Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd for Professional Photography?

Question

I came across this camera, and though it lacks image stabilization, it seems like a pretty decent digital camera.

Would this be sufficient for the professional photography world until I can afford a better one?

Answer 1

"The S1000fd is obviously aimed at serious shooters, but it lacks some of the basic features that a photography enthusiast would expect – manual color, saturation, and contrast adjustments, for instance – plus it doesn't provide image stabilization. This puts the camera in something of a bind: the S1000fd doesn't really measure up for the serious/creative photography demographic, but it is too complex and difficult to use for the casual shutterbug and point-and-shoot crowd."

Answer 2

No.

It might work in some situations.  But if you're serious about becoming a professional, you need to think about what KIND of professional work you intend to do.

By all means DO NOT think you could shoot a wedding, or a commercial portrait job with it.

You might be able to pull off shooting, let's say, a little league game, or a skateboard competition with it.

I understand your motivation, really I do.  But there are certain basics you need to achieve before you begin a professional career - in ANY field.  And one of them is understanding that you must, first, know how to use, and second acquire "professional" quality equipment.

Education and practice first. Hardware come in about third on the list.

Answer 3

Yipes.

Can you take professional looking images with that camera? Sure. In the right hands and the right circumstances, the Fuji can produce professional looking images. I've seen images published from compact point-and-shoots, even.

Is it suitable for the professional world? Heavens no. It's got significant shutter lag (.12 seconds with prefocus to .7 seconds with AF, abysmally slow), it starts getting noisy at 200ISO and up, focusing is iffy. These sorts of cameras are also very limited in aperture selection, and if you want to minimize depth of field (to get those cool, blurry backgrounds), it's rather difficult to do because of the small sensor size and the lens.

If I were you and very serious about pursuing professional photography and confident in my skills, I see a couple of options: borrowing or renting equipment or taking out a small business loan (or similar) and starting with a system that's under $1000, but something you could build on. The Canon XSi, 30D, or the Nikon D40 or D80 with an 18-55mm lens would be the obvious budget-friendly choices.

We all know it's not the camera, but the photographer, but, unfortunately, there are limitations to what you could do with that equipment. Nobody in the professional world is going to take you seriously with a Fuji S1000FD.

Added: Here's a Canon 20D from a reputable dealer, with an 18-55mm lens for $529. The 20D is pretty much exactly the same camera as the 30D, except with a smaller LCD screen on the back. The image quality of the two cameras is the same. I would say this is the absolute minimum quality you would need:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controll...