 Barb L. Grosz |
Does the Fuji S5200 take good action shots? I am just wondering if the Fuji Finepix S5200 takes good indoor and/or outdoor action shots?
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robert G. Fately |
Barb, while I haven't used that Fuji, I tend to think it will disappoint you in taking action shots. The Panasonic Lumix FZ20 is quite similar to this Fuji - 10X f2.8 zoom, 5MP etc. - and I had one for a bit less than a year. The problem with these cameras is the shutter lag - the hairsbreadth of time delay between the time you press the shutter release an the moment the shutter actually fires. While less than a tenth of a second doesn't sound like much, in fact it can become quite frustrating - you try to catch the shot of the player stuffing the ball in the hoop, only to actually catch him on the return to the floor. This delay has nothing to do with ambient light - it exists because the ships used in these cameras were originally designed for use in digital movie cameras, so the internal electronics need to "set up" the chip in order for it to grab a still scene. While manufacturers have succeeded in reducing this time lag - it used to be really annoying - it's still ehough to get you a lot of "just missed" shots in action scenes. In contrast, the DSLRs out there (Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc) use chips that were created for use by still cameras. As a result, there is essentially zero time lag with them - I cannot tell the difference between my DSLR and the various film SLRs I've had over the past decades as far as shutter lag goes. With that in mind, I would suggest that you check out some of the DSLRs - they are a bit more expensive, but you won't have this time delay thing making you nuts. At the very least, go to the store, hold the Fuji and grab some shots of anything with 'action' - a car passing the light pole out the front window, a kid bouncing a ball on the sidewalk, whatever - to get a sense of whether this time lag thing I speak of will matter to you.
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Barb L. Grosz |
Will it help if I depress the button half way and have my AF brackets on the person in action? I do this with my Canon A85 and it gets good action shots as long as I don't have to zoom in. When I zoom in it tends to make the picture noisy.
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Diane Dupuis |
Yes Barb, it does help if you are following the action and have it pressed half way. I had the S5000 and then the S5200 and I more than manage to capture the right moment - it just takes practice in anticipating the action. If you have the A85 you already know about shutter lag. Yes DSLR's are better but if you can't afford one (it's more than a bit more expensive when you factor in lenses etc...) then you learn to live with what you can afford. Once you get to know your camera it isn't that hard to know when to hit the shutter and capture the action... If you want some examples - check out my gallery - my recent trip shots with the dolphins etc. are all shot with the Fuji S5200... The 10x zoom on the S5200 is great! I would never go back to a 3x zoom camera... Again - if you can afford a DSLR - then go for one - but if not the Fuji is a great little alternative.
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Ariel Lepor |
Hey, I have the S5200, and it does take great action shots. You have the ability to take shots with high ISO and low noise, as well as good manual controls over shutter speed/aperture/etc. And, based on review comparisons I've done, the S5200 has much less shutter lag than other similar cameras. There is almost no lag, but, of course, if you are zoomed in all the way and the camera needs to focus, it will take a small amount of time to focus, but it's still pretty fast. Also in low light, but the AF assist lamp does a good job.
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Ariel Lepor |
Hey, I have the S5200, and it does take great action shots. You have the ability to take shots with high ISO and low noise, as well as good manual controls over shutter speed/aperture/etc. And, based on review comparisons I've done, the S5200 has much less shutter lag than other similar cameras. There is almost no lag, but, of course, if you are zoomed in all the way and the camera needs to focus, it will take a small amount of time to focus, but it's still pretty fast. Also in low light, but the AF assist lamp does a good job. Ariel
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