Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Zoom Review

Here you can see the point-n-shoot AUTO record mode - The "5M F" represents image resolution of 5 megapixels Fine quality and the "55" represents the quantity of frames that can be recorded on the xD card at the current image size. In the center are the auto focus target marks, and along he bottom are the shutter speed and aperture values.

Rotating the Mode Dial give access to 5 creative scene modes like Anti-blur shown above. This mode allows you to use faster shutter speeds in marginal lighting to help reduce the effects of camera shake. You can also choose Natural light, Portrait, Landscape or Night.

Program AE is yet another user friendly exposure mode that gives you access to more advanced options like metering, white balance, AF mode, Program Shift etc. Exposure compensation can be adjusted by depressing the "+/-" button adjacent to the shutter release. You also have access to the full record mode menu which will be explained a little further down this page.

When you half-press the shutter release the AF marks will show the intended area of focus as well as the shutter and aperture values. The "shaking" hand indicates a slow shutter speed warning because we don't have the flash enabled.

Depressing the "f" button over the LCD calls up the Photo Mode menu. Options in all still image modes are the image size (5M Fine, 5M Normal, 3:2 aspect, 3M, 2M, 0.3M), ISO speed (Auto[Auto shooting mode only], 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600), or Color mode (B&W, Chrome [Vivid] or Standard).

Shutter-speed priority mode allows you to select the desired shutter speed value, while the camera selects the correct aperture. Select a fast shutter speed to freeze fast-moving subjects or use a slower shutter speed to capture flowing water or low-light subjects. Frame- assist grids have been enabled.

Aperture priority is just the opposite, allowing you to select the desired aperture and the camera automatically sets the correct shutter speed. A small aperture (larger f/number) increases the depth of field (range of focus), where a large aperture (smaller f/number) decreases depth of field.

This is Manual record mode, the user manually sets both shutter speed and aperture. Shutter speed is set with the "up" and "down" buttons of the 4-way controller; aperture is set with the same buttons while holding down the "+/-" button. You can meter the exposure by watching the display in the lower right corner and adjust the shutter speed or aperture to center the indicator.

Pressing the DISPlay button next to the LCD toggles the live image between, off, no information displayed, grid lines (shown above), or post shot assist.

P/A/M/S menu options:

SELF-TIMER ON / OFF, 2 or 10 second delay
PHOTOMETRY Metering: Multi, Average, Spot
WHITE BALANCE Auto, Custom, Daylight, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent
HIGH-SPEED SHOOTING On/Off
AF MODE Center, Multi, Area
SET-UP Enter the set-up menu
SHARPNESS Soft, Standard, Hard
BRACKETING Set the step value for bracketing: ±1/3EV, ±2/3EV or ±1.0EV

Change the Drive mode by holding down the Drive button and pressing the 4-way selector right or left and watch the LCD display shown above. Options include: Top 3-frame (capture 3 frames at up to 3fps), Auto Bracketing, Final 3-frame (captures up to 40 frames but only saves the last 3 when you release the shutter), Long-period continuous (only available in Auto mode) captures up to 40 frames at a rate of 0.9 frames per second.

Press the Focus selector button to chose from Single-AF, Continuous-AF or Manual focus mode. Manual focus is adjusted by holding down the "+/-" button while depressing the Telephoto zoom control to increase focus distance, or the Wide zoom control to focus closer. Unfortunately, it does not enlarge the center portion of the display as we see on many models.

The Macro focus mode allows closeup focusing from 0.3 to 6.6 ft (0.1-2m) in Wide and 3.0 to 6.6 ft (0.9-2m) in Tele.

The Movie mode captures 640x480 or 320x240 pixel motion video with audio at 30 frames per second (fixed.) The maximum length per clip is limited only by available memory, the included 16MB xD card can hold 13 seconds of video at 640x480 or 26 seconds at 320x240. Movie data is written directly to the xD card as it is captured. The optical zoom lens is not useable during recording but can be preset beforehand.