Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd Zoom Review

The S1000fd employs a powerful Fujinon f2.8-f5.0, 5.9-70.8mm 12x optical zoom lens, which is equivalent to 33-396mm lens on a 35mm camera. The aperture range is from F2.8 - F6.4 Wide, F5.0 - F8.0 Telephoto. Fuji includes a nice lens cap to help protect the lens.

The TTL contrast-type autofocus system features Single AF and Continuous AF focus modes with your choice of AF frame selection: AF (Center), AF(Multi), or AF(Area). The focusing range in wide angle is from 1.3 ft. (40cm) to infinity, in telephoto from 4.9 ft. (1.5m) to infinity. Macro mode covers from 2.0 in. (5cm) to 9.8 ft. (3m) in Wide and 2.6 ft. (80cm) to 9.8 ft. (3m) in Tele. Super Macro mode gets even closer at Approx 0.8 in. (2cm) to 3.3 ft. (1m).

The S1000fd also features an AF-assist lamp to help the autofocus system in lower or mraginal lighting condidtions.

The manual popup flash has an effective range in wide angle of approx. 1.3 - 28.5 ft. (40cm - 8.7m) and 4.9 - 15.7 ft. at telephoto. Macro coverage is from 1.0 - 9.8 ft. (30cm - 3m) wide or 2.6 - 9.8 ft. (80cm - 3m), using ISO Auto. Flash modes available are: Auto, Red-eye reduction (On or Off), Forced flash, Suppressed flash, Slow Syncro and Red-eye reduction + Slow Synchro. Flash mode is selected with the right button of the 4-way controller.

The eyelevel finder is a tiny, high-resolution (200,000 pixels) 0.2-inch color LCD with a magnified eyepiece. It is called an Electronic ViewFinder or EVF for short. Unfortunately there is not a dioptric adjustment. It displays all the same information and menus as the large color LCD display. The EVF/LCD button toggles between the two displays.

On the back is a 2.7-inch color TFT LCD monitor for image preview, review and accessing the camera's menus. The EVF/LCD button switched the live image between the two displays. The Play button enters review or playback mode. The "F" (Photo Mode) button is for changing image size/quality, ISO speed and color mode. The 4-way controller lets you navigate menus and select images in playback mode. Press "Left" to toggles the Macro/Super Macro focus on and off and the Flash mode is controlled with the "Right" button. Press "Up" to increase the gamma (brightness) of the LCD or delete images in playback mode, "Down" enables the self-timer. In the center is the MENU/OK button which toggles the Menu on/off . While ON, the menu selections are navigated with the 4-way and the OK button accepts selections. The DISP/BACK button is used to escape from menu operations, in Record it controls the amount of information displayed in the LCD monitor. The Exposure compensation can also be used to enable Program Shift, and is used to select the Aperture and Shutter speed values in A/S/M modes.

On top of the handgrip is the Power slide switch, and shutter release with the zoom controls mounted around it. They also act as the index and magnify options in playback mode. Next are the Face Detection and Drive (Burst) mode buttons.

The Mode Dial offers positions for: Auto, Program AE, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, full Manual, Movie, Panaorama, SP1, SP2, and Natural Light.

On the right side is the combination I/O port. It handles both the USB 2.0 (High-speed) connectivity for transfering images to you PC or direct printing as well as A/V output (NTSC or PAL) for displaying images on a TV set.

The S1000fd features approx. 24MB of internal memory as is equipped with a xD-Picture Card/Secure Digital (SD) slot. It's compatible with any xD card from 16MB to 2GB, SD cards up to 2GB, and SDHC cards up to 8GB.

Power is supplied by four standard AA type batteries, alkaline or NiMH. We highly recommend the use of NiMH rechargeable batteries - they're reusable, more powerful and will save you money in the long run.

Approx. Battery Life