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August 20, 2008

Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd review

Product Code: NC00660A

The Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd - the ‘fd' indicating the now ubiquitous ‘face detection' technology feature for razor-sharp portraits - is inexpensive for such a relatively strong feature set, including 12x optical zoom equivalent to 33-396mm in 35mm terms.

Build quality of the 10Mp Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd is impressive. The camera feels solidly chunky in the palm and boasts a larger-than-average handgrip, due to the fact that the four AAs needed for power are stacked up within.

The Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd's pop-up flash helps avoid red-eye issues, although there's no hotshoe for attaching another flashgun. An adjacent mode wheel provides speedy access to the usual program, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual settings alongside full auto, video capture, dedicated panorama mode and, more unusually, natural light and two scene modes (14 options in total).

Maintaining the Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd's user-friendly feel, buttons are provided for face detection and continuous capture, here at speeds up to 7.5fps if you can accept a resolution drop to 2Mp.

The Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd powers up in a couple of seconds, lens barrel extending to maximum wide-angle setting while the rear 2.7in LCD blinks into life. Fujifilm's ‘F' (for ‘foto') button at the rear pares down the menu to the key shooting functions, namely image size and quality, light sensitivity, and colour options: standard, our preferred ‘chrome', or black and white. Users also have the choice between LCD and electronic viewfinder (EVF), with a dedicated switch for swapping between them. The EVF is so small and murky, though, it will only be used in an emergency.

The Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd's JPEGs are commendably sharp at extreme telephoto with warmer-than-average, well-saturated colours when left on default settings. However, there is occasional barrel distortion when shooting at maximum wide angle, and white balance varies in accuracy. Noise is immediately visible at ISO 1600 and ISO 3200, but well controlled up to ISO 800.

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Independent customer reviews from

Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd scored:
9.0 out of 10 100% real reviews

The 2 most helpful reviews based on 219 reviews:

12 Apr 2008 Anonymous verified purchaser

10

Good Points

Small enough to fit in your coat pocket but has all the benefits of a S.L.R.but with video as well great camera for quick shots and can be used as a manual camera as well 5 stars all the way

Bad Points

can't think of one !

07 Sep 2008 Ian, Yates

8

Good Points

Great size, much easier to carry around than a "full size" camera. The picture quality is wonderful, especialy when using the super macro feature. The panoramic feature just fantastic for those sweeping landscapes and also for interior shots. Battery life is better than quoted, I used it for two weeks (over 500 photos and 10 minutes of video, multiple playback and deltion of files) on one set of batteries. An ideal camera for those wanting a step up from a compact camera but don't want to spend a fortune on a D-SLR.

Bad Points

Battery cover feels fragile. No picture stabilisation, no problem for most shots, but when you use the zoom can be an issue without a tripod.

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