Fuji FinePix S7000 Review

Good Points
Class leading Movie Mode - the best there is.
Convenience of dual media slots - CF, Microdrive, and xD all supported.
Excellent size, shape, and feel - its just 'how a camera should be'.
Good Optical Zoom, fast focusing.
Excellent EVF and LCD now.
Good record speed to ISO ratio - thus 3M pixel images can now be recorded on continuous shot mode.

Bad Points
Adaptor ring/hood should be part of package, as per the S5000.
Unlike the S602, there is no microdrive, rechargeable batteries, or charger, as part of the standard box contents - so expect to pay more straight away once you buy it.
Speculation it isn't FAT32 file system ready, so will only ever see the first 2GB of huge CF and Microdrive cards - not officially confirmed yet though.
Overly aggresive jpeg compression?
Fine and normal mode settings now only allowed on the highest 12M mode - this should be an option right down to 3M pixels.

General Comments
As a regular user of Fuji cameras, I'm perhaps somewhat biased, but nevertheless, I hope this initial review offers some help to you.



I say initial review, as I AM one of the few to already have this Fuji Finepix S7000 digital camera in the UK, given that it arrived in limited stock on Friday to dealers, and fotosense.co.uk kindly got me one on Saturday delivery.



My first review therefore, is just to compare it to my previous S602 Pro, so that existing users can hear what's better/worse.



Overall, I have to say I worry that the image quality is less that what I might have expected - but this is based on reading existing USA reviews, not experience - so far, things seem good with my camera. I am disapointed however that fine and normal modes can now only be selected at highest file size.



Additionally, the actaul file size (in MB) of the recorded images in 6M and 3M mode seem low, which would infer a high compression ratio.



Feature wise, I have never been able to fault the proceeding S602, and the S7000 just builds on them - the improved resolution EVF really is excellent. The menu system/software has been updated to look better, and this does make a difference it has to be said.



Additionally, and getting technical, the S602 was picked up on for having a slightly 'off' cast to orange/red colour tones. This seems to be gone on the S7000.



So early days in terms of what my images look like, and I appreciate many of you will want to know exactly this, so maybe I will add a follow up soon. I just wanted to get my initial thoughts down early, with it just launching, and I have to say that once again, I am impressed. Especially given the price point compared to the previous S602 - but remember, you get no microdrive, charger, or rechargeable batteries in the box this time...



So overall, a good buy for those that this product is aimed at.