Fiji E-900 advice to new photographer

[mglazer]

Hi All,

I am tossing up about getting a e-900 and ikelite housing,

http://www.digitaldiver.com.au/ikelite_e900.htm

I was going for the Olympus SP350 but lots of reviews suggested it is slow starting up, poor battery life and lots of shutter lag.

What are your views on them, I have had a read of the other threads and people seem to go for the SP350 but was put off after those reviews. I just need some conformation before I spend $1000. :11:

Thanks for your advice it is much appreciated.

Mike

 

[Tom Winters]

Well, for starters, the Ikelite housing for the Fuji is $200 cheaper. I'd probably pop for that over the SP-350.

 

[starlan]

Im also thinking of getting a Fuji based on the good reviews they are getting in the Image quality department. Im waiting for the F30 which will be coming out in a few weeks I beleive. Ive read many reviews online for the E900 and they are all mostly positive. It has a good ISO range up to 800, which is not very noisy. In your case the E900 looks a little better than the Sp350 with regards to operation performance, I also looked into the Sp350 but decided against it like you based on what I heard online. If you want a little smaller camera, with even better noise and ISO handling check out the Fuji F30 too, but do note that it has 6mp's as opposed to 9mp's only shutter or aperture priority mode while it still has the custom white balance (which is critical in underwater shots) and thus you cant set both shutter and aperture manually at the same time, but only one pick one (say shutter, then the camera chooses aperture automatically, or the exact opposite) if full manual is of importance to you then I can say pretty confidently that the E900 is a good choice. Also check out the Canon S80 8Mp camera which is a very good one too with all manual controls but disspointing noise in high ISO's (above ISO 200) that is at ISO 400 to be precise since it doesnt go any higher than that. It is a fact that the Fuji F10 and F30's ISO 800 and maybe even ISO1600 setting is better than most cameras ISO 400 setting. The E900's ISO 800 is also comparable to other brands ISO 400's so that is also a very good thing, allowing for much more flexibility in low light shooting.

 

[alcina]

FWIW - full manual is far more important, imho, than white balance. But I use my flash for the vast majority of my shots. As always it is finding the tool that suits you best.

The Fuji 900 is a popular choice. Most divers will not notice the start up delays in normal diving between current models. Many won't notice "shutter lag" in most situations, either. Everything's a trade off, so make sure you get the camera that meets your needs - and have fun shopping!

 

[starlan]

Alcina - So I thought the Fuji F30 might have been the perfect camera for me since it has a lot of impressive features and adds the aperture and shutter priority modes to the F10 which was needed. I just wish it could have been fully manual and that way I would have been sold on it instantly. I was looking into the Canon Sd600 series cameras, but they dont offer manual controls either (not even shutter or aperture priority like the F30). So do you always adjust your aperture and shutter manually for all the shots you take underwater then? You dont think that the aperture or shutter priority modes wil be enough for good underwater shots alone and that it is always best to adjust verything manually? I need some opinions on this matter as I really like the F30 based on what I see as to size, pic quality, features etc.. I also found the Casio ex-z850 which is small and manual but the image quality isnt up to par of the Fujis it seems to me, im still looking, they need to make that perfect camera although the F30 is damn close.

 

[mglazer]

Thanks for your responses, I am going to order the E-900 Today.

Look foward to posting some of my images.

 

[starlan]

Great! Let us know how it fares for you after you get to play around with it a little. I'll be checking back for your post. Im sure you will be happy with it, in fact, I am also looking into it, and I cant decide if the F30 is good enough or if I should pick an able fully manual camera such as the E900 or maybe Casio Ex-Z850?

Too many tough choices in life!