Fuji S5-V-Fuji S2?

[visagephoto]

Following the complete failure of my Fuji S2, and the subsequent £270 repair estimate, I have decided to replace the camera with a new S5. However after ordering the camera from Calumet I checked out some online reviews, And the general opinion was that images produced on the S5 are quite soft, reportedly due to the anti-aliasing filter in front of the CCD.

Has anyone any information regarding the image quality from the S5 compared to the S2, which I've always been more than happy with, even when producing prints (portraits) as large as 30"x 20".

[badpickev]

the S5 has a lot more setting than the S2 did. but from what i have seen the softness is over blown. the s5 does react differently to lenses than the s2 did

[visagephoto]

Originally Posted by badpickev

the S5 has a lot more setting than the S2 did. but from what i have seen the softness is over blown. the s5 does react differently to lenses than the s2 did

Thanks badpickev, I collected my new S5 from Calumet yesterday, The first thing I noticed is that it looks and feels more like a real camera (compared to the S2), It's more like the build quality of my F100.

As you say, it has a lot more settings than the S2 and will take some getting used to, although initially the image quality looks impressive.

[badpickev]

one thing i have learned is fuji's are not for pixel peepers

[kgphoto]

What is a pixel peeper?

[badpickev]

pixel peepers are people that look at raw files at 200% or more to see if they are sharp.

[moizes]

Then I am the one... The sharpest images ever I got were with my old S2. S3 was not bad at all of this respect, and S5 is the best of terms of color and DR, but unusable for me for its less than acceptable sharpness... Yes, an AA filter is too aggressive, so the camera is severely impacted with this engineering mistake - they wanted to cut out some artifacts what haunted down S2/S3, but shoot themself in their own legs - both of them! Sorry to say, but I am not so sure about future of Fuji, hope I am wrong... Dimitri.

[lazycatstudios]

It really depends what you are going to use camera for. For me S5 “fits the bill”.
In my brief ownership of S2, I liked it but color was not as great from my point of view S3 different story. I liked color and many features of the camera. S5 is a bit to “soft’ and agree about to aggressive AA filter. On some occasions I wish it would have this same as S3, but COLOR is fantastic! Having so many options with this camera makes me happy to shot digital and have Nikon body I’m so use to in handling.

[Dajuan]

I agree with most regarding the "relative" softness. But when my daughter was born 5 weeks ago, it was the S5, not the D3 or D300, that I grabbed to take to the hospital for the first photographs. The S5 just gets it right (or very close) the first time, straight out of the camera. I love it!

[badpickev]

its just more pleasing of a picture. thats the fuji mark