Forum Topic: Fuji F31fd vs SD800IS

Over at the Canon forums (dpreview.com) is another thread of some interest. The topic is the impressive high ISO performance of the Fuji F31fd (and F30) vs. the Image Stabilization capabilities of the SD800.

First off I tip my hat to Fuji; they introduced the first useable high ISO compact cameras in the market. The current low noise / high ISO compact models from Fuji are the F30 and the slightly newer F31fd (which is basically the same camera as the F30 but with Fuji's new Face Detection technology mixed in with it).

ISO settings have been a topic of interest in photography for years. They relate to how sensitive film or a digital sensor is to light. Higher ISO settings equal greater sensitivity which means in low light conditions you can use settings that allow a hand held shot with no flash vs. having to use a tripod or flash (or cough, cough, image stabilization).

The trade off is the quality of the picture. Low ISO settings generally mean a very smooth looking picture. Higher ISO settings mean more noise / grain. Digital SLR's have always been superior to noise (lack of) at Higher ISO settings vs. all other digital cams. The larger sensors and technology used with DSLR's allows for a very "clean" image at higher ISO settings. Until the Fuji's were released there was always a day and night difference when comparing compact cameras vs. DSLR's when it came to ISO settings over 400.

However, the 400 and 800 ISO settings on the Fuji’s are very usable and very comparable to that of lower end DSLR’s models. It’s an impressive feat and one that I hope pushes other manufactures (including Canon) to compete in. I’m hopeful (now that the megapixel war has slowed) that the new “must have” in digital camera technology is cleaner high ISO settings. If the SD800 had all it’s abilities with the clean ISO abilities of the Fuji – it would be a “supercamera” - a low-light marvel.

As it is the SD800 tries to compensate for its higher noise by the use of image stabilization. The IS does allow you to take low light shots but it compensates for camera movement while still using “slower” camera settings. The shortcoming to this technique is subject movement. Any movement made by the subject will be caught on film (or sensor) as a slight blur. So IS works great for static subjects and if you can get everyone to hold still; it also works very well for people shots. However cleaner, higher, ISO settings are still the preferred technology.

So it will be interesting to see what happens first, will manufactures like Canon work on cleaning up their higher ISO settings or will Fuji introduced future cameras with IS technology along with their impressive high ISO capabilities – hmmmm.