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- Fuji Finepix S7000
- KriegeR's review
Have a picture of Fuji Finepix S7000?, please send it to us.
| Value for Money | 9.6/10  |
|---|---|
| Reviewer Rating | 9.4/10 |
| Overall Rating | 9/10  |
By KriegeR
on 10th Jun 2004
| Time Digital Camera Owned | 1 - 6 Months |
|---|---|
| Image Quality | 7/10 |
| Battery Life | 8/10 |
| Features | 10/10 |
| Ease of Use | 9/10 |
| Value for money | 10/10 |
| Overall value | 9/10 |
 KriegeR's recommendation | |
A lot of camera for a little bit of money.
USB 2 connectivity for faster downloads.
Dual memory card slots.
Nice size, weight, and very quiet in operation.
A lot of picture noise at full 12 megapixels.
Supplied memory card is far too small.
Reduced battery life when using Microdrive.
No 'lens tube/adaptor' supplier (previous models were supplied with one).
The Fuji Finepix S7000 is the nearest thing you can get to an SLR digital camera, without parting with lots of cash and actually purchasing one! It is an ideal unit for anyone who has already owned a digital camera, but wants to move on and get something a little more on the professional side.
The camera itself comes with a range of items in the box, even going as far as having a small tool to fit the camera strap, which I thought was a nice touch. There are two cables supplied with the camera, one for transferring the files to the PC, and the other for viewing camera output on a television, (this works via an phono-type S-Video connection). By using this cable, you can view your captures photos on a television, rather than trying to view them on the LCD. My previous camera also had this facility, but I rarely found any use for it.
The camera itself is fairly compact for the features it hides, and has been designed specifically to replicate the professional SLRs that we see on the market. The construction of the camera is predominently plastic, with the leather effect patterns that we see on the high end SLRs. The lens housing is metal, but finish in the same way. The camera grip fits pleasantly into the hand, and it extremely comfortable to hold. Once in the hand, about 90% of the controls and functions can be reached easily, by using the thumb or index finger. This is obviously important as you don't want to be fumbling around for controls, and missing important shots.
The camera is quite heavy, weighing in at around 500g without batteries or memory card. Most of this weight is confined to the lens area, (which I would assume contains a lot of a glass and metal). However once the batteries and memory card are inserted, the camera becomes almost perfectly balanced.
The list of functions and features on the camera is way too long to post on here, but I can say that this is certainly a camera that would appease the amateur, and the semi-professional. Pictures can be taken with all of the camera settings on fully automatic, or the more experienced photographer can opt for semi-automatic, or fully manual settings. It has to be said that you have to 'learn' this camera before you will get the most out of it. There is nothing more annoying than being out snapping, and forgetting what settings are what, and how to get to them. The navigation for the settings is simple and easy to access, but it is the sheer number of settings and functions that can lead to a bit of confusion.
The picture quality is very good on the whole. The camera supports a 'true' pixel rating of 6 megapixels. However as the camera utilises Fuji's SuperCCD technology, it can interpolate this up to a whopping 12 megapixels! However this should be taken lightly, as the interpolation process can cause a blurring of images at this resolution, and usually leads to significant noise in the picture. I have found it much better to sit on the 6 megapixel setting, which seems to offer an excellent trade-off between quality and picture size.
Batteries are an important part of any camera, and the S7000 is no exception. 4 'AA' type batteries are needed, which slot into a bay in the bottom of the camera grip. Unforatunately like many digital cameras, this one will eat standard alkaline batteries for breakfast! To get the most out of the camera, you will need to invest in some rechargeables. Ni-MH batteries are recommended, and preferably at the highest mAh setting that you can get. The type of media you are using also has a significant effect on battery life. I have found that using the xD picture cards greatly prolongs the battery life, but using a Microdrive seems to drain the batteries much quicker.
My final problem with the camera, is the lack of a lens adaptor. Previous Fuji models included this accessory as standard, (the picture tube allows you to fit standard 55mm filters to the camera), and it was sad to see this missing from the S7000 bundle. Although expensive to purchase seperately, it is a strongly recommended accessory, as using a clear filter on the end will prevent contamination of the camera's own lens.
On the whole, this is a camera that packs a lot of punch, whilst remaining firmly perched on the border of the compact camera and the SLR. It is strongly recommended for anyone who is wanting to move on from a snappy holiday camera, to something more professional. The only thing that really lets the camera down is the picture quality at 12 megapixel. Any other image size, (provided you have the settings correct), will provide crips, high quality images, with an acceptable level of noise.
| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total Respect: +4
Would you like to see a review that's not being listed?
RichardM
on 24th Oct 2004
bench1 on 30th Dec 2007
KriegeR
on 6th Jan 2008