You definietely need the 28mm wide angle. The only thing that I can see against the Fuji is that it doesn't have image stabilisation. This can be quite important if you want to shoot hand held shots in the late evening or early morning. If you are going to use a tripod then it doesn't matter so much..

Waterfalls are difficult to photograph. There are basically two approaches: (1) use a shutter speed of 1/250 or higher to freeze the water or (2) use a long shutter speed like 1/20-1/2 second to create a milky like appearance in the water. The latter approach usually yields the best results, but you will need to use a tripod..

You definitely want the ISO to be as low as possible - I think that this is 80 on the 9100. The problem with using a very slow shutter speed like 1/2 sec is that in bright light a correct exposure may require a very small aperture, smaller than the minimum f11 available on the 9100. To avoid this you can either fit a polarizing filter or preferably a neutral density (ND) filter, or try shooting on an overcast day when the light is not so bright..

Hopefully somebody who knows more about shooting waterfalls than I do will come onto the thread. You might also try a search on the open forum on "waterfalls".Chris R..

Thanks Chris. That is great info. I hike and camp primarily in the fall and winter. I have looked at a few DLSR's and it seems that for the wide angle lens I want, they are all very expensive. The lens cost as much as the S9100. Do you have any thoughts on a good entry level body and wide angle lens combo that would come in around 700 dollars? If not, is there a better point and shoot option for my camping trips than the S9100?.

Thanks again, James.

Chris R-UK wrote:.

You definietely need the 28mm wide angle. The only thing that I cansee against the Fuji is that it doesn't have image stabilisation.This can be quite important if you want to shoot hand held shots inthe late evening or early morning. If you are going to use a tripodthen it doesn't matter so much..

Waterfalls are difficult to photograph. There are basically twoapproaches: (1) use a shutter speed of 1/250 or higher to freeze thewater or (2) use a long shutter speed like 1/20-1/2 second to createa milky like appearance in the water. The latter approach usuallyyields the best results, but you will need to use a tripod..

You definitely want the ISO to be as low as possible - I think thatthis is 80 on the 9100. The problem with using a very slow shutterspeed like 1/2 sec is that in bright light a correct exposure mayrequire a very small aperture, smaller than the minimum f11 availableon the 9100. To avoid this you can either fit a polarizing filter orpreferably a neutral density (ND) filter, or try shooting on anovercast day when the light is not so bright..

Hopefully somebody who knows more about shooting waterfalls than I dowill come onto the thread. You might also try a search on the openforum on "waterfalls".Chris R..

The lowest ISO you can get away with for the light always gives the most detail; higher ISOs are only to be used when a lack of light or ludicrously light-limiting shutter & aperture settings force you to. Low also helps in keeping daylight pictures from just being blown all to white..

I have an S9100 myself. It does point-&-shoot better than a point-&-shoot camera does; just turn the dial to "auto" and it's as easy to use as any compact camera, just with better results. On my first day shooting with it, I even used the wrong settings ("aperture priority" instead of "auto", and I dont' even know what aperture), and still go tthe best pointed-&-shot snapshots I've ever taken. This might even hinder my process of learning to use the manual settings myself, which was what I planned to do when I got it, because I didn't imagine that an automatic mode could produce such good results, based on prior experience with P&S cameras. Fortunately, as easy as that is, this camera makes tinkering with the manual settings just about as easy, with a menu that calls up the ISO setting immediately in one touch and a physical wheel on the top that can be used to adjust shutter speed or aperture without using menus at all. (The S6000 is a comparable camera in most ways but lacks that second wheel, and after using the wheel just a few times, I can't imagine photographing without it ever again!).

To try to get a feel for what shutter speeds have what effects, I took a bunch of pictures of a fountain on my college campus with various manual settings and under various light conditions from practically the same position. Unless you can attach something to the lens to darken the scene like sunglasses, afternoon daylight pretty much requires shutter speeds that will freeze wind-blown objects and the motion of animals or water in a stream or small waterfall. (I don't know about big ones; they might just be all white anyway from drops breaking up rather than from motion.) Clouds do allow for longer shutter times, but not by much; shade from solid objects (buildings, cliffs, thick forest canopy) helps more. Pointing down at the subject so there's little or no sky in the picture would also help, if a longer shutter time and a blurring effect are what you want, as long as the subject is darker than the sky. If you want to photograph snowy landscapes in daylight, then abandon all hope of long enough shutter times to blur anything unless you get a sunglasses-like filter for the lens; it's not a weakness of this model of camera, but just the way all cameras work. Snow is just bright stuff..

If you shoot in twilight or less, of course, it's the other way around; the light forces you to use longer shutter speeds, so it gets harder to freeze motion with a quick shutter speed. You can compensate with higher ISOs and wider apertures, but there's no counterpart to a darkening filter; you can't bring in more light that isn't there. You can light things up with the flash or some other light source, though, if the subject is close enough..

I got a strange effect at that fountain in some night shots by using flash and long exposures. The flash only lit the scene for a fraction of a second, and that freezes the action of the water just like a short shutter time, because even though the shutter was open for many seconds after the flash, the light from that instant when the flash was on was still most of the light that the camera took in. But all around that, the rest of the picture has the normal appearance of a long-exposure one, and anything moving beyond the flash's range would have been smeared, unlike the fountain. There's even a narrow area around the frozen fountain where a bigger blurred image of the water is visible, where the water splashed out that far during the no-flash seconds of the exposure time. So it's like I got two fountains, one in front of the other, with the one in back blurred and the one in front still!..

Delvo has answered at length about the 9100 and I don't really know a lot about other suitable P&S. I will just point out that the "sunglasses effect" that Delvo referred to can be handled by a neutral density (ND) filter..

Most entry level DSLR's come with a kit lens that is 28mm equivalent at the wide end. As you point out, lenses to go wider than this are expensive. A DSLR with built in IS, e.g. a Pentax or Sony, would definitely be an advantage for hand held shooting..

Most of the advantages of a DSLR do not apply to landscape photography: better low light performance, faster focussing, better depth of field control. In fact, the greater depth of field on a P&S is actually an advantage for landscape photography..

I hope that some other posters can express an opinion.Chris R..

I appreciate the help. Finally decided on my 1st advanced point and shoot. Bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ8. Your input concerning depth of control and Delvo's help with the S9100 are greatly appreciated..

You both got me thinking about a lower end camera that had a lot of manual control for me to learn with. This camera has all that and more. The review here and at imaging resource sealed the deal. Thanks again to you both and now it is time for me to start playing around with raw format .

One sidenote, I bought a 2 gig scandisk ultra II sd card for 29.99 at Office Depot. They are on sale this weekend; that is 5 dollars cheaper than the 1gig card!.

Chris R-UK wrote:.

Delvo has answered at length about the 9100 and I don't really know alot about other suitable P&S. I will just point out that the"sunglasses effect" that Delvo referred to can be handled by aneutral density (ND) filter..

Most entry level DSLR's come with a kit lens that is 28mm equivalentat the wide end. As you point out, lenses to go wider than this areexpensive. A DSLR with built in IS, e.g. a Pentax or Sony, woulddefinitely be an advantage for hand held shooting..

Most of the advantages of a DSLR do not apply to landscapephotography: better low light performance, faster focussing, betterdepth of field control. In fact, the greater depth of field on a P&Sis actually an advantage for landscape photography..

I hope that some other posters can express an opinion.Chris R..