Fuji S5 Pro or another Nikon D200?

[george_paulides]

OK, firstly I am somewhat price sensitive since I do not earn a living from photography ﾖ it is a passion. I already

have a D200 and I am looking at adding another body (I do not necessarily need the better D300 features over &

above that compared to the D200). Here, in Australia the Fuji S5 Pro seems to be in run-out mode (big price

reductions ﾖ EOL?). I can pick up a new body for around $1000. The D200 would be $850 more and the D300 well

over double the price of the Fuji. I tend to shoot people quite a bit ﾖ family weddings/christenings/the kids as well as

landscapes and architecture.

 

I know the menu system is different to that of the Nikons (I do not mind so much since once it is set up I do not tend

to play with the parameters too much). The Fuji also seems to shine when it comes to people photography. The

dynamic range and high ISO performance appear to be very good also (close to a D300?).

 

Would a S5 complement the D200 (based on the inherit strengths/weakness of each) or should I fork out more

dollars for another D200 instead? I would be interested to hear from any S5 Pro/D200 owners?

[eric_arnold]

that seems like a good price, although the D200 is now under $1000 US new here in this country at some places.

 

the fuji has better dynamic range, the d200 is faster and has better AF. plenty of people use both. since they share lens mounts, bodies, batteries, and memory cards, yes, they are complimentary.

 

if you already have a "fast" camera and you're not shooting sports, go for the S5. if they were that cheap over these parts i might get one myself.

[walterh]

George in most parts of Australia you will have lots of sun and shade = high dynamic range of outdoor light

intensities. The Fuji will give you an advantage there just like Eric suggested.The real winner in this respect

would be the new D700 but you will need to go for a long flight to pick one up ^^.

 

BTW: For landscapes you might give HRD imaging a try with images from your D200. Not a replacement for a better

camera but worth a thought for some occasions.

[lester_hawksby1]

I've used both, love the S5 to death, and think it's absurdly cheap at its present price if the reductions where you are are as good as they are here in the UK (proportionally speaking). It's a great buy at the moment.

 

The S5's supposed "reduced speed" is really not all that big a deal unless you are a sports motor-drive fiend - and since you have a 200 anyway you're not missing the capability. If you mostly shoot "semiauto" (clicking fingers) it's as responsive as its illustrious parent. The smaller histogram and rather different menu layout (not actually bad, just rather not like Nikon - what on earth were they thinking?) are a bit of a pain - on the other hand, once it's set up right you can leave most things there.

 

If you love tones, buy one soon as you can. The tones, shadow and highlight detail, noise, and DR are all great. If you obsess over per-pixel sharpness as seen on screen at 100%, you might not be satisfied. It records a lot of detail and produces fantastic prints, but it's quite hard to get a 12mp image out of it that looks sharp at 100%. It can be done, but it took me a while and it's rather more exacting than really necessary for printing (per-pixel sharpness being a bit of a strange subjective measure). (Give me a shout if you want to know my tactics for this).

 

Don't buy Fuji's raw converter. It can give awesome tonal results but using it is pretty painful - and s7raw is easier, sharper and free (but I don't trust the NR). On the other hand, the 6mp JPEGs straight out of the camera are so good that it's very frequently not necessary to spend time with the RAWs at all, which is quite an advance over just about any other camera I've tried.

[trunfio]

I'd go with the D200 if I were price sensitive and cannot go for the D300.

[george_paulides]

I would have thought that the AF system of the S5 & the D200 are the same in performance? - I may be wrong.

 

I believe also that with the S5 you can also shoot in B&W mode in camera as well. I also like (as mentioned above) that JPEGs out of the camera are very good.

 

Yes it is a good bargain at the moment. It appears that in the US the price is still high relative to a D200.

[lester_hawksby1]

I've never seriously tested (and don't have access to a 200 now), but I believe AF speed is the same. It's certainly pretty fast.

 

I've not tried the Fuji's in-camera B&W either. Sorry, I'm not that much help there! The in-camera JPEGs are really good though, saving a lot of effort in some circumstances. If I'm doing anything serious I shoot raw too, but frequently find that I only really *need* the raws for a few shots. For less serious shoots or ones with a large number of frames I usually don't bother with raw on this camera, and the results are generally still tonally as good as I'd have got with any other camera and full raw fiddling.

 

According to dpreview's tests, the dynamic range is stops better than even the newest Nikons. (see

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms5pro/page18.asp

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond300/page20.asp

 

and even

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonD3/page20.asp

 

) - I've not yet had the opportunity to test any of these, but certainly the S5 is leaps and bounds better than the 10mp and 6mp Nikons for dynamic range. As for noise, the new generation probably beat it but it's better than anything earlier - and when it does show, it's not particularly offensive (colour blotches are well suppressed, so it doesn't look objectionable in prints). On the other hand, the D200 and higher models all beat it for detail.

 

It has a subtle colour quality which I haven't seen on anything else either. It's like, I don't know, that moment in the film days when I first started shooting Provia slides rather than generic Kodak colour tourist print film. Even the automatic white balance is alarmingly good.

[george_paulides]

Thanks Lester and all who contributed. I may be soon posting pictures up here with a new S5.

[randall_ackerman]

Good choice, George. I was looking at the D200, S5, and looked into the D300 as well. My (new) S5 arrived just yesterday, but I have to admit that look at the D300 was a long one. I'm pleased with my eventual decision but can see a D300 alongside the S5 in the future.

 

I wish I could have found a new S5 for $1000. though! :-)

[theo_vermeulen]

Hi George

 

I live in Australia too but can't find such a great price on the Fuji S5 of around AU$1000. Where is it available at that price? I'd love to pick up one! :)

 

Thank you!

 

Theo