Fujifilm Finepix S100fs 11.1MP Digital Camera with 14.3x Wide Angle Dual Image Stabilized Optical Zoom

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 5.3 x 3.7 inches ; 3.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0012Y541S
• Item model number: 15781764
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,136 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 18, 2005

Product Description

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The FinePix S100FS provides an all-in-one solution for photo enthusiasts and advanced amateur photographers seeking the manual controls and functionality of a Digital SLR, without the hassle and expense of additional lenses and other accessories.

The FinePix S100FS is equipped with a 14.3x Fujinon manual zoom lens, Fujifilm’s 8th generation Super CCD sensor with 11 megapixels, RP III processor, 2.5-inch tiltable LCD, and ISO capabilities of up to ISO 6400 (at 6 megapixels) and an incredible ISO 10,000 (at 3 megapixels). Photographers will appreciate the ease of use afforded by Dual Image Stabilization which combines optical image and picture stabilization, and Fujifilm’s acclaimed Face Detection 2.0 Technology with Automatic Red Eye Removal, while enjoying a wide dynamic range of 100-400 percent, typically exclusive to the highest-end DSLR cameras, and film simulation modes that only Fujifilm can provide.

Finepix S100fs Highlights

One-of-a-kind lens design for a one-of-a-kind camera This design allows the ultra-high precision Fujinon lens to achieve maximum resolution at all focal lengths of 28mm-400mm equivalent and aperture stop settings. Because of the composite body and lens structure, there is no penetration of dirt and dust onto the CCD of a bright F 2.8 (wide angle) or F5.3 (telephoto).

A feature set borrowed from the S5 Pro Fujifilm’s engineers have incorporated some of the FinePix S5 Pro’s features that have been most appreciated by professional photographers, including film simulation modes and settings that expand the camera’s dynamic range. The FinePix S100FS has an extended dynamic range (100, 200, 400 percent ) that is similar to that of negative film, thanks to the newly developed 2/3-inch, 11.1-megapixel SuperCCD VIII "HR" and the new RP Processor III. This camera prevents overexposure and underexposure, regardless of whether the subject is a landscape or a portrait, and Fujifilm’s unique Film Simulation modes (FS) allow photographers to select the ideal "film" mode for the scene with a choice of four modes that optimize for portraiture, low-contrast (soft), vibrant colors (Velvia), or general use (Provia). Only Fujifilm has developed its camera technology from its photographic heritage in film which uniquely gives subtle changes in tone and color reproduction to provide the photographer the widest technical range for the best creative expression possible.

Face Detection 2.0 with Automatic Red Eye Removal Fujifilm’s proprietary Face Detection 2.0, featuring Automatic Red Eye Removal, debuted on the award-winning FinePix F50fd. This one-touch, selectable mode enables cameras such as the FinePix S100FS to detect up to 10 human faces in a scene, correcting focus, exposure and white balance automatically as fast as 0.05 seconds to ensure that photos of human faces are clear and properly exposed, no matter where subjects are located within the frame.

1) Face in sharp focus, 2) Optimized brightness

Fujifilm’s Face Detection 2.0 has an advantage over the other face detection systems currently on the market because it can identify faces at extreme angles -- even in full profile. The system allows for up to a 90-degree movement in either direction for profiles and up to 135 degrees for leaning or lying down in either direction, for a total range of 270 degrees.

The Automatic Red-Eye Removal feature works in conjunction with Fujifilm’s Face Detection 2.0, automatically correcting red-eye directly after the shot is taken and then saving both the original image and the corrected file. The user can then perform a side-by-side picture comparison in playback mode and select the most pleasing image.

Additional Features

Dual Image Stabilization The FinePix S100FS features Fujifilm’s Dual Image Stabilization technology to ensure clean, sharp and blur-free images, even in low-light conditions. This combines image stabilization through a mechanically stabilized "floating" lens element to reduce blur from the photographer’s hand-shake, with Fujifilm’s Picture Stabilization Technology, to reduce blur caused by subject movement, for the ultimate in stabilization technology.

Multi-bracketing function The S100FS has three bracketing functions useful for high-level photography: Film Simulation Bracketing, Dynamic Range Bracketing and AE Bracketing.

High-speed shooting Reliable high-speed performance is possible through Fujifilm’s newly developed Super CCD VIII "HR" and the new image processor RP (Real Photo) III Processor. At 3-megapixels, a maximum of 50 continuous shots at 7 frames/second is possible. In addition, 14 scene settings and customer settings can be selected, as can four auto-focus modes offer convenient high-speed, high-precision shooting and focusing for a diverse range of conditions.

Image Formats Capture images in both JPEG and RAW format.

Movie Mode Movie mode with sound at 30 frames per second in VGA quality, and zoom capable with manual zoom ring while in movie mode.

xD/SD/SDHC-compatible slot The FinePix S100FS features an xD/SD-compatible slot, which accepts not only Fujifilm’s traditional xD-Picture Cards but also Secure Digital (SD) and SD-High Capacity/SDHC cards too.

2.5-inch tiltable LCD The FinePix s100FS features a tilting 2.5-inch LCD that makes it easy to frame shots from a variety of shooting positions.

Product Description

The FinePix S100FS is a super-zoom digital camera, which incorporates a newly developed Fujinon lens optimized for nature photography. Rich, expressive capacity produces high resolution, making the most of the large 2/3-inch, 11.1 megapixel, Super CCD.The FinePix S100FS incorporates functions, which are so useful for taking photos of nature. One of these functions is the Film Simulation Mode. Film Simulation Mode allows you to take photos as if you are selecting the most appropriate type of film for each scene.One of the great charms of nature photography is communication with nature. In addition to the newly developed electronic viewfinder, the FinePix S100FS has a 2.5-inch 230,000 dots high-precision LCD which can be freely moved 90? upwards and 45? downwards. A wide-angle monitor with coverage of about 100% offers you flexible shooting positions from low angles to high angles. With this monitor it is easy to check the focusing and the color tone of the photos you have taken and to see menu displays.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sold my DSLR to buy the s100fs, April 4, 2008

By	kandoro (Northern California) - See all my reviews

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Yes I sold all my DSLR equipment after I bought this camera. It's that good for what I needed. The only negative worth talking about is some minimal purple fringe at extra high contrast type scenes.

I was concerned about focusing accuracy and in low light. The camera excels at both. It has dedicated ISO and EV buttons which are a must. The fast lens is sharp even wide open but sharpens up even more at around f/4-4.5. The new 2/3" sensor handles the 11 megapixels with the associated noise just great. The manual zooming lens is so quick. Just like a DSLR. With all the bells and whistles, extra external buttons and dials it's truly designed like a much more expensive DSLR. The continuous focus and optical stabilazation are simply amazing. Of course with a EV you don't get the speed of a DSLR tracking but I don't need that particular feature.

The highly taughted dynamic range increase is good for a least one additonal stop and possibly two in jpg. Of course in RAW one can process however many they need through HDR.

Frankly I've been waiting for any manufacturer to come up with a not too big of a camera with a true optical stabilized 28-350/400 lens with a 2/3" sensor to keep the lens small enough to keep the weight down but large enough to let in enough light to keep it fast. Also needed a manual zoom and not those slower electronic zoom models that are too slow for me. I think Fuji has delivered the camera of my dreams and I imagine those of others as well.

I've also owned the Panasonic FZ-30/50 which are very special cameras but the Fuji S100fs simply has so many more features the Panny's just can't truly compare. The Fuji clearly has more resolution and FAR LESS noise. At least two stops less.

This Fuji camera is definitely a highly recommend from me. As I use more of the features I'll report back my findings. Anyone who downgrades this camera is only looking for ANY reason not to buy/keep it. Because the bottom line is, it delivers the goods.

74 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressed with S100fs - not perfect though, June 9, 2008

By	Ken Barlow (Idaho) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have had the Fuji S100fs camera for almost a month now, and have quite a bit to say about it's performance. First, I am very impressed with the image quality in general and the low noise images produced by this camera. Pictures up to 400 ISO are almost noise free, while 800's show very little noise and still show great detail. 1600's are not too bad either, but you probably would not want to print too big, as there is some noise there - however, compared to pretty much every other point and shoot out there, noise levels are quite satisfactory. I was able to get some great shots at my daughters' dance recital last week. Using 800 ISO for the slower ballet & pointe, and 1600 for the faster action, like clogging & hip-hop, I captured some very nice images with little or no motion blur. A few were out of focus: I noticed that when tracking moving objects the focus had a little trouble locking on some of the time. Overall, pretty pleased though.
Next, the Dynamic Range expansion feature on this camera really works. Some shots that would have been too contrasty at standard DR turned out extremely nice - almost never have a blown highlight and shadowy areas are lit enough to show detail that would be lost otherwise. Great feature!
Another feature of the S100fs is the film simulation mode. I do like the "Velvia" setting, but it cannot be used at the same time as DR expansion mode (the camera switches DR off when Velvia is selected). There is a way around this, however, by setting color to "high" and tone to "hard" in the main menu (this is what Velvia setting does to the camera anyway). By doing this, you get more vivid color and tone and still be able to shoot with expanded DR. Very glad I experimented with the available settings to discover this.
This camera has a lot of adjustment buttons and many choices in the menus. The menus are easy to use and the many features accessed there are pretty useful. Many DSLR-like controls here allow quite a bit of experimentation and adjustment, making this camera work better for the more experienced photographer, and allowing trial and error for the less experienced to get better at what they are able to capture. If you want to let the camera do most of the work, it will, and do it pretty well. I still recommend using the camera at least on P mode for best results.
Now for the bad news: Purple fringing and other chromatic abberation is there. To be honest, out of 950+ shots, I have only had a REAL problem with about 7 or 8, but it is there on very high contrast shots, especially at wide angle & a little less at full telephoto). Most of what I shoot will never really show this flaw, but once in a while, it will be there. ALWAYS use DR400% on shots like that and, in some cases, it may help lessen visible CA.
Now for the pros / cons list:
Pros: Image quality overall is very impressive - not quite DSLR quality, but most shots are very close, rivaling those of the cheaper DSLR's.
Visible noise is much lower than pretty much any point-and-shoot made today: larger image sensor, and the fact that a Fuji Super CCD is used, are predominantly the reasons here. Again, not quite as clean as a DSLR can produce, but not that far off.
Very convenient: 28mm wide angle & 14.3x zoom lens on the camera, no dust issues, no lens changing & packing around. There are some of us that just do not want those things no matter how good the photo is (I'm not doing this for a living, just want decent everyday shots and still be able to produce pretty professional looking photos once in a while - this camera allows me to do that).
There are other pros, but I've covered the main ones. Here are the con's:
Purple fringing is definately this camera's weak spot. Fuji could have done better in this department. The S100fs would be invincible (as a point & shoot anyway) if not for this. Like I said before, most of what I do is not affected by this, but it would be nice not to see it crop up EVER. If you do alot of outside picture taking (especially shooting through trees or at buildings in front of a bright sky or other bright & contrasty pictures) you might not be happy with the results unless you are good with PF removal software and have the time to use it.
Manual focus is pretty worthless on the S100fs. It is electronic rather than a true mechanical focus mechanism. It is unresponsive, as it does not really matter whether you turn the ring quickly or slowly - it just adjusts in slow increments either way. Since you can't quickly focus in & out, it's hard to tell if you're right on or just close (and close is not good enough). Not very useful. Fortunately, the auto focus works well nearly all of the time. Low light/contrast and moving subjects do pose some problem, but most point and shoot cameras suffer a little in this area.
Software included with the camera, particularly the RAW processing software, is not that great. DPreview said it was slow: I don't find it to be that bad speed wise, it just does not allow me to adjust the things I really want to, like noise reduction (software just applies the same NR that the camera does to jpeg's). White balance, color, etc. can be changed with many other programs, so I do not find the software very useful. S7raw for RAW conversion and Neat Image for NR application does a much better job, it just takes extra steps that I wish I didn't need to take.
Overall, I have to say that Fuji has built a fine camera in most respects. I am really enjoying all of the many features available, and, more importantly, the great images I am able to capture with this very capable and convenient camera. If not for the PF/CA issues, I would give 5 stars, but due to that, I cannot do so. I think most people wanting good performance (better than that available from the tons of point and shoot cameras out there) without the hassles, drawbacks and expense of a DSLR, would love this camera. I have read many personal opinions of actual users of the S100fs, and I agree with the majority of positive comments offered about it. It really does a lot of things very well, and I do not regret buying it at all. For what I want in a camera, it suits me very well.
UPDATE 9/9/08: I have now used my camera extensively for 4 months now. Still enjoying the good results I'm getting. I have changed some settings as I have now had time to really experiment more with different images. First, I have changed the tone setting from "hard" to "standard", as I have noticed that highlights are generally retained better when set this way. The camera does not bump the contrast as much. "Soft" tone will result in even more highlight retention, but the image looks too flat for my taste. The other change is with the dynamic range setting - 200% is now my setting of choice. I have inspected many of the 400% and 200% images, and my opinion is that I prefer the cleaner image with a little less highlight detail over the noisier one with better highlights (don't get me wrong, though, ISO 400 is not bad). ISO 200 is just noticeably cleaner and the highlights are still much improved over ISO 100. Another change in my routine is the use of Photoshop Lightroom 2 to process images. This is a GREAT program - saturation, clarity, vibrance, contrast, highlight recovery, tone (broken down into highlghts, lights, darks & shadows which you can boost or cut individually), noise reduction, lens corrections and fringe removal, etc, etc. etc! Yes! I have improved CA and removed purple fringing from my worst shots with great results. Definately something to consider for making the most of your S100fs images. I have left friends and family in awe of some of my processed shots.
I hope this review is not too long now, but I felt I should add some experiences & preferences that have evolved from my continued use of this camera. Hope it helps!

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Magnificent Finepix S100FS, April 15, 2008

By	K. Matthews "Swimmer" (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Fujifilm Finepix S100fs is a superb camera, in most instances exceeding expectations. Whilst I am not a Pro photographer I consider myself an able amateur and have used many cameras over the years. As I am traveling more I decided I wanted a replacement for my Pentax K10D DSLR - which is an excellent camera, on par if not exceeding the Canon and Nikon offerings in its range (sub $1000.00). Lugging extra lenses around when traveling can be a real chore - yet there has really been no alternative - until now.
The S100fs is a real DSLR alternative at last - and this is from a REAL USER - not someone who has just read reviews or posts on the Internet.

The image quality is magnificent. Fuji have outdone themselves with this lens, it is a step above most Tamron, Sigma and kit lenses and approaches the quality of the higher priced offerings of the big manufacturers. The PROOF is in the images. I have standard scenes I always photograph to test cameras - one of them of the lake view from the rear of my house. Using the Velvia film setting on the S100fs I was astonished at the images it captured - some of them exhibiting an almost 3D appearance. This camera has produced the best images of this scene I have taken with any camera!

There is a lot of talk about Purple Fringing - mostly by Pixel Peepers who have never held the camera but who inspect low grade images uploaded to the Internet and make derisory comments. I have found however that using the camera involved a learning curve that I hadn't expected. Some of my first images were not as good as I had hoped - but I concluded that the camera was better than what I was seeing. More careful handling and attention produced startlingly better results. Have I seen some purple fringing - yes - but LESS than in Tamron and Sigma lenses I own, some of which approach the cost of this camera itself. This is easily corrected in post processing however. Though as I have spent more time with this excellent camera I have seen it less and less - implying that most of what people are seeing is USER error and not due to the camera itself.

And let me say this - IMAGES IN POOR LIGHTING / Night Scenes ARE MAGNIFICENT - better than my K10D!

If you are looking for the BEST superzoom camera out there - this is it - by far. If you are looking for a DSLR - but cannot afford the investment of good quality lenses (don't fall for the "kit offerings") - this is it. Tired of lugging around countless lenses and accessories for your DSLR - give this a try. You will not be disappointed (as long as you persevere and learn how to use this camera).