The Fujifilm FinePix S7000 is the replacement for
the S602 and,
at a glance, the only noticeable difference between this model
and the one it replaces is that the body of the S7000 is uniformly
black.
The changes in the S7000 are mostly internal,
ranging from a new Super CCD HR to a new high resolution electronic
viewfinder.
The S7000 is powered with an Off, On , Playback switch
that surrounds the 2-stage shutter release. Close by, two small buttons
provide a way to select flash modes, adjust exposure, or to choose one
of four continuous shooting modes.
In each case, the FinePix S7000
displays a small single line menu when the button is pressed,
and the Command Dial is used to make the selection:
Exposure compensation over ± 2EV
in 0.3EV increments. When the button is pressed, a small
blue unlabelled exposure scale is shown
on the lower right of the EVF or the monitor. Once compensation
is set, the scale remains visible until it is reset to the
centre position.
Flash Modes are
displayed only when the flash is open. The flash modes
offered are: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed
Flash, Slow Synchro, Red-Eye Reduction + Slow Synchro.
Closer to the back of the camera, the Mode Dial serves to select the shooting
mode. The Command Dial, in the back corner, serves to make selections for
such things as aperture, shutter speed or even, as explained above, setting
or adjusting exposure compensation, flash modes or the Continuous Modes which
are called up by the button near the Command Dial, and which also are selected
with an on-screen menu:
Top 5-frame continuous shooting:
captures up to 5 frames (3.3 frames/sec.). After capturing
the series, the images are displayed as thumbnails in sequence
from the left during the time it takes to store them.
Auto bracketing: captures
3 frames to bracket the selected setting so that one image
is correctly exposed, one is overexposed and one is underexposed.
The exposure range can be changed in the photography menu and the
bracketing increments can be selected from ±1/3 EV, ±2/3
EV, ±1 EV.
Final 5-frame continuous
shooting: this mode releases the shutter up to 40
times (2 frame/sec.) but records only the last 5 frames.
Long-period continuous shooting:
allows capturing up to 40 continuous shots at intervals
as short as 1 second. A compressed 3 megapixel image is
the highest image quality and resolution available.
The Mode Dial and its modes are carried over from last year's S602.
The Mode Dial has eight positions. Four shooting modes, and the access
to the Setup menu, are above the Auto mode:
Program Mode with Program
Shift: the S7000 selects the shutter speed and aperture,
but by turning the Command Dial, other possible combinations
are available.
Shutter Priority Mode: the
S7000 has a shutter speed range of 1/1000 second down to
3 seconds.
Aperture Priority Mode: apertures
start at f2.8 in wide angle and f3.1 at the telephoto end
and range to f8.
Manual Mode: provides
control over apertures (as above) and shutter speeds. The
shutter speed range of the S7000 is much broader in the manual
mode than with shutter priority, offering a high of 1/10,000
sec down to 15 seconds, and a Bulb mode also with a maximum
exposure time of 15 seconds.
Last on that side of the dial:
is for the Setup menu. The Setup menu
allows choosing a number of primary settings for the S7000, including
the use of the RAW image format. The Setup menu is covered in the Interface
and Software section of the review.
The other part of the dial starts with the Auto mode:
In the Auto mode, the S7000 controls
just about everything, the main menu only offers the option for the
Self-timer, and there are limits over the choices for sensitivity.
Scene Programs displays a small menu to
the left of the shutter speed and aperture info that appears at
the bottom of the LCD screen or the EVF. The Command Dial is used
to select the desired scene program:Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night
Scene.
Movie Mode: offers 2 frame sizes,
640 × 480 pixels, or 320 × 240 pixels, each captured
at 30 frames per second with sound. The duration of the recording
is only limited by the memory card in use. During movie recording
the zoom is locked at the first frame, and so is the focus. However,
exposure and white balance vary automatically according to the subject.
Additional controls are located on the left side of the lens barrel.
Starting on the left in the image
below, the first button is to select the Macro focus mode:
2 Macro modes are available.
The first Macro mode has a focus distance of 10 to 80 cm
(3.9 in to 31.2 in.) and allows the zoom to be used up to
2.3X. The second mode is a Super Macro mode that lets
the S7000 focus from 1 to 20 cm (0.39 in. to 7.8 in.), but
locks the zoom at a specific position.
the Shift button can
be used in combination with other buttons and acts as a
shortcut to specific camera settings. Moreover, when pressed
by itself, the Shift button displays a reminder screen
of the possible button combinations to reach metering,
white balance, self-timer, or the EVF and LCD brightness.
The third button, closest to the back of the S7000 is to control focusing.
Three modes are offered.
Continuous AF
Mode: is for taking photos of a moving subject.
Single AF Mode:
the standard mode which focuses only when the shutter release
is pressed halfway down.
Manual Focus: lets the
user adjust the focus using the large ring around the lens
barrel. The central portion of the image can be enlarged
by pressing the button,
and is assisted by a display of right and left arrows that
flip back and forth as the focus moves back and forth past
the focus point.
One-touch AF: automatically
focuses the lens in the MF mode.
The focusing modes of the S7000
remain the same as the S602. Regrettably, the Manual Focus mode
still lacks a precise indication for infinity focus.
The last control on the left side
of the camera is the INFO button. In the Recording modes,
the button displays current camera settings: ISO, colour mode,
metering, white balance, sharpness, flash brightness adjustment.
In Playback the button shows shooting information about a still image currently
on the display. Image size and quality, shutter speed, aperture, colour
mode, ISO and flash are indicated, and a histogram showing the distribution
of brightness in the frame is shown under a thumbnail of the image.
Additional controls are arranged
on the right side of the 1.8 in LCD monitor. For easy
access, the Auto Exposure Lock [AE-L] is placed next to
the zoom control, on the upper part of the camera's back. The
other controls are below:
Switches back and forth between
the LCD or the EVF. The EVF of the S7000 is one of the best
available, offering 235,000 pixels, considerably more than
the 118,000 pixels of the LCD monitor, and offers a very
sharp image.
controls the information overlaid
on the monitor or the EVF. Framing guidelines are available,
or all overlays can be turned off on either the LCD monitor
or the EVF.
Focus Check button used
to magnify the middle part of the image when using Manual
Focus.
Next comes the BACK button that cancels or backs out of a menu.
Directly below is the 4-direction control, and at its centre the MENU/OK button
that calls the menu appropriate to the mode in use.
The FinePix logo indicates
that this button calls up the image quality menu. (See
the Characteristics section of the review.)
Ergonomically, the S7000 is quite comparable to the S602, the camera it
replaces. Controls are well placed and easily mastered, and the most important
improvement the S7000 offers is a high resolution electronic viewfinder
that has a very sharp image.
Compare Prices for Fuji FinePix S7000 Digital Camera Battery Charger (B-9700)
Ergonomics
, Playback 
switch
that surrounds the 2-stage shutter release. Close by, two small buttons
provide a way to select flash modes, adjust exposure, or to choose one
of four continuous shooting modes.
shown
on the lower right of the EVF or the monitor. Once compensation
is set, the scale remains visible until it is reset to the
centre position.
are
displayed only when the flash is open. The flash modes
offered are: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed
Flash, Slow Synchro, Red-Eye Reduction + Slow Synchro.
to
the left of the shutter speed and aperture info that appears at
the bottom of the LCD screen or the EVF. The Command Dial is used
to select the desired scene program: Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night
Scene.
button,
and is assisted by a display of right and left arrows that
flip back and forth as the focus moves back and forth past
the focus point.
