S2pro vs d100

[ifran]

i need help with this two camera. i want to buy DSLR betwen D100 or S2pro. which one is the best or at least the better one. so far i still confious. i have minimum information about the quality of S2pro, but for d100, i have use that for several times.
My friend said that the S2pro have better quality image than D100. is it true? so which one that i have to buy. thanks

[WARP]

How do you plan to use your camera? What styles of shooting?

[Watchin]

ifran - WARP is right on the questions? I have an S2 and a lot of it's benifits depend on how you
are going to use it. You should also add the D70 to your list .

What I like about the S2:
a) almost instant on - when you flip the switch it's ready to take pictures by the time it hits you eye.
b) resolution and quality of images up to iso 400, no noise and excellent color balance & saturation.
c) iso 800 has moderate noise that can be fixed in computer without difficulty.
d) iso 1600 is usable but noise can be bothersome, usually correctable. I view it as equivalent to grain...
use it as best you can and live with it ...
e) controls are well positioned & logical, the camera just fits my hand in
a natural way. I can work most things without thinking about it.
f) dispite what some reviews say, the dual media (smartmedia and Compact flash) is very usable, SM
is 2 to 3 times faster than CF for action work, CF has up to 20 times more capacity.
g) AA batterys as main - only need to carry one kind of rechargable for camera & flash.
h) TTL matrix flash & fill is great, works right 99% of the time with no screwing around.
i) 1394 and tethered shooting work very well for studio work.
j) color balance is kind of like the old Kodacolor, just a touch on the
warm side, which makes people look real good (especially brides)
k) built in bracketing - great range and usability
l) I believe it's more camera for the money (but I'm biased ;{)

I've had mine for a year, no problems, no repairs.

My dislikes on S2:
a) dual batteries - AA and CR123 is a pain - you can go without 123's except you end up changing the
AA after around 100 shots, CR123 without using on-board flash last around 1000 shots, AA with 123 last
around 400 shots. I carry 4 packs of 2200 mah NiMH and a spare set of 123 in camera case.
b) manual lens disable meter usage completely - common to all nikon based DSLRs
c) rapid fire sequence is limited to 8 shots before stopping to allow write catchup.
(don't know about D100)
d) display cover is frosted (useless to see through), correctable by using Hoodman cover.
e) weight - this ain't no Leica hanging around your neck all day, closer to
a Hassey.

That's a pretty nitpicking list as I see it, but that 's all I've found so far.

So if you take all of that into consideration:
S2 is good for wedding, events, people, and portrait work. Not so good
for fast sports. So So for architecture and product work (warm color) but
can be corrected for with custom white balance.

Hope that helps...

[Watchin]

Ifran sent me a note via email.... that implies that additional information is needed
so I'm posting it here along with my reply
(which may need correction by the Nikonnites...)

Ifran wrote:
> Thanks for your information about S2pro. your information give me
> a lots of input for me to buy that camera.
>
> Here, my friend said that even some part is still nikon stuff, but the
> nikon still "the chossen one".
>
> at least i got someone that give me info from S2pro user.
>
> thanks.

My reply....

Did you know that the S2 is built on the Nikon N80 (film camera) chassis
with a substancial portion of the operation and firmware from that camera
but modified by Fuji. The Fuji additions are everything that makes it digital camera,
the normal operations come from Nikon?
That is why there is a whole set of identical functions in both the D100
and the S2? I believe the D100 is based on the N80 as well
(correct me guys if I?m wrong ? I know you will ;{)

[JoePhoto]

The D100 and S2 are both derrived directly from the N80 film camera. The D100 has had some cosmetic changes, where the S2 is an exact N80 body with additional parts added. They share the same metering (10 segment Matrix) same AF (Multicam 900) and same fps (3.) They are both instant on and will mount any Nikkor AF lens (including DX.)

The difference is under the hood. The S2 has amazing low noise, and a nice 12MP file. I would pretty much agree with Watchin's comments above. The D100 has amazing battery life and more versatile addons (MBD100 grip for example which adds a vertical shutter release and the use of 2 batteries which equals about 1000 shots.) The D100 image quality is very good, but I'd give the edge to the S2. The out of camera JPG's on the S2 are much nicer. Not to say you can't get nice out of camera jpg's on the D100, you can, they just require some learning the nuances of the camera. If you are interested in RAW files, then the D100 has the advantage here. The NEF format has some real nice advantages when using the optional Nikon Capture, plus you get less noise and more dynamic range over the jpg.

I bought a D100 when they first came out and I considered the S2, but decided against it because at the time, my workflow was Nikon RAW files and I wanted to keep it the same plus add the advantage of the better battery. I would not turn down a used S2 if I found one at the right price, but I'd wait for the S3 if Fuji is the way you want to go, or actually grab a D70 over a D100 right now if you want to swing with Nikon.

Best of luck.

[Watchin]

Joe - thanks for the missing pieces, additional question....
Does the D100 allow computer controlled shooting? The S2 can be connected via the 1394 cable
and do teathered shooting with either the computer controlling it all (including shutter), the computer
sharing with the camera(some settings on camera, some on computer, some both),
or the computer being a virtual store for the camera. In all three you
can do full screen post view on the system (a laptop in my case).

If the D100 doesn't have this then I would say the S2 pushes the edge.
I've used this for studio work and it's a wonder in some situations. It's also
a pain with all the cables but when you're lighting a studio whats 3 more cords ;{)

I agree with your contention of getting the D70 if you're going Nikon. I'd also add that the S2 is "ok" for
sports but the slow frame rate (3 fps) will hamper and the low ISO (I really only consider 800 as the
highest usable, 1600 is really noisey and hard to clean up), but the D70 seems a lot better suited.
I'm considering getting a D70 as a backup body and for sporting events.

I haven't seen anything on the D70 color rendition in comparison to the S2 either... which is one reason
I got the S2 to start with, it just makes people look better, kind of like the old Kodacolor print film. A little
warmer without the over pasteled reds (which the old Fujicolor used to do) and definitely better than
any of the kodak ecta series blue shift. The S2 also seems to have under exposure latitude than other
cameras I looked at ... but that's just gut feel, no specifics to back that up.

Greg

[JoePhoto]

Yep - Nikon Capture Control has teathered shooting capabilities with every Nikon DSLR. The only thing it can't do is zoom your lens. Capture Control goes a step further by allowing you to create and upload a custom curve to your camera. This is very useful and is much like using different kinds of film. Many folks have also made their curves downloadable.

The D70 has a Vivid color curve setting that reminds me of the S2 color - just not quite as warm. The Fuji can go a bit overboard with color, so I would turn the color down a notch on the Fuji and up a notch on the Nikon.

[Watchin]

Wow - didn't know about the curve loading... that would be nice.
Yeah the S2 really doesn't like hot pink or lime green, which THANKFULLY
are not wedding colors ;{)

With that ability on the Nikon I'd say that is potentially a wash between them for the color issues.
Sounds like the tethered is virtually the same as well (although you need Full speed V2 USB to
match the 1394 speed, I believe the D70 has that).

I think the real comparison is going to be the D2x and the S3 ... but I'm happy for now and
await for the next go round ....

[mattchase]

The only thing I didn't see addressed here is ergonomics. How the camera feels when you are holding it and using it can make a huge impact on how much you use it. I have used an S2, and would not be able to own one because of it's feel. I won't go into the reasons, as they are all specific to my opinions, but before you buy ANY camera, you need to go hold it and shoot a few frames with it. If you are comparing two cameras (such as you are), you should try to get both cameras side by side, hold one, then the other, to get a good idea of how one feels compared to the other.

Many (many many) years ago, when I got my first 35mm SLR camera, I had the same thing happen. I was planning on getting a Canon Rebel, knew all about it's features and knew it was what I wanted. But I ended up with a Minolta Maxxum, because once I got to the store and started playing with the cameras, the Minolta just felt right and the Canon didn't. Either camera would have worked fine, but I probably wouldn't have enjoyed using the Canon and wouldn't have used it as much, and may have never seriously taken up photography because of that.

[Watchin]

Excellent points Matt...

As I said I tried several and S2 just felt right to me, and still does.
Funny I ended up with a Minolta SRT-102 for exactly the same reason, had a Pentax all lined up,
went to a camera show, tried it and felt like my fingers were overlapping and I was poking myself
in the eye with my thumbs. Then I tried the Minolta, it just clicked, matter of fact I've still got it...
Only camera I was ever able to shoot 5 frames of a funny car run and have every one
focused and framed properly. (not bad for a manual crank in a usually 7 second run in those days).

Interesting point is I tried both the D100 and the S2. My impression was "not much difference" but
I didn't like the feel of the Canon controls. To each thier own...