Any fujifilm finepix f810 users? (or e550)

How are you finding it?

I think I am starting to overcome my reluctance to buy cameras that
use XD cards, eventhough they (the cards) are far more expensive than
CF or SD cards, and here's the reason; Olympus and Fujifilm use XD
cards, and their cameras appeal to me.

I was really impressed with dpreview review of the fujifilm f810, in
particular how well it performed at iso 400 against the casio p600 or
the olympus 8080.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf810/page7.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf810/page9.asp

It has full manual exposure including shutter, aperture, iso, white
balance, and focus, and as such could be a very nice compact camera
for available light photography. Of course a CMOS SLR would be best,
but I don't want the expense or size, given that photography, although
pleasurable, is a lower priority for me than other considerations in
my life. The F810 has AF-assit, which the E550 doesn't, and therefore
the F810 would be my preference for low light photography, eventhough
it has the slight disadvantage of using a proprietary battery.

My reservations about it are the following:
1) the lens isn't really fast enough, especially at telephoto end. The
other camera i could consider is the panasonic fz20 (obviously a
different class), but that camera has the disadvantage of an above
average image noise, especially at higher ISOs. I personally want a
general use camera with full manual settings and excellent image
quality. Other issues are secondary.
2) I'm not entirely sure what the issue is with RAW format on the
fuji. It seems to be limited according to reviewers, but they don't
seem to elaborate much on that. Can anyone tell me if it's possible to
manipulate RAW images from the Fuji and to what extent?
3) I haven't yet considered the 7mp CCD cameras, which are said to
have better noise than the 8mp ones. Main cameras here would be canon
s70 or the Olympus c7000, both are more expensive than the fuji. But
seeing DCRP reviews of the Canon S70 and the Fujifilm E550, it seems
the fujifilm does much better at iso 400.

I'm with you on media price. How many cards does a person need anyway?
Mike Henley wrote in message
m...
How are you finding it?

I think I am starting to overcome my reluctance to buy cameras that
use XD cards, eventhough they (the cards) are far more expensive than
CF or SD cards, and here's the reason; Olympus and Fujifilm use XD
cards, and their cameras appeal to me.

I was really impressed with dpreview review of the fujifilm f810, in
particular how well it performed at iso 400 against the casio p600 or
the olympus 8080.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf810/page7.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf810/page9.asp

It has full manual exposure including shutter, aperture, iso, white
balance, and focus, and as such could be a very nice compact camera
for available light photography. Of course a CMOS SLR would be best,
but I don't want the expense or size, given that photography, although
pleasurable, is a lower priority for me than other considerations in
my life. The F810 has AF-assit, which the E550 doesn't, and therefore
the F810 would be my preference for low light photography, eventhough
it has the slight disadvantage of using a proprietary battery.

My reservations about it are the following:
1) the lens isn't really fast enough, especially at telephoto end. The
other camera i could consider is the panasonic fz20 (obviously a
different class), but that camera has the disadvantage of an above
average image noise, especially at higher ISOs. I personally want a
general use camera with full manual settings and excellent image
quality. Other issues are secondary.
2) I'm not entirely sure what the issue is with RAW format on the
fuji. It seems to be limited according to reviewers, but they don't
seem to elaborate much on that. Can anyone tell me if it's possible to
manipulate RAW images from the Fuji and to what extent?
3) I haven't yet considered the 7mp CCD cameras, which are said to
have better noise than the 8mp ones. Main cameras here would be canon
s70 or the Olympus c7000, both are more expensive than the fuji. But
seeing DCRP reviews of the Canon S70 and the Fujifilm E550, it seems
the fujifilm does much better at iso 400.

"Mark Dunn" wrote in news:2u7mbaF25cdfcU1@uni-
berlin.de:

How many cards does a person need anyway?

At least one BIG one is nice to keep in the camera at all times. It's also
nice to have a backup. Frequent travel bugs may need more, unless they
travel with a laptop of some other type of portable storage.

--
Bill

"Woodchuck Bill" wrote in message
...
"Mark Dunn" wrote in news:2u7mbaF25cdfcU1@uni-
berlin.de:

How many cards does a person need anyway?

At least one BIG one is nice to keep in the camera at all times. It's also
nice to have a backup. Frequent travel bugs may need more, unless they
travel with a laptop of some other type of portable storage.

--
Bill

I would not recommend this. Although rare, if that one big card failed, you
could lose photos. I'd use smaller cards. If one is lost, only some photos
are lost. It has never happened to me, but I've seen a faulty card reader
damage photos and I friend of mine lost 70 photos (saved only 7) from his
vacation.
John

"Woodchuck Bill" wrote in message
...
"Mark Dunn" wrote in news:2u7mbaF25cdfcU1@uni-
berlin.de:

How many cards does a person need anyway?

At least one BIG one is nice to keep in the camera at all times. It's also
nice to have a backup. Frequent travel bugs may need more, unless they
travel with a laptop of some other type of portable storage.

--
Bill

I would not recommend this. Although rare, if that one big card failed, you
could lose photos. I'd use smaller cards. If one is lost, only some photos
are lost. It has never happened to me, but I've seen a faulty card reader
damage photos and I friend of mine lost 70 photos (saved only 7) from his
vacation.
John