Customer Reviews

Fujifilm Finepix S5200 5.1MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been using the Fuji S5200 for several days now and think that it is a fantastic camera. I had been debating between this and several other superzooms. I chose the Fuji for its ISO capabilities and its real photo technology.

Pros:

-Great looks and build. You know this camera has quality written all over it from the moment you pick it up.
-Fast shot to shot times.
-Good auto focus capability, though not the best in its class.
-Good movie mode with 640 X 480 capability.
-Incredible High ISO capability! This is where the Fuji stands heads and above its competitors. You can actually use come pcitures at 1600 ISO with a little work.
-Excellent pictures in auto mode for a beginner. This is a great camera for someone wanting to learn how to use digital cameras. You can start off in auto mode and experiment with many manual settings.

Cons:

-Manual focusing is awkward to use. You have to hold on to 1 button and then move the zoom in or out to focus.
-The menus are a little more difficult to use than others I have tried, though you get used to it like anything else with practice.
-No optical stabilization. This is not really a con in my book due to its high ISO capabilities but some would argue the point.
-No hot shoe.

In the end, Fuji has taken and enhanced the S5100 in several ways to create a bargain of a camera the 399.00 price. Highly recommended!

This camera is relatively new, so there are not many reviews in cyberspace yet. However, some diligent searching will reveal a few. They generally fall into the "unbelievably good" category, but when you read the details you find the user has had the camera for only a few days, or it is their first camera. There are a few quite negative reviews, including some posted images of poor quality.

I have had mine for a few weeks, and have mixed feelings about it. Yes, it does have all the features that others have listed, and it offers very good value for money. However, you need to understand what it is doing if you are going to take good pictures. If you just "point and shoot", you may be disappointed.

The S-5600 has a very long zoom, but no image stabilisation. Unless you use a tripod, you may find it hard to get sharp pics at the extended settings. The "anti-blur" setting works well, but at the expense of sometimes undesirable ISO levels. IS would be better.

Also, you need to be careful about focusing. The autofocus sometimes misses small subjects. You need to diligently use the "pre-focus" half-shutter option to make sure your subject is in focus before completing the shot.

Focusing would be less of an issue if manual focus was easier. I would prefer a simple focus ring, like on an SLR. Failing that, it would be better if you could hold down a button with your left hand rather than trying to hold it down with your right hand while also operating the zoom buttons to manually focus. Also, manual focus is very slow - you might not think it is working sometimes. Plan to learn how to use manual focus, and practice using your right hand - not so difficult once you have it down, but again not "point and click".

Ok, so this sounds like a pretty negative review so far. Let's look at some of the positives - and there are plenty:

- Very good lens system, with huge zoom range
- Ability to screw on converter lenses - a wide angle is probably the most useful
- Really long battery life - leaves the Canons for dead (always been a good feature of Fuji)
- Once you understand and master the controls, ability to take great natural light photos (I find the flash a bit harsh)
- Very good movie quality (but no zoom in movie mode)
- RAW mode!
- Good price!

In summary, if you are in the market for a new camera of this type, definitely consider the S-5600, but see if you can get a hands-on trial against a Canon or Olypus equivalent before you commit to it.

Well,�@I am not a pro but I will try to write something about this camera for those who are trying to decide if they will buy it or not...
I bought this camera after analysing the reviews of S5200's antecesors; S5000 and S5100.
Both were top sellers and every one (or almost) liked their performance. I also analysed if it was better to buy the strong competitor Canon S1 IS. For my need I chose to buy one of the Fujis.
After reading some reviews about the S5000, some complaining and seeing that the complaining was much less on the Fuji S5100, I decided that the latter would be a great idea had not I done more research. I saw that the few complainings on S5100 would not (probably) be in its up-graded version (S5200) and some nice features would be included, too.
In the site of Fuji I saw that S5200 would come with their newest kinda sensor (5th generation). Also it would come with Anti-blur (comparable to Canon's Image Stabilizer) and with the Real Photo Tecnology.
Despite having it only for one week now, I have to say that I am very satisfied with the camera. It was a bit expensive but worth every Yen (I am in Japan, the first place where it had its premiere). I took some shots at night with surprising results, such as those Fuji promissed in their homepage. The Real Photo Tec is really good; instead of a dark and impenetrable background in night shots, you can have a vision of how the party was like. If you know how to use the camera, you can even get many details that I doubt you would ever get with another camera but S5200.
The Anti-blur works fine. It is pretty good to take telephoto shots without a tripod and even for moving objects.
The ISO have a reduced amount of noise even in its highest; ISO 1600. Unbelievable!
The camera is pretty simple to use and the pre-programed functions are very useful with great results. If you just wanna have it to great snapshots, that is the camera.
Even if you wanna have a special effect, after reading the manual, the camera does what you want it to. The features are very nice.
Everything in the camera was thought, rethought and usually you can have what you want in a fingerful.
Cons: I didnt like the difficulty of manual focusing and the EVF (though I dont have much experience with other digital cameras and dont know if it could get much better);
The camera could have more options of aperture.
Out of the cons, the camera is worth for a non professional like me that are begining with photography and needs some nice features.
Some people ask if buying Fuji S9000 would be a beter idea. Need you more pixels, are you a professional (or at least know what White Balance, Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, Metering are and what they work for) and have more money to spend, then I would say that it be nice. Otherwise, if you are like me and just wanna practise with a good digital camera that many people will envy for its qualities, then you dont ever need to think about another camera.
I may not here be able to say how good Fuji S5200 is but I really love it and would not change it.

I spent the weekend playing with my camera's features...doing my best to try them all..and taking over a hundred pictures in the process. Here are my results in no particular order:

SUMMARY: What a camera for the price!! At just over $200, it does more than I'll ever need it to. And it's half the price I paid for my 4M Olympus Camedia C4000Z 3 years ago. I'm still getting used to which functions are available with buttons and which are in the menu. GREAT CAMERA that does almost everything you can with an SLR (except change lenses, which is a hassle I'd rather avoid). HIGHLY RECCOMMEND

PROS:
1. BATTERY LIFE: good to average
2. FOCUS: Fast to focus, except at the outer edges of zoom in low light.
3. ULTIMATE CONTROL: You can have as little or as much control over the image captured as you want. I took one (very dark) night shot of wet leaves lit by my porch light with a 15 second shutter speed. Of course, you can also intentionally take out of focus shots.
4. HIGH ISO AVAILABLE: Good to have available when you need it. Took one night shot of the cityscape at ISO 800 and got a good 4" x 6".
5. CONTINUOUS MODE: Comes in 4 varieties to help you get the shot when your own timing isn't so good. First 3 shots, last 3 shots, one I can't remember, and Long-period (shoots up to 40 consecutive shots). Long-period would seem to be an easy way to build a panorama photo series.
6. RAW: Shoot in this format is good to have when you don't want pixels lost to compression. All editing must be done post-conversion. You can then edit the TIFF and re-save it either as a JPEG or TIFF.
7. MANUAL FOCUS: In Manual mode you can change anything. I even intentionally took a picture out of focus just to prove I could. Manual focus is, of course, rather slow (as expected), but is effective as long as the subject isn't mobile. Easier to use with LCD screen. Even when auto focus failed (!AF displays), I could manually bring the subject into focus).
8. WEIGHT: It is incredibly light, and seems lighter than my old Olympus Camedia 4000Z, even though its manual says it's heavier.
9. FEATURES: All the features I can conceive of using with several that I've played with but don't think I'll ever use.
10. ZOOM: Coming from 3x optical zoom to 10x...what can I say? WOW! Be cautious, however at the far end of that range in lower light. You'll need a steady hand, tripod or to switch to anti-shake mode.
11. 2 SEC TIMER: Love that for the tripod/night shot. No long waiting for the shot.
12. STARTUP TIME: Starts up almost instantly and is immediately ready to shoot.

CONS:
1. HIGH ISO: On full auto, camera will select above 400 ISO values. Above 400 pictures become more grainy and 4 x 6 is the largest higher quality print you can get. If you want a high quality night shot, you'll have to select ISO 400 or lower and set it on a tripod/shelf/whatever to get the shot.
2. RAW CONVERSION: The provided program only converts the RAW to a TIFF without editing. Would have been nice if I could have "edited" the RAW version and then saved to TIFF just once. Also would have been nice to be able to save to more than just TIFF.
3. SLOW MANUAL FOCUS: The pace at which manual focus changes is dreadfully slow. Don't even try using it on a moving target. Would be nice if it incremented faster when the button is held down for over a second and then you could slowly fine-tune the focus one button press at time. But not how they implemented it.
4. LIMITED SAVE QUALITY CHOICES: My Olympus let me save to TIFF and about 10 different JPEG quality settings, varying pixel density and compression settings. I used to use the highest quality only for portraits or shot I knew I was likely to enlarge. This camera only offers 5 still settings, only one of which is a 3:2 aspect ratio.

I did research on digital cameras for about six months before I settled on this one. My considerations were a) image quality, b) price, and c) usability.

Let's start with usability: I mean "usability" in the sense that whether the camera had all the features I needed and none of the ones that I didn't. I know, there's no such thing as too many features, but I'm not a professional. I know enough about photography to understand the technical aspects of shooting good-to-great pictures, but don't care enough to invest oodles of money into a camera that has millions of features that I'll never use. In that sense, the S5200 was a good buy.

In terms of price, when I bought mine, it was just shy of $300. I considered it a good deal, since the local camera store sold it for $400 (I know, I should support local merchants, but saving $100 is quite an incentive when you're a student). I hadn't planned to spend more than $500 on the camera.

Image quality was an important consideration, since I often get enlargements. This camera will let you go up to 8 x 10 (I know it says 13 x 17, but then you run the risk of fuzz) and still maintain perfect clarity.

Other considerations: the learning curve for this camera is a bit steeper for those of you who are just coming out of the point-and-click 35mm and/or disposables. The manual is helpful in explaining what all the features enable you to do, but it doesn't explain, for instance, that if the A number gets bigger, that actually means the aperture gets smaller. Still, once you get the hang of it, it's amazing what you can do.

Some things are adjusted automatically, others are not. The ISO number will remain on whatever setting you have it on until you change it, for instance. This is both a boon and a curse. If you're shooting a lot of pictures under similar conditions, it's great. If you're shooting pictures under vastly different conditions, it's a pain. On the other hand, the aperture and shutter speed are adjusted automatically to what the camera thinks are good for the setting, and you can tweak them.

The manual focus is a pain in the ass to manage, because neither the EVD nor the LCD screen are large enough for you to notice any change in the focus depth. However, the autofocus works beautifully, and I would recommend that you stick with this.

I got my S5200 last September through Amazon. I was upgrading from a HP Photosmart 320 (low MP point-&-shoot) and didn't know much about this class of camera. Most of my camera time is spent getting shots of my 17 month-old son and the HP was not keeping up. After extensive research, reviewing an endless stream of customer and semi-professional reviews, I took the plunge and ordered this one.

I like the construction of this camera. I found that for the price and features (and % of positive reviews), the closest comparable camera was the Kodak Easyshare Z740. The Z740 and several other similar class cameras all had the cheesy gray plastic shells that most cell phones have. This makes them seem flimsy and delicate. The black, hardened plastic of this Fuji, coupled with the rubberized grip around the lense tube (for lack of a better term) give this camera a sturdier feel and more professional appearance.

Since I am not an experienced photographer and only have experience with low-end point-&-shoot cameras, I spent a lot of time with the owner's manual. I am inclined to figure out most new gadgets with ease, but the many settings and features of this camera are scattered amongst different buttons and on-screen menus in an illogical manner, so I needed help.

The auto mode meets most of my needs in good light and is fair in low light without the flash. Outdoors in sunlight, high speed movement is captured well with no blur. I tested this by photographing cars traveling 65+ miles on a nearby freeway and experienced no blurring (not even on their wheel rims). You will need to keep the camera still or on a tripod in low light to minmize blurring and attain an accurate autofocus, but for this price range, it is reasonable.

The long zoom is VERY cool and reveals a wide range of details in distant subjects that are hidden from the naked eye. A full zoom roof shot of a highrise building several blocks away and in the last stages of construction revealed previously invisible construction personnel on scissorlifts, unnoticed ladders, and the a/c unit mounted on the side of the cab of one of the work site's tower cranes. So cool...

While the highest ISO setting is 1600, I have found that for my purposes, 400 seems to yield the best results with the least amount of high-res grainy fuzz or "noise." Most of my shots are taken using the auto mode with the autofocus, but I am learning more about the benefits of using the manual focus while adjusting the exposure time. As time allows, I'll learn how to use the manual aperature settings to my advantage.

The manual focus is not well designed and kept me from giving this camera 5 stars. When another button that works like a keyboard's "shift" key is held down, the zoom buttons act as the focus controls. Instead of a fluid transition, the focus advances and retards very slowly in small increments that are audible if you listen closely.

The awful decision by Fuji to include an XD memory card that is only 16 pathetic megabytes is very disappointing. You won't come close to this camera's full potential until you upgrade to at least a 512 megabyte card. This will yield approximately 220 photos in the highest (non-RAW) resolution settings. The video feature isn't even worth using until you upgrade this card.

The video mode is actually pretty good. My 512 card allows just over 7 minutes of good quality video with non-stereo sound. I continue to acquire great and humorous clips of my son being himself.

If you are new to this class of camera, I recommend budgeting in a decent but inexpensive case (Samsung from Walmart?), a tripod, and a lense cleaning kit. My son has a habit of smearing his greasy fingertips on my lense when I loom in too close to get a good shot, so the cleaning kit was a must.

If you're a professional and looking for a money-making camera, this camera is on the low end of the spectrum and not for you. If you are a hobbyist or amateur who is on a real-world budget, this camera is a great investment.

I still have much to learn about this camera and its potential. There are many features that I cannot yet speak of intelligently, but I expect to unlock their secrets and further improve the quality of my photos. I hope this review helps you.

I paid $225 out the door for this camera and it competes with cameras almost twice that price! On the automatic setting, it takes incredible photos, but has the capability to go manual if you are so inclined. For the price, there is nothing on the market that comes close. The macro on this camera is great and the close ups I have taken even on the automatic setting are unbelievable. If you are looking for something that is SLR like, but not the SLR price, this comes close. Of course, the SLR's will take better photos if you are an expert, but if you are an amateur or intermediate photographer and want something that gets the job done, put this one on your list...taking the price into consideration this thing doesnt disappoint. You will be glad you purchased this one!

I bought this camera about 3 weeks ago. I get hired by schools and families to take pictures of highschool athletics teams. I decided to upgrade from my Kodak C340 to this when I started getting more requests and jobs. It's got great capture quality, some of my photos the schools have blown up for posters to 20'' by 30'' and the quality is great. It's manual shutter setting is good for action shots, it does bursts shots which is fine for what I do. Low light pictures come out fine with the adjustable ISO (goes up to 1600), shutter speed, and other manual control options.

Colors are very vibrant and true. Good battery life, runs on AA. Very quick start up time, barely more than 1 to 1.5 seconds tops. As stated in other reviews manual focus is a little awkward to use at first, but like they stated you get used to it. Another great quality is the cameras ability to capture in the RAW format, and of course you can lower the quality to different megapixels if you want as well.

All my research on this camera before I bought made me a little unsure if this was the camera for me, I was considering buying the Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP Digital Camera. But the more I researched it, most people seemed to say one of 3 things about the two cameras, they would say: picture quality is virtually the same, that the Fuji had the Canon beat because of it's high ISO capability, or the Canon had the Fuji beat because of the 12x zoom (the Fuji only has 10x).

For me the low price on this one made it worth the buy, but if you really want a Canon, this is not the camera for you, because it's not a Canon, and doesn't operate like one. Thats not a con in my book, but if you have a preference it's definatley something to consider

All lI can say is WOW!!!. This is the most underrated and reviewed camera around. I purchased it to replace the vaunted sony dsc-h1 that was sent back because it was a lemon. However this is so much more than a point and shoot model.
I have owned the whole s series and moved to what I thought was up when I purchased the Panasonic fz 20. True the Panasonic is still considered the "Gold" standard but this little wonder is pure magic in my hands.
It is not an easy camera for a beginner to master but once you work with it lives up to its manufactuers claims. The low light shooting function coupled with and ISO range from 64 to 1600 with the best noise reduction in the prosumer market make it a must have.
As with any of this brakets cameras there are trade-offs and there is no sense comparing this to a digital slr as it is unfair but if you want the benefits of shooting in natural light and having a camera to grow with you with a beautiful lens and features not even available on the higher priced models invest in this baby. For well under 400 little smackers you are getting not only anti shake which in this camera is adjusting the settings so that shake is mitigated by and increase in speed but the natural light function and maual controls that are sophisticated and professional.
Though there is no physical manual zoom lens the focusing ooptions on this camera belay that minor loss.
All in all a superb camera at an unbelievable price for someone who wants to feel and experience of working with a range similar in complexity to an slr.
Trade off would be the much greater pixel strength of the big guns but try this camera and you might just be surprised.
Add to this the 10.7 x zoom and the reach of the digital zoom which is only available in 3.2 pixel strenth plus the 55mm direct access for accesorie lenes and you have a dust free real pro-sumer wonder.
My Olympus wide angle which is 55 threaded works beautifully on this baby and I am looking forward to using the telephoto attachments as well
THIS IS THE BEST BUY IN THE DIGITAL CAMERA MARKET FOR A SERIOUS AMATEUR OR A RESTLESS PRO LIKE MYSELF!!!!!!

I have a fujifilm s5000 which I absolutely LOVE. The s5200 is about the same but has a few more megapixels--helpful if you want to print out larger photos. This is an excellent entry level camera and is just as good to have and hold as your forever digital camera. The design is so friendly and it's quick to grab and pop off some good shots. It's lightweight so wearing it around your neck won't feel like a burden. You might find you'll need a tripod or monopod for those long-range zoom shots however. Even a small amount of "the diet coke shakes" can really make photos come out fuzzy. There are some nice inexpensive monopods around which also have a pan head for range of motion. I take these hiking which adds to my self-defense system too. (I could really knock somebody over with that pan head!!) You might also like to purchase a neoprene soft case for your camera. I bought one on eBay for about $20. I carry my camera all over in my purse and having such a case is almost a necessity. I'd also like to recommend the new 1gb XD card. The s5200 can take a film clip. The higher amount of memory is helpful if you'd like to take a few film clips then also shoot a number of photos before clearing the memory card. The camera uses 4 AA type batteries and really sucks up the energy quickly. I went through these rapidly before discovering lithium batteries. These run about $10 for 4 which sounds expensive. However, lithium lasts about 15 times longer than even Energizers do. Lithium batteries are also MUCH lighter weight which is nice when you're wearing the camera around your neck!!
I've gotten so many wonderful photos with my s5000 and some are sale and exhibition quality. There are manual options on this camera and you can also buy lenses that are add-on's to the fixed lens. If you want to learn more about digital photography, then this camera is perfect for you even if you don't ever intend to go any further with it. You will be pleased with your results and that's an important part of the learning process. Hope the tips I've provided are helpful and encouraging. I've just upgraded to a Nikon SLR but intend to hang onto my old steady s5000.