Fujifilm HS50 EXR has arrived ! (2 Viewers)

[earleybird]

Well the camera arrived and I must say that so far I am quite impressed. It is early days for me as a photographer and birdwatcher, but here are a couple of recent images.

All shot in A-Mode

Coppersmith Barbet - ISO 500, f/5.6, 1/58sec, FL-185mm

Common Kingfisher - ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/20sec, FL-160mm

Green Beeeater - ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/600sec, FL-185mm

well done Mcflycatcher , a great start especially considering that you have started with three of the toughest tests for any camera . Small birds taken against a bright backlit sky , in dense foliage and under a branch in the shade.
I notice that your shutter speeds are very low for bird shots especially quick moving birds like the Kingfisher.

Your Aperture f/5.6 is good for shallow depth of field but your ISO setting and low shutter speed tells me that there was not a great deal of natural light when you took your shots.

Don't be afraid to up your ISO to 800 or even 1600 in order to get your shutter speed up a little in low light conditions.

Also try setting your image quality to M medium and set the camera to Burst Mode 16x images per second you'll be amazed at how many interesting shots you get and the higher percentage of keepers.

Good luck :t:

 

[The30something]

Well I finally joined the HS50 club last week, after deciding to sell my trusty HS10. Managed to get out with it today, for an hour or so, even though it was extremely dull and grey, not ideal for first impressions and unlike yesterday which was wall to wall sunshine, typical!!. Obviously it is very early days and I'm playing around with setting etc.

Here's two from today a Male Siskin and a Coal Tit, just wish I had yesterday's light, ah well next time!!

 

[earleybird]

Well I finally joined the HS50 club last week, after deciding to sell my trusty HS10.

same upgrade as me !:t: I loved my HS10 so much that I almost felt like a traitor when I bought the HS50 :-O

Thats a good start but don't be too disappointed, its quite a steep learning curve as the HS50 is quite a different beast and as you say the light at the moment is pretty appalling.

What is your exif data for the Siskin shot ? did you use EXR or A Aperture mode ? Auto-focus or manual ? Through glass or out in the open? hand held or resting (sandbag/tripod etc)?

ps there are several Flickr groups for the HS50 where you would be very welcome to post your pics get some critique and discuss the camera settings etc . http://www.flickr.com/groups/2155651@N24/

 

[The30something]

same upgrade as me !:t: I loved my HS10 so much that I almost felt like a traitor when I bought the HS50 :-O

Thats a good start but don't be too disappointed, its quite a steep learning curve as the HS50 is quite a different beast and as you say the light at the moment is pretty appalling.

What is your exif data for the Siskin shot ? did you use EXR or A Aperture mode ? Auto-focus or manual ? Through glass or out in the open? hand held or resting (sandbag/tripod etc)?

ps there are several Flickr groups for the HS50 where you would be very welcome to post your pics get some critique and discuss the camera settings etc . http://www.flickr.com/groups/2155651@N24/

Shot on program mode, I basically adopted my hs10 settings, but as you say it's "a different beast"! Unfortunately, I've been unable to use the camera all week again, hopefully tomorrow!! Some impressive photo's in the 'flickr' group, thanks for the link!! Have you tried the EXR mode at all?

 

[earleybird]

Shot on program mode, I basically adopted my hs10 settings, but as you say it's "a different beast"! Unfortunately, I've been unable to use the camera all week again, hopefully tomorrow!! Some impressive photo's in the 'flickr' group, thanks for the link!! Have you tried the EXR mode at all?

Hi 30something

for static bird shots the standard camera mode is always always A Aperture because for this subject you want to control the DOF (depth of field) so that everything in front and behind your subject is out of focus (bokeh) .

I never use EXR its a waste of time . Sorry to be so blunt but its true.

if you use any sort of auto mode setting the camera does not know if you wish to take a picture of a tiny bird at some distance in low light or a landscape or a fast moving sports shot etc. The camera therefore defaults to landscape mode settings which is probably not what you want.

by using the manual modes you can tell your camera precisely what you want it to do .

If I'm taking a bird shot for example at near max zoom and say at 12 feet in low light I set the mode to A Aperture and probably set the F/stop to f/5.6 to reduce the DOF to a minimum that will emphasize my subject and eliminate unwanted background and foreground.
naturally if its a context shot you adjust the f/stop accordingly.

Next I'll try a spot metering pre-focus on my subject and see what sort of shutter speed I have . If its a hand held shot I'll need at least 1/250 to freeze any movement and preferably a shutter speed equal to the focal length ie at 500mm the shutter speed should be 1/500 ideally so that the camera software doesn't soften the image to compensate for camera shake.

if I cannot get the speed high enough I adjust the ISO higher until I can get the speed I want. I'm happy to use 1/800 even 1/1600 to get a decent shutter speed .
In low light , if the speed is still too low and I'm not happy to have a grainy image at higher ISO I abandon the shot .

The trouble with EXR and Auto modes is that the camera sets the settings for you and most of the time they are completely unsuitable for the subject you are taking. The sooner you practice the manual modes the sooner you'll start getting some excellent image quality in your shots and less fuzzy softened images trust me.:t:
Heres one I took last year which has been cropped but no PP
kind regards
John

 

[Paul Brooks]

A qui;ck question regarding the HS50 please - I see that the Canon sx50 has two custom pre-set modes that if set go to pre-defined settings when the camera is turned on. Does the Fuji HS 50 have an equivalent feature?
Cheers

 

[earleybird]

A qui;ck question regarding the HS50 please - I see that the Canon sx50 has two custom pre-set modes that if set go to pre-defined settings when the camera is turned on. Does the Fuji HS 50 have an equivalent feature?
Cheers

You should download the HS50 manual so that you can read through the specification and see pictures of the mode button.
The HS has 2x SP modes SP1 and SP2 which can both be programmed independantly and retain their settings.

I cannot understand why you would be comparing the Canon sx50 with the Fuji HS50 they are 2x completely different cameras , the Canon being virtually obsolete now.

Apart from the Canon having slightly longer focal length and a motorised zoom lens for video there is no other advantage not even price as the HS50 is available for a little over £200 now !

The HS50 has a manual focus and a manual zoom lens and the fastest auto-focus and shot to shot speeds of any camera in its field

If these features are important to you then buy the HS50 if you want a 50x zoom with a slow motorized lens for taking predominently video then consider the Canon .

there are dozens and dozens of reviews on the net now with back to back comparisons . just type in 'fuji hs50 review ' into google and settle back with a nice cup of coffee and enjoy reading up about it.:t:

 

[Paul Brooks]

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I have downloaded the manual, it's 120 pages long so I wanted to check that I understood correctly regarding the pre-set modes

I cannot understand why you would be comparing the Canon sx50 with the Fuji HS50

Well these are the two cameras I've been deciding between. And to be fair you started a thread called "Fuji HS50 vs Canon SX50" so they must invite some comparison... They both get great reviews and are both £300 on Amazon at the moment so if you know of a retailer that is selling the HS50 for £200 I'd certainly be keen to hear about it please.
Cheers.

 

[earleybird]

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I have downloaded the manual, it's 120 pages long so I wanted to check that I understood correctly regarding the pre-set modes


Well these are the two cameras I've been deciding between. And to be fair you started a thread called "Fuji HS50 vs Canon SX50" so they must invite some comparison... They both get great reviews and are both £300 on Amazon at the moment so if you know of a retailer that is selling the HS50 for £200 I'd certainly be keen to hear about it please.
Cheers.

Paul
I started the Canon vs Fuji thread specifically to dissuade people from posting questions on this Fuji HS50 information thread on the Fuji forum about other makes of camera

Unfortunately it seems that a lot of folk think its ok to post any old off-topic posts about other cameras on this thread which makes it harder for Fuji HS50 owners to wade through all the irrelevant stuff to find the information they seek about the Fuji HS50 camera.

With all due respect it sounds to me that it is not performance or features that is top of your camera choice list but cost.

The Fuji HS50 camera is available in several places at considerably under £300. you need to conduct your own searches . I would suggest that you start in Amazon as they have a 100% return no quibble warrantee policy which will allow you to use and test the camera and return it if it does not suit you.

Don't forget if you want a 50x zoom lens there is the much cheaper Fuji SL1000 which has the same fast auto focus and shot to shot speed as the Fuji HS50.
If you believe that the Canon would be suitable for wildlife and bird photography I would recommend that you try one before buying and being dissapointed with the slow motorized zoom and slow Autofocus speed and shot to shot times

 

[Paul Brooks]

Paul
I started the Canon vs Fuji thread specifically to dissuade people from posting questions on this Fuji HS50 information thread on the Fuji forum about other makes of camera

Errr, did you read my post? I'm not asking about any other camera. My post was a specific request for information about the Fuji HS50, posted right here in the Fuji HS50 thread. That hardly seems off-topic.

With all due respect it sounds to me that it is not performance or features that is top of your camera choice list but cost

Well, performance and features are right at the crux of my decision-making regarding a new camera, but obviously in common with almost everyone else on the planet it's got to be within a certain budget. As I mentioned, Amazon are selling it for £300 at the moment and Pricebuster has them as the cheapest so if you do know of a £200 deal I'd certainly be grateful for a link.
Cheers

 

[earleybird]

Errr, did you read my post? I'm not asking about any other camera. My post was a specific request for information about the Fuji HS50, posted right here in the Fuji HS50 thread. That hardly seems off-topic.


Well, performance and features are right at the crux of my decision-making regarding a new camera, but obviously in common with almost everyone else on the planet it's got to be within a certain budget. As I mentioned, Amazon are selling it for £300 at the moment and Pricebuster has them as the cheapest so if you do know of a £200 deal I'd certainly be grateful for a link.
Cheers

I am sorry that I have been unable to help you Paul.

I have spent over half an hour today trying ....and I am currently in mourning too!

I hope you find what you are looking for.

ps the cheapest that I can find the HS50 available for new currently is £222.00 free post

 

[Jane Turner]

I took these through 2x dirty double-glazed doors in bad light yesterday pm

 

[earleybird]

wow they are cracking shots Jane. What a privilege to witness.

 

[Jane Turner]

Here is the video - worth turning up the setting to HD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgqCs01NHVQ&feature=youtu.be

 

[earleybird]

excellent thank you for posting.
I managed to take a similar video last year but at a further distance balancing on one leg as I tried to prevent the cats going out the catflap with the other foot lol:-O

 

[Paul Brooks]

ps the cheapest that I can find the HS50 available for new currently is £222.00 free post

Great , but where please?

 

[The30something]

Hi 30something

for static bird shots the standard camera mode is always always A Aperture because for this subject you want to control the DOF (depth of field) so that everything in front and behind your subject is out of focus (bokeh) .

I never use EXR its a waste of time . Sorry to be so blunt but its true.

if you use any sort of auto mode setting the camera does not know if you wish to take a picture of a tiny bird at some distance in low light or a landscape or a fast moving sports shot etc. The camera therefore defaults to landscape mode settings which is probably not what you want.

by using the manual modes you can tell your camera precisely what you want it to do .

If I'm taking a bird shot for example at near max zoom and say at 12 feet in low light I set the mode to A Aperture and probably set the F/stop to f/5.6 to reduce the DOF to a minimum that will emphasize my subject and eliminate unwanted background and foreground.
naturally if its a context shot you adjust the f/stop accordingly.

Next I'll try a spot metering pre-focus on my subject and see what sort of shutter speed I have . If its a hand held shot I'll need at least 1/250 to freeze any movement and preferably a shutter speed equal to the focal length ie at 500mm the shutter speed should be 1/500 ideally so that the camera software doesn't soften the image to compensate for camera shake.

if I cannot get the speed high enough I adjust the ISO higher until I can get the speed I want. I'm happy to use 1/800 even 1/1600 to get a decent shutter speed .
In low light , if the speed is still too low and I'm not happy to have a grainy image at higher ISO I abandon the shot .

The trouble with EXR and Auto modes is that the camera sets the settings for you and most of the time they are completely unsuitable for the subject you are taking. The sooner you practice the manual modes the sooner you'll start getting some excellent image quality in your shots and less fuzzy softened images trust me.:t:
Heres one I took last year which has been cropped but no PP
kind regards
John

Thank you very much for the advise/help much appreciated!!!!
I finally got out on Sunday for an hour or so (with some nice sunlight), and I played around with the aperture setting. Obviously a lot of era but a couple of nice shots. This Blue Tit was easily my favourite!

 

[Paul Brooks]

185mm (1000mm)
ISO 400
f 5.6
1/240s

Hoopoe. Light was fading so higher ISO and accidental underexposure caused plenty of noise which
I had to remove using noise ninja, thus losing plenty of feather detail.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3683/9685971700_820e4b577c_o.jpg

Hello Micloi
The three shots you posted above look great. I have been wrangling over some of the settings and I'd be very interested to hear how you are set up.

I've seen an informative post on Digital Photo Review that suggests:
Colour +2
Tone -2
Sharpness +2
NR -2 (low)
Dynamic Range - 200% (or 100%?)
EV -0.33
ISO Auto 400
Photometry - Spot (or average?)
Image stabilisation - Continuous Motion
Film simulation Velvia

If you or anyone else has any thoughts on these I'd be grateful.
Cheers

 

[Jon Erdmann]

Greetings, I can attest that the HS50 is an awesome package in your hands, as I just received this one in the mail.

Yesterday I headed out from the house over to Bigfork area, for those that don't know the community of Bigfork, it is approx 23 miles from Kalispell, MT here in the Flathead Valley.

Well yesterday I drove up to a farm house, and got permission to come back time and time again for just what I love... photography.

Here are two images shot hand held, as I was driving up to the highway to leave. In the first image just beyond the barn in the trees is a black dot taken at 24mm, and in the second image is that black dot at 1000mm.

Granted I should have used a tripod for this, and thought after to reshoot the hawk. Well after grabbing my tripod, I looked and well as it happens, it had flown away.

 

[Joms]

Birding after a year...
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3646961