where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
Yea its a rumor. I was in my corner camera shop today and the sales guy there said that the Fuji rep was telling him about it. in summary ..
1) It is based on the D300 body. ( So I guess it must be DX format )
2) The sensor beats pants off the D300( sales talk so take it with a pinch of salt)
3) Nikon is trying to block it because of (2)
It was 15 mins past closing time so I couldn't ask more. I will try to drop into the shop again tomorrow to see if I can get more info.
Fuji's sensor's are great, I wouldn't doubt whatever new camera they come up with could easily beat the D300 in IQ. Here's hoping for something exciting!
So Fuji makes their own sensors? How come they're not as popular as Nikon and Canon if their sensors are so good?
Not really being annoying, just want to know more about the company.
The fuji sensors are a bit specialized. It's been a while since I've read about them, but as I recall the sensor in the S5Pro uses 2 types of sensors at each photosite. A large S type, and a small R type. This limits it to a relatively low-resolution 6MP sensor, but Fuji still calls it 12MP, adding the number of S and R types together. Since the large sensors are more photosensitive than small ones, you can get greater dynamic range in the image. Capturing light that blows out the S-sensors with the R-type, and capturing lower light detail out of reach of the R-type with the S-type. They also arrange the photosites horizontally, rather than diagonally like Nikon, which gives greater horizontal/vertical resolution, at the expense of diagonal resolution. Also, though the body is based of the D200, the camera's performance is much slower than Nikon's offerings.
Edit: Grammar and clarity.. Though clarity could still use work
Yeah, the S5 sensor is really great in respect of DR. But, unfortunately, there is some critical flaw - S5 sensors are covered with way too strong AA filter, so images are too soft... OK, let us have some little moire, but sharp images. Fuji shot their own leg. Hope no more mistakes like this. Dimitri.
@tai : "They also arrange the photosites horizontally, rather than diagonally like Nikon" its the other way around. ie the Fujifilm sensor is arranged diagonally. (Yeah I know its a typo..)
I have an S5pro. And it is/was a bit soft when it outputs the 12MP jpegs. It performed like an 8-9 MP camera in terms of details captured. Performance wise in terms of acquiring focus its better than my d70 but not as good as the d200. HOWEVER there has been an Firmware update early this year and the focusing has been improved by a lot. Also the Jpg output is much sharper. not quite 12MP but maybe 10+ MP. Its almost like a new camera!. I was about to get a D300 when the firmware update came out. I was so pleased with the update I have put of buying a new camera for a while.
Another thing said about the S5pro performance is that its FPS is only about 2 FPS. But you don't get much more from a D300(2.5 FPS) if you use the high quality 14 bit capture mode instead of the 12 bit.
The JPG output from the S5pro is really amazing. Even on the JPG you can recover much more highlight detail than from a D200. ie the DR on JPG of the S5pro is almost like RAW! ( Check out Ken Rockwell's review on the S5pro which compares the S5pro against the D200.) The DR of the JPG from the s5pro is 11.5 ev while most cameras RAW DR is 7-10 ev. The DR of the S5pro RAW file is almost 14EV !!! Nope there is no other camera that is even close to the S5pro DR at ISO 800 or less. Its no wonder that Wedding photographers use the Fujifilm SLR!
I love myS5pro for Nature shots as it tames the harsh lights.
This picture taken around mid day! see no harsh highlights !! and lots of nice details in the black as well as the white feathers.
New Holland Honey eater
PS: And I have not even mentioned the Colours!
Really? I thought the arrangement was the other way around. Anyways, I love the S5 Pro, there is a wonderful quality about the images.
Wow, that's some good stuff. Maybe poor marketing is what's keeping Fuji from excelling in the market.
@ longzoom : 
heartyfisher - this picture is really great - love the colors, as I'm a D200 user I'm really surprised with the outcome from Fuji, the tonal range really kicks out and reminds me the old times, when I was using velvia and provia...
Thanks Adamz.
The whole work flow with the S5pro is very different from my D70 (and I suspect the d200 would be similar to my d70) With the S5pro I have set up the camera to shoot at 400 % DR so I always have to PP. But The PP is usually only to adjust the curves slightly, and that's mostly it (to increase the contrast a bit).
With the Fuji I only shoot JPG!! With The D70 I always shoot in RAW. I then need to fiddle a lot more with the colours and Raw Processing of the D70. Not that its bad but different and tiny bit more time. The skin tones for the S5 are amazingly good! no matter how I fiddle with the D70 it is not as nice. Also for portraits and skin tones, I CANT fiddled with the colours much on the pictures from the S5pro because if i fiddle it usually gets worse than what came out of the camera !!! Its that good ! I can see why wedding photographers love this camera.
The JPG output from the S5pro is really amazing. Even on the JPG you can recover much more highlight detail than from a D200. ie the DR on JPG of the S5pro is almost like RAW! ( Check out Ken Rockwell's review on the S5pro which compares the S5pro against the D200.) The DR of the JPG from the s5pro is 11.5 ev while most cameras RAW DR is 7-10 ev. The DR of the S5pro RAW file is almost 14EV !!! Nope there is no other camera that is even close to the S5pro DR at ISO 800 or less. Its no wonder that Wedding photographers use the Fujifilm SLR!
Unless you are shooting with 16 bit jpegs, you are actually losing image data when you adjust the levels/curves of a jpeg image... Unlike when you adjust in raw and then save to jpeg...
You may have more dynamic range, but you do not have more image data in a jpeg than raw...
Also jpeg is a lossy format, so editing a jpeg and then re-saving it will cause a loss in resolution due to jpeg compression and artifacts.
I'd suggest always shooting in raw if possible.
-- Dave
@ AcquaCow : I agree that you loose data when saving and manipulating JPG. However, I treat the JPG that comes out of the S5pro camera like RAW. And never overwrite them. I do use S5pro Raw sometimes. when I know the scene needs the huge DR. But not all the time. I find I don't need to. The JPG from the S5Pro camera is very different from the Nikon cameras that I have used (D70 and D200 I only have experience with these 2) The Latitude in the JPG of the new nikons may be better, i dont know but The latitude in the S5pro JPG is amazing.
I treat the JPG that comes out of the S5pro camera like RAW. And never overwrite them.
I don't think you understand... you don't have to overwrite the original jpeg to lose quality. Anytime you save something as jpeg, you lose quality.
If you edit a raw, save as jpeg, you've lost quality. If the camera writes out a jpeg internally, it is already lower quality than raw. If you edit that internally created jpeg, then save your edit as a jpeg, you have lost even more quality.
-- Dave
What you say is true and I don't disagree at all... I just find that the JPG that comes out of the S5pro is better than the Raw from the D70 and D200.
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