Fuji Klasse S real life usage?

L

Landberg

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Hi!

I'm thinking about buying a Fuji Klasse S. Does anyone here have any experience of it? I know the lens is sharp and that it is kind of quiet.

I wonder if it has a shutter lag? From the shutter button pressed halv way to taking a picture?

Pros/Cons?
 
Yes, the lens pre-focuses when you push the button halfway down, but I found there is still a slight lag which seemed about the same as the slight lag in any point and shoot that pre-focuses. It seemed similar to the T3, but definitely not as fast as a manual rangefinder. The camera will also pre-focus the lens when you manually dial in a distance through the menu.

Mine broke after dropping from a very small height. I could only get it fixed if I send it to Japan, and I decided not to do so because it was expensive just to ship it there and get a quote using a third party to help.

The images are very contrasty, which I didn't like, but the size is very good. I wish it wasn't necessary to push so many buttons to manually dial in a distance. The original Klasse gives you a dedicated dial for that, but it doesn't turn off the flash as a default setting like the Klasse S.

I know this is weird, but I really like that it has two strap lugs on both sides of the camera with a strap that you can wear around your neck. Other P&S cameras have just one lug for a wrist strap.
 
Ok, the build quality sounds like it's crap if it brakes so easy?
I have owned a Nikon 35Ti and a Hexar AF, i want something in between.
 
That was my impression about the build quality. I mentioned it in another post here on RFF, but others said that any point and shoot could break that easily if dropped just right. The crazy thing was that the camera didn't even dent upon falling. It continued taking pictures for about three more frames, and then an error message popped up.

I always thought the Yashica T4 and Contax T2 are the most rugged.

Have you considered a Leica Minilux?

I guess if you don't drop the camera, you'll be o.k.
 
Yeah i have considered a lot of compact cameras. I tried many of them. But like u i really like the two strap lugs, thats a big thing for me:p
 
I had a W at one point and build quality was probably better than average for a point-and-shoot. Shutter lag was actually why I sold it. Found it too slow for my uses. I love the lens on the W, though.
 
v_roma said:
I had a W at one point and build quality was probably better than average for a point-and-shoot. Shutter lag was actually why I sold it. Found it too slow for my uses. I love the lens on the W, though.
Click to expand...

Is the shutter lag after the pre focus (shutter button pressed half way)?
 
Here are my set with it:
HERE

I didn't drop it yet :) but it seems to be well built for P&S. Maybe not like the nikon 35ti (mine dropped the first day of use and nothing happened except little marks! It was dropped on concrete from shoulder hight "I'm short though")

The lens is the main point of this camera and it's easy to use. Lag is there but very minimal and my experience with it is that it's faster than the nikon 35ti
 
mob81 said:
Here are my set with it:
HERE

I didn't drop it yet :) but it seems to be well built for P&S. Maybe not like the nikon 35ti (mine dropped the first day of use and nothing happened except little marks! It was dropped on concrete from shoulder hight "I'm short though")

The lens is the main point of this camera and it's easy to use. Lag is there but very minimal and my experience with it is that it's faster than the nikon 35ti
Click to expand...

Ok if it's faster than the 35Ti than it's fast enough for me.
 
mob81 said:
Here are my set with it:
HERE

I didn't drop it yet :) but it seems to be well built for P&S. Maybe not like the nikon 35ti (mine dropped the first day of use and nothing happened except little marks! It was dropped on concrete from shoulder hight "I'm short though")

The lens is the main point of this camera and it's easy to use. Lag is there but very minimal and my experience with it is that it's faster than the nikon 35ti
Click to expand...
Nice set!;)
 
Yes, I am pretty sure the issue was that the lag was after pre-focus. I could live with lag to pre-focus. It has been a while, though, and I was trying to take pictures of my kid. For non-moving subjects (or slower subjects...), it is probably a non-issue.

Landberg said:
Is the shutter lag after the pre focus (shutter button pressed half way)?
Click to expand...
 
I had one several years ago. It was nice quality and anything could possibly break depending on how it might fall. I thought it was a nice step between a simple point-n-shoot and something more complex like the Hexar AF... if I wanted to use 35mm film I'd buy it again, at least at the $300 but not $500 price point.

The lag is the same as all the auto-focus compacts, you have to focus then the shutter release is responsive.

Like all Fujis, the lens is perfect. I can't imagine a lens being too contrasty as being a problem unless you do weird things in your workflow?

Basically my recommendations for point-n-shoots is 1. Olympus Stylus (compact, cheap, reliable) 2. Fuji Klasse (nicer than the Oly) and 3. Hexar AF (almost Leica quality and size). All the other compact PNS cameras I tried, included the Contax T series, Nikon Ti, etc. fell short in comparison.

There is a Rollei-branded version called the AFM-something (sorry!) of the first version of the Klasse that sometimes sells for peanuts because people don't know what it is. I always thought that might be a fun one to have for the novelty factor.
 
I have the Rollei version (AFM35) and am quite pleased with it. I would say the build quality is quite good, I have never dropped it but I try not to drop my cameras, and as others have said, many p&s cameras would break from a simple fall. I haven't noticed the shutter lag, but maybe I am not as demanding as others :). The lens is of course wonderful, super sharp, and at 2.6 fairly fast for a p&s. I'm quite happy with it.
 
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