Fuji FinePix S7000 Review

Overall Rating

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.

Members' Comments onKriegeR's Review

• RichardM on 24th Oct 2004

  An excellent review, of an excellent camera. I've only had mine a couple of weeks, but think it's a great camera. I'd been looking out for a quality SLR-like cam such as this for some time, having only had (and being able to afford) compact digicams in the past. But I saw this one advertised at a price I couldn't resist (no more than many compact digicams), and I am now certain I made the right choice.
  
  This camera far out-performs compact cameras, which have always disappointed me with their image quality. I've been especially impressed by macro pictures I have taken -- they are quite remarkable, even using the cameras Auto setting! You can get within half an inch of the lens, so you can capture some stunning photos.
  
  Build is as solid as a rock too.
  
  You will certainly be rewarded by getting familiar with the camera's manual settings, which is part of the appeal for a novice photographer like myself who came from compact cameras. It's a great hobby in itself -- I had a film SLR many years ago, and had forgotten many of the basic elements of photography in the time since. I've brushed back up on them from a few library books, and am looking forward to getting out and about with my '7000. Digital photography is certainly better for me than the old (expensive) film days!
  
  The only 'downside' is the tiny 16MB XD Picture Card supplied with the camera, which will only store about ten 6MP images. Fortunately, you can use high speed Compact Flash memory, which is less than half the price of the equivalent sized XD memory. I bought a 256MB PQI 40x CF card for £18, so it's not expensive to upgrade to a more sensible size. This card will store about 164 images.

• bench1 on 30th Dec 2007

  I'm confused by the first line of your review, and similar sentences about other cameras on this web site. Please can somebody clarify?
  
  "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! "
  
  This camera is in the Digital SLR section of the web site, and so I naturally had assumed until reading your review that it WAS a digital SLR. If it isn't a digital SLR, can anybody explain to me what it lacks that a digital SLR has, and why it's in the digital SLR section of the web site, please?
  
  I'm sorry if this is a stupid question.
  
  Thanks.

• KriegeR on 6th Jan 2008

  "I'm confused by the first line of your review, and similar sentences about other cameras on this web site. Please can somebody clarify?"
  
  Basically the S7000 is not a TRUE digital SLR. Although it has the same body and build as an SLR, you cannot physically remove the standard lens from the camera body as you would with say, a Canon EOS.
  
  With that said the S7000 DOES support the addition of lens adaptors, filters, and other similar devices, which put it in a strange 'pseudo-SLR' category which obviously isn't available on this site. It's not an SLR because you can't remove the lens, but then again it's not a normal digital camera because you can add attachments which many digital cameras don't support.
  
  Hope this helps a bit.