding for about 5 hours) and they still came out sharp.

It is true that some lenses are harder to handle and get a decent shot, like maybe a 300 or 400mm being hand held, but, as you can see, my 80-200mm (which was actually 300mm on the S2) is taking sharp pictures. All the the photos at Chino Hills were hand held. Mind you, I've only got one trip out there since I replaced my old S2 that had the backfocus issue, but there's some sharp pictures. The humming bird set was all on a tripod. Take a look and tell me hand held can't produce a sharp image on the S2. :)

Hope this helps!

Bryan

[memobug]

Originally posted by Paula

The only thing that holds me back is the flash sync on the S2 1/125 as opposed to the flash sync on the D1x 1/500. I shoot a lot of beach weddings and that is my only reservation.


Try a 2-stop neutral density filter just for this purpose. It will let you open the aperture (or extend the shutter) a combination of two stops. This will let you remain at 1/125.

Of course you will need a strong flash, but it since you are probably just using it for fill, you should be okay.

Regards,

Matt

[Matthewob]

Yes, your post helps alot. These forum are great but its easy to to be swayed for the wrong reasons. I'm glad to see that your focusing problems are a thing of the past and that only a handful of S2's seem to have the problem. To your knowledge have the focusing problems that you initially experienced been addressed by Fuji or are there still problem cameras being shipped?
Matthew

[Swampy]

Originally posted by Matthewob
To your knowledge have the focusing problems that you initially experienced been addressed by Fuji or are there still problem cameras being shipped?
Matthew

It appears that it's an old problem frlom a year ago with early production models. I would say that if your serial number is past the 20,000 mark, you should be ok. It just seems that a lot of people were initially complaining about soft focus and no focus issues, but that all went away for the most part as the older models got fixed or replaced. Some "soft focus" issues are still around, but they are few and far between and are usually the end users fault. :)

Bryan