Fujifilm Finepix S5100 4MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: Great camera for the price!
Review: After doing a bit of research, looking for a sub-$500 camera that would perform most of what I could do with my extensive 35mm SLR outfit, I decided on the S5100 & I'm happy with my purchase. It's much easier to take along than a larger camera, so you're more liable to have it when you come across those unexpected shots.

Battery life is fine, and the fact that it takes standard AA size batteries vs a specialized lithium or rechargable battery pack was another factor in my choice of this camera. Although the standard alkalines included w/ the camera were sucked dry the first day I had it, I picked up 2 sets of 2500mAh NiMH rechargables & they perform great.

I printed my first 8x10 the other day & it turned out great - ended up framing it & hanging it in our guest room. At 4mp Normal Mode, the detail is incredible. I highly recommend getting a large capacity xD card, though (at least 128mb.) The 16mb card included with the camera is a joke, holding only 8 pictures at maximum resolution (4mp Fine Mode.)

I know there's better cameras out there (I still drool over the $1000 & up digital SLRs), but for the price, this camera will keep you busy & happy for quite a while.

Rating:
Summary: Great Mid-Sized Digital Camera
Review: After suffering with a pocket-sized digital camera that took great pictures at the cost of very short battery life, I bit the bullet and started shopping for a new model. I had already decided it had to use rechargeable AA batteries and it had to have an optical zoom of 8x or better.

In looking at the various models that met the criteria, most were in the $600+ range and quite bulky. The Fuji S5100 looked to be a bit smaller, and the price looked almost too good to be true. When I finally got to see one in person, I was very impressed. So much so, I bought it on the spot.

I spent an entire Saturday playing with all the features and shooting pictures at the dog park. I never used up the first set of AA NiMH batteries, even after reviewing and later downloading over 100 photos. I'm still working on the same batteries days later.

I really have only two minor issues with this model. Unlike my old pocket camera, it lacks an optical viewfinder, which allows you to turn off the LCD for longer battery life, as well as track moving subjects accurately. More annoying is that some of the features require two fingers or two hands to activate.

Get at least a 256 Mb xD card, get a 4 AA charger that will work in the car or house, two sets of AA NiMH batteries and a LowePro small SLR case and you are good to go.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice camera.
Review: I bought this camera a few weeks ago and am very pleased with it. When I was looking at digital cameras I wanted a nice optical zoom and wanted something a little bigger than all the tiny ones that are out. It is shaped nicely and fits well in my hand.

I haven't got a chance to play with all the different settings but the basics work very well. The battery life seems decent to me, but I would reccomend recharables to save money in the long run.

I have two 128 MB memory cards which hold about 130 pictures each at its highest resolution, which is enough for me. It comes with a 16 MB one, but I haven't touched it.

I do wish it had an optical view finder instead of a digital one.. it can be hard to see in a bright area, but it isn't impossible to use. Also, some kind of image stabilizer would have been a nice add on but it isn't too hard to get a clear shot while zoomed in all the way.

Overall, it is a very nice camera and I would recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Camera, Great Price!
Review: I have had this camera for a couple of months now and overall am very pleased with it. It is easy to use and a pleasure to use. It has excellent battery life when used with good NiCad's AA rechargeable batteries (no proprietary battery). It is not a full sized SLR though it looks like one and it is not a pocket sized digital camera but the size fits nicely in between the two. It has a good grip and feel to it.

Pluses include: Fairly compact. 10X Zoom is great and moves fast. Good range flash. Auto focus works well except when in macro mode. Outside images look very good most of the time. Low light shooting is excellent as is the red eye reduction. Movie mode is also excellent 30fps 640 X 480and works well in low light. --though you cannot move zoom. Microphone pics up audio well. Movie mode rivals that of standard DV movie camcorder though you need large memory card of at least 256mb. Menu system is also excellent and easy to navigate. Sharp but small 1.5 inch LCD screen.

Minuses include: Macro mode does not work well no matter what the setting, cannot use zoom during movie mode, comes with only 16mb XD memory card, software not great but if you have imaging software on your computer and Windows XP you do not need to install the Fuji software. There is no manual focus ring control you have to use buttons on back of camera. You can an only select between 1, 2 or 4 megapixels modes but can switch between them easily. Small but sharp and clear 1.5 inch LCD screen.

Overall I would recommend the Fuji s5100 for beginners to intermediate photographers. It has good auto (no need to touch) mode and good manual controls for intermediate and advanced users. It is not too big nor too small and fits in the hand nicely. The Fuji s5100 is easy to use, takes good pictures and movies and has a great and easy to use menu system. No proprietary battery system just plain old AA's. If you use rechargeables they last a long time.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Beginner To Advanced Camera
Review: I just got the S5100 for christmas. I work as a sports reporter and had been using an olympus stylus 3.2 megapixel camera to take photos to accompany my articles. The stylus, while an excellent point and shoot camera for vacations and snapshots, just wasnt cutting it for professional looking pics. The S5100 on the other hand, has been everything I was looking for in a surprisingly affordable price.

The controls are fairly intuitive, I'm the kind of person who jumps right in with a gadget instead of pouring over the instruction manual first, and there were very few things that I couldn't figure out how to do just by working with the camera itself.

The video and sound quality is absolutely amazing. If you get a 512mb xd card, you can record movies with sound well over seven minutes long at a 640x480 display, and much longer if you cut the display size.

What I really love about this product is the ability to continuously shoot. Basically, you set the camera to continuous shoot and press the button, the camera will keep taking shots (just under 2 per second) for up to 40 exposures, perfect for my line of work.

Also, it's extremely lightweight. At just under 12 oz, the batteries are the heaviest part of the camera (4 AA).

The flash works perfectly, providing ample illumination even at full 10x zoom.

You can take video while zoomed in, something else my stylus cant do. I love being able to zoom in on something far away (again, sporting events) and capture the movement. My old camera would only record videos with the zoom pulled all the way back.

Now for the Cons:
-It's a hog for memory on your computer. A full length video of over 7 minutes comes near half a gig of memory on my laptop (i know, obvious, a 512 mb card = half a gig no matter what media you put on it, so this is something every camera will do). Just making sure that people are aware that if they're planning on making a series of longer movies or taking a giant amount of pictures, as with any camera, it would be a good idea to invest in a burner.

-You're going to need add ons. The price of this camera alone is amazingly fair for what it can do. I would highly recommend buying a larger xd memory card to accompany it though. Depending on your needs, anywhere between 128 and 512 megs should be fine. You just cant utilize everything this camera is capable of doing with only 16 megs of space. Also, I'd consider picking up the case and possibly a battery recharger so you don't end up spending a chunk of money every so often on one time use batteries, but that's up to you.

In Conclusion:
I would highly recommend one of the finepix cameras, and though I didn't pick it out as it was a gift, and I had no previous loyalty to fuji, I'm a believer now. The s5100 appears to be middle of the road for their non pro series of finepix, you can go higher or lower based on your needs, but this camera really can do it all.

It's excellent for a wide field of consumers. Those who are brand new to digital photography will find it easy to learn, the centering and automatic tools will make taking snapshots a breeze. The more experienced users will enjoy the bevy of advanced features it offers. The video makers will enjoy the quality of the images they record.
Great camera, moreso when compared with others in its price range. A wonderful gift.

Rating:
Summary: Great Value!! Awesome camera
Review: I read the reviews and couldnt agree more. This is a great little unit. It does everything the high end cameras do without the price tag. The only thing I would change is an optical view finder.
You'll want to invest in bigger memory cards and some recharchable batteries.
This unit is very easy to use and takes very high quality shots.
Lastly, I dont usually go in for the extended service plans but for a purchase like this I thought it was a god idea. You make the call.


Rating:
Summary: Love this camera!
Review: I'm an avid SLR fan and this is my first digital camera. I love it's SLR like shape without being all that big. I've been playing with the camera taking video, black and white pix and of course lots of color shots. My daughter plays soccer so I've been taking action shots and they come out great. The video is crisp and clear. I love that I can play the video and pics through my VCR to my TV and also play with them on my computer.

The only negative is that the flash doesn't automatically pop-up when it's needed, you get an icon displayed on the LCD or optical viewer telling you the light is too low. I love the optical viewer's adjustments so I can see without my glasses. The LCD is small but good enough to give you a rough idea of how the pictures turned out. Viewing them on a computer or TV is the best way to see the true picture quality. The software that comes with the camera is marginal, I have other photo software that works better in editing and viewing the pictures. Also, since this camera uses AA batteries you will never be stuck with a dead battery and no way to recharge it. I did purchace the 256mb XD card and rechargeable batteries for this camera, shop around, prices really vary!!

Rating:
Summary: Great features and price
Review: This is my 2nd digital camera, and it replaced my Olympus 4000, which was excellent, but I wanted more zoom, an electronic viewfinder, and longer shutter times. The 5100 has certainly delivered, with a couply of relatively small compromises. The Olympus 4000 menus and controls are a tough act to follow. However, it seems that Olympus and Fuji share some technology, icons, and ideas.
The physical handling of the 5100 is excellent, with a very secure-feeling, molded grip for your right hand. I found all the control buttons well-placed and easy to manipulate.
When you sort through all the cameras out there, looking for 10x optical zoom, extended grip, and the ability to use AA batteries, the list quickly narrows! I use sets of 2500 mAh nickel-metal AA batteries, and an inexpensive charger.
Another great feature is the included lens tube adapter, lens cap, and cap-keeper. Just screw on a 55mm UV or skylight filter, and you can completely enclose and protect the lens assembly. At the fully wide position, you will see a small amount of vignetting (shadowing) at the corners if you have more than one filter screwed on.
I found the electronic viewfinder to be more helpful than an optical viewfinder, and still visible outdoors in sunlight. You can also read and manipulate the settings without taking your eye from the viewfinder.
I purchased a couple of 512 MB XD cards with the camera. You will really need the extra memory when you take movies. Movie mode, at a full 30 frames/sec, was surprisingly good, even if you can't change the zoom or focus once you start a movie. Startup, and writing pics and movies to the XD card is nice and fast.
The self-timer includes an extra 2-second setting, which is useful for activating the shutter without shaking the camera, such as for long exposures or telephoto shots on a tripod.
The adjustable white balance works quite well. The slickest way to make the most of this feature and to set exposures in manual, is to use a photographic gray card. The one I bought was 8x10 inches. I cut out a smaller rectangle, about 4x6 inches, that fits in my photo bag. One side is pure white, and the other is a special shade of gray. To set the white balance, place the card with the white side toward you, in the same light as the subject, zoom in on it, and activate the manual white balance function in the menu. This assures you of near perfect color no matter what the lighting is.
The manual exposure mode of the camera allows you to set the shutter and aperture quickly, and there is an exposure meter in the display that shows you how your settings compare with the automatic metering. The slick way to set exposure is to use the gray side of the gray card, place it in the same light as the subject, zoom in on it, and set your shutter and aperture until the exposure meter is centered. Once, done, you can just concentrate on zooming and framing to compose your shots, as long as the lighting is the same.
I tested the S5100 with a remote flash unit and a slave trigger adapter, which allow you to create professional, portrait-type lighting quite easily. Unlike my previous digital, the S5100's flash synch and metering seems to be compatible with this technique. You set your external flash to automatic, which is calibrated for a specific ISO film speed and aperture. It's easy to use the aperture priority mode in the S5100 to match these settings. Then using an inexpensive slave trigger device that clips onto the hot shoe of the external flash unit, you can place the external flash/trigger assembly on a mini tripod off to the side and up high, perhaps on a bookshelf, aimed at your subject. The S5100's pop-up flash illuminates the subject from the front, and the slave trigger fires the external flash at the same time, providing the main light from above and to the side.
The power saving function of the S5100 worked just fine as set from the factory. It blanks the LCD/viewfinder after 2 minutes, to save power, and will shut the camera off if you don't press any buttons after that.
A neat feature that is not apparent in the specifications is the ability to record a 30 second (or less) voice memo with each picture. You can record these any time after the pic is taken and stored on the card. When you play back a pic, you can hit a button to play back the corresponding voice memo, which is stored as a separate audio file. You can also hit another button to display all the technical exposure information for each pic, which is automatically stored in each pic file.
So far, I have just a couple of complaints. When playing back pics or movies to a TV using the included video cable, I have yet to find a way to rotate images taken in portrait orientation. Turning your head sideways to watch is not very comfortable! If you know a way to do this, please post it here! As mentioned in other reviews, the manual focus mode doesn't have a distance meter to help you: you have to carefully study the display while adjusting to judge the best focus. This is particularly hard to do in low light.

Rating:
Summary: great to hold but has major faults
Review: This is my 3rd digital camera, previous 2 were Canon's.
After 2 days of ownership here is my observations of the Fuji S5100;
Plus's; great finish and shape, easy to hold, feels great in your hands, secure and solid, 10x zoom is great, aux. filter holder is a nice touch and should be kept on with a skylight filter to keep out dust (except when using flash in macro mode, it causes shadows.) Layout is ok, but could have been even better, I think zoom control would have better placed around shutter as a rocker switch, and the on/off switch placed on back. its a bit more difficult to fumble for W & T switch on back of camera, during use.

Minus's; (and they are very disappointing;) In dim light view finder and LCD panel are incredibly dim almost useless (even with the light switch and finder brightness adjustment set at max in the settings menu), unless you shoot in daylight only you will not enjoy this camera. AA alkaline battery life is extremely short, in 2 days 3 sets. Software included is minimal at best, almost useless, I still haven't found and easy way to download pic's from card in camera to PC, I finally gave up and bought a xD card to USB adapter (about $24), which I recommend getting (it is easy this way). Instruction book is poorly written, jumping all over the place, it reminds me of the National Electrical Code, it will take a bit of time to get familar with the functions and you'll probably need to keep the book handy for reference.
And one more disappointment when trying to register this product online the Fuji web sight kept telling me my phone number was invalid, after trying it ten times or more in several formats I gave up. I think I know my own phone number Fuji.
(does anyone actually try this stuff before they turn it loose on customers?)