Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd

I have owned this camera now for approximately 2 weeks, I bought it from ebay for a great price! Although refurbished, I have NO complaints!

Where to start! This camera has fantastic features, great 12x zoom, and the lens is as good as you can get for the price, I paid! (£90)....

Before I had the camera arrive at my home I downloaded the manual from the Fujifilm website as a *.PDF document and had a good read, although none of it really made any sense at the time, but since I have had the camera it has proved an invaluable asset!

The camera boasts many preset settings and features so you can go from point and shoot in automatic mode, to a little bit more creativity using the preset settings, to an almost full manual mode where you can adjust the shutter speeds (from 8 seconds to 1/2000's of a second!) you can also adjust the aperture settings too, although very limited.....

Some of the presets include, Firework mode, Flower mode, Sport mode, Sunset mode, Beach, Snow, Picture stabilisation and a few more, 14 in total. These modes are ok, but the automatic mode is more than enough really... Unless you get to know the modes very well, they will have varying effects from deeper colour, to faster shutter speeds, to reducing white balance etc.. But auto mode is very good in itself, and takes point and click to a semi-pro level!

The camera feels very nice in hand, even for my bigger than average hands, although the camera boasted being the smallest 10Mp, 12x zoom camera in its release, it is very usable for just about anyone, and feels right when held!

The picture quality is superb, although unless you have stable, sniper like stances and grip, 10Mp at full zoom is a little over the top, 8-10x may have suited better... But luckily for me, I have very good and steady hands, and have taken some amazing pictures at 90-100% full zoom, especially when using it on full resolution and with 3 shot bursts... In addition, it has a multitude of burst shot modes from 3 shot, to continuous and alot of things inbetween (approx. 8 settings) and unlike other cameras, they can be used with the self-timer feature too (apart from continuous).

I have taken some fantastic shots using the macro modes, especially the super macro mode, you can put the lense almost as close as you like (2cm recommended) and have a very detailed and very large blow up of what was shot! I have taken a picture of a dragonfly (one enclosed) and all of the shots taken (apart from a couple of blurry ones, I was in a very awkward position hung over a grassy bank all twisted and unbalanced lol) have been accepted by professional photographers as sale worthy, and of good enough quality for them to sell on the open market! what camera for £90 could say that! They have also accepted some others I have taken in normal zoomed modes, but it can get a little blurry when the zoom is used more than 50% for most people, as fore mentioned! tripod needed, or a good perch on a wall with a few coins or something under it for leveling and the self-timer (2 s and 10 s timer) also may help most people get a great shot everytime!

Ok, some bulleted good points!

• Settings in any of the user adjustable modes will save if you switch the camera off
• The zoom is fantastic, and the lense wont degrade its clarity
• More than enough modes (14+) for a beginner to get some good results
• Large LCD screen, and a very handy viewfinder
• Almost everything is adjustable, and automatic
• Saves EXIF info, so it tells you what the aperture values, shutter speeds, ISO etc etc is even when taken in automatic mode, whether uploaded to a pc and viewed in Adobe Photoshop or similar programs or on the camera itself
• Has a histogram and/or light balance indicator (shown as a -/+ sliding scale type thing) so you can get an equal balance of light and dark and adjust the settings accordingly
• Takes top notch pictures when you get to know the camera, AND as soon as you take it out of the box in auto mode!
• Very good on battery consumption, will take 300+ pics without the flash and if not on for hours at a time! (p.s. decent batteries used, get what you pay for when it comes to portable power! i.e. duracell's)
• You can turn off all sounds for stealthy woodland and nature hunting! The only sound is you and the shutter! No annoying uncontrollable beeps, and fake shutter sounds!
• Has a very good flash, perfect for indoors, and adjustable flash intensity settings too
• Has well thought out "one-touch" buttons to open useable menu's! i.e. shooting modes, face detection, f-mode (colour, iso, high speed shooting etc) screen views, picture info, histogram, etc etc
• It feels good in hand, from weight, to balance, to its moulded features

And so much more! I can almost guarantee that if you have an eye for a photo, this camera will take it very very well! It is perfect for beginners (as a "bridge" camera). Its an ideal quick and portable camera for a semi-professional too! (Although there are better more expensive ones to chose from as always!)...

Bad points! as with everything, it does have some!

• No mechanical image stabalisation, only shutter speed adjustable "anti-shake" i.e. quickens the speed of the shutter opening time so movement doesnt have time to make an impact, but not so good in low light conditions....
• Wont accept the normal standardised Nickel type rechargeable, only Alkaline and Tungsten (LR6 & FR6)
• It takes about a second to auto focus, so for super quick shooting i.e. small birds at close range in flight, it would most likely let you down... (It does have fast focus type mode... but nothing special at all..)
• Aperture customisation very limited

Apart from those few bad points, I cant think of anymore bad things to say!!

Overall

WHAT a camera! The quality over price ratio (Q/£ or Pic/£) is superb! Great for semi-pro, easy enough for kids, feels and looks brilliant, excellent build quality, takes fantastic pictures! What else could you want for this price range! If you want full on semi-decent SLR you need to spend at least £200-250, and your lucky to get a lense thrown in for that price! This camera will serve many purposes, and will do alot for many people! But for any beginner it is a fantastic stepping stone from the old fashioned point and click! I was very pleased when my photo's were accepted to sell using this camera! Im not saying everyone can achieve good results, as I do seem to be able to take a good pic without trying! But im sure with a little practice, EVERYONE could make some fantastic shots!

I hope i have helped in your buying.. Just to add, I read the reviews of many other similar types of camera before buying this one, and apart from panasonic (they seem to have superior CCD chip manufacture, especially in their high end professional TV camera's) the Fujifilm far out shined most of its competitors by a mile! Check out the other Fujifilm Finepix's "s" ranges! as most componants are reused and swapped around in their models, so what is good for one, is good if not better for another!