Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro SLR Review

The FinePix S5 Pro continues with Fuji's goal of achieving professional image quality that is consistent with the company's professional film heritage. Above is the new SuperCCD SR structure diagram, showing one microlens, one color filter, two photodiodes per photosite.

Fujifilm designed the Super CCD SR Pro for professional level performance. Boasting 6.17 million high-sensitivity S-pixels and 6.17 million R-pixels for wide dynamic range, the unique double-photodiode matrix of the Super CCD SR delivers amazing image quality. The new Super CCD SR Pro demonstrates major quality improvements such as a large reduction of dark noise in long exposure photography. The large 23.0mm x 15.5mm format CCD provides not only a high resolution canvas of 12.3 million effective pixels, but also improves dynamic range.

Analogy Between Film and SuperCCD SR Pro Sensor

The SuperCCD SR is designed to replicate negative film by having two photodiodes of different sensitivity. The primary photodiode with high sensitivity but a relatively narrow dynamic range, captures dark and medium tones. A secondary photodiode has low sensitivity but high dynamic range, in fact four times that of the high sensitivity photodiode. The S5 Pro's DSP combines the output from the two sets of photodiodes to produce the final 'extended dynamic range' image.

Fuji states the S5 Pro is compatible with about 90% of the F mount Nikkor lenses (including new AF-S and G types) made. You'll use a focal length conversion factor of 1.5x to determine focal length coverage compared to the 35mm format.

On the center left side of the lens mount is the Depth of Field preview button. On the right side is the lens release lock button and , below it, the 3-way switch is used to select the desired focusing mode (Manual, Single AF or Continuous AF).

The AF-Assist Illuminator (upper left hand corner of picture above) operates automatically in low-light conditions when the auto focus system can not find enough subject contrast. It has an effective range of 1.6 - 9.8ft (0.5 - 3 m) and can be used with AF Nikkor lenses from 24 - 200 mm.

There are three focus modes; AF-S (single AF servo), AF-C (continuous AF servo) and MF (manual focus). In the AF-S and AF-C focus modes there are two different AF Area mode options; Single-area AF and Dynamic AF. In Single-area AF the user manually selects the desired AF point using the 4-way controller. The Dynamic AF mode will automatically select one of the five AF points depending on the subject. This is good for tracking fast-moving objects. This mode also has a sub-option called Closest-subject Priority AF. The focus point will be selected by the area containing a subject that's closest to the camera.

The S5 Pro operates best when using lenses designed for digital cameras. Our sample camera came with the Tamron SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical lens. Digitally Integrated Design is the designation Tamron puts on lenses featuring optical systems designed to meet the performance characteristics of digital SLR cameras. Weighing in at 510g (18 oz) and only 73mm x 92mm (2.9in x 3.6in) in size, this is one of the most compact fast zoom lenses available thanks to the revolutionary downsizing "XR" technology employed by Tamron.

The S5 Pro has a built-in manual pop-up type flash with a GN: 12 (ISO 100). D-TTL (Automatic Balanced Fill-Flash controlled by five-segment TTL Multi Sensor) with built-in Speedlight and external Speedlights. Coverage for 20mm or longer CPU lenses (with hoods removed) as close as 0.6m.

The accessory shoe on top of the camera has dedicated flash contacts for Nikon Speedlights, X-contact only; flash synchronizing speed: 1/250 sec. or slower

Flash sync modes are: 1) Front-curtain Sync, 2) Red-Eye Reduction, 3) Red-Eye Reduction with Slow Sync, 4) Slow Sync or 5) Rear-curtain Sync.

Nikon SB-50DX, SB-80DX, SB-600 (shown above) or SB-800 Speedlights feature 3D Multi-Sensor Balanced Fill-Flash (with D or G-type AF Nikkor lenses) and were designed specifically for digital SLR cameras.

You can easily connect the S5 Pro to external studio flash units via the front-mounted PC Sync Terminal.

The eye level pentaprism finder shows approx. 95% of the captured frame. It has dioptric adjustment and a fairly wide viewing angle. The new focusing screen display of the FinePix S5 Pro employs the convenient Vari-Brite focus area display system; it enables clear display of the focus brackets at the selected focus area in the viewfinder for easy identification. When the finder image is bright, the focus brackets are displayed in black and when the finder image is dark, the focus brackets are momentarily illuminated in red.

To the right of the viewfinder is the AE-L / AF-L (Auto Exposure / Auto Focus Lock) button and around that is the metering selector switch with positions for center-weighted, matrix or spot. (With D- or G-type Nikkor lenses 10-segment 3-D matrix metering is used, factoring in the distance to subject as well as maximum brightness contrast.)

Here is the S5's viewfinder display - in the center are the focus zones and the center-weighted metering circle. The focus zone that is selected or active will turn red when the shutter is pressed. The horizontal and vertical grid lines are optional and can be enabled or disabled via the menu.

Across the bottom is the digital readout that shows the autofocus status, focus area, metering mode, multiple exposure/AE-L, shutter speed, aperture, exposure mode (P, A, S, M), analog exposure scale, flash compensation, exposure compensation and the flash status.

On the back is a high quality 2.5 -inch, color, polysilicon TFT color LCD (approx. 100% frame coverage for playback) with 230,0000 pixel resolution. The LCD allows for instant, in-field review of captured images with thumbnails, onscreen zoom plus optional histogram charts. All of the playback features are detailed on page 5