Fuji Finepix S602 > Reviews > Fuji Finepix S602 - A brilliant Bargain

Author's product rating:   

Picture Quality	Good
Range & Quality of Features	Diverse
Ease of Use	Easy
Overall Look & Design	Average
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	A wide variety of features, good picture quality, durable (millions of photographs without maintenance), Good Value, and Generally convenient in size and weight to take out with you
Disadvantages:	Poor Lens, Fragile, and generally a lot better products on the market (However, for nowhere near the same price value)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

* Initial Note *

Recently, I have started to gain a passion for photogrpahy. With travelling to Dubai a lot, there is so much to take photos of, such as for example when I went to Oman (Which is an absoloutley gorgeous country), and the beautiful sunsets on the beach by the burj al arab. So I thought, well, with a good, professional (moving on from throw-aways) camera, I can start taking some decent photographs for when I come back home. Anyway, so far its produced some pretty good photos.

* General description and feeling *

Firstly, the camera itself is quite quick in terms of shutter lag which is important when you are taking a lot of action shots. The 602 has a 6x zoom capability which is great, especially when you want to get a good close up picture.

Secondly, It is absoloutley jam packed of different features to play with, for the avid amateur like myself, and, for example, without going into every feature, has an ISO setting from 160 to 1600 which is brilliant for low light pictures.

It also has aperture, speed, or completely manual modes, as well as an automatic setting and a scene mode. It also has a brilliant video capability, which by the way, is of a 1000 times better quality than a Nokia 6220 (for obvious reasons).

I will note however, that I also bought a 1 Gigabyte IBM microdrive which will allow you to take photographs for at most a 3 week holiday. You can also purchase a NimH battery and recharger that will allow you to recharge the camera from the cars cigarette lighter, which can be extremely handy when for example renting a car when on holiday. I however have never opted for that option, as have always stayed in a hotel when going abroad (or not being far from a power source). However, if you are the camping enthusiast, or for example enjoy back-packing holidays, it may be a good idea to invest in something like this so that you don't run out of batteries half way through your trip.

The flash on the camera is also relatively good. At most the flash generally reaches up to 20 feet, when considering a close up photograph, is pretty far. I have however been suprised at the odd photograph which has been well over 20 feet, in pitch darkness, and has came out really well. So I suppose the camera can be a bit tempermental at times, but generally the max distance for the flash to reach the item of the photograph is 20 feet.

The camera has brilliant ergonomics, and fits my hand like a glove. Its very easy to learn how to use, it is generally easy to carry, and is more than comfortable to hold (with some cameras you really do need fingers out of a kama-sutra book, and trust me, I know)

* General Drawbacks *

The only thing that really draws back on this camera is the lens. By digital camera standards, the Fujinon 6x, f2.8 lens, with a 35mm equivalent of 35mm to 200mm zoom, is a very good lens, but in terms overall, it really isnt. A better lense would have significantly increased the cost of the camera, and I definately wouldnt have paid the difference.

A lot of people people say that you can't tell the difference between the pictures from this camera and a 35mm film shot. I can tell the difference slightly, but generally the camera does a good job.

The only way you can beat this camera is to buy one with a detachable lens, which by the way will cost you over £300.

* Final Note *

In comparison to some of the other cameras made by Fuji it really does seem to be the cream of the crop. For example the new finepix S5000 has a real cheap and nasty feel to it. It has a 10x lense, mind you, but its no match for the 602 in my mind. And the F7000, in my mind, is just simply not worth the money.