First Results with Fuji Natura Camera

[jmilkins]

I like the vignetting effect in these cameras- my XA4 does this as well and IMHO it focuses attention on the centre - a bit like a sonnar does with softer edge sharpness...

 

[raid]

John: I need to get used to the vignetting effect, but it is not that bad looking, as you have pointed out.

 

[rami]

What about shutter lag / focus lag? Can you prefocus with that Fuji and then fully depress button without lag?

best regards

 

[SDK]

Fuji should sell an M-mount version of that lens! Wouldn't that be nice? Then you could set the aperture. Fuji could collaborate with Cosina (of course) to bring it out. Never happen in a million years though...

 

[raid]

Shutterlag is minimal for a P&S camera. I am unsure about the prefocusing. The other nice thing about Fuji cameras is the pre-winding of the film once you load the camera. There are two advantages to it:
1. If you accidently open the camera back, the exposed part of the film is stored safely inside the film cannister.
2. At the end of the film, it makes rewinding a quick and rather silent event.

 

[LKSC]

With the Natura, one cannot prefocus in the sense of setting the focus manually like you do for scale focussing. But it has the AF lock just like any other P&S.

 

[raid]

Lloyd : I managed to turn off the date in the Natura. The good thing is that when I trun the camera off and then on, the data option is still off. I noted that the battery level is low. I can't find the battery compartment from outside. Maybe it is inside?

 

[DougK]

The battery compartment is actually that bulge on the right-hand side of the camera by the strap attachment. Just pull it towards the back of the camera, it should open very easily.

 

[LKSC]

As Doug pinted out, the battery compartment is on the RHS and hsould open easily.

The camera will store your date function settings after it is turned off, but it will not store settings for exposure comp or flash.

 

[raid]

Thanks Doug and Lloyd. I need to replace the battery before my trip to China. I may take the Natura and leave the 25mm/4 lens behind for my Canon P set. The Natura is so good that I can depend on it for most situations.

 

[raid]

Here are new results with the Natura.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=605123

 

[LKSC]

Raid

It might interest you to look at Fuji's microsite for the Natura. Its in Japanese but one can still make out a fair bit of it. There is a "tips" page, a blog for users to post pics taken with their Natura, even competitions for Natura-taken photos. There's also an interview with the man who designed its F1.9 lens.

Its nice to see Fuji put this commitment into a film-based camera.

http://fujifilm.jp/natura/

 

[Bill58]

It would be even "nicer" if Fuji put this on the world market. Does anybody know why they haven't?

 

[raid]

Lloyd: I can't understand Japanese, and so I can't find the tips you have referred to. Once I tried to get an online translation of the pages, but it did not work.

 

[raid]

I will take this camera with me in my upcoming trip to China. It is AF, which can be helpful when your eyes are not 100% sharp anymore, and it is small and has a great 24mm lens. I just ordered back-up batteries for it.

 

[haagen_dazs]

I wish it is possible to set the 1.9 aperture and just shoot, with the possibility of manually adjusting the exposure.

sorry to drag up and old thread.
i am curious and wanted to clarify

is it not possible to set the aperture at all at 1.9 on this camera?
if so, then what is the point? its kind of hard to get that 1.9 dof if needed...😕 😕

 

[rich815]

I like the vignetting effect in these cameras- my XA4 does this as well and IMHO it focuses attention on the centre - a bit like a sonnar does with softer edge sharpness...

My Contax T2 does this sometimes when more wide open especially evident in sky images. This is not feature but a clear detirment in the T2 and it sounds like in the Natura.

I can add vignetting whenever and if ever I want to. Taking it away is much more difficult if not impossible in some circumstances.

 

[Finder]

It would be even "nicer" if Fuji put this on the world market. Does anybody know why they haven't?

Because they cannot make money.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Because they cannot make money.

I suppose that is the reason. Fast prime lens P&S cameras were a dying breed even in the late 1990s and now there are even less potential buyers for film P&S cameras of any kind. Perhaps Fujifilm could do a digital version to compete with the Ricoh GR Digital. They would have to redesign the lens though.

There are hardly any digital P&S cameras with faster than f/2.8 lenses, and combined with the noisiness of the small sensors it means that available light fotography with digital compacts is pretty much out of the question. Even the GR-D is not that good, since the lens is only f/2.4 and the sensor is fairly noisy.

 

[sepiareverb]

Fuji has had several hits with small p&s cameras. I had one for a while the 'Superzoom' I think it was called. 28~56mm lens just like the Contax TVS, nice simple exposure compensation right on the back. Had a sliding door like a Stylus, and this was it's downfall in my case. Sand got in under the door and scratched the heck out of the faceplate- no way to get it out. But despite the VERY disturbing scrape every time I opened or closed it it continued to work fine untill I could afford the TVS.

This Natura does have a lot of appeal- how's it holding up Raid?