FujiFilm FinePix 4900 ZOOM Vs. Canon PowerShot G2

[kentwk]

One boast of a 4MegaPixel CCD, the other boast of a focal length of 210mm. Which is exactly the best apart from this specs?

I've used both cameras in a recent project, taking pictures of the same places, positions and same conditions using both cameras. I'm just an amateur fellow who would mostly just point and shoot most of the pictures. Am new to digital photography as well..

However, even with me being green to these technicalities, I think I've deduced a few things when I compare these two cameras.

These are the conditions of which I've taken the pictures from.

1) In a quite dimly lit auditorium.
2) Offices of normal fluorescent bulb lighting.
3) The outdoors with a) Bright sunlight & b) Poor sunlight, cloudy skies.

Note that pictures taken at the same position, shooting the same object and lighting conditions, both at auto modes using both cameras.

One thing was quite evident, the pictures taken indoors at the auditorium, the G2 came out almost BLACK. It looked as though someone had switched off the lights and the pathetic flash was at work in supplying the light source for the room. The Fuji however could capture the people on the stage and they were at least visible. You can make out the people, and the surroundings clearly.

The colours taken indoors using the G2 were found to be less vivid compared to those of the Fuji. These were clear testiments from my colleagues as well. Note that I've even tried taking the same shots using a tripod, pointing at the same direction and even using all the flash options made available on both the cameras. The white balance of the G2 was also, we felt quite poor comapred to the Fuji.

The Canon G2 however did score well when pictures were taken outdoors, either in cloudy overcast skies or clear bright skies. The colours were vivid and looked very much alive compared to the Fuji. The Fuji in fact at the same spot, had very poor shutter control. The pictures turned out greyish and dark.

I wonder what you guys think when comparing these two cameras if you may?

Fujifilm Specs for FinePix 4900 ZOOM
http://home.fujifilm.com/products/digital/compare.html

Canon Specs for PowerShot G2
http://www.canon.com.sg/index.cfm?fuseaction=digitalcamera&prod_type=powershotg2

So is the Canon PowerShot G2 really living up to it's claim? Issit really at the realm of a semi-pro digital camera?

Hm.. I leave this discussion for all Fuji & Canon fans to battle it out. What I'd like to hear is some professional photographer be non-biased and if possible do some tests perhaps and comment??

 

[mpenza]

Originally posted by kentwk
One thing was quite evident, the pictures taken indoors at the auditorium, the G2 came out almost BLACK. It looked as though someone had switched off the lights and the pathetic flash was at work in supplying the light source for the room. The Fuji however could capture the people on the stage and they were at least visible. You can make out the people, and the surroundings clearly.

Did you use the same flash mode for both? Simply turn off the flash for the G2 or use the slow synchro flash and you'll see the difference.

For the Fuji one, I guess the flash is turned off (it doesn't pop up on it's own).

Anyway, the 4900 is already two generations past. The current S602Z and S602 Pro are much better in terms of handling, battery power and speed.

G2 is also superceded by the G3 which I read as having some issues with the lens blocking the viewfinder.

 

[Bluestrike]

interesting thing abt the 4900.
It actually a 2MP DC. Fuji came out with their Super CCD which is to interpolate the 2MP to 4MP. So in a way, it not a true 4MP DC.

Anyway, the internal flash of each camera I believe have diff rating so it might somehow rather effect the pic. (3m for the Fuji and 4.5m @ F2 for the Canon)

Fuji spec is over here

Canon spec is over here

Anyway, I have tried both camera and in the end.. it how you make the cam work for you that is imp. Know the weakest and thus know your strength.

 

[rumraisin]

Personally, I feel that the G2 gives better image quality. Seems sharper and less jpeggy.

 

[kentwk]

Originally posted by mpenza


Did you use the same flash mode for both? Simply turn off the flash for the G2 or use the slow synchro flash and you'll see the difference.

For the Fuji one, I guess the flash is turned off (it doesn't pop up on it's own).

Anyway, the 4900 is already two generations past. The current S602Z and S602 Pro are much better in terms of handling, battery power and speed.

G2 is also superceded by the G3 which I read as having some issues with the lens blocking the viewfinder.

Yes I did. In fact, pictures taken are used with all flash modes and without flash. Meaning, if there were 3 flah modes, a total of 4 pictures were taken of the same view with both cameras. 3 Flash pictures and 1 non flah picture.

As for the FujiFilm, the same was done. Yes you have to release the flash to turn the flash on and yes all flash options and non-flash pictures were taken & compared.

No doubt that 4900Zoom is an older model then that of the PowerShot G2. But what amazes me is that the Fuji being an older mdoel can still take pictures of a (to me and my colleagues' view) better quality, especially in indoor conditions.

 

[kentwk]

Originally posted by Bluestrike
interesting thing abt the 4900.
It actually a 2MP DC. Fuji came out with their Super CCD which is to interpolate the 2MP to 4MP. So in a way, it not a true 4MP DC.

Anyway, the internal flash of each camera I believe have diff rating so it might somehow rather effect the pic. (3m for the Fuji and 4.5m @ F2 for the Canon)

Fuji spec is over here

Canon spec is over here

Anyway, I have tried both camera and in the end.. it how you make the cam work for you that is imp. Know the weakest and thus know your strength.

Very true. I agree with you totally. But somehow with the pictures taken & compared, I thought that the Fuji 4900Zoom had a longer range for it's flash.

 

[kentwk]

Originally posted by rumraisin
Personally, I feel that the G2 gives better image quality. Seems sharper and less jpeggy.

Hm.. I shall go take a look at the pictures again. Oh.. another observation was that even with unstable hands, it was still able to capture the pictures clearly without the "shakey-hands" syndrome. Note once again that both cameras were set at Fully automatic.

 

[rumraisin]

Originally posted by kentwk


Hm.. I shall go take a look at the pictures again. Oh.. another observation was that even with unstable hands, it was still able to capture the pictures clearly without the "shakey-hands" syndrome. Note once again that both cameras were set at Fully automatic.

That's because the G2's aperture goes down to f2.0, whereas the min aperture for the 4900z is f2.8. With the G2's wider aperture, the shutter speed can be faster to let in the same amount of light. With a faster shutter speed, you're less likely to get hand-shake.