Compact / Ultra-Compact advise needed ASAP

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  1. #11

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    I'm wondering if you read the review I posted the link to. It states that iso 400 for the canon is perfectly usable and even 800 is OK for small prints. It depends what way you like to look at your shots. If you print them at 4x6 (R4) you probably won't be able to tell the difference between iso 80 and iso 400. And don't forget the IS means that you will have less need to step up to the higher iso values anyway. I cannot stress enough how good the IS is.

    I'm not trying to put you off the Fuji (my previous 2 cameras were fuji - my S602zoom is probably my all time fave DC), but here is a quote from the conclusion of the F30 dpreview:

    "On the downside the F30 is not as impressive on bright sunny days as it is indoors or at night; sure, the sharpness and low noise are still there, but the tone curve often produces images that lack highlight or shadow detail, yet can look a bit flat. You'll get some amazing results if you know your way around Photoshop (or similar), but I often (though by no means always) found the 'out of camera' results slightly disappointing. Add to this the tendency to over expose and you've got a camera that really needs to be used by someone who knows what they're doing to get the most out of it."

    The xd cards used in the Fuji also annoys me cos I already have about a dozen sd cards and don't want to have to buy new xd ones.

    For me the wide angle and the IS combined with the most usable high iso performance from canon yet, made the 850IS the right choice, though I agonised over it for weeks. It's a point and shoot - I don't want to have spend my time adjusting exposure compensation and the like to get a good shot outdoors.


    As for imports - they are usually 4-600 bucks cheaper and you get no official warranty. 7 days to return to the shop if there's a problem and then a 1 year warranty WITH THE SHOP, not with the manufacturer. They will usually charge for parts for not labour. Your english manual will probably also be a photocopy / printed pdf file.

    The canons are named differently if they are imports. I bought the import, so although it is an Ixus 850IS, it is called an Ixy 900IS for the Japanese market. If you want an import you may have to ask for it specifically.

    There are several shops in Wanchai Computer Centre or 298 Computer Centre who will not rip you off and are good to deal with. Most offer pretty much the same prices. Be careful about buying an extra battery / memory card - you can usually get these cheaper somewhere else (especially the mem cards).

    Pls let us know what you decide to go with.


  2. #12

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    i have read many reviews of the canon SD850 IS...and it sounds great...also I am more interested in the Fuji F31 over the F30 because it addresses many of the metering / normal lighting problems of the F30.

    most of the time i will be carrying this instead of my 20D...into china through factories and such.
    I want a tiny camera with an awesome image so that I can use these images for portfolio / possible book in future.

    I know my way around photoshop very well, and the camera for that matter....so im not worried about pp...i just want something good to begin with though so i have less editing needed to be done....

    im leaning towards canon for the daylite / IS reasons.....but towards the fuji because of the manual / low light reasons....

    just cant decide which set is gonna mean the most to me.....

    Last edited by BenderBends; 15-12-2006 at 02:55 PM. Reason: im dumb

  3. #13

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    well....i went to wanchai computer centre and got the F31 with a 1GB card for 2800.

    seems nice so far...and i will play with it and update you to give you my review later


  4. #14

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    New Years......

    well...

    the F31-fd is working flawlessly
    ive used it indoors, outdoors, in bright sunny days, and dark dim lit corners.

    it does seem that auto mode is less than perfect....but not terrible for a compact.
    However in manual mode (which is what i shoot most times anyways) it works very well. It is very fast and easy to switch around settings that unless you only have a blink of an eye to get your shot, you can tweak settings to get your shot done.

    attached is a pic i just took looking off my balcony.....gorgeous day to start the new years!!!!!

    Last edited by BenderBends; 01-01-2007 at 04:05 PM.

  5. #15

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    disregard the above posted image...that was the photoshop CS2 auto product....and crappy!!!

    thank the heavens for CS3's much improved auto-align and auto-blend (plus a few minor touch-ups)

    Last edited by BenderBends; 01-01-2007 at 04:28 PM.

  6. #16

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    Good to hear you're pleased with your purchase.

    Happy snapping.


    PS - I dug this link out; I thought you might be interested. It's a guy called Hugo Poon's blog - he's an active member on the DPReview Fuji forum and has a great gallery of atmospheric Hong Kong shots, taken with the F10 and F30. Hope you like them.

    http://hugopoon.blogspot.com/

    Last edited by Bungle; 03-01-2007 at 12:58 PM.

  7. #17

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    great blog....reminds me of when i used to shoot on a regular basis....
    im hoping this camera will help shoot me back to doing that

    thanks for the link