k_michael

I have the auto prism but not the manual. I found that the extra added weight made it a pain ot carry around. Plus, focus is easier with a larger viewing area, so the waist level is the way to go for me.

 

Be careful with exposure using the AE prism. Don't trust all that stuff that Mam says about how it goes from segmented to spot when it detects a 3 difference stop between highlights and shadows. I found that it does get fooled.

Don't take this personally.............but that lens is the worse lens I ever owned in my life. The AFgear went twice and the last time it came back from Cali, the tech left his fingerprint on the inside of the glass. Once I got the lens back from Tokina, I sold it.

 

Most likely, the lens is usable. But the lens itself just does not rate.

I was told in the pat onthis board that the D70 will not work with a DX flash. You have to get the i-TTL flash for it. So who is right and who is wrong?

Funny this question pops up today. Yesterday, I shot an award ceromony with my Fuji S2 Pro. I started having problems with flash synch and immediately whipped out my F100. The F100 saved the day. For some reason, my Fuji S2 decided not to synch with my infrared transmitter. The shots were coming out black. So after this, gues how I fell about my F100? Matter of fact, I recently purchased a used F5 since they go fro around 600 now. The F5 went back because the F100 is so much better. Why return your parachute to the stor if you are still flying?

Worse comes to worse, you'll proably need a new main board. Go to Fuji for this. If the camera is not under warranty, Fuji will charge you 600 bucks for parts and labor.

 

I know...........I've been there. My credit card coverage picked up the tab.

Do yourself a favor and send the camera back to Nikon out in Long Island. It's located in Mellville on Walt Whitman Road. It's close to RT 110. After yo uget of the Souther State, go North on RT 110. I used Phototech on E13st and they gave it back to me broken. Upon returning it to them, they said I broke it again.

 

Phototech is an "authorized" repair facility. But I really don't believe they have what it takes to fix sophisticated digital camera's.

 

I sent the camera back to Nikon and it came back in perfect working order.

It turned out to be defects in both the S2 and the laptop. The laptop recognized 2 out of 4 components when tested through the IEEE 1394.The HP tech found this to be very strange. This was repeated multiple times to assure consistent results.Upon replacement of the motherboard, it recognized 4 out of 4 components. Again, the test was done multiple times. All 4 compnents worked consistently.

 

The S2 had a problem with it's IEEE1394 port. The main board was replaced as well. Turns out the camera problem had to due with a defective original firewire cable that ws supplied with the camera.

From what I understand, it's not the format of JPEG that degrades the image. It's saving after adjustments have been made that cause a loss of info. I guess the best solution is to make the best eposure possible with the camera CCD's dynamic range.

 

Fuji's S3 is suppose to have a broader dynamic range that the S2. HIghlights won't blow out. Therefore, the minimizing post preduction work.

I recently had $1500 worth of repairs done to my Fuji S2. The camera required two new main circuit boards. The first one was installed by an "authorized Fuji service center" that srewed the whole thing up.

 

The second one was installed by Fuji. Both repairs were covered by my extended credit card warranty. The camera is 16 months old. I would think that with repair prices likethis, it's worht having some sort of extra protection. But to my knowledge, none of these warranties are good if the camera is physically damaged by the users negligence, mishandleing or accident.

Where are you getting an 80-200 f/2.8 D lens for 700 bucks?

I can understand your problem and would be tempted to do the same thing. I'm a former auto mechanic and when ever anyting breaks, I fix it myself. Auto mechanics involved welding, soldering, elexrical troubleshooting and a whole lot of other stuff as well.

 

But as far as applying all this knowledge to a digital camera, I don;tthink I would take my chances. I just went through hell and high water with my Fuji S2.I found out that once the camera is opend or a component is replaced, certian circuit breakers inside the unit have to be reset. I know wehre your coming from.............but fixing one of these things is not as simple as it looks. You don't wantto jack the bill up when you have to bring it in for service. 300 to fix the port and 500 to fix what you did? You don't want that, do you?

My Fuji S2 has been back top the shop three times for repair. Next April, I'm on my own. So far, the camera has had $2600 worth of repair work done.

 

I asked a salesman what camera is the most durable. He said the Nikon D1X is probably the most rugged.

If you have doubts about either one of these camera's, I would look for somethng else. Trust your instincts.

I have found out that everyone has their own definition of normal.

Yeah, Fuji did put out some lemons. Tons of stuff on dpreview about the 32 series.

Depends to if you're doing B&W or color.

Considereing all you used was a shoe mounted flash, I think this looks fine. True, some aspects of the picture could be better. But I'm sure the parents will be happy. I do stuff like this every year for an awards ceromony using Photogenic's. Studio flash is the way to go.

Being a Nikon shooter, I would advise you to pick the D70 and the 80-200 f/2.8 lens. The 80-200 is the best lens I have ever owned. The 50 f/1.8 is also a fantastic lens. I just recently shot a car calendar using the 50 and got fantastic results. For 100 bucks you can't go wrong. I think it's much sharperthan the f/1.4 which is more than 2x the price.

 

Using this combination of lenses will really give you a good range. Down teh road, I would suggest picking up a 20mm f/2.8 as well. The attached photo was done with the 50 f/1.8.

Well, I had a bad experience with an B&W tha I purchased. The inside retaining ring loosend up and continues to loosen up every so often. I've never had a problem with a Tiffen filter at all. Although, one time the salesman at Adorama told me Tiffen was garbage.

 

I'm really not much of a filter guy at all. Why put a $30 filter over a Zeiss lens for other than protection?

 

Tiffens seem to work well for me when I need them.

 

Who's better? Lincoln or Cadillac? I own both.

If you are using "auto" mode with this flash and not TTL, you'll ahve to adjust using the lens aperture or the flash setting. Why not use TTL?

Fuji does not have a great customer service or repair department. I sent my S2 back a few times to be repaired for the same problem. It always comes back "repaired" according to Fuji. When the repair department was asked this question: "So how come an external hard drive, a SONY video camera and three other Fuji S2's, all using the same cable, will download through the Firewire port, but this one won't even after you have serviced it?", all I recieved was a door closed in my face.

 

On the other hand, when my D1H was giving me trouble, Nikon had the camera for 3 days, reapirde it and sent it back in perfect operating condition.

 

Need I say more?

The only flash you can use with this camera are the SB 800 and SB 600. I alwyus thought the DX stuff worked with all camera's. Then I found out.

This thread reminds me of one I started some time ago about putting a $30 filter over a $1700 lens.

 

I just don't like filters and aviod using them if possible,

That's two different worlds between an H1 and a D2.

I purchased an S2 because of the flash system. You can use any Nikon dedicatd flash with it. I use a 7 year old Metz 45 series. The Fuji CCD does not have the reflectivity problems that a Sony CCD has. I didn't want to go out and purchase an of the DX lenses.

 

Secondly, Fuji offeredthe complete package of software as a one shot deal wioth the camera. It came With the Hyper Activity software unlike Nikon who charges additional for it.