As with other recent Fujifilm cameras,
the S5200 benefits from a colourful and pleasant interface
that has easy to understand icons and symbols. Basic camera
settings are organized near the edges of the frame, be it
on the monitor or in the electronic viewfinder. Worth noting
however, with the S5200 in Playback mode only the monitor
can be used, which is occasionally impractical if the sharpness
or quality of an image has to be ascertained under bright
ambient light.
The menu system used with the S5200 is simple, efficient
and fluid. As the user navigates one section it flows into
the next, and once the last option is reach it loops back
to the first. Each option of the menu presents options as
an icon with a text description at the top right of the screen
to ensure clarity. Options are presented on a coloured background
that contrasts with the text, ensuring legibility. One peculiarity
however, is that the selection of the CCD-RAW mode is buried
in the Setup menu, when it should have rightly been part of
the Photo Mode menu.
The Setup menu is composed of 4 pages and is accessible
from all menus, irrespective of the Capture or Playback
mode:
Image Disp. selects how a just captured image is
displayed immediately post capture:
Cont.: the image is displayed until a button
or control is pressed.
3 sec/1.5 sec: selects the time during which
a just captured image is displayed.
Off: does not display a just captured image.
Shutter Volume: sets the sound volume for the shutter
sound (Off, 1, 2 or 3).
Beep Volume: sets the volume of the sounds produced
when buttons are pressed during operations (Off, 1, 2 or
3).
Playback Volume: sets the sound volume for the
playback sound of movies or voice memos (over 7 steps).
Frame Number: Cont. or Renew. Continuous increments
the file name of each new photo by 1. Renew starts numbering
photos from 1 each time the memory card is emptied, formatted,
or changed.
LCD Brightness:serves to set the monitor brightness
over ±5 levels.
Digital Zoom:turns On or Off the digital zoom.
CCD-RAW: turns On or Off the RAW image capture
mode. Images captured in RAW mode need to be interpreted
with the software included with the camera (see the Software
section further down).
Zoom Position: Reset or Resume. Decides whether
or not the camera remembers the zoom position when it is
turned off or not.
AF Illuminator: On or Off. Decides whether or not
the AF Light will come on when the ambient light is insufficient
to achieve focus reliably.
Auto Power Off: selects the time delay until the
camera automatically shuts off when it is not used (5, 2
minutes or Off).
Format: to format the memory card in the camera.
Date/Time: sets the date and time on the S5200.
Time Difference: to establish the time difference
between a "local" or home time and a "destination"
time, such as occurs while travelling.
Language selects the interface language: (English,
French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, or Simplified
Chinese).
Background Colour: selects the colour used in the
background of the menus.
USB Mode:
DSC allows the camera and its memory card to
be recognized as a hard disc by the operating system.
PictBridge serves to print directly to a PictBridge
compatible printer.
Video System selects the Video Out signal produced
by the S5200: NTSC or PAL.
Discharge: serves to fully discharge Ni-MH batteries,
increasing their life-span.
Reset: returns all settings to their factory defaults,
with the exception of the date and time (and the Destination
time), the interface language, the video out signal and
the menu background colour.
A printed manual accompanies the FinePix S5200. The manual is
clearly written and organized, and does a good job of presenting
and explaining the functions of the camera. In addition, the
manual explains how the camera can be connected to a printer,
and how photos can be printed directly on a PictBridge compatible
printer.
Software
In North america, the FinePix S5200 is bundled with a single
CD that contains Fujifilm's Software for FinePix (CX
version 5.1b for Windows and Macintosh). The software includes
FinePix Viewer (version 5.1 for Windows and 3.3 for
Macintosh, RAW File Converter LE (version 1.1), the
USB Drivers for older operating systems, and Pixela's
Image Mixer VCD2 LE.
FinePix Viewer's primary function is as an image viewer,
presenting photos as thumbnails, or as a film strip with the
currently selected photo shown at a larger size above, or
in a ledger format with small thumbnails followed by some
of the image's data (file name, format, file size, date and
time of capture, and image dimensions).
FinePix Viewer allows for automatic
or manual adjustments to the images (brightness, saturation,
tint, sharpness and contrast). Conversion to Black and White
or Sepia is also possible, and the converted images can be
saved as new images.
Moreover, right-clicking on a image in FinePix Viewer also
makes it possible to transfer the image to a more elaborate
image editor that is already installed on the computer.
Beyond this, FinePix Viewer can
be used to create slide shows, and organize photos into albums
that can be printed or viewed on a computer.
RAW File Converter LE
is the application that Fujifilm includes to open and convert
CCD-RAW images captured with the S5200 into TIFF format. RAW
Converter LE is limited and does not allow any editing of
RAW format images. The conversion process is entirely automatic,
using the camera settings recorded along with the image, and
can be done with groups of RAW files.
Finally, Pixela's ImageMixer VCD2 LE, which is intended
to creates albums and slide shows and then burn these onto
CDs or DVDs, is also installed. Worth noting however, only
burning to CD is possible until the program is upgraded by
purchasing the full version.
Interface & Software
