Any S3 Pro users here?

any inputs on the good/bad side of it...:)

thanks in advance guys.

I've shot and edited raw files coming from an S3. So far, I've noticed that the camera's capture colors and sharpness are way better than other brands. It's actually a fantastic camera, for STUDIO and landscapes wherein you are not in a hurry. You might not want to use it for wedding, since the write speed towards to CF card (regardless if you were using a Lexar or Sandisk high speed CF) is slow. Shooting continuously will make you wait a while before shooting again since the camera is still busy writing.

for a faster s3. it is recommended to use type H xd cards. that is still without the buffer upgrade.

might be faster with a buffer upgrade and a type H xd card.

@ Levi

Since I'm sure the speed factor is a must for your needs, I think you're better off with a D70s for your second body. Besides, you're already so familiar with the D70s settings.

Classmate, 2 bodies, diba?

levi upgrade na to two d200's pati ikaw miss din.

tried the s3 of sir jong. the color rendition is awesome and could be really ok for studio work and landscapes or for portraits candids during weddings... pero as main cam malabo... sobra din bagal..

the shutter is so sounds so soft when it clicks away. just a thought.

thanks guys! appreciate the inputs.

ive always liked the colors of fuji... definitely on a diffrent league (im talking about out of the cam output):) ... but as you guys have mentioned the speed is kinda limiting.

cant afford a D200 :( ... so its a toss up between another D70s and S3 (for my studio work).

pero ipon muna... :Grin:

i dont have a fuji but i've used a freind's S2 and S3 and iba nga yung color. kakaiba. go get!

thanks guys! appreciate the inputs.

ive always liked the colors of fuji... definitely on a diffrent league (im talking about out of the cam output):) ... but as you guys have mentioned the speed is kinda limiting.

cant afford a D200 :( ... so its a toss up between another D70s and S3 (for my studio work).

pero ipon muna... :Grin:

You can get the Fuji S3 Pro for cheaper than the D200? I was at a Fujifilm photo lab today and the sticker price on it was P113,000! A D200 has got to be cheaper than that! :Grin:

that price is in the malls (columbia) locally

current US prices for the s3 are around US$1300 only


dont know about hidalgo. dont know about HK.

@gerry

Based on U.S. prices, Nikon D200 costs $1.7k and the Fuji S3 Pro costs $1.3k :)

Hi Guys,
Just a quick note. We cannot compare the Nikon D200 to the Fuji Finepix S3 Pro because Nikon has 10.2 megapixel resolution while the Fuji Finepix S3 Pro has around 12.3 MP. At any rate, the Nikon D200 is worth the investment because Fuji Finepix S3 Pro uses two (2) image sensors at 6.1 Megapixels each. In other words to get the 12.3 MP resolution, the image is interpolated like in Photoshop.
With regard to the speed, you can only shift to 3 frames per second with the Finepix but you have to shoot at 6.1 MP or similar to Nikon D70 and D70s. Nikon D200 on the other hand shoots at 5 frames per second. Fuji Finepix S3 Pro is not available in Hidalgo, only second hand units are available there for the Fuji cousin of Nikon. It's better to buy your camera gear here locally because it carries with it both local and international warranty. Until then. Best Regards to all and Happy Shooting.

Hi S3 Posters,
There's a point in considering Nikons (D200/D70) rather than S3. There has been premonitions for S3 lately, as you have noticed, S3 prices are going down - you might be wondering why. In Canada, they're selling the S3 for CAD$1369, lot more cheaper compared to US$1.3K in the US.
But if your heart really beats for a Finepix (because of the color rendition and its hard to find) - you can wait and save your money - they might release a new version of S3 - ahm.. say, S3.1(?) maybe? like what they did to D70s.
Just expressing.....

Hello!

I personally own a D70 and I do use the S1, S2 and S3 in the advertising studio I work for.

The S3's REAL resolution is 6MP but it's native (in-camera interpolation) to 12MP. It has the BEST highlight details compared to any top-of-the-line DSLR, thus trumping my D70 & D200 in that regard only! That's because it has a separate sensor for highlights. Other than that, the D70 & 200 beats the S3.

But it's very slow for weddings (unless you use AF-S lenses). Great for the studio work. I love using it though: I like the "feel" of the S3 than my D70.

The newer 10mp Nikon D80 is coming for $900 (body). It's worth the wait...if you can wait.

The newer 10mp Nikon D80 is coming for $900 (body). It's worth the wait...if you can wait.

hmmm.. the question is - does it have the same color rendition as the S2/S3?:)

choices...choices..choices... hehehe

Is there any difference in IQ between S3 and the S2? I've tried using an S3 its colors are so unbelievable, it really looks a lot like film :)

Is there any difference in IQ between S3 and the S2? I've tried using an S3 its colors are so unbelievable, it really looks a lot like film :)

S3's noise is much lesser than the S2. But thats the only observation I've noticed between the two cameras.

S3's noise is much lesser than the S2. But thats the only observation I've noticed between the two cameras.

so it has the same read/write speed?

hmm.. i think thats too slow compared to the other dSLRs in the market....

i see no speed change on the writing to CF. it way SLOWER. as in WAY slower.

How much is a bnew s3 kaya these days? Is anybody selling a 2nd hand S3 at the moment?

looks like a Fuji DSLR is in the works - canon and nikon mount ala Kodak before.

Those older kodak pro dslrs looked rather mean :P

could this dslr be too little too late for fuji? with the announcements of the d80 and d200 will it be worth the wait?

hmm.. newer than the recently release S3 with the IR feature?

hopefully priced like the D80:)

Whatever it is they're cooking... It's vault-locked and sealed, that even batman has no hopes of cracking in. :) To many speculations on this one... Some say it's body is based on the D100 or D200, others say from the F6... well, I just hope they're not too late...

Fuji uses a censor called SuperCCD which is completely different from all the rest. From my understanding (based on the lecture I got recently), it uses one color filter to render red, green and blue. This is very similar to how it is done in films. Other CCDs use adjoining filters for each color to form a pixel. Likewise, another photodiode is used for the opposite sensitivity of the first, thus, if put together forms an extended range and avoids loss of detail.

Downside is that it has too many information so much so a RAW picture has a very big file size (they say 24MM ; if true, that is 2 to 5 times bigger than a typical camera that can do 6 to 12 megapixles). Maybe that is the reason why it is slow in writing to the memory card. Worse, it appears the camera (even with the buffer) is not fast enough to synch or attain the maximum speed of the memory card. This is bolster by the fact that other people in this thread have tried using fast cards to no avail.

I go with the advise of the more experience people in this thread - if you do continuous shooting and/or successive single shots, then go for the D200 (P78,000 at Watson as of Sept. 2) else the $1300 Fuji (great single shot pictures with built-in vertical grip and cheaper batteries but you will need additional memory cards).

The cost of S3 now in the US is a little over $1,000. This is according to BHPhoto (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&KBID=1021&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=449162).

Fujifilm S3 user here (bought a second hand).. ^_^ coming from a Fuji P&S (S2800 and S3000) i'm impressed of its speed.. hehe, but of course compared to other DSLRs like 30D and D200 the fuji is slower... to compensate for the lack of speed, i practice and become more attentive (in events), while for landscape/studio i don't need speed anyway....

just got my S3 2 months ago (but my first camera was about 4 years ago), still using a AF-S 18-55dx, and recently bought a sb-80DX (SB-800's difference from the SB-80DX are Nikon Creative Lighting System which is not supported by the s3, and matrix display which i don't think it's really needed).....

i might get myself a Tokina 28-70 2.8 for my first lens while i don't have any money for the 17-55 2.8.. hihihih...

happy user btw!! ^_^
btw: Fuji megamall is selling brand new for 90-ish thousand.. .^_^

and yes, the raw file is at 25MBi

Just passed by Fuji Megamall this morning and found out that they will be having a sale on December 26... The Fujifilm S3 Pro is said to be priced at around 58 thousand pesos.

december 26..... :)

58k? di naman sale yun. same price as abroad.

relatively sale, kasi locally nasa 90ish (sa mall.. di ko sure sa main nila)... hahaha

(dinefend? heheh)

anyway.. mura pala talaga pag binili sa ibang bansa kung ganun.. hahaha

thanks for the info. :D

no dom, thank YOU for the info about the sale. :)

share lang some shots i took using my Fujifilm S3 Pro
http://images.dom08.multiply.com/image/5/photos/265/500x500/15/DSCF2975.JPG?et=clSOFze83oTn72ZSsBzKKA

i used SB-80DX flash triggered by the S3's on-cam flash. ^_^

the rest of the photos can be seen here:
http://dom08.multiply.com/photos/album/265/

Just passed by Fuji Megamall this morning and found out that they will be having a sale on December 26... The Fujifilm S3 Pro is said to be priced at around 58 thousand pesos.

dec 26, 2007?

dec 26, 2007?

dec 26, 2006 ^_^

how much is the s3 pro today? anyone? thanks...

I saw at phphoto someone is selling an s2 pro for around 40k and ans s5 pro for 70k plus.

hello DPP, newbie here. sold my d70 body and someone is selling me an FF s3pro for 30k (ganda pa yung condition). ok ba yung camera na to? still have my lenses from my old d70, medyo kulang lang budget for a d200.

@ harry

what do u mean FF?

S3 has a better build than your D70... great colors (as all fuji cams).

for 30k not a bad deal. whats the shutter count?

good luck and have fun.

hey that's a nice deal!!! i want a 2nd s3 body. but what i really want is an s5. :)

@levi: sir Fuji Finepix po. :) shutter count is around 10k. so i guess it's a good deal then. kausapin ko na yung seller.hehe
@aris: ako rin i want an s5, pero my wallet is not allowing me to get one. :D

harry, if you change your mind, just send me a private message. hehehe

about the s5, we'll just have to wait a few more months....

@levi: sir Fuji Finepix po. :) shutter count is around 10k. so i guess it's a good deal then. kausapin ko na yung seller.hehe
@aris: ako rin i want an s5, pero my wallet is not allowing me to get one. :D


wow! 10k clicks?? now thats a steal!!!

advance congratulations!

now you got one 'kick-a$$' camera!!!

enjoy:)

hello DPP, newbie here. sold my d70 body and someone is selling me an FF s3pro for 30k (ganda pa yung condition). ok ba yung camera na to? still have my lenses from my old d70, medyo kulang lang budget for a d200.


S3 pro is a good studio camera,especially the tones and colors it produces parang film talaga and it can produce 12 megapix via interpolation. ang downside lang talaga is mabagal ang pagsulat sa memory at lcd. you have to use high speed cards and AA rechargable batteries na matagal mag recharge. type ko din siya bilin before but i bought a d80 instead. mas mabilis kasi at may in camera photo editing.

yeah.. speed is the real setback for the S3.

fortunately, they were able to solve that problem with the S5.

its the real deal - the color, tone and speed. (i still want one!!! :))

but for 30k... i say the S3 is well worth it.

cheers!

I agree with you Levi.
S3 is a great camera aside from the file saving time.
The 30K offer is like Ms. World knocking on your door for a kiss.
Built on the same Nikon D1 body, the S3 is absolutely great!
While Nikon was doing the D1 6 megapixel camera, FF was already surpassing the 12 megapixel technology. This is what made FF get away with flying colors on the DSLR market. It became famous for its SuperCCD technology but the introduction of other DSLR models with faster performances got the best of the S3. Using it for studio photography is great nonetheless.
I have an S3 too and wouldnt give it away for 30k. Love this camera.

mga fuji enthsiasts now i'm torn, tumaas price ng s3pro ginawang 39k tapos may nagbebenta naman sakin din ng d200 with grip ng 47k. advice please... :)

my camera (fuji s3 Pro) is broken... brought it to fuji sto domingo and said that its a mechanical problem, and they don't have the means to repair it, hence they have to send it to japan for repairs for 30k... do i have any alternatives?

can older speedlites like sb24/sb28 ttl with the s3? or only the sb**dx and sb600/800 can?

can older speedlites like sb24/sb28 ttl with the s3? or only the sb**dx and sb600/800 can?

yes, Fujifilm S3's flash system is D-TTL and not the new I-TTL, therefore older (D-TTL) speedlights can ttl with the S3... I am using SB-80DX for my S3

yes, Fujifilm S3's flash system is D-TTL and not the new I-TTL, therefore older (D-TTL) speedlights can ttl with the S3... I am using SB-80DX for my S3

ah.... makes sense. but will the i-TTL flashes still TTL on an S3?

ah.... makes sense. but will the i-TTL flashes still TTL on an S3?

yep... (except for sb-400 i think)
i tried sb-800 on my camera, and use sb-600 from time to time....

when you guys say the s3 is slow in writing to the CF, are you just referring to RAW?
Will it have reasonable JPEG performance?
I heard that the S3 takes the best Jpegs
if it would lessen time for post processing, a few extra seconds waiting for it to write might not be so bad.

when you guys say the s3 is slow in writing to the CF, are you just referring to RAW?
Will it have reasonable JPEG performance?
I heard that the S3 takes the best Jpegs
if it would lessen time for post processing, a few extra seconds waiting for it to write might not be so bad.

the speed (or the lack of it) is not only evident in RAW files. Even when you shoot Jpeg, it still is drags in write & read speed. I believe the old D70 writes and reads faster than the S3.

but yes, its produces kick-ass jpegs (off cam output)... it was the best til the legendary S5 came in. :)

the speed (or the lack of it) is not only evident in RAW files. Even when you shoot Jpeg, it still is drags in write & read speed. I believe the old D70 writes and reads faster than the S3.

but yes, its produces kick-ass jpegs (off cam output)... it was the best til the legendary S5 came in. :)

Hello Levi! I found an interesting discussion here, http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1020&message=29005681. Enjoy reading. Cheers!

Thanks Noli. Interesting... Have to pullout some of my S3 files.. and compare to the ones that I shot using your S5. Thanks Thanks!

Btw You still have the S3 right?

shot in JPG mode. no PP or filters applied.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3269721488_d4afbfa81c_o.jpg

Exposure: 30 secs
Aperture: f/13.0
Focal Length: 10 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
File Size: 187 kB
File Type: JPEG

shot in JPG mode. no PP or filters applied.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3269721488_d4afbfa81c_o.jpg

Exposure: 30 secs
Aperture: f/13.0
Focal Length: 10 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
File Size: 187 kB
File Type: JPEG

joel, thats exactly the strength of the S3... or any FUJI for that matter =)

joel, thats exactly the strength of the S3... or any FUJI for that matter =)

I know someone who is selling his S3PRO,don't know the pricing of it though:)