Tuesday June 9, 2009
Superzoom without the bulk
By CHONG JINN XIUNG
Fujifilm’s FinePix S1500 proves that superzoom cameras still have a place in the digital camera market.
Even as entry-level DSLR cameras eat their way into the prosumer market, companies like Fujifilm are still making superzoom cameras.
Superzoom cameras generally lose out to DSLR cameras in terms of sharpness and clarity but make up for it with their long focal ranges and compact size.
The FinePix S1500, the successor to the S1000, has a number of new features that make it a more attractive buy.
The looks
The S1500 not only looks like a minituarised version of a DSLR camera but it also has similar features such as a handgrip, protruding lens and even a viewfinder.
Because the camera is not as big as a DSLR, it is more portable and perfect for taking along on your travels.
Plus, there is no hassle of having to carry extra gear and lenses for your DSLR through an airport.
The handgrip of the S1500 is a little short but it still feels comfortable to hold and all buttons are within easy reach.
On the back you’ll find a 2.7in LCD screen and an array of buttons for navigation and accessing the menu.
It may look a little cluttered as there are so many buttons but they are actually spaced out well so that you rarely hit the wrong one by accident.
The LCD screen isn’t very accurate when it comes to reviewing pictures.
Often times I found the pictures to be overexposed on-screen but they actually turned out pretty neutral when viewed on my PC.
TWIST AND TURN: With the twist of a knob, you can easily switch between the different scene and shooting modes. There is also a small viewfinder that you can use to frame and shoot pictures.
However, the screen isn’t very practical as it’s terribly small and offers no distinct advantage over using the large 2.7in screen.
Another thing I didn’t like about the camera’s design is the shutter button which is incredibly unresponsive.
You’ve to push it down really hard for it to register a button press which usually causes half-a-second delay before taking a photo.
The top of the camera houses a dial which is for selecting the various shooting modes, a zoom toggle, a shutter button, and two buttons for activating face detection and image stabilisation.
The camera’s SR Auto technology is capable of recognising different types of scenes. This allows it to set the ideal exposure, focus, white balance and ISO for the shot.
There’s also a panorama capture mode but the in-camera processing wasn’t impressive and I’d rather do it myself using Photoshop.
The S1500 runs on four-size AA batteries, so you need not worry about running out of power since you can carry spares or purchase them.
Feature-packed
The S1500 differentiates itself from other regular point-and-shoot cameras with its long 12x optical zoom lens (33-396mm equivalent).
I found the camera’s range useful in a number of situations — the flexibility for taking shots of far away subjects or breathtaking landscapes is a definite a plus.
The 33mm end of the lens is serviceable for capturing general landscape shots but isn’t great in tight spaces where you don’t have enough room to move about to capture things at a wider angle.
The very first thing we noticed was how slow the camera took to start up. It typically took approximately three to four seconds before we could begin snapping our first photo.
The S1500’s autofocus is about as fast as an average compact camera. It takes a second to lock onto a subject in broad daylight.
However, the focusing was slower for distant objects that are at the telephoto end of the zoom range, in which case it takes half-a-second longer to focus.
The camera’s slow start up time, unresponsive shutter button and slow autofocusing speed severely hobbles the S1500 because it simply cannot keep up with the action.
One of the new features on the S1500 is Tracking Autofocus function (which can only be engaged in the camera’s Custom shooting mode) that allows it to track a subject.
It tracks subjects relatively well out in the open but it can can sometimes get confused as to which subject you are focusing on.
Also, it freezes up occasionally and should you lose sight of the subject, it will be thrown off completely.
The feature is still handy for snapping pictures of moving subjects so long as they are not too fast and you can keep them in frame.
Another thing we noticed was barrel distortion at the wide end of the focal length.
The distortion isn’t noticeable in most situations unless you are taking a picture of patterns and straight lines. Otherwise, the problem can easily be corrected using Photoshop.
Performance
The S1500’s 10-megapixel sensor produces decent looking photos although you’re not likely to be blown away by the quality
Big screen: The S1500's 2.7in LCD screen dominates much of the camera's back with most of the navigation buttons nested on the right side.. It’s still not on par with a DSLR camera, but the pictures were mostly balanced in terms of both colour and exposure.
I have to say that I was impressed with the camera’s colour reproduction which was strikingly accurate.
Though the photos appear somewhat muted when using the standard FinePix Colour setting, the colours really pop out when using F-Chrome.
However, one drawback is the way it handles artificial lighting indoors — the camera’s white balance is thrown completely off which results in unnatural yellow tinge in images.
The S1500 has a relatively wide ISO range of 64 to 6400 (albeit with the resolution lowered to 3-megapixel).
As far as usability goes, images taken at ISO 64 to 200 are virtually noise free, so you’re likely to get good outdoor shots.
At ISO 400, the camera exhibits slight presence of noise though it remains usable for print.
However, at ISO 800 noise is very visible with noticeable loss in detail and degradation in colour.
So, it’s no surprise that ISO 1600 and above are simply unusable.
Despite this, the S1500 still handles noise relatively well and is a step above most compact cameras.
Surprisingly, the camera is very good at handling high dynamic range.
It still manages to retain highlight details that normally gets blown out and you can even make some detail in the shadows.
Though it’s still not as good as a DSLR but it’s still a good effort by Fujifilm.
Like most new cameras, it has video capture capability. While it only captures VGA (640 x 480 pixels) videos at 30fps (frames per second), the extended zoom range gives you more flexibility as you can zoom in and out while filming.
This does however come at a price, as the camera’s zoom is rather noisy to the point you can hear the motor whirring in the background in your videos.
As far as video quality goes, its pretty average looking and doesn’t look spectacular when viewed on a large screen.
The lack of HD video recording will be sorely missed but for its intended purpose, the S1500 gets the job done just fine.
Conclusion
Does the Fujifilm FinePix S1500 warrant a look if you are in the market for a digital camera? That depends on if the S1500’s features matches your expectations.
For one, the S1500 has an amazing zoom range but it’s hobbled by a limited wide-angle.
While you can’t expect DSLR-quality photos, the camera has all the consumer friendly features you would need such as SR Auto, image stabilisation and face detection to help you with your shots.
The camera’s ISO performance is on par with most Fujifilm cameras of late so it doesn’t disappoint.
However, the camera’s shutter button is frustratingly unresponsive and the slow start up time makes it less than ideal for shooting fast moving subjects.
Also, the LCD screen isn’t great for evaluating your shots while on the go and the noisy zoom gets in the way when recording videos.
All in all, the Fujifilm Finxepix S1500 is a decent super zoom camera that is better than most compacts.
At RM999 it’s relatively cheap by superzoom standards and is worth a look if you aren’t ready to switch to a DSLR yet.
Pros: Long zoom range; decent ISO performance; handy SR Auto feature.
Cons: Camera zoom is noisy; shutter button is unresponsive; slow start up time.
FinePix S1500
(Fujifilm)
Superzoom digital camera
Sensor: 10 megapixels (3,648 x 2,736 pixels)
Lens: 33 - 396mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.8 (wide) - 5.0 (telephoto)
Shutter speed: 1/4 – 1/2,000sec
ISO Range: 64 to 6400
Shooting modes: Auto, SR Auto, Programmed, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Panorama, Movie
Viewfinder: 2.7in TFT LCD
Battery: Four AA-size batteries
Storage: SD, SDHC
Interface: USB 2.0
Other features: Image stabilisation, face detection, tracking Autofocus
Dimensions: 102.5 x 73 x 67.8mm (w x h x d)
Weight: 324g
Website: www.fujifilm.com.my
Price: RM999
Review unit courtesy of Fujifilm (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, (03) 5569-8388
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