Fujifilm Finepix F30

[alo100]

Now thats what Im talking about!! I wonder how much that set up goes for including all the lenses etc... By the way, what are the lenses, one wide angle, one macro, whats the other one? Another macro? Either way, an awesome set up I would love to have!

PS. How does the flash work? I see its connected with a cable? Where is the cable connected to though? I dont have enough knowledge about strobes but I am guessing there is a sensor where the flash of the F30 is and that it senses it when its fired and sends a signal along the cable to the actual strobe to fire, is this correct or am I way off? Just a casual guess from looking at the setup.

You have a quoted price on all that stuff Alo100 minus the camera itself and the Fuji case?

If you have a DSLR, say, Nikon, the light intensity calc is done by the camera I-TTL in this case, similarly for the Fuji f30 on land, f30 fire the preflash, the light comes back to the camera, calculation, then generates a suitable amount of flash to illuminate the object interested. For the Inon setup, we are using the camera and the strobe together to calcuate the amouint of light, the role of the strobe is like a replacement for the original internal flash, the animation is trying to show this:

http://www.inon.co.jp/product/strobe/d2000_pre.html

Yes, your guess is correct!!!
f30 still send out the preflash, but the preflash is going to be used to trigger the strobe instead. After receiving the preflash, the strobe generates its own preflash to the object. The light bounces back from the object to the camera through the lens, the camera calculates the amount of light needed and generates the real flash. This time, the flash done by the camera is used by the strobe to calc the amount of light needed to be generated by the strobe itself. As we can imagine, we still rely on the camera to tell the suitable amount of light, the strobe is just going to modify it, since the strobe is illuminating from a different location to the object; plus, you can see, the real preflash applied to the object is from the strobe, it's kind of true TTL, since the reflection is collected through the camera lens. Finally the suitable amount of flash is generated by the strobe which covers about 100 degree in angle.

Finally, the setup is ready for most parts of the world, but I don't have any price quote, sorry!!!

 

[WuffRuff]

Hey...
What has happened to this thread?
I'm still waiting for the underwater pictures taken with the F30 to be posted!

 

[alo100]

Hey...
What has happened to this thread?
I'm still waiting for the underwater pictures taken with the F30 to be posted!

Oh, Spoonbender and others posted some already (see prev) then I posted 2 but I've removed them so that I can use the space for more group photo's... did you see my original?

 

[starlan]

Hey.

I found this somewhere, they were taken at an aquarium, at first I thought they were underwater but in one or two shots you can see the reflection of the camera on the glass. Still, I think its worthwhile as many of the pics are taken at extremely high ISO (1600 etc..) so you can see what to expect as far as natural light photography goes without using the flash, down deep you will have to use Manual WB for sure as these were taken on Auto but there was plenty of light. Still I recommend you save the images and view them full screen size on your PC and not at 100% like they are. Looks like the high ISO will be handy.

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/longterm/2006/06/19/4004.html

 

[pakman]

Just a side note... bought the F30 before a trip earlier this month for topside use. Does anyone else find the green preflash ANNOYING? It's not just green but bright as hell!!! Was taking pics of fellow SB'ers at a bar and the green glow was hilariously annoying! Otherwise, it's a great little camera especially at low light/ high ISO situations.

 

[starlan]

That is an Auto Focus Illmunator, it helps the cam focus in dark situations. You know you can turn it off right? If you go into Setup menu its the 3rd item I believe and it still focuses fine without it in low-light cases (like bars, etc.) and Its extremely bright I agree, but its a good thing trust me, my prior Canon Elph (which I gave to my dad) had one and it was a lot weaker and orange, the one on this is like a laser and it enables the cam to focus even in pitch black darkness, but the cam still focuses fine without it so you can turn it off as it really is quite blinding.

Just a side note... bought the F30 before a trip earlier this month for topside use. Does anyone else find the green preflash ANNOYING? It's not just green but bright as hell!!! Was taking pics of fellow SB'ers at a bar and the green glow was hilariously annoying! Otherwise, it's a great little camera especially at low light/ high ISO situations.

 

[pakman]

starlan, yeah thanks for the correction, yes autofocus assist lamp, not preflash as I incorrectly stated. Yup, I turned that thing off shortly after that night! But still can't figure out why they picked green vs the traditional red or at least turn down the intensity of the light...

 

[WuffRuff]

Oh, Spoonbender and others posted some already (see prev) then I posted 2 but I've removed them so that I can use the space for more group photo's... did you see my original?

There's only 2 photos from F30 in this thread. Then there are several from F11. I can find many topside photos from F30 but what I want to see is the underwater ones as its really my purpose for getting another camera. Can you give me the link to see your photos? Or PM me.

Btw... I am also contemplating Canon SD800 IS. It has image stabilizer, wide angle, ISO 1600 and manual. Its also slimmer and more pocketable. But while it can do ISO 1600, I don't know about the quality of the high ISO photos while I know those from F30 are good. Don't comparre it to the past Canon models as this one uses the new Digic III processor.

The main lure of the Canon over the Fuji for me is the IS and wide angle. What do you think? Is wide angle a good thing to have underwater? It also has a wider range compared to F30. F30's range is quite limited actually I find. But will have to wait to find out about the Canon though. Think its not out yet.

 

[alcina]

Wide angle is a wonderful thing underwater as is ability to close focus. If you're going to look for info on a Canon model, it would be a good idea to pop a new thread in the Canon area so it doesn't get lost in this thread.

IS is probably limited in value underwater as is high ISO...

 

[starlan]

The SD800 looks like a neat litte camera, but make sure it has a housing rated to more than 10ft, I had an SD450 and it only had a housing to 10ft if you are interested in the SD800 (I think I read somewhere that the SD900 (unfortunately this one doesnt have IS or wide angle) is going to have case rated to 130ft and the SD800 to 10ft, but I could be wrong so make sure you check that out! **EDIT: I just checked it out and yes I think the SD800 case is the kind thats only rated to 10ft so beware - it will only be good for snorkelling at the surface!)**. Also, IS is really no use underwater, high ISO will come in more handy for available light photography and freezing motion. Topside IS helps though. Though do expect the ISO1600 of the SD800 to be quite bad, the reason has to with physics more than the Image Processor. The SD800 has a 1/2.5" CCD that has 7.1MP's packed on it. The same sensor size as the SD700 but with an extra MP, this will cause it to have more noise, that part is just physics. The F30 has a 1/1.7" CCD (almost 50% larger) with only 6MP's so obviously it has less noise from the get go, it also utilizes Fuji's Super CCD design which further improves the ISO performance. The Digic III will probably apply more NR than did the Digic II processor and hence have a watercolor look, (the Fuji has that look at ISO1600 and 3200, but still better than watercolor effect of Cams like Panasonic at ISO400) though I think it will be more evident earlier on in the SD800 (probably ISO400 and on, some brands like Panny itv visible at ISO200!). Also, if they dont apply too much NR (like Digic II - then I would expect ISO 1600 to be extremely grainy judging from the ISO800 of the SD700 - which again theoretically should be less noisy to begin with). So if you want the SD800 get it for the wide-angle and not the high ISO (which I dont think will be able to match the Fuji at all) or the IS (for underwater). Also, just for information the SD series cams dont have manual control at all, they are fully Auto cams, the F30 has shutter and aperture pirority modes. Both cams offer Manual WB, and the F30 has an underwater mode too, dont know about the SD800.

There's only 2 photos from F30 in this thread. Then there are several from F11. I can find many topside photos from F30 but what I want to see is the underwater ones as its really my purpose for getting another camera. Can you give me the link to see your photos? Or PM me.

Btw... I am also contemplating Canon SD800 IS. It has image stabilizer, wide angle, ISO 1600 and manual. Its also slimmer and more pocketable. But while it can do ISO 1600, I don't know about the quality of the high ISO photos while I know those from F30 are good. Don't comparre it to the past Canon models as this one uses the new Digic III processor.

The main lure of the Canon over the Fuji for me is the IS and wide angle. What do you think? Is wide angle a good thing to have underwater? It also has a wider range compared to F30. F30's range is quite limited actually I find. But will have to wait to find out about the Canon though. Think its not out yet.