The S2 is Great!!

[tim_sg]

Used the S2 for the first time to document a celebration at my local church and I must say, I'm very very impressed with it's quality.

First off, the camera performed well during the whole session.
Together with my SB80DX flash, the meter coped well with the church interior and balanced the flash output for pleasing pictures (kudos to Nikon's metering system)
What impressed me most was the quality of the images. I've read in practical photography that the S2 gives a greenish colour cast to images. Nothing happened to mine except vibrant reds and cool blues! There wasn't any colour cast! I brought it down to my local Fuji FDI lab and got him to process it straight without any manipulation. The pics came out clear, sharp, vibrant and even better than my S602Z!!!

I can truly admit that this camera is capable and the quality is top notch! Considering I had 5days to fool around with the S2 before the shoot, the images came out great! I'm definately confident in it's capabilities,..thats for sure.

Tim

[killians913]

Tim,

There have been many posts about the "inability" of the S2 to use TTL with the SB-80 flash. What were your camera/flash settings? What lens did you use? Did you use the diffuser or head on flash? Can you post any photos?

[Tom V]

Originally posted by killians913
Tim,

There have been many posts about the "inability" of the S2 to use TTL with the SB-80 flash. What were your camera/flash settings? ...

The "inability" of the S2 to use TTL flash metering only is apparent when you use manually chosen apertures smaller than wide open, or possibly, wider than what Program Mode would pick out on its own. If you shoot in Program Mode, TTL works fine. Normally, the aperture chosen by the camera in Program mode while using TTL flash is (or close to) maximum aperture.

[killians913]

Tom,

I am confused by your response. You've been a contributor to this forum longer than me, but everything I've read here tells me that using TTL with this camera blows out highlights when within 10 feet or is underexposed beyond that. Also, when to use or not use the provided diffuser; flash head on or bounce; etc...

Pls help me to understand since I am really struggling to figure out the camera/flash settings when using this setup. :confused:

[tim_sg]

Attached an imgae test I did when I just got the S2 with the SB80dx.

Camera set at Auto WB, N, 3024px, STD color, STD tone, STD sharpness. 1/60 f4.0, ISO400. 52mm lens setting. JPEG, Aperture priority.
SB80 set at Auto balanced Fill-Flash with TTL multi sensor. No diffuser with Flash head pointed direct.
I was sitting about 6ft away.

Image is straight from the camera and was developed direct as well. Taken indoors at 4.30pm singapore time.

Please comment on the flash output. Maybe I'm missing something or my eyes seem to accept such a candid pic.

Do discuss and maybe we can get Fuji to see these threads to help rectify this problem.

[HussaiNo]

hi Tim,

For me the picture is fine and there is no problem with flash at all.
One thing I might add to that the background of the image is dark little bit and the T-Shirt on the young lady became too shiny after the flash puls. It might be better if you used bonced flash with the ceiling or the white reflector in head of the flash. In this case the light would be more distributed around the room and less illumition direct to the subject.

BR,

[tim_sg]

Point noted. However it was a grab and go shot with the S2 in my hands barely 2 weeks. Knew about the reflective surface of the t-shirts as they were silk-screened and they have a sheen to it.
Normally I would have told them to hold still a little and used slow-synch, but didn;t have time as the baby, my daughter, was a little edgy..lol.

However thanks for the tip and will try to keep it in mind more often.