I just got the camera today and I\'m very pleased with it so far, pics shot with the 18X zoom fully extended came out great, my only complaint is that you can\'t zoom in and out during the movie mode like I can with my Fuji S700, make sure you read the supplied manual or you\'ll think the camera sucks however \"AUTO\" mode works great in most shots you\'ll take. If you hook up this camera to a computer using a USB cable, the camera\'s door for connection is very flimsy and feels like it\'s about to break off, get a memory card reader instead.
Date:
2008-05-11 - 13:00:37
Author:
Mathias44
Rating:
few bad things experienced (after my first pro-con of canon S2).
the jpeg compression really kills off the image quality, making the MP value divide by half for actual comparison, or you should say the 18x is actually a 9x as the quality is not really that good... soft.. cannot really do good image cropping here as the zoom in image is not really good. too bad no RAW mode in this model.
blue fringing in high contrast area at 50% image and above. this is really bad and not sure how to overcome this issue in PP.
unrealistice normal-macro-supermacro button... imaging taking a macro pic then when need to switch back to normal mode, will need to go thru supermacro, where the lens will need some time to retract before pushing the button again.. compared to S2.... this is a hassle.
high ISO is too noisy and image is already too soft to start with to have a good image quality.
motorize zoom has some backlash when stop during zoom out.
Cons:
-jpeg compression making picture quality bad.
-bad normal-macro-supermacro setup.
-high ISO noisy and not really usable.
-motorize zoom backlash.
-BLUE FRINGING in image!!!
Date:
2008-06-14 - 08:31:23
Author:
Larmy
Rating:
Good pic in lowlight
I was looking for a camera that will shoot good quality pics in Lowlight conditions and with wide Zoom range. I was eyeing to choose between Panasonic FZ18 and Fuji S8000 FD. I did not choose FZ18 because my FZ8 was very bad performer in Lowlight conditions. So I decided not to go for FZ18.
There were not much technical reviews available on S8000 FD but I want to give a chance. I am very pleased with the camera. I took good pics in all Lighting conditions.
The Auto and SP1, SP2 modes produced noise on pics shot in Indoor when viewed 100% in computer screen, but the quality was good enough to print 6x4/5x7 and 8x11 sizes.
I shot Pic in 'P' mode with variety of ISO settings it produced excellent results. Viewing 100% in computer was still pleasing with lesser noise for Indoor pics. It does produced some purple fringes on pics shot with bright day light. My suggestion will be to use a higher ISO setting under such conditions. If the View finder produce some violet shade while focusing scenes with bright sky as background then increase the ISO the purple fringe effects will be minimized.
The Macro feature, Face Detection, Optical Stabilizer worked very well. The Nature with Flash is a very useful setting to compare the pics shot in lowlight conditions.
WORTH THE MONEY. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
There is no RAW feature, it does not matter for me. I had this feature in my Canon G2, but I have never used it.
If you are looking for a Good Camera in $300 price range and you are not interested in RAW then S8000 FD is the best bet.
Date:
2008-06-26 - 13:33:40
Author:
miquel
Rating:
This camera takes Appalling pictures in even minor low-light conditions. I have a FinePix s602Z (3.2 Mpixel) camera that, in low light has better quality pictures than this does.
The low light pictures have pixels that are black/white, and it smears an odd yellow-brown area that is random in size and shape all the way across the picture.
I like the other feature, SD card, double AA, 18x zoom, but it's low light is a killer. I tried another camera at the camera shop (Idaho Camera is excellent, BTW) and it performs the same.
