 You
are here: Home
>
Digital Camera Reviews > Fujifilm FinePix
S5200 |
Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Review
|
Review
Date: Nov 8, 2005 |
Category:
Beginner
to Serious Amateur
HANDLING & FEEL
The Fujifilm FinePix S5200 is easily one
of the best looking long zoom digital cameras
around. Pick it up and your fingers wrap comfortably
around the adequately large handgrip, with your
index finger naturally poised over the shutter
release button, and the thumb over the zoom lever.
It comes in a mostly black (with silver accents) solidly built plastic
composite body. Startup time is fast at around
1 sec. and there is no practical shutter lag.
Autofocus is fast and precise.
| STYLE |
| - |
Colours: overall black with silver
accents |
| - |
Looks: professional, SLR-look, very
attractively (and ergonomically) designed |
| |
|
|
| FEEL |
| - |
Comfortable to hold and operate |
| - |
Non-slip textured handgrip |
| |
|
|
| DIMENSIONS &
WEIGHT |
| - |
Best way to carry this camera is slung
over the shoulder or around the neck |
| - |
Dimensions: 113.5 x 85 x 112 mm /
4.5 x 3.3 x 4.4 in |
| - |
Weight: feels lightweight at 370g
/ 13.1oz. (excluding batteries and xD-Picture
Card) |
| - |
Takes 4 AA type alkaline batteries
(included) or 4 AA rechargeable NiMH
batteries (optional) |
| |
|
|
| SPEED OF OPERATION |
| - |
Fast startup - no lens extension required
and LCD turning on in about 1 sec. |
| - |
Shot to shot time in less than 1 sec.
(including time to write to card) |
| |
|
|
Included in the box are 4 AA Alkaline Batteries.
Controls
Many of the most important functions are accessible
via dedicated control buttons. The Mode Dial has
the standard AUTO, PASM (Programmed Auto, Aperture-Priority,
Shutter-Priority, and Manual) modes, plus Movie
mode and 5 Scene Modes: Anti-Blur, Natural Light,
Portrait, Landscape, Night.
The Mode Dial can be rotated with the thumb and
has a positive locking click to it. During an
actual shooting session, there is not much risk
that the Mode Dial is inadvertently switched to
another shooting mode.
The Natural Light Scene Mode is currently unique
to Fujifilm. It disables the flash (even if it
is popped open) and takes full advantage of the
low-light capability of this camera (made possible
by the use of Fujifilm's 5th Generation SuperCCD
HR image sensor and Real Photo Technology) to
capture an image that retains the natural ambience
of low-light photography (indoors, by candlelight,
in restaurants and museums).
The Anti-Blur scene mode is a new scene
mode.
Anti-Blur tells the camera to use a fast enough
shutter speed to minimize camera shake (generally, the slowest shutter speed required is approx. the reciprocal of
the 35mm equivalent focal length in use). Having
decided first on the shutter speed required, the
camera then figures out the appropriate aperture
and ISO required for a correct exposure. This
works quite well in the Fujifilm S5200 thanks
to the low-light capability of its image sensor.
You can record movies with monaural sound at
either 640 x 480 pixels 30fps (you'll be able
to record about 14.9 min on a 1GB card) or 320x240
30fps (record about 29.3 min on a 1GB card). You
must zoom beforehand as you cannot zoom during
recording.
|
|
| FUNCTIONS ACCESSIBLE
BY CONTROL BUTTONS (Top of Camera) |
| - |
Mode Dial (AUTO, PASM, Movie, Anti-Blur,
Natural Light, Portrait, Landscape,
Night) |
| - |
Exposure Compensation |
| - |
Continuous Shooting |
| - |
Focus mode (S-AF/C-AF/MF) selector
with a lock switch |
| |
|
|
| CONTINUOUS SHOOTING |
| - |
Top 3-Frame: allows you to shoot up
to 3 frames at 2fps |
| - |
Auto Bracketing: takes 3 shots of
the same image with different exposure
settings (correctly exposed, over-exposed,
under-exposed). The Auto bracketing
settings can be specified in the MENU
as ±1/3 EV, ±2/3 EV, or
±1 EV |
| - |
Final 3-Frame: This is an incredibly
useful feature for increasing your chance
of catching action at just the right
moment. Press and hold the shutter release
button down as the action nears the
point where you want to take the shot.
The camera will take up to 40 shots
as you follow the action. When you let
go of the shutter release button at
the right moment (say, as the puck or
soccer ball goes into the goal), the
camera retains the last 3 shots. |
| - |
You select a Continuous Shooting mode
by pressing and holding down the Continuous
Shooting button and using the LEFT and
RIGHT arrow keys |
| |
|
|
| EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
/ HISTOGRAM |
| - |
To access the exposure compensation,
you press and hold the Exposure Compensation
button down and use the LEFT and RIGHT
arrow keys to select a value. |
| - |
There is no live Histogram
display during Record mode, but if you
press the Exposure Compensation button
during Playback, a histogram will display,
together with other exposure info. |
| - |
Once set, the Exposure Compensation
Indicator conveniently stays displayed
on screen until it is reset to "0" |
| - |
Range: -2 EV to +2 EV (13 steps in
1/3 EV increments) |
| - |
The screen brightness will increase
or decrease to reflect the value you
use |
| - |
Note: the exposure compensation value
selected is retained even when mode
is changed or camera is turned off (so
remember to reset to "0" after
using it or the next time you turn the
camera on, your shots may be over- or
under-exposed.) |
| |
|
|
In MF mode, you press and hold down the Exposure
Compensation button, and use the zoom lever to
manually focus. It's quite slow but the LCD resolution
is enough to see the image come into focus. The
center part of the image is not magnified, but
to aid in the focusing, a yellow focus indicator
mark (yellow arrow) sometimes appears on one or
the other side of the AF Frame to indicate that
focus is close. The best way to use MF is to first
set the focus mode to S-AF (Single-AF) and half-press
the shutter release button to lock the focus;
switch to MF; then, use the focus indicator marks
to finesse the focus.
Playback is on the power switch around the shutter
release button between OFF and ON (which Fujifilm
calls, Photography Mode).
What looks like a zoom ring around the lens is
for esthetics only -- but it looks great!
There is no flash pop-up button. That's because
the flash automatically pops up when it is deemed
required. You can however turn the flash off (RIGHT
Arrow), so it won't pop up.
The silver metallic dome on the left of the flash
is the microphone.
|
|
| FUNCTIONS ACCESSIBLE
BY CONTROL BUTTONS (clockwise starting from
the Zoom lever) |
| - |
Zoom lever (really 2 separate buttons) |
| - |
EVF/LCD monitor selector |
| - |
Low-Light View (press this button
to temporarily increase the LCD monitor
brightness) |
| - |
4 Way Arrows (Macro, Erase, Flash) |
| - |
MENU/OK |
| - |
DISP/Back |
| - |
Photo (F) Mode (Image Quality, ISO,
Color) |
| - |
Exposure Compensation |
| |
|
|
|
|
| SIDE VIEW |
| - |
Flash (no manual pop-up button; pops
up automatically if you set it ON using
the RIGHT Arrow) |
| - |
Microphone (silvery white dome just
below the flash) |
| - |
Memory Card compartment (accepts xD-Picture
Card) |
| - |
Speaker (the slits right in front of where the
notch of the memory card compartment
door is) |
| - |
Rubber Terminal Cover (A/V, USB, DC
IN) underneath the Memory Card Compartment |
| - |
Lens barrel (just for esthetics and
to provide a good grip, does not turn) |
| |
|
|
LCD & Menus
There is an electronic viewfinder (EVF) with
a large eyepiece and diopter correction, as well
as a 1.8 in. LCD monitor with a standard 115,000
pixels resolution and approximately 100% coverage.
The LCD has a fast refresh rate for a smooth display.
It gains up slightly in extreme low-light situations
to permit you to compose.
There is also a Low-Light View button which will
increase the brightness of the LCD monitor (and,
by extension, the EVF). This is not the same as
the LCD 'gaining up' in low-light; you are literally
adjusting up the brightness of your monitor. This
feature is also useful when the sun is shining
on the LCD, and increasing the brightness of the
LCD helps you to view the image.
The circular projection between the flash and
the handgrip is the AF-assist illuminator. The
AF-assist illuminator (green light) is quite effective,
but you have to remember not to get your fingers
in the way; also, the relatively long lens barrel
can be in the way of the AF-assist light illuminating
a subject that is very close (e.g. in macro photography).
There are 2 MENU screens and 4 SETUP screens.
The user interface is well implemented.
Depending on your type of photography, some of
the functions that are often used in the MENU
screens are:
- Photometry (Multi, Spot, Average metering)
- White Balance
- AF mode (Center, Multi, Area)
A great feature is the AF Area focusing mode
with (7 horizontal x 7 vertical =) 49 positions.
You can move the AF target point to any of these
49 positions and the camera will focus where the
AF target point has been moved. I find this very
helpful in macro photography and whenever the
subject is off-center.
Depending on your type of photography, some of
the functions that are often used in the SETUP
screens are:
- RAW
- Format
Advanced photographers will be glad to know that
it is possible to save images in the RAW file
format. It takes about 6 sec. to save an image
in RAW. Continuous Shooting is not available for
RAW.
The flash is the kind that pops up automatically
when it is needed. Point-and-shoot photographers
prefer this so they don't forget to use it when
it's needed. For those who, like me, prefer to
decide when to use flash and when not to do so,
you can disable the flash using the RIGHT Arrow.
 |
MENU 1 of 2
- Self-timer: 10 sec. or 2 sec.
- Photometry: Multi, Spot, Average
- White Balance: AUTO; Custom; Fine (Sunny);
Shade; Fluorescent 1, 2, 3, Incandescent
- High-Speed Shooting
- AF: Center, Multi, Area
|
 |
MENU 2 of 2
- Sharpness: Hard, Standard, Soft
- Auto Bracketing Setting: ±1/3 EV,
±2/3 EV, ±1 EV
|
 |
SETUP 1 of 4
Image Display
Shutter Volume
Beep Volume
Playback Volume
Frame No.
LCD Brightness
|
 |
SETUP 2 of 4
- Digital Zoom ON/OFF
- RAW
- Zoom Position (Resume, Reset)
- AF Illuminator
- Auto Power OFF
- LCD Power Save
- Format
|
 |
SETUP 3 of 4
- Date/Time
- Time Difference
- Language
- Background Color
- USB Mode (DSC/PictBridge)
- Video System (NTSC/PAL)
|
 |
SETUP 4 of 4
- [Ni-MH] Batteries Discharge
- Reset
|
 |
Photo (F) Mode - Image Quality
- Ships from factory set to 5M N
|
 |
Photo (F) Mode - ISO
- Ships from factory set to ISO 200
|
 |
PROGRAMMED AUTO MODE
Clockwise from Top Left:
- Flash OFF
- Macro ON
- Multi AF
- High-Speed Shooting ON
- Image Quality 5M F
- Available frames: 6
- ISO 64
- Camera Shake warning
- AF target point (bottom right)
- Shutter Speed and Aperture values with
Program Shift indicator
- Exposure Compensation
|
 |
NATURAL LIGHT MODE
- Camera disables flash and selects a higher
ISO for correct exposure
|
 |
ANTI-BLUR MODE
- Camera selects a fast shutter speed to
reduce camera shake (aperture and ISO are
adjusted accordingly for correct exposure)
|
 |
AF AREA
- Select AF Area in the MENU
|
 |
AF AREA
- You can move the AF target point to any
of (7 horizontal x 7 vertical =) 49 positions
on screen
- Very useful anytime your main subject
is off center, esp. in macro photography
- Framing Guide displayed
- Exposure Compensation displayed
- Low-Light View feature UP
|
 |
HISTOGRAM (Playback only)
- Displays when you press the Exposure
Compensation button in Playback mode
- Besides a Histogram, Highlight Warning
will flash the areas that are overexposed
|
The Fujifilm FinePix S5200 is a well-designed
long zoom digital camera with excellent handling
and super fast operations. It wins hands down
where looks and handling are concerned. It is
also choked-full of features that are well implemented
for a frustration-free use.
The camera feels relatively light for a long
zoom camera. I like that Program Shift is defaulted,
and the availablility of selecting the Natural
Light scene mode right on the Mode Dial is a plus,
especially for a camera with outstanding low-light
capability. Beginner amateur photographers will
find this camera easy-to-use and producing great
images; serious amateur photographers will like
the versatility and full exposure flexibility
it provides.
|
|
|
