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p.1 #1 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


My Fuji F31 fd should be arriving anyday with its underwater housing...im squirming with anticipation, any users of this camera can you post an underwater shot or two.
Thanks, i hear its a kick ass little point & shoot.

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 04, 2007 at 04:53 AM
louis fusco
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p.1 #2 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


get a colour filter for you shots past 3-4 meters makes a huge difference, red filter for blue water, purple for green water. get a wet on (fits on the outside of the housing) that way you can take it off for shots on or near the surface. they are expensive but really pointless to shoot past 4 meters with one or strobes. manual white balance only works ok.

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 04, 2007 at 01:19 PM
ken.vs.ryu
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p.1 #3 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


Where did you find one?

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 04, 2007 at 03:40 PM
ICQ
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p.1 #4 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


ken.vs.ryu wrote:
Where did you find one?

There is a guy in the UK who sells new ones, he ships to America, http://cgi.ebay.com/Fuji-Fujifilm-F31fd-F31-fd-Digital-Camera-NEW-BOXED_W0QQitemZ110200548374QQihZ001QQcategoryZ107898QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 04, 2007 at 04:30 PM
warthog
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p.1 #5 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


I have the F30 and *love* it. I got some sea turtle pictures in Hawaii that made me quite happy. Of course, I only have one of those pictures on this computer, and it is far from the best, but for what it is worth you can find it here:



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Some tips I'd offer are:

1. Be very careful with the case -- it is prone to cracking as a result of impact (I managed to put a crack down one of the hinges with a minimal fall; it hasn't impacted the seal but I'm just waiting for it to let go at some point).

2. Be very careful with sun tan lotion -- anything on the front plate of the case over the lens is quite visible, and it seems to be a magnet for smudges. That goes also for out-of-water shots with water droplets on that plate.

3. Do not open up the case, wet or dry, in sandy places. Period. Ever. the silicon gel they give you to place around the O-Rings is an absolute sand magnet, and a surprisingly little bit of grit can compromise the seal. Removing the O-Rings, cleaning the grooves in the case where they live thoroughly, re-geling them, and re-installing them is a huge PITA.

4. Set the camera on "underwater" scene mode and don't look back. While the pictures still come out heavily blue-shifted, the pictures taken in underwater scene mode clean up best with post-processing. Don't be concerned if the shots initially appear hazy, particularly in cloudier water; adjusting contrast and mid-tones has remarkable results.

5. Definitely remember to play with video recording. I never use it on land, but some of the underwater videos I've taken, where I've free-dived down with the fishies, panned around, looked back up, etc., have ended up really neat. The only downside is the huge file sizes, which can quickly suck up your xD card if you are not careful.

Man, now you've got me thinking about going back to some place warm, with no plans to do so for a while. Oh, well. I'm sure you'll love it.


Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 04, 2007 at 10:58 PM
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p.1 #6 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


Thanks Warthog, awesome, cant wait to jump in the tube and photograph some surfers.

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 04, 2007 at 11:54 PM
warthog
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p.1 #7 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


You should head UNDER the tube and photograph some surfers. That'd be a neat angle. Being in the tube, my only concern could be spray on the glass on the case in front of the lens; as mentioned previously those water spots don't turn out so good. The setup handles dry well, and handles under water well, but wet out of water can lead to mixed results. Your mileage may vary, of course!

Got home to the rest of my pics, and figured I'd offer up the following as some examples of 1) out of water performance (dry) while in the dive case, 2) unprocessed underwater performance, and 3) what the underwater pictures can become even with quick and dirty touch-up. 1 and 2 are only cropped and re-sized for web; everything else is straight out of the F30. No. 3 had auto contrast, auto color, auto levels, and very light USM applied in Elements. Don't let pic no. 2 freak you out; it is far from a "best case" example, as the water was fairly silty in near shore in St. Maarten when I took it. In clear water that much processing isn't necessary.



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This image is copyrighted by the owner






This image is copyrighted by the owner




Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 05, 2007 at 02:07 AM
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p.1 #8 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


Thanks a million, your shots look great Warthog. the camera appears to have a razor sharp lens, you know those fujinon's.
I appreciate your input.

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 05, 2007 at 04:17 AM
JohnJ80
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p.1 #9 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


Thomas McConville wrote:
ken.vs.ryu wrote:
Where did you find one?

There is a guy in the UK who sells new ones, he ships to America, http://cgi.ebay.com/Fuji-Fujifilm-F31fd-F31-fd-Digital-Camera-NEW-BOXED_W0QQitemZ110200548374QQihZ001QQcategoryZ107898QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Yikes! That's more than I paid for my G9, and it does RAW.

J.

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 06, 2007 at 02:52 AM
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p.1 #10 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


JohnJ80 wrote:
Thomas McConville wrote:
ken.vs.ryu wrote:
Where did you find one?

There is a guy in the UK who sells new ones, he ships to America, http://cgi.ebay.com/Fuji-Fujifilm-F31fd-F31-fd-Digital-Camera-NEW-BOXED_W0QQitemZ110200548374QQihZ001QQcategoryZ107898QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Yikes! That's more than I paid for my G9, and it does RAW.

J.

True but no other compact point & shoot camera ever made has high iso performance like the Fuji F30/F31

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 06, 2007 at 05:09 AM
fourfa
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p.1 #11 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


...I still haven't seen a test of the 12mp G9 downsampled to 6mp, compared to the 6mp F30/31.

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 06, 2007 at 08:00 AM
mbwkrause
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p.1 #12 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


Downsampling does ZERO to the noise problem. A little while ago Fuji was selling refurbished F31 for $120 but unfortunately I missed it. They are really hard to come by for a decent price these days.

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 06, 2007 at 01:46 PM
JohnJ80
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p.1 #13 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


What I'm experimenting with now, and seems to work, is that shooting with the G9 in RAW and then doing the noise management and PP external to the camera yields very good results.

I'd have to think about the downsampling issue a bit more. If the camera essentially where to "bundle" pixels and average the color value across the bundle, I do think it would average the noise out and give better noise performance in the jpg image. It would not improve the signal to noise ratio at the semiconductor level, but it would definitely average out much of the noise.

That said, the images I have taken with my new G9 are some of the best images I have EVER seen out of a P&S.

J.

Edited on Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM


Dec 06, 2007 at 02:51 PM
fourfa
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p.1 #14 · Fuji F31 fd underwater users...


mbwkrause wrote:
Downsampling does ZERO to the noise problem.


this has not been my experience. However there are many ways to accomplish it (in-camera, several methods in post etc) and no doubt they're all different. no idea if the in-camera binning is any good.

Dec 06, 2007 at 06:01 PM

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