Fuji S1 vs Canon Digital Rebel

[jmoody]

Though he hasn't given the actual go ahead (nor mentioned price), one

of my cousins has talked about maybe selling me his Fuji S1 pro. I'd

already more or less talked myself into buying a Canon Digital Rebel,

& now I'm stuck!

 

Any thoughts on which might be a better buy? I've used the S1 once or

twice and like it a lot... however, I'm not thrilled at the battery

situation (as opposed to a more simply rechargeble like the Rebel),

and I'm not sure what to think about the megapixels (3.4 on the S1

that translate into max of 6.3? Is there any quality difference in a

camera like the Rebel that starts at 6.3?)

 

Anyway, this is likely a very broad question to which I'll

hear "depends on the price", "depends on what you use the camera for"

etc... If anyone has any gut instincts or real preferences though,

I'd love to hear them. Thanks in advance

[paq]

depends on price and useage :)

 

seriously, though

 

the 3.4 of the S1 is in a honeycomb shape, so they 'say' that it can produce a great 6.1mp picture, but in reality, it's more like using a 3.4mp image and photoshopping it up to 6.1

 

if you need a sharper, cleaner 6MP image, get the canon. iso 100-1600, all pretty clean and useable.

 

if you are getting a great price on the fuji, then take it, but only if you have several nikon lenses as it's a nikon mount. if he's selling lenses and camera, then ok...

 

personally, i'd buy the canon. batteries are CHEEAAPP from ebay, like $10/each for replacements, i carry three that can last me through several days of shooting..

 

if it was the S2 pro, it would be a harder decision for me, the foveon sensor is amazing, but the S1 just seems to interpolate the image up to 6mp size, which isn't something i would use often.

 

soo, my gut feeling is that, unless you get a great price on the S1, then go with the canon or even the nikon d70

[steve_muntz]

The S2 doesn't have a Foveon sensor... The interpolated jpeg setting on the Fuji (referring to my S2) can give you great results and I have some big prints to prove it. I've come to the conclusion that it's not necessary though. I shoot in the native (6mp in my case) resolution and upsize later if needed. I can't see how upsizing everything in the camera would do anything other than cut half your compact flash card capacity! I would guess that the situation would be the same with the S1 with lower resolution. Resolution itself isn't everything though. If you shoot in low light/high ISO, you might want to take a look at samples taken with those two and the D70 to see what you think.

 

I guess first I'd ask if you have any Nikon or Canon lenses, flash, etc. If you do have some gear and are happy with it, then I'd buy the body that will work with those accessories. If it were Nikon (or Fuji), I'd take a hard look at the D70 before I put out the "fair" price on an S1.

[._._z]

What brand/mount lenses do you have so far?

[loreneidahl]

Based solely on your post- the Canon Digital rebel is better than the Fuji S1.

 

My personal preference is Nikon, but for you the best tool might be a Canon.

 

However if you have Nikon lenses than I would "possibly" consider the Fuji S1.

 

If you have neither Canon or Nikon lenses, then get the Canon.

[peter_phan]

There are a lot of negatives with the S1 Pro. It is truly a bare-bones DSLR, lacking many features and capabilities that are taken for granted, compared to the Digital Rebel.

 

The S1 isn't compatible with any electronic "sonic" motor lenses such as Nikon AF-S (Silent Wave) or Sigma HSM (Hypersonic Motor) lenses. If you use these lenses on the S1 Pro, you'll have to manually focus them. The S1 Pro doesn't have the electronic contacts or programming to work these electronic focusing lenses. The Canon Digital Rebel, on the other hand, works perfectly fine with all Canon USM (Ultrasonic Motor) lenses, as well as Sigma HSM lenses.

 

The S1 isn't compatible with Nikon's Vibration Reduction (VR) lenses, either. The Digital Rebel is 100% compatible with all Canon lenses, including all of their Image Stabilizer (IS) lenses.

 

The S1 only has matrix metering (except for center-weighted metering in Manual mode). The Digital Rebel has the same, except it also has partial metering.

 

The S1 has an ISO range of only 320-1600. The Digital Rebel has an ISO range of 100-1600. There will be times when having a lower ISO speed is valuable (like in bright light or for lower image noise).

 

The S1's fastest shutter speed is only 1/2000. This could be a problem in some situations (like in bright light when shooting at larger apertures), especially since its lowest ISO is only ISO 320. The Digital Rebel has a max shutter speed of 1/4000.

 

The S1 can't shoot RAW. It only shoots TIFF or JPEG. I don't know anyone who shoots TIFF. And you probably won't want to shoot TIFF on the S1 very often because it creates bloated 17MB files! On a DSLR, you want to have RAW and JPEG.

 

The S1 has slow, lackluster autofocus. The S1 gets its autofocus (and body) from the long-discontinued Nikon N60. The Digital Rebel has a much better, more up-to-date autofocus system.

 

The S1 has a primitive TTL flash system. Canon's flash system does auto-reduction fill flash, flash value lock, FP high speed sync flash, and wireless TTL flash with multiple flash units. When you attach a flashgun on the S1, the S1's hotshoe won't even allow the flash gun to auto zoom the flash head to match your lens's focal length! If you use a zooming flash, you'll have to zoom the head manually.

 

The S1 uses multiple batteries. On the Digital Rebel, all you need is one compact BP-511 lithium ion rechargeable.

 

The S1 is bigger and bulkier than the Digital Rebel, thanks to its cumbersome battery arrangement. The Digital Rebel is much more compact. And if you want the Digital Rebel to be bigger, you can add the optional vertical grip/battery pack. That's something you can't do on the S1.

 

As you can see, you're much, much better off getting a Digital Rebel rather than a Fuji S1 Pro. The Fuji S1 simply has too many drawbacks compared to current offerings.

[jmoody]

Thank you all for the advice!! I was pretty much leaning toward the Canon anyway due to the ISO abilities, battery, price (just how cheap could the S1 be?), and the megapixels, but wanted to be sure that I wasn't passing up a great opportunity with the Fuji. Thank you again...very very helpful!