Fuji Announces F50fd

Looks like a really excellent camera - may be the new preferred compact for underwater use:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0707/07072604fujifilmf50fd.asp

Has full manual control, excellent image quality, CCD stabilization, large LCD, and takes SD media cards.

Cheers

James

Looks like a really excellent camera - may be the new preferred compact for underwater use:

 

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0707/07072604fujifilmf50fd.asp

 

Has full manual control, excellent image quality, CCD stabilization, large LCD, and takes SD media cards.

 

Cheers

James

Are you sure it has full manual control. The F30/F31 have what they call a manual mode, but it's not full manual. They also have aperture or shutter priority, but you can't set both. From what I see, this one has the same modes.

Are you sure it has full manual control. The F30/F31 have what they call a manual mode, but it's not full manual. They also have aperture or shutter priority, but you can't set both. From what I see, this one has the same modes.

Well, nobody can be sure until it's actually released, but the press release says this:

"Full Manual Photographic Control: Gives the user total control with manual adjustment options for settings on the camera (resolution, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc), and is desirable by the photo enthusiasts/advanced photographers."

That certainly sounds like full manual to me, but it doesn't elaborate. It'll be interesting to see. Nice looking camera, the LCD is quite large.

JP

"Full Manual Photographic Control: Gives the user total control with manual adjustment options for settings on the camera (resolution, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc), and is desirable by the photo enthusiasts/advanced photographers."

I didn't see that statement, so maybe. However, the same can be said of the F30/F31. The problem is you can't set them independently.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I am not too excited. 12 megapixels in a small sensor? That's also going to produce larger files that will take longer to write. Another thing it should have is flash exosure compensation. The ability to dial up and down flash out put seems like it's missing.

I think it may be "Fuji 12 Megapixels" meaning 6 megapixels.

Cheers

James

Interesting prospect...

"12 million effective pixels" Yes it appears interpolated.

So it's really 6 - which is just about the sweet spot for compact cameras...

So it's really 6 - which is just about the sweet spot for compact cameras...

Okay, but can you make it shoot a true 6MP and skip that ^%$#@! interpolation. If I want to blow it up I do that in Photoshop.

I understand what Fuji wants to do with the interpolation (win the MP game) but for more serious photog this is just a joke.

It's not a joke - the photosites on the Fuji sensor are in a hexagonal close-packed layout. To get to and x and y photo, some interpolation must be done. The actual amount of lines per inch that the Fuji sensors can resolve is higher than a regular x and y type sensor, so nothing to complain about. The pix look great - whether you convert them in Photoshop, the Fuji software, or whatever.

I'd probably just set this camera at the highest output mode and leave it there.

Cheers

James

Why do you all think that this is an interpolated 12 megapixels? Everything I'm reading is leading me to think that there really are 12 million dots on the sensor. With past versions of their SuperCCD HR sensor, the number of detectors on the sensor was called "effective pixels," and the larger interpolated size was called "recorded pixels" and/or "output resolution." Fuji is now saying that the F50 has 12 million "effective pixels," and DPReview says it has 12 million "sensor photo detectors." Sounds very real to me.

So now each F50 pixel is half the surface area of those famous F30 pixels. My bet is that the noise will STILL be lower in an equivalent print.

6 million S and 6 million R type pixels.

6 million S and 6 million R type pixels.

Yeah, except this is NOT a SuperCCD SR (Super dynamic Range), it's a SuperCCD HR (High Resolution). All of the HR pixels are the same size. The F30 had 6 million of them, the F50 has 12 million of them.

Dang! Thanks Eat.

Cheers

James

Yeah, except this is NOT a SuperCCD SR (Super dynamic Range), it's a SuperCCD HR (High Resolution). All of the HR pixels are the same size. The F30 had 6 million of them, the F50 has 12 million of them.

So, does this mean that the sensor in the F50 is twice as big as the F30/F31?

All of the HR pixels are the same size. The F30 had 6 million of them, the F50 has 12 million of them.

I knew somebody would misunderstand this -- I should've gone back & edited it. On a particular sensor, all of the HR pixels are the same size, as opposed to SR pixels, where you have big & little pixels mixed together in the same camera. So, no, the F50's sensor is not larger than the F30's. They're the essentially same overall size, and thus, each F50 pixel is half the size of a F30 pixel.

I knew somebody would misunderstand this -- I should've gone back & edited it. On a particular sensor, all of the HR pixels are the same size, as opposed to SR pixels, where you have big & little pixels mixed together in the same camera. So, no, the F50's sensor is not larger than the F30's. They're the essentially same overall size, and thus, each F50 pixel is half the size of a F30 pixel.

Bottom line is that Fuji joined in with the other manufacturers and decided that they would attract more customers by increasing the pixel count (and, no doubt, they will). Chances are that image quality will, in fact, suffer for it -- problem is that most people assume that more pictures means the camera is better. It's getting to the point where that is not true as often as the manufacturers would like buyers to believe.

Mike

I knew somebody would misunderstand this -- I should've gone back & edited it. On a particular sensor, all of the HR pixels are the same size, as opposed to SR pixels, where you have big & little pixels mixed together in the same camera. So, no, the F50's sensor is not larger than the F30's. They're the essentially same overall size, and thus, each F50 pixel is half the size of a F30 pixel.

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think the F50's sensor would be twice as large. That's why I asked the question.

So what you are saying is that the F50 has a different type of sensor from the F30, is that correct?

That's correct, they're certainly not using the same sensor. The similarities are that they are essentially the same overall dimensions, and they are both using the SuperCCD HR pixel layout (though different "generations" as Fuji calls them).

Yet to be determined is which will hold more detail in those high-ISO shots. My money is on the F50, MikeO is betting on the F30.