Fuji Finepix S3100

Moif Murphy wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've had this camera now for about 2 years and I'm finding that many of
> my pictures are hit and miss. I can't quite get the right settings for
> the type of picture I want to take. For example on sunny days my
> pictures end up looking a little washed out and on grey days they end up
> looking very dull. Can anyone supply me with some links to tips and
> tricks for the S3100?
>
> I'm also thinking of moving up to a S5000 or a S7000, is there anyone
> here that has made this move and can comment?
>
> Thanks

Sorry make that the 3000 not the 3100
 >> Stay informed about: Fuji Finepix S3100 

Is there no EV setting for overall exposure.
 >> Stay informed about: Fuji Finepix S3100 

On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:09:09 +0000, Moif Murphy wrote:

> I've had this camera now for about 2 years and I'm finding that many of
> my pictures are hit and miss. I can't quite get the right settings for
> the type of picture I want to take. For example on sunny days my
> pictures end up looking a little washed out and on grey days they end up
> looking very dull. Can anyone supply me with some links to tips and
> tricks for the S3100?
>
> I'm also thinking of moving up to a S5000 or a S7000, is there anyone
> here that has made this move and can comment?

Do you really want to get those models? The S5000 was replaced by
the S5100 some time in 2004, and the S5100 in turn was replaced by
the S5200. I think that these cameras have, respectively, 3, 4 and
5mp sensors. I don't know too much about the S5000 other than that
at the time I bought the S5100, it had just replaced the S5000, and
I recalled from reading in a Fuji forum that while a few preferred
the S5000, most thought that the S5100 represented a nice
improvement. I've certainly been pleased with the S5100, and it and
the S5200 get extremely long life from its batteries, whether
alkaline or NiMH batteries are used.

As far as getting the right settings goes, it might be that the
camera's metering is being fooled a bit because different parts of
the scene can have very different lighting. Too much sky in the
frame could cause quite a bit of underexposure, or conversely, if
the darker parts of the frame are used by the exposure metering, the
lighter parts would be overexposed. On overcast, or grey days, you
might want to dial in a stop of two of exposure compensation to make
the picture brighter. This would also provide more detail in the
darker shadow areas and reduce the dullness or flatness of the
picture.

When you see the disappointing washed out pictures, is it only in
prints or on the computer's display, or can you also see it in the
camera's LCD when reviewing pictures? If you can see it in the LCD,
it would be easy to experiment with different amounts of exposure
compensation, and before you know it you'll probably get a feel for
what it takes to get a good picture in different lighting
situations. If you aren't already, you should become familiar with
the parts of the frame that are used in the camera's different
metering modes to calculate the proper exposure. The camera can be
easily fooled if overly bright or dark parts of the scene
predominate in the areas of the frame that are used for exposure
metering. Knowing in advance where they are located would allow you
to shift the camera slightly before locking in the exposure on an
part of the scene that is more appropriately used to calculate a
good exposure.

Does the S3100 have exposure bracketing? The S5100 does, and it
would provide some insurance that you'd get a properly exposed shot
of each subject. It wouldn't take too much time going over the
shots to get an idea of what it would take to get a higher
percentage of "keepers" without having to resort to exposure
bracketing.
 >> Stay informed about: Fuji Finepix S3100 

jeremy wrote:
> "Moif Murphy" <moifmurphy RemoveThis @google_MONSTERS_mail.com> wrote in message
> news:4imfv9F4cjmuU1@individual.net...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I've had this camera now for about 2 years and I'm finding that many of my
>> pictures are hit and miss. I can't quite get the right settings for the
>> type of picture I want to take. For example on sunny days my pictures end
>> up looking a little washed out and on grey days they end up looking very
>> dull. Can anyone supply me with some links to tips and tricks for the
>> S3100?
>>
>> I'm also thinking of moving up to a S5000 or a S7000, is there anyone here
>> that has made this move and can comment?
>>
>> Thanks
>
> You need to do two things:
>
> 1: Be sure that your white balance is properly set for the color temperature
> that you are working in. Especially on gray days, set the white balance for
> "cloudy," or whatever your camera calls it.
>
> 2: Edit your photos to increase color saturation, add contrast, increase the
> mid-range ("gamma") levels, set the low and high points ("Histogram
> Adjustment") and add effects. I have had really good results from Paint
> Shop Pro X, and the latest version has a "Learning Center" that walks you
> through the most common fixes.
>
>

I've been playing around with those settings over the past couple of
days and it's only marginally improved. I do usually edit my photos
through Photoshop but I'd like to be able to look at the majority of my
pictures and remember the situation I was in at the time rather than
thinking about the quality of the picture. If you see what I mean.

I think it's time for a new camera
 >> Stay informed about: Fuji Finepix S3100 

ASAAR wrote:

[snip]

> Do you really want to get those models? The S5000 was replaced by
> the S5100 some time in 2004, and the S5100 in turn was replaced by
> the S5200. I think that these cameras have, respectively, 3, 4 and
> 5mp sensors. I don't know too much about the S5000 other than that
> at the time I bought the S5100, it had just replaced the S5000, and
> I recalled from reading in a Fuji forum that while a few preferred
> the S5000, most thought that the S5100 represented a nice
> improvement. I've certainly been pleased with the S5100, and it and
> the S5200 get extremely long life from its batteries, whether
> alkaline or NiMH batteries are used.
>

Thanks for the advice. I'll investigate a little more before committing.
 >> Stay informed about: Fuji Finepix S3100 

In article <4imfv9F4cjmuU1.DeleteThis@individual.net>,
Moif Murphy <moifmurphy.DeleteThis@google_MONSTERS_mail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I've had this camera now for about 2 years and I'm finding that many of
> my pictures are hit and miss. I can't quite get the right settings for
> the type of picture I want to take. For example on sunny days my
> pictures end up looking a little washed out and on grey days they end up
> looking very dull. Can anyone supply me with some links to tips and
> tricks for the S3100?
>
> I'm also thinking of moving up to a S5000 or a S7000, is there anyone
> here that has made this move and can comment?

Not exactly. I upgraded from a Sony S70 to the Fiji S7000. The 7000
gives great images at it's native 6 megapixel and the interpolated 12.3
megapixel is very clever (despite what the 'purists' may say).
The only complaints I have about the 7000 is the autofocus is very
aggressive and sometimes blurs pictures at infinity. The manual
focus/zoom ring is virtually useless - I've heard Fuji fixed this bug in
the 9500. The other complaint is the short time between the low battery
warning and complete shutdown (a few minutes, at most) meaning you need
to carry a spare set of AA NIMH's just in case,the Fuji carrying case
has a pocket for these, but the case retaining snap is very poor, with a
good chance of losing the case before long. Most own-brand carry cases
are way over-priced and pretty useless, anyway. The S7000 is an odd
shape and it may be impossible to find a suitable generic case. The last
complaint is the switch between On. Off and Review can be moved easily
and it's far to easy to switch it too far.

If the pictures look washed out try fiddling with the levels,
hue/saturation, brightness/contrast, shadow/highlights. Lasso and
feathering a selection is good for adjusting parts of the picture.
 >> Stay informed about: Fuji Finepix S3100