 One trick Pony! |
| Review Date: January 27, 2010 |
| Reviewer: R. Sarma, New York |
I've been using DSLRs for 4 years now, but have primarily been an Olympus (four-thirds) user. I love the system for its lenses and feature packed bodies at lower price points. However, the one area where 4/3s always had an issue was high ISO and DR; when I read about the S5 Pro, it seemed like the "magic bullet", resolving both these issues at once.
For starters, I used the camera for a month and compared it to my Olympus E30 to see if I was really gaining anything substantial. After much assessment I decided to keep my E-30 and sell off the S5 Pro. Without belabouring the point, let me get down to the pros and cons,
PROS:
1. Excellent build quality
2. Great ergonomics
3. Phenomenal DR in JPEGs and highlight headroom in RAW files.
4. Very nice and pleasing colours.
5. WB is generally very accurate.
CONS:
1. High ISO noise is no better than the Olympus E-30.
2. Noise reduction in JPEGs is very aggressive.
3. Resolution is not equivalent to 12MP, the E-30 easily bests it.
4. Colours and skin tones, although pleasing are more suited to Caucasian skin.
5. Menu system is very complicated.
6. Playback and image zoom require too many button presses.
7. Battery life is low.
8. If DR is left on 'Auto', the camera slows down.
9. RAW files too large and best used with native software only.
10. Native software doesn't support DNG.
Olympus fixed a lot of issues with the E-30 and it really shows when comparing it to the S5 Pro; yes, the S5 has phenomenal amounts of highlight headroom that the E-30 can never come close to, but this is useful only when you constantly shoot in very high DR scenes or get the exposure wrong (overexpose).
In terms of colour, I think both the E-30 and S5 are neck and neck, although when using higher ISOs, the E-30 seems to retain colour better. This seems to happen because of the fact that as you ramp up the ISO, after a certain point the R pixels are turned off and only the S pixels are used. Also, this variance in colour is more visible when using a RAW converter other than Hyper-Utility or Finepix viewer, clearly the S5 is best used only with it's native software. This is a big minus for me as I use LR for all my cataloguing and RAW processing.
The S5 files are uncompressed and huge, so they are best managed when converted to DNG, however this means neither Hyper-Utility nor Finepix viewer can process these files for you. Also, when processing files in LR, the colours vary a lot from ISO to ISO, which means, if you plan on using LR/ACR, you are better of building your own colour profiles for different ISOs under different lighting conditions, this is a tedious affair.
To summarize, the S5 Pro is a camera that offers superior highlight headroom, DR and colours straight out of the box and is an excellent tool for photographers that don't like spending too much time processing and colour correcting RAW files. However, in my opinion, the unmatched highlight headroom in the RAW files is the only thing which differentiates the S5 from today's cameras. Cameras like the Olympus E-30 produce excellent colours, good DR and are getting better at high ISO as well. Also, when you consider the bloated selling price of these cameras, it only makes sense to consider more current options in the market which may serve you just as well or maybe even better. |
My S5 Pro
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| Review Date: November 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Jeffery B. Vu, rocky mountain high colorado |
I finally bought the S5 Pro after a long wait for the price to drop, i am the owner of Fuji S2, S3 pro for a long time and still..I have no doubt that S5 will exceed the previous models. Indeed it is a much better camera.
The build is nicely solid, fast respond, heavy and feel great in my hands. I have read many reviews on this S5, people complained about its back focus issue!? I found no problem at all. I can only suggest people to read the manual throughout 1st before using the camera, one must know all the functions of this camera..The AF is more advance than the S2&S3, it got many settings on it.
As far as picture quality , OMG! it is totally awesome. the color is so smooth and so pleasing, the details is so attractive, not to mention very nice noise control at high iso, the sharpness come from your lens, but i love all about Fuji image quality, it is the best i've seen, and i have owned about 20 digital cameras already. To bad Fuji stop making DSLR, otherwise i would buy their next model. But i have faith that Fuji will return 1 day..
Strongly suggest anyone who cares for IQ rather than speed. S5 is a fast enough camera. But you will be happy with the end result.
I sell prints , i dont sell speed. Infact, i dont wear shirt that say Canon or Fuji, i wear shirt that say Jesus save!!!!..
Thnxs
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Looks like it is now officially discontinued.
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| Review Date: June 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Anton Karidian, Toronto |
Much improved over the previous version S3 Pro in terms of ease of use.
The larger display screen is nice and the menu is much improved.
Although the AA batteries of the previous version had its advantages, I prefer the lithion ion battery system of this version.
The actual results is not that much of an improvement -- pixel count and ccd sizes remain the same. |
Dont Know
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| Review Date: May 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: William M. Jones, |
| Never recieved item even as I paid for it. Can not review an item I never got. |
The best quality for the least money of any professional camera
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| Review Date: March 24, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Raymond A. Brown, Texas |
I have owned the S-2 S-3 and have now owned the S-5 since it was released, I think in 2006. The colors,dynamic range and tonality were far Superior to any pro camera that would cost twice the money and still they lagged behind the quality curve( the S-5 is not a fast camera). I have since bought and sold a Nixon D200 that really disappointed me.
When I have to take only one camera I leave the Canon D40 at home and take the Fuji S-5.
The saddest time in digital photography came when Fuji decided to not continue in the Pro Digital market. If Nikon had had some smart leadership they would have had Fuji develop sensor technology for them.
Its a shame to see one of the finest engineering teams just working on Prosumer product lines. I will always be a Fuji advocate even though they no longer support the Fuji S-5.
Ray Brown |
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Much improved over the previous version S3 Pro in terms of ease of use.
The larger display screen is nice and the menu is much improved.