Fuji F30 and Ike housing

I see where Ike now lists a housing for the F30.

I was wondering if any forum members have used this camera? On land use is fine. I'm looking for opinions on how well the camera functions.

I remember reading reviews that said this camera had the fastest shuttler lag they had measured and exceptional low light (high ISO ) functioning. Any user reports to comment on these claims. Also how is the low light Auto focus function?

I see where the Ike website recommends using a slave controller but their chart of housings says you can't use and external strobe and slave controller with the housing. I presume you can? Any knowledge of this or this housing? I note that the list price is less than the dedicated Fuji housing.

http://ikelite.com/web_two/fuji_f30.html

Thanks for any insights. I realize that a similar post was made but I had some slightly different questions hence the new post.

I see where Ike now lists a housing for the F30.

 

I was wondering if any forum members have used this camera? On land use is fine. I'm looking for opinions on how well the camera functions.

 

I remember reading reviews that said this camera had the fastest shuttler lag they had measured and exceptional low light (high ISO ) functioning. Any user reports to comment on these claims. Also how is the low light Auto focus function?

 

I see where the Ike website recommends using a slave controller but their chart of housings says you can't use and external strobe and slave controller with the housing. I presume you can? Any knowledge of this or this housing? I note that the list price is less than the dedicated Fuji housing.

 

http://ikelite.com/web_two/fuji_f30.html

 

Thanks for any insights. I realize that a similar post was made but I had some slightly different questions hence the new post.

I like this camera alot..only downside to...does not have full manual controls (partial)...

Pics taken with the F30 (Fuji housing) and without strobes...

Here's a sample for WA.....

As I'm only a newbie in this...I wouldn't be able to answer your questions on shutter lag or exceptional low light settings n stuffs.....but I would think with a strobe..this camera can give a good result..

Cheers!!..

Thanks for the insight and pictures.

As far as the shutter lag, do you find the camera takes the picture when you press the shutter release? Or do you at times get frustrated because the camera won't shoot when you want it to? Do you have to anticipate your shot and push the shutter release early to get the camera to shoot.

Have you tried the higher ISO settings such as ISO 400? If so did the pictures look grainy or sharp?

Thanks again.

Thanks for the insight and pictures.

 

As far as the shutter lag, do you find the camera takes the picture when you press the shutter release? Or do you at times get frustrated because the camera won't shoot when you want it to? Do you have to anticipate your shot and push the shutter release early to get the camera to shoot.

 

Have you tried the higher ISO settings such as ISO 400? If so did the pictures look grainy or sharp?

 

Thanks again.

In this case..shutter lag was minimal....coz I don't have high expectation for a P&S.. can't compare it to a DSLR...

I tried the high ISO setting for the F30 (up to 1600 was it??)..and the result was noisy..

...For ISO setting of above 400...unless you are having great vis n virtually no particles in the water... the picture will turn out great.. I wouldn't recommend to shoot at such high ISO setting for U/W photography....just my 2cents worth..

but if you notice..most of my pictures are shot with ISO200 which I think is sufficient...FYI..pictures posted are on WYSIWYG basis...no cropping,no editing or even colour balancing...

In this case..shutter lag was minimal....coz I don't have high expectation for a P&S.. can't compare it to a DSLR...

 

I tried the high ISO setting for the F30 (up to 1600 was it??)..and the result was noisy..

...For ISO setting of above 400...unless you are having great vis n virtually no particles in the water... the picture will turn out great.. I wouldn't recommend to shoot at such high ISO setting for U/W photography....just my 2cents worth..

 

but if you notice..most of my pictures are shot with ISO200 which I think is sufficient...FYI..pictures posted are on WYSIWYG basis...no cropping,no editing or even colour balancing...

The shutter is quick, but... I've found the focus lock can be slow. Unfortunately, I've only had a chance to play with my F30 underwater in poor visability, green waters here in HK. I have tried upping the ISO to 1600 and was surprised that the picture quality was OK. So while the high ISO would let you shoot in lower light conditions, the AF doesn't perform so well in low light (nothing new here, pretty much most P&S's suffer from this to varying degree)

Hey Guys,

I was playing around with this camera in the camera shop the other day and it really seems like the macro on this, to put it mildly, sucks. Are you finding this to be true as well? I had high hopes for this as a nice point and shoot for my wife as it has some very fine performance features, but the poor macro capability is a real put off. I've tried many other digicams that have less performance features and speed but far greater macro competence? What gives?

BTW, I had the girl behind the counter try some shots as well, both of us came to the same conclusion with the macro side of this camera.

Hey Guys,

 

I was playing around with this camera in the camera shop the other day and it really seems like the macro on this, to put it mildly, sucks. Are you finding this to be true as well? I had high hopes for this as a nice point and shoot for my wife as it has some very fine performance features, but the poor macro capability is a real put off. I've tried many other digicams that have less performance features and speed but far greater macro competence? What gives?

 

BTW, I had the girl behind the counter try some shots as well, both of us came to the same conclusion with the macro side of this camera.

For a newbie like myself..i think the macro is sufficient for UW shots..

on land it might not be able to compare..but once UW..i think it beats many P&S anytime..

a sample of macro shots taken using the F30

Hey Guys,

 

I was playing around with this camera in the camera shop the other day and it really seems like the macro on this, to put it mildly, sucks. Are you finding this to be true as well?

Hi Paquito...I think macro is good for a point and shoot camera.

I see where Ike now lists a housing for the F30.

 

I was wondering if any forum members have used this camera? On land use is fine. I'm looking for opinions on how well the camera functions.

Hi, if you still need opinions on F30, here is mine (based on a trip to Australia - see pictures at THIS LINK). I've come to F30 from a Canon S50, which was full-manual, with manual focus, and would switch back to S50. If you are planning on using an external strobe, you'd be much better off with a full-manual camera. The lack of shutter and aperture control at the same time makes things very hit-and-miss in terms of correct exposure, especially when there is ambient light. Also, it seems as though the camera sometimes fires 3 flashes (or 1) instead of the usual 2, and my strobe was set to be triggered by the 2nd, so sometimes it just missed - the strobe fired, but you don't see it in the picture.

The autofocus speed is fine (including in the dark), but there were a few instances where I wanted manual focus (which it doesn't have). Also, if possible, upload pictures on the computer after the first dive and check them - my pictures looked fine on camera screen, but turned out to be mostly underexposed in PS after the trip (I actually dialed in a negative exposure compensation myself, based on how they looked on the camera screen).

Can't comment on the macro issue, I had a wide-angle converter always attached, so rarely needed even to switch to macro (I'm not very interested in small things anyway).

Topside, F30 is great though, and I suppose u/w it would be fine in auto mode without an external strobe. BTW, the Fuji's own housing is great too, convenient and amazingly compact, almost fits in a pocket itself