dslr.ws

The Online Photographer has a list of the top 10 camera recommendations for fall 2007. Six of the ten are DSLRs, along with one digital point-and-shoot, two 35mm film cameras, and the Phase One P45+ medium format digital back.

The DSLRs that made the top ten are — in order listed on the site, though it’s not clear if that’s an actual ranked order or not — the Pentax K10D (“pretty much the camera with the mostest at the moment for the serious amateur and artist”), the Nikon D80 (“the D80 really feels right — a sort of baby-bear camera”), the Canon 5D (“the 5D provides exactly what many art and landscape photographers most need”), the Olympus E-510 (“the most feature-laden of the amateur DSLRs”), the Fuji S5 (“high dynamic range and very accurate color, and this makes it the #1 choice for the most numerous type of professionals and semi professionals, namely, wedding and portrait photographers”), and the Canon 1D Mark III (“simply a technological wonderment and a superb piece of engineering and design”).

The article also mentions a few other cameras in passing (e.g., the Nikon D3 as upcoming competition for the 1DMkIII), and is a good read overall (as The Online Photographer always is). You should click that link up top and read it all for yourself.

The PhotographyBLOG website has posted a review of the Fujifilm S5 Pro digital SLR.

They say the image quality is very good, especially in the noise response at high ISO levels:

Overall the Fujifilm S5 Pro displayed an amazing lack of noise with regard to its images –– delivering a performance at ISO 1600 that would be comparable to that from lesser cameras at ISO 400, with ISO 3200 equivalent to the kind of results normally seen at ISO 800. Which means, if you’re indeed shooting in low light without flash, as most social photographers worth their salt prefer working these days, the Fujifilm S5 Pro is capable of delivering results that are bang ‘on the money’.

At the same time, they point out that the S5 Pro’s claim of 12 megapixels isn’t entirely accurate, although they figure that the target audience for the camera — which is apparently mostly wedding photographers — don’t mind, since they don’t need gigantic enlargements from the camera.

The review doesn’t really mention any negative points whatsoever, and concludes by saying that this is as close as the reviewer has ever come to giving a camera a perfect 5-star review:

Something stopped me from giving the Fujifilm S5 Pro the full five stars –– always leave ‘em wanting more I say — but it comes as close as any DSLR I’ve tested. I found it a pleasure to shoot with, even if it is a little unwieldy compared with the Olympus E-410s and Nikon D40xs of this world, which would still be a better bet for the keen amateur trading up from a compact. Still, the Fujifilm S5 Pro is a very capable performer, Fujifilm has obviously listened well to the wants and needs of its chosen market and, being one of a kind, if that chosen market is yours, look no further.

As always, be sure to check out their full review for all of the details and sample photos.

DPReview posted a mixed review of the Fujifilm S5 Pro. They liked the dynamic range and color, especially for skin tones, and so would recommend it if those are very important to what you’re photographing, but they don’t feel that it’s a good camera for everybody because of some other issues that it has:

The amazing dynamic range and superb skin tones alone are enough reason for wedding and portrait photographers to consider it seriously. But it’s not only about dynamic range; Fujifilm really can do color well (guess all those decades making Fujichrome help there), high ISO performance is better than the D200 (though don’t expect miracles) and the out of camera JPEGs are probably the best you’ll see from any digital SLR at this level. You have to be prepared to do some work if you shoot at high D-range settings because the output can look flat and dull, but that’s simply because these JPEGs give you more headroom to play with levels, curves and color than just about any I’ve ever seen.

On the other hand there are some ‘issues’; continuous shooting / buffering when taking advantage of the expanded dynamic range is pretty limiting and the raw files are huge (and don’t play well with non-Fuji raw converter). The resolution / detail – whilst good for a 6MP camera – is nowhere near 12 megapixel’s worth, and if you need really crisp results for big enlargements this isn’t the best choice. As mentioned earlier this is a camera for those who value tonality and color over biting sharpness or speed.

It sounds like it’s a great upgrade for people who’ve been using the S3 Pro, but new customers may not want to go blindly throwing their money at Fuji employees until they’ve evaluated the pros and cons.