Product Description

With a compact and stylish SLR-style design and a wide range of features, Fuji's S5000 has a lot to offer the digital photographer looking for a versatile yet highly competent piece of kit.

Aided by clever in-camera signal processing software, the camera delivers a whopping 6 million recorded pixels (2816 x 2120) from its 3.1-megapixel, fourth generation SuperCCD HR sensor. This same technology helps the S5000 to produce images that are compellingly crisp and packed with vivid, lifelike colours.

A 10x optical Fujinon zoom lens helps you make the most of this superb image quality, getting you as close as possible to your subject and letting you capture every detail perfectly. If this still isn't enough you can also call upon a 2.2x digital zoom to provide up to 22x magnification--equivalent to a focal length of approximately 814 mm. For framing and playback there's both a high-resolution 110,000 pixel LCD electronic viewfinder and a 1.5" LCD display.

A choice of six exposure modes and a Scene Position function featuring four special preset program modes (Portrait, Landscape, Sports and Night Scene) gives you a wide range of creative choices as you compose your shots. For crisp, sharp images every time there's a state-of-the-art, high-speed auto-focus system with an Area Focus system to let you focus on specific areas within the frame plus an AF Assist Illuminator. A wide range of manual control is also possible, enabling more adept photographers to make the most of the camera's abilities.

xD-Picture Card memory gives the S5000 a storage capacity of up to 512 MB (16 MB included), which means you don't have to worry about running out of space and swapping memory cards even when shooting high-resolution images. Other features include three high-speed continuous shooting modes offering up to five frames per second, the ability to save images in an uncompressed CCD-RAW file format, a movie recording function and the ability to show your pictures on a TV screen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65849 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: FujiFilm
• Model: 40471202
• Released on: 2003-08-27
• Dimensions: 3.19" h x 4.44" w x 3.12" l, .66 pounds
• Display size: 1.5

Manufacturer's Description
The FinePix S5000 Zoom looks like an SLR, weighs the same as a compact camera and handles like a dream. The massive 10X optical zoom makes this an incredibly versatile camera that comes in a compact and lightweight packageIn addition to the spectacular zoom lens, the FinePix S5000 Zoom also boasts Fujifilm's Super CCD HR technology, ensuring images are clearer and sharper than cameras with a traditional CCD. Refined in-camera signal processing has taken Super CCD HR's performance to a new level of sharpness and image purity. What's more, the resulting 3.1 million effective and 6 million recorded pixels can be stored exactly as they were recorded, using the camera's RAW mode.With low power consumption - just one of the benefits offered by the xD-Picture Card system - and spot metering to capture complex image tones accurately, the FinePix S5000 Zoom is a technical all-rounder with a lens that excels.

Box Contains

• Fuji FinePix S5000 digital camera
• 16 MB xD-Picture Card
• 4 AA alkaline batteries
• Shoulder strap
• USB cable
• AV cable
• Adapter ring (AR-FX5)
• Lens cap
• CD-ROM (includes USB driver, FinePix Viewer, ImageMixer VCD for FinePix, RAW File Converter LE)

Customer Reviews

Fuji S5000 Camera
I have had this camera since Christmas, and having got to grips with the features of the S5000, and taken literally hundreds of pictures, I now feel that I can make a reasonably informed judgement.

Having a keen interest in photography I also possess an SLR camera. And it was the S5000's SLR styling that really appealed to me. Generally I have found it nice to handle. Some of the features are a bit hidden away in menus, though these are pretty intuitive, and the instructions are detailed and well presented. If you wish, you can allow the camera to make all the decisions for you, or you can get a bit more involved, using Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Full Manual. Full control of white balance is not available, only a number of preset values, though these cover most eventualities. The indoor setting, which is used to counter the orange affect of tungsten lighting, is particularly good.

In terms of picture quality, I have had mixed results. The 6 million-pixel mode (which uses software interpolation to add extra pixels) creates results more akin to a 4-mega-pixel camera. So A4 prints are probably the limit of the S5000. Exposures are generally good, and colours are vibrant and rich. On the downside, this camera is quite prone to purple fringing. That is an unsightly halo effect around backlit or contrasty objects. This is a problem common to all digital cameras, though the Fuji suffers more than some. The camera is also a little prone to electronic noise (that is the noticeable patterning to large areas of a single colour such as the sky). This problem is certainly manageable at the 200 ISO setting, and again it is a problem that many digital cameras also suffer from. There are only 3 ISO settings, 200, 400 and 800, though the 800 setting only allows 1-mega pixel images to be taken. I generally keep the camera in the 200 ISO setting, where digital noise is minimised.

The auto focus is generally good, though I have found that it often searches around in vain in some dull conditions. I have also found that the focusing during macro (close-up) photography struggles. A manual focusing option is available, but this is quite fiddly, and it is difficult to make out whether you are in focus on the screen or EVF (Electronic View Finder).

So would I recommend this camera?

The answer has to be yes. You are likely to find the same failings that I have mentioned above in any digital camera in this price bracket. Just because this camera looks like a digital SLR doesn't mean it should be compared with them. Obviously there are limitations in terms of image quality, but that is a result of where digital photography stands at the moment. Being used to an SLR camera, I found that I hardly had to read the instructions at all to begin with. I personally find the camera a joy to hold and use. It feels like a 'proper' camera and the build quality is good. Prints are excellent at 4"x6" and 5"x7" and very good at A4 size. If you want to print larger than that you may need to look at a camera with 5 million pixels or more.

At last, a decent owner's Manual!!
This is a lovely camera. It is easy to use and the Owners's Manual is a dream. I have owned several Digital Cameras and this is the easiest of all to use. Considering the wealth of specs on the camera, this is no mean feat. All the controls seem to be where one would logially expect them to be. The camera's performance - in the depth of a Devonshire Cold Spell - has been excellent. OK, it is only 3 mega pixcels, but the results I have had have been very good. The auto-focus seems to be especially good. I have even managed to get some in focus shots of birds in flight - my first ever with any auto-focus system. The big range offered by the 10x zoom is also very welcome. HAving to switch to macro mode for close-ups is a bit annoying at first, but you soon get used to it and the results are good.

Of course there are some niggles - but you get what you pay for and at the price the FinePix S5000 is wonderful value.

Just a word of caution - If you are going to take this camera on holiday with you this summer, be sure to buy the extra 128mb card. The 16mb card that comes with the camera is stingey!!

Excellent value for money!
I toyed with photography as a hobby using SLR's about 15 years ago. In the end I had to draw a line under it as the developing and processing costs were just too great. Time and technology marches on and now digital cameras combined with a decent printer seem a much more affordable way of going about things.

This camera has proved ideal for my requirements. It's packed with all the functionality of an old SLR, the build quality and results are more than satisfactory for anyone (like me) in the "serious amateur" catagory, and at the price you can get it for at present... its a steal.

Resloution of 3.1 MP seems only moderate at first, but with the jiggery pokery of "Super CCD" you get results closer to 6.2MP (they say anything over 4MP and you won't tell the difference between digital and conventional cameras anyway)

If you look at the press reviews it's consistently recommended as an excellent buy, I'm chuffed to bits with mine and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a serious digital camera at an affordable price.