Help a noob! (Fuji FinePix S7000)

antrieb

Yes, the son of Andy can't even use a camera, hell has frozen over!

I just bought my first camera used from a friend. Came with all the goodies including a 1 gig memory stick. Will this be enough? As you can tell, I really have no clue about anything. To be completely honest with you, I havn't even read the instruction manual yet (I'll do that tonight).

Basically all I want to know is some basic stuff about the camera. Cool features maybe, tips and tricks, and anything else to help a noob out.

Thanks!

Andy

Who are you again?

antrieb

My own father won't even help me out!

Seriously though, any help would be greatly appreciated. Do you recomend taking a digital photography class?

rjpat

It would seem that you have access to all the digital photography knowledge that you would require (assuming that you still talk to your dad)

That said, take pictures and have fun.

Andy

antrieb wrote:

My own father won't even help me out!

Seriously though, any help would be greatly appreciated. Do you recomend taking a digital photography class?

Heck yeah - do they have one at school you can take?

B://

Is this for real? or are you kidding? scratch

Byron M.

ziggy53

B:// wrote:

Is this for real? or are you kidding? scratch

Byron M.

I believe yes and yes are the correct answers.

ziggy53

Andy

FOLKS, it's for real.

Zach would like some help. As with most 19yr olds and their fathers, he doesn't really listen to me anyway

So if y'all would chime in with links, books, great stuff to start off a n00b with a decent camera, that'd be wonderful.

cmason

Andy wrote:

FOLKS, it's for real.

Zach would like some help. As with most 19yr olds and their fathers, he doesn't really listen to me anyway

Maybe you should give him a Nikon, Andy....that'll teach him

ziggy53

antrieb,

The S7000 is a very nice little digicam. It uses plain old AA batteries of almost any kind, NiMH are the most cost effective IMHO. The fact that it uses CF cards means you might be able to find a family member to borrow memory from. (256MB to 1GB cards should work well.)

It's really a 6 Mega Pixel camera masquerading as a 12 MP camera, but to get the ultimate out of it, you need to shoot in 12 MP mode. The reason is that the 6 MP JPG mode doesn't have features like first 5/last 5 continuous shooting. You also loose control of image compression settings at anything other than 12 MP mode.

It's not really a low-light camera, but it does great with electronic flash. The built-in flash is OK to about 25 feet, so it's pretty good for range. For best light, you need to get the flash more positionable, which means a hot-shoe flash with tilt and swivel (at least).

You can also shoot RAW when you need to, like when lighting is really high contrast with a lot of dynamic range.

... And this camera is a fair video camera and recorder. Plan on lots of storage for video as 16 megabytes of storage is only 13 seconds duration, so a little over a Meg/second. You can't zoom while recording, so plan to compose before starting the record.

Macro can be fun, because the close focus goes from .4 to around 8 inches with lots of barrel distortion at the shorter end.

I almost got this same camera as my first serious digicam. I found a lot to like about it, especially considering price.

Good luck,

ziggy53

Andy

ziggy53 wrote:

you might be able to find a family member to borrow memory from. (256MB to 1GB cards should work well.)

gee, as if my kid needs YOUR help ziggy to mooch from me

Sure kid, I have a 512mb with your name on it. I left it where you'll see it.

ziggy53

Reviews, (I like the first two best.)

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/s7000.html
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilms7000/
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_s7000-review/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/S7000/S70A.HTM
http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/camera/review/14/page_1.html


User reviews,

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews-all-8007.html
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Fujifilm%20FinePix%20S7000%20Digital%20Camera:1991283755:page=user-reviews


Tips,

http://www.betterphoto.com/snapshots/_050109.asp#NEWQNA3
http://www.camerashed.co.uk/


Samples,

http://www.pbase.com/saltire/fuji_s7000
http://www.pbase.com/paul_h/fuji_s7000
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/fujifilm/finepix_s7000z


Software,

http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-PaloAlto/9919/s7raw.html
http://www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/ServiceSupportProduct.jsp?prodcat=616757

Good enough for a start?

ziggy53

ziggy53

Andy wrote:

gee, as if my kid needs YOUR help ziggy to mooch from me

Sure kid, I have a 512mb with your name on it. I left it where you'll see it.

Better you than me!

(I just made that up, but you can use it anytime.)

ziggy53

antrieb

Yeah I don't live with Andy and only visit him monthly since I'm in college, so him teaching me is kind of tough...

Thanks for the really good info Ziggy, thats what I was looking for.

ziggy53

Zach,

How is the new camera coming along? Images?

ziggy53

ian408

zach,

all kidding aside (and ignoring ziggy's excellent advice), just go and
take some pictures. do some experiments. write some stuff down.

when you think you've got how the camera works, then take a class.

i suggest this because sometimes, familiarity helps with the learning
process.

good luck!