The Fujifilm S100FS is at the top of the Finepix tree.
It's an 11-megapixel bridge camera with a 14x zoom. While many superzooms are closer to the compact end of things in terms of specs and features, the S100 is a true bridge camera. Its resemblance to a dSLR goes beyond the styling. In fact, several features are borrowed directly from its bigger brother, the FinePix S5 Pro. You get raw shooting, a thumb dial for adjusting exposure and manual control over the lens -- you turn it and it zooms.
Imaging is handled by a 1/2.3-inch CCD, which is certainly bigger than the average. Larger sensors have more space to collect light and images look better. Bigger sensors have a positive effect on controlling noise, which is one of the things we'll be testing in our forthcoming in-depth review.
The camera's body has plenty of heft, and although one-handed shooting is possible, we wouldn't do it for long. The rubberised grip is very comfortable, with a contour for your finger. The 'FS' in the S100's name stands for film simulation. These modes mimic the look and feel of four Fujifilm films. Film -- how old school is that?
Fujifilm's clever face detection 2.0 will find and focus on up to 10 faces in a scene, even if they're in profile, and also corrects red eye. There are lots of modes and settings, including all the usual scene modes -- landscape, portrait and so on -- as well as four scenes for shooting nature.
Extending dynamic range to capture a greater spectrum of detail in darker and lighter areas is a popular feature at the moment. The S100 can boost dynamic range, or bracket three frames at different settings. Other bracketing options include film simulation and exposure.
Credit: Rich Trenholm
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complectus
21/05/2008 01:04 PM
Even though this is not a full review, the writer should be able to go to the Fujifilm website & see that the sensor is 2/3", not 1/2.3" - that's about 17mm vs about 11mm.
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