Using S2 Pro

Dear friends,

At the end i have bought the S2 Pro, and i´d like to know in wich resolution do you set the camera for normal use, and for printing in 10x15 cm.

Also, when i want to delete all the frames and i have set the camera to higher resolution i have to wait for the camera to have the first photo on the lcd screen, and then i am able to delete all of them. It takes a long time, at least with CF that i am using. Is there any other system to delete them?

I have changed from a consumer camera to this and it is another world, nothing to see with the other systems. I am really happy

Thank you

Escalar.

Dear friends,

At the end i have bought the S2 Pro, and i´d like to know in wich resolution do you set the camera for normal use, and for printing in 10x15 cm.

 

Also, when i want to delete all the frames and i have set the camera to higher resolution i have to wait for the camera to have the first photo on the lcd screen, and then i am able to delete all of them. It takes a long time, at least with CF that i am using. Is there any other system to delete them?

I only ever shoot RAW format. If you have a 1GB or more CF/Microdrive there is really no reason (underwater at least) to shoot in any other format.

You could also shoot the highest setting JPG if you liked (but not for me), but I much prefer RAW.

As for deleting the card - I do this when I upload images to my computer using the Fuji Finepixviewer (there is an option to do this) which I also use to rename the files from the camera to the data/time format. I rarely delete images in bulk from the camera unless I am testing something (and then time isn't a concern).

Hope this helps,

M

Just format your card and all the images on your card will be erased, page 81 in your owner’s manual.

Marc

Thank you for your responses,

but it is possible to use finepixviewer for raw format? do you have to pass it to tif format before?

Regards,

Escalar.

Escalar - It sounds like you need to read the manual and do some experimentation of your own for a bit. For example, doing a google search for "fuji s2 raw" yields a wealth of information about the raw workflow:

http://www.google.com/search?q=fuji+s2+raw+format

If you are a beginner, I'd suggest sticking to jpg until you are comfortable with the camera.

Yes i am a beginner, i have read the manual very fast. You know, when you have something new you want to use it as fast as posibble

So working in raw format is only for advanced people?

When you have worked on raw, and you have make all the adjustments, do you have to transfer the file to tif format to be able to print the photo?

With my manual there is no information about raw format.

If you think that this kind of questions are not for this forum please let me know, i will understand with out any kind of problem.

Thank you,

Escalar from Spain.

Hi Escalar,

These kind of questions are certainly appropriate for the forum - however, I think Eric's point is that you should do some "internet research" and give it a try first before asking us. Instead of asking "Can you give me step by step instructions to do something I have never done before? How about asking "I have tried X, Y, and Z and I can't get Z to work. When I try to do Z, it stops at step 6 and asks me for ___, please help?"

We can help with specific questions, but you have a certain responsibility to "do your homework" first.

Does that make sense?

Sincerely,

James

I certainly don't want to discourage you from asking questions! That was not my point. I'm just saying that there is already a lot of information out there, and even ten minutes behind a search engine can help a lot.

But who knows, maybe someone here will step in and give the step-by-step of how to use a S2 from snapshot to print...

I'd be happy to do that for a small fee...:-)

Cheers

James

Thank you very much for your interest and quick answers, i agree with you 100%. I will do my homework, and after that if am not able to continue i will use this very useful forum.

Thank you very much.

Escalar.

But this brings up a good point: this is the sort of information I'd love to have, organized in our features section. If any of you out there every feel the urge to document something meitculously, let us know and we'll add your article to the features list.

Escalar,

I went through the same excitement you did when I first got my S2 a few months ago.

Working in RAW is not just for advanced users, although if you're shooting for a magazine or some other publication you will probably want RAW. If you want to squeeze the most out of your shots, RAW is the way to go. It's the equivalent of a digital "negative" that you can use over and over again to produce photos. Whereas .jpg is a compressed file that has lost some information by the time it's stored on your media card.

When you're in the FinePix Viewer, you can convert from RAW to TIFF. First click on a photo you want to convert. Click on "Tools", which opens a drop down menu. Click on "Convert RAW to TIFF" -- I think that's what it says, or something similar to that.

You then get the window to convert. You should to experiment with each feature, like "Curves" to see what happens to your file. When you're done tweaking all the fine points of the photo, click on Convert. You will get a TIFF file that's about 64 megabytes. I then open that file in Photoshop elements, which prompts you to convert from 16 bit to 8 bit color (accept this choice to open the file). Edit as needed in PE. I usually don't need to do much editing after fine-tunine in the RAW coverter. If I do any editing, it's to rotate the photo, then use very minimal Unsharp Mask. All the brightness and color you can adjust during the RAW-TIFF conversion. Then you'll have to convert to .jpg when you're all through. You have to choice to save it as a large, medium or small .jpg file. Pick whichever one suits your needs. For net use, small files are probably OK, but if you want the most detail for prints, pick the large file.

I usually delete the TIFF file when I'm completely done b/c it uses so much disk space. I'll save the RAW file on my hard drive, and make copies on CD of the RAW and .jpg files.

This of course takes some time each evening after a shoot. If you want quick photos without having to do a lot of processing, just shoot fine .jpg. The S2 takes wonderful .jpg photos. And make backup copies of all your files, well-labeled for future reference.

One of the limitations with RAW is that you can squeeze in only 77 shots on a 1 gig-card, whereas you can get a few hundred shots in fine .jpg and even more on regular .jpg. If you're worried about space, just buy another card!

Good luck, and happy snappy.

Thank you very much for you long explanation, now is clear for me. I´ll keep practicing to get my set-up.

Regards,

Escalar.