Fujifilm FinePix S5200

Reviewed February 2006

Characteristics

Unlike the S5100, the FinePix S5200 uses a 1/2.5 inch Super CCD HR (High Resolution), composed of 5.22 million pixels of which 5.1 million are effective, to capture an image with a maximum size of 2592 x 1944 pixels.

When the S5200 is set to any of the P, S, A or M modes, the CCD sensitivity can be adjusted over a range that starts at 64 ISO and extends 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 ISO but there is no Auto mode. With the Auto, Portrait, Landscape and Night shooting modes the same ISO range is available, but the Auto ISO mode is also provided. And with the Natural Light and Anti-Blur modes, sensitivity is totally under the control of the camera.

The S5200 is equipped with a 10X Fujinon optical zoom with a focal range that covers from 6.3 to 63 mm, the equivalent of a 38-380 mm on a 35 mm camera. Aperture start at f3.2 at the wide angle end and f3.5 when the zoom is at the telephoto end, closing down for both at f8.

The front of the lens barrel is equipped with a metallic trim with a 55mm thread making it possible to attach a wide angle converter (WL-FX9B) which yields the equivalent of a 30 mm.

The S5200 also includes a 5.7X digital zoom which must be activated in the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for more details about the Setup menu option). The digital zoom captures the centre portion of the image, progressively cropping smaller sections of the image and interpolating to the currently selected image size, which causes a progressively greater deterioration of the image as the digital zoom is used.

A shutter speed range of 1/2000 second down to 15 seconds is available with the FinePix S5200, but only with the Manual mode. With Auto, Program, Sport, Portrait and Landscape, the shutter speeds cover from 1/2000 to 1/4 second. With Night and Shutter Priority they range from 1/1000 to 3 seconds, while with the Aperture Priority mode shutter speeds range from 1/1000 to 1/4 second.

The FinePix S5200 can capture images at any one of 5 images sizes:

• 5M: 2592 x 1944 pixels,
• 3:2: 2736 x 1824 pixels (a 3:2 aspect ratio that is well-suited to printing),
• 3M: 2048 x 1536 pixels,
• 2M: 1600 x 1200 pixels,
• 03M: 640 x 480 pixels.

But only the largest image size can be captured at any one of three image quality levels:

• Using the Setup menu the image can be captures as CCD-RAW, a format that records the data coming from the CCD without any processing by the camera, but which records the camera settings so they can be applied later when the image is processed on a computer. The S5200's CCD-RAW format is proprietary and must be opened using the application supplied with the camera — or an application such as the RAW Plug-in for Adobe Photoshop — and converted to TIFF, a more common format.
• Alternatively, the Photo Mode menu which is displayed when the button is pressed, provides a choice of two JPEG compression:
  • 5MF: the highest image quality available in the JPEG format which has a compression ratio that is approximately 6:1, or
  • 5MN: which is a stronger compression that gives preference to storing more images over the image quality and which applies has a compression of approximately 12:1.

All other image sizes available on the S5200 are tied to a specific, and non-selectable compression ratio.

In addition to the JPEG image quality and size, the Photo Mode provides other settings that have a direct impact on the image quality:

• Quality: to select the image size and quality as indicated above. With the camera set to the Movie mode, the option allows selecting the frame size (640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels).
• ISO: Auto (only when the camera is set to Auto or some of the Scene modes, and which has a range of 64 to 640), 64, 100, 200, 400, 800 or 1600 ISO (in all modes with the exception of Natural Light and Anti-Blur).
• FinePix Colour which has three options:
  • Standard: records natural colours without accentuating saturation.
  • Chrome: accentuates colours, much like some slide films.
  • B&W: captures black and white images.

• Self-Timer offers a time delay of either 10 or 2 seconds before the shutter is released. The Self-timer must be re-selected at each capture.

• Photometry selects the metering pattern: multi which divides the frame into 64 segments and evaluates each so as to arrive at an average, Average which evaluates the entire frame, or Spot.
• White Balance (WB): Auto, Custom (set under ambient light), Sun, Shade, Fluorescent 1 (daylight), Fluorescent 2 (warm), Fluorescent 3 (cool white) or Incandescent.
• High-Speed Shooting: this option shortens the time required to auto focus by narrowing the range of the AF to between 2m (6.6 ft) and infinite at the wide angle end, and between 4 m (13.1 ft) and infinite at the telephoto end.

• AF Mode selects the way the auto focus operates:
  • Multi selects the focus point automatically from a wide area at the centre of the frame.
  • Area makes it possible to move the AF point anywhere in the frame using the 4-direction control.
  • Centre focuses at the precise centre of the frame exclusively.
• Set-Up: is the access to the basic configuration for the S5200 (see the Interface and Software section of the review).
• Sharpness: controls the in-camera sharpening applied to JPEG images (Hard, Standard or Soft).
• Bracketing selects the bracketing increment: 1 EV, 2/3 EV, or 1/3 EV.

Unlike the still image modes, when the S5200 is set to the Movie mode the only option accessible in the main menu is Setup.

With the FinePix S5200 in the Playback mode, the MENU/OK button also presents a 2-page list of options when a still image is on screen at the time the menu is called up:

• Erase: serves to erase one or all unprotected images.
• Image Rotate: allows rotating an image in 90° increments to the right or the left.

• Print Order (DPOF) serves to set DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) tags of All or Selected images: prints with or without date, or the deletion of all DPOF tags.
• Protect: serves to protect All, or Selected images or Reset (remove) protection for all.
• Playback: serves to see all the captured images with a selectable on-screen time and a choice of two transition effects, or the possibility to display more than one image per screen.
• Setup: is the access to the Setup menu.

• Voice Memo: makes it possible to add a voice memo, up to 30 seconds long, to an already captured image.
• Trimming: allows zooming into a part of an image and capturing the section as a new image.

When a movie is on screen in Playback, the menu omits the last 2 options outlined above: Voice Memo and Trimming.

The FinePix S5200 is compatible with xD Picture cards. The cards fit into a slot that is covered by a solid door on the left side of the camera, and is ejected by pressing on its edge. In North America the S5200 is retailed with a 16MB xD memory card.

The chart below lists approximate image capacities with the supplied card, and with an inexpensive but optional 256MB card which offers a more reasonable capacity:

The connections are covered by a flexible door, itself embossed with the type of connections it covers and their location.

At the top, in yellow, is the A/V (Audio/Video) jack, and the signal the jack outputs can be configured in the Setup menu to be either NTSC or PAL.

Immediately below is the DC input, designed to function with the optional AC-DC adapter (AC-5VH or AC-5VHS) with allows the S5200 to be powered from regular household current.

The S5200 is powered by four AA batteries that are housed in the camera's grip. In North America the camera is retailed with four alkaline batteries, but is compatible with rechargeable Ni-MH batteries as well, which provide a much greater autonomy.