Fuji S1 Pro

[ en français ]

I bought a used S1 Pro ( for 1200 € in dec 2002 ) as I have nikon lenses and I didn't used them much with my F801s (N8008 in the usa) since I bought my first digital camera (in 2000).

The S1 Pro is based on a F60 body (N60 in the usa).

My first impressions :

• The focusing speed is much much greater than the one of my Dimage 7i. (with fast lenses like the 50mm)
• The ccd need to be cleaned quite often (twice a month) to remove dust.
• The flash TTL greatly overexpose picture if the aperture is too opened. The manual ( p.74) gives the minimum distance to the subject for each aperture setting.
  For example, with an f stop of 2.8, the minimum distance to subject is 2.2 meters when using the internal flash. If the subject is closer, it will be overexposed.
  To avoid that, you can :
  - move farther from the subject,
  - choose a more closed aperture (F8 for ex.)
  - use a ND grey filter (or a polarising filter which eats two stops),
  - use bounce flash by orienting the head of the flash to the ceiling (indoor)
  More flash infos with distance table here.
• The S1 pro can use any nikon TTL flash in TTL mode. I tried nikon SB18, SB24 and Metz 36CT3.
• Very little digital noise at ISO 320 - 800. Noise more pronounced at ISO 1600 but still very usable (with my D7i the only usable ISO are 100 - 200)
• Very nice colors (skin tones are very pleasant and realistic).
• The white balance sometimes (with eco bulbs) needs to be memorised for indoor photography (custom setting available).
• The S1 is bigger than my F801s but smaller than a D1.

Tips :

• You can disable the focus assist light by selecting one of the following mode : landscape mode, sport mode or manual focusing.
• If you find the shutter release of the S1 Pro too loud, use the battery adapter to replace the two CR123 batteries. You loose the ability to use the integrated flash and the autofocus is slower, but the shutter release is quieter.
  I think the explanation is that the film advance motor is used when CR123 batteries are present (maybe it's an heritage of the N60).
• The CR123 batteries doesn't last long when the camera is on for a long time even when taking few shots.
  When the batteries are weak, the ERR message shows in the LCD panel, and you have to change them or use the batterie adapter to continue shooting.
• I don't use the 6 Mpix setting, but the 2304 one (3 Mpix). I can interpolate later with photochop if I need to. The pictures are smaller on the card, they record faster and as the ccd is only 3.4 Mpix there is no information lost.
• The ccd dust are more present if you use a closed aperture (from F5.6). With my 50mm, and with an aperture of F1.8, the dust are not a problem as you can not see them anymore.
  
• There is no specific exposure compensation setting for the flash. But you can use the common exposure compensation setting (-3 to +3) and if will also work on the flash exposure.
• With AI or AIS lenses, there is no exposure mesurement, and only the manual exposure mode is usable, but the TTL flash works with them.
• Don't try to mount a non-AI lens on the S1 pro as it would break a little piece that would render the S1 unusable with AF lenses.
  Some modified-AI lenses are also concerned, it depends of the way the pre-AI lens was converted AI.
• Sometimes I get autofocus problems with some slow lenses. The body switch from sequential AF to continuous AF automatically, because the body thinks that the subject moved, even with static subjects.
  To correct this problem, you can use the portrait, macro or landscape mode instead of M, A, or P modes.
• It is sometimes hard to do manual focusing due to the small magnification of the viewfinder, a DG-2 magnifier improve things.

Concorde landing.
S1 pro and 70-300 ED at 300mm
Manual focusing.

Conclusion :

Very good camera for the price. Very easy to use, very ergonomic menus. Very good pictures out of the camera (nice colors). No post-processing needed.

The main advantages versus the Dimage 7i is the quick AF, and the usable high sensibilities.

There is some limitations but reading the manual helps (minimum distance versus aperture to avoid flash overexposure for example).

Links :

Pictures I took with the S1

Finepix Viewer for XP (update)

S1 page (in russian, but where you can download the pdf manual in english)

S1 pro tools and drivers page

S1 vs D1

If english is your first language, don't hesitate to report me language mistakes (my first language is french).

Contactez moi : Email