Fuji F31 vs F50

Hi,

I'm relatively new to scuba diving and photographer. I love both and course I want to take some photos when I dive. (I dived at Dayang and Sipadan, roughly 20 dives in total)

I'm currently considering getting a good and appropriate camera for myself.

I heard good reviews about the Fuji F31 for its sensitivity to light. But its very very hard to find now. Fuji has come up with the F50 which has many bad reviews. And it seems it won't perform as well as the F31 underwater. Is that a fair statement?

A good shop has offered me the F50 + the original uw casing for $600 total. But ever since I started reading the reviews I dunno whether to pass the offer and go searching for the F31. But are the differences between the two cameras so great - that I should keep searching for the F31?

I could not find full reviews of all your camera models. Some of the consumer P&S camera models come and go too quickly.

Were you ever lucky to start out at Sipadan and Dayang.

Here are some reviews and previews of the cameras you are considering:

Fujifilm FinePix F31fd Digital Camera - Preview - The Imaging Resource!

Fujifilm FinePix F40fd Digital Camera - Preview - The Imaging Resource!

Fujifilm FinePix F50fd Digital Camera - Preview - The Imaging Resource!

Fujifilm FinePix F31fd Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

Fujifilm Digital Cameras: Digital Photography Review

I'm glad you asked that question, I am in the Exact same predicament.
I've done lots of research (although i cant say i know that much about cameras yet, so correct me if I'm wrong about anything) and so far have found out these for f50fd compared to f31fd that most reviews have agreed on

pros
SD card instead of XD
sleeker look
slightly larger and better looking LCD
double number of mega pixels
f31 is hard to find, especially new

cons
worse overall image quality
shorter battery life
image stabilizing doesn't seem to do much
more noise, especially at higher ISO
worse video quality

hope it helps, and maybe more people can add to this list

heres a side by side comparison Digital Cameras Side-by-Side, 2 cameras: Digital Photography Review

I'm going to go to a couple camera stores and see what they have to think about it and ill let you know.

Anyone know about a case for it, the Fuji case seems to be coming out in November according to Amazon and i think theres an Ikelite case for it too.

Yeah, can't believe that the older model is better at taking pictures than the F50. That's bizarre. I hope I'm wrong. Its very hard to get hold of the F31 these days and its even more rare to find the housing. The F31 is suppose to be excellent for diving photography due to its sensitivity to light- less noise. But the question is - how bad is it? Is it so significant than I should not buy the F50 and keep looking for the F31 or wait until Fuji makes another F31 type.

Refurb f31:
http://store.fujifilmmall.com/product.asp?sku=3675004



FXF-30 housings:
Fuji Cameras - WP-FXF30 Waterproof Case for FinePix F30 Digital Camera - Rated up to 130 - 15694040

The F50 doesn't excite me. When you have a small lens and small sensor, the number of pixels starts to become irrelevant beyond 8 MP or so. With the F50, Fuji can advertise lots of pixels, but all it really does is produce large files that take longer to write. See my comment below about resolving power.

I have the F31. Image quality is excellent. 8X10 photos at ISO 800 look fine. The battery lasts for hundreds of photos. In the hand it feels beautifully crafted. If it were my choice, I would get the refurbished F31 and a new housing.

If you look at DPreview's F31fd test, they showed that it's resolving power was closer to that of 8-10MP cameras. Beyond ISO 200, there wasn't even a comparison. The F31fd is the most DSLR-like of any P&S camera.

Another option is the F40fd. It's got the 1/1.6" CCD with 8 MP. You give up the aperture and shutter priority options. It does have dual xD and SD slots. Image quality at ISO 400 is quite good. I would rather have the F40 than the F50. Also, the F40 is cheap and easy to find.

I wish Fuji didn't give into the megapixel race. When the F31 came out, Fuji's press released talked about image quality over megapixel numbers, how the average consumer was more educated. Now they've done an about face. If almost find it ironic, because most stores that carried the F31 were always sold out. And in typical Fuji fashion, the good cameras are never sold at big box stores. I ordered mine from B&H at a cost of $239 minus a $50 rebate. The rebate came in 8 weeks.

that the higher pixel count Fujifilm cameras generate more heat and consequently, more noise- hence the rap that the f50 takes worse photos.

I have a F40FD and it seems to do pretty well. I can't say how it stacks up to the F31, but the video and photos are pretty good- especially compared to my Canon a710IS.

I use the Fuji Finepix e900 with an ikelite housing and couldn't be happier with this P&S. 9.0MP, can go into full manual mode and can shoot in RAW which is a HUGE advantage when it comes to post processing. I know another diver who uses it and takes pictures that rival those of pro photographers. This to me is just a step below a DSLR. I just got a video housing for my camera and actually might be thinking of selling it if you're interested. I don't really see a point in having it now that my new housing alone is worth 5 of these setups. It's also got a really great macro mode, here's a few pics I took with it, obviously they have been optimized for the web. I also have a wide angle lens adapter for topside photography and a telephoto is also available. the only drawback with this setup is that the housing is larger than the camera but I don't think it's that big of a deal. With these shots I used a cheap little fantasea strobe.

Billy

Damm, guess I missed the refurbed F31's at the Fuji site. Any other sources for them around?

I have the F31d but didnt think the image underwater is good. maybe its the setting or something. can someone pls advise? and underwater hsing for f31 can get direct from fuji, they have them in singapore.

but i must say, the pictures from f31d above water is excellent, rich colors and stabiliser is good.