Fujifilm S5200 Review

Overview

Fuji FinePix S5200 Overview

By: Mike Pasini
Review Date: 3/22/06

Fujifilm's greatest success has been in creating good-quality midrange cameras that sell at very competitive prices, and the new Fuji S5200 aims to continue that success. A couple of years ago, Fuji introduced long-zoom digicams at affordable price levels with their FinePix 2800 and 3800 models. Now, the Fuji S5200 advances the cause even further, with a 5.1-megapixel CCD (up from the S5100's 4.0-Mp CCD), a 10x optical zoom lens, and a host of exposure modes and features. While it still sports a fully automatic mode, the Fuji FinePix S5200 goes beyond basic "point & shoot" capability with Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual modes, as well as a few Scene modes. The Fuji S5200 offers very long-zoom capability and greater exposure control at a surprisingly affordable price.

Fuji FinePix S5200 User Report

Featuring a miniaturized, "SLR-style" body design that brings to mind a scaled-down dSLR, the Fuji FinePix S5200 offers a 10x optical zoom lens complemented by a 5.1-Mp CCD. To accommodate the camera's long zoom lens, the Fuji S5200's body is hardly pocketable, but still compact compared to many long-zoom digicams. Very portable and surprisingly lightweight, the S5200 is definitely easy to bring along to impromptu outings and social gatherings. An included lens cover provides protection from impact damage. Too large for a standard shirt pocket, the Fuji S5200 should fit into larger coat pockets and purses, and comes with a shoulder strap, which is the likely way you'll bring it with you. Measuring 4.4 x 3.3 x 4.4 inches (113.5 x 85 x 112 millimeters), the S5200 weighs 17.25 ounces (489 grams) with batteries and xD-Picture Card, and feels great in one hand. A substantial handgrip provides a very firm hold, nicely balancing out the weight of the lens barrel. The Fuji S5200's 5.1-megapixel CCD delivers clear, sharp images as large as 2,592 x 1,944 pixels, suitable for printing as large as 11x14 inches with great detail, or 8x10 inches with some cropping. (A lower resolution is also available for more email-friendly file sizes.)

The Fujifilm FinePix S5200's Fujinon 10x, 6.3-63mm lens is the equivalent of a 38-380mm zoom on a 35mm camera, representing a focal length range from moderate wide-angle to substantial telephoto. A small, plastic lens cap protects the lens when not in use, and tethers to the camera so you don't have to worry about losing it. Apertures range from f/3.2 to f/8, and can be manually set. Focus can be set automatically or manually (using the zoom buttons with the Exposure Compensation button held down), with a focal range from 3.0 feet (90cm) to infinity in normal mode, and from 3.9 inches to 6.6 feet (10cm to 2 meters) in Macro mode. In addition to the 10x optical zoom, the S5200 also offers as much as 5.7x digital enlargement, depending on the image size selected. The digital zoom works at all image sizes in the S5200, so the usual caution about reduced image quality applies. There is no image stabilization on the S5200; instead the camera has an Anti-blur mode that relies on a fast shutter speed to reduce both camera shake and blur from subject movement.

The FinePix S5200 offers a TTL electronic optical viewfinder (EVF) and a 1.8-inch, TFT color LCD monitor. The viewfinder display switches between the EVF and LCD monitor via a button on the rear panel, which means that the complete display is available on the EVF, including the settings menus. The viewfinder's information display reports various camera settings with a central AF target, and an optional framing guide display divides the image into thirds horizontally and vertically for more accurate framing. Though they're both 115,000 pixels, the EVF view seems more coarse than the LCD.

The Fuji FinePix S5200 offers a full complement of capture modes, from Automatic to full Manual, plus several Scene modes. The Mode dial on top of the camera puts the camera into Auto, Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual, Movie, Anti-blur, Natural Light, Portrait, Landscape and Night modes. Auto mode determines the entire exposure automatically, with the user able to adjust the zoom, flash mode, and image size and quality settings only. Program mode allows the user to change most settings, including alternate combinations of Aperture and Shutter speed using the up and down arrows. Shutter and Aperture Priority work as expected, also allowing the user to adjust settings with the up and down arrows. In Manual mode, you use the up and down arrows to adjust shutter speed, and you must hold down the Exposure Compensation button on the camera's top panel to adjust Aperture. Shutter speeds range from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds. The Fujifilm S5200 uses a 64-zone metering system to determine exposure, with three modes: Multi, Spot, and Average. Multi metering mode considers all 64 zones, Spot considers only the center 2 percent, and Average places the greatest emphasis on the center portion of the image area. Light sensitivity can be set to Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800 or 1600. When shooting in Program, Shutter, and Aperture exposure modes, exposure compensation is adjustable from +/-2EV in one-third-step increments. White Balance offers eight settings, including Auto, Custom, Daylight (Fine conditions), Shade, Daylight Fluorescent, Warm White Fluorescent, Cool White Fluorescent, and Incandescent. The S5200's Scene mode offers five preset "Scenes" for shooting in potentially tricky situations, and includes Anti-blur, Natural Light, Portrait, Landscape, and Night Scene modes.

The Fuji FinePix S5200's built-in, pop-up flash operates in one of six modes, which include Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced, Suppressed, Slow Synchro, and Slow Synchro with Red-Eye Reduction modes. Flash power, however, is not adjustable. For self-portraits or those times when pressing the Shutter button might result in camera movement, the S5200 features a Self-Timer that delays the shutter release for either two or 10 seconds after the Shutter button is fully pressed. The FinePix S5200 can also capture movies with sound up to the limit of the card's capacity while in Movie capture mode. Movie files are saved in the Motion JPEG format, at either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels and 30 frames per second.

The Fujifilm FinePix S5200 can also record still images in Continuous mode, at up to about two frames per second, according to our tests. Top 3-frame mode saves the first three images, and Final 3-frame saves the last three images in the buffer. Long-period Continuous Shooting mode can handle up to 40 frames before the buffer is filled, but it takes a little longer between shots, at a speed of 1.25 frames per second.

A Bracketing option, available in Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Manual mode, shoots three consecutive frames at three different exposures (normal, under and over). Brackets can be set at 1/3, 2/3 or one EV. A Sharpness option can be set to Hard to emphasis outlines, Standard for ordinary photography, or Soft to soften outlines.

Images captured by the Fujifilm S5200 are saved to xD-Picture Cards. A 16MB card comes with the camera. In addition to the 2,592 x 1,944-pixel resolution size, the S5200 also offers 2,736 x 1,824 (a 3:2 aspect ratio); 2,048 x 1,536; 1,600 x 1,200; and 640 x 480-pixel resolutions. Two JPEG compression ratios are available, including Fine and Normal. The Playback menu offers DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) settings for printing images on a compatible device. A USB cable and software CD accompany the camera, allowing for high-speed connection to a computer. The software CD contains Fuji's FinePix Viewer software, which organizes and displays downloaded images, and provides printing and minor editing capabilities.

The Fuji FinePix S5200 uses four AA batteries for power, and a set of alkaline cells accompanies the camera. As always, I strongly recommend purchasing a couple of sets of high-capacity NiMH batteries and a good charger, and keeping a spare set of batteries charged at all times. Click here to read my "battery shootout" page to see which batteries currently on the market are best, or here for my review of the Maha C-204W charger, my longtime favorite. An AC adapter is also a separate accessory, but helpful for saving battery power while reviewing and downloading images or when using the S5200 as a webcam. Unless you're taking advantage of the camera's webcam capability though, rechargeable batteries would eliminate the need for the AC adapter.

With its compact and lightweight body, the convenience of full automatic and manual exposure control, 5.1-megapixel CCD, and impressive 10x zoom lens, the Fujifilm S5200 is a good choice for consumers looking for a portable, affordable, easy to use digicam that's also capable of manual control and takes good pictures. The S5200 offers a basic level of exposure control when you want it, complete control when that's desirable, some preset shooting modes for common tricky situations, and a Movie mode for capturing quick bits of action. Given the aggressive "street" prices the Finepix S5200 is selling at, it's one of the better bargains in the digicam market today.

The Fujifilm FinePix S5200 offers excellent value and a good feature set for photographers interested in more telephoto range than you normally find in zoom-equipped digicams. Its 10x zoom lens gets you over three times as close to distant objects as the typical 3x zoom found on most digicams, while Fuji's reputation for color expertise ensures bright, vibrant colors. The S5200 would work well as an all-around everyday camera, as well as for shooting distant landscapes or wildlife, and is portable enough to bring with you. In full autofocus mode, its shutter lag is only average, but if you can "prefocus" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the shot itself, it's more than quick enough to capture fleeting action, and continuous shooting speed in its "Top 3" mode is excellent. It's a nice, easy-to-use camera with a long zoom at a very affordable price.

Basic Features

• 5.1-megapixel square-pixel CCD delivering images as large as 2,592 x 1,944 pixels
• 10x, 6.3-63mm lens (equivalent to a 38-380mm zoom on a 35mm camera)
• Digital zoom to 5.7x
• 1.8-inch color LCD monitor
• Electronic optical viewfinder
• Full automatic and manual exposure control
• Shutter speeds range from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds.
• Adjustable apertures from f/3.2 to f/8
• ISO settings include Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600
• Built-in, pop-up flash with six modes and variable intensity
• Images saved in JPEG format to xD-Picture Card (16-MB card included)
• Power from four AA batteries or AC adapter (separate accessory)
• Interface software compatible with both PC and Mac platforms

Special Features

• Anti-blur mode
• Movie mode (with sound) and Voice Captioning function
• Five preset Scene modes
• Two and 10-second Self-Timer for delayed shutter release
• White balance (color) adjustment with eight modes
• Sharpness adjustment
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility
• USB cable for connection to a computer (driver software included)

In the Box

Packaged in the box are the following items:

• Fujifilm FinePix S5200 digital camera
• Neck/shoulder strap
• Lens cap with strap
• 16MB xD-Picture Card
• USB cable
• A/V cable
• Four AA-type alkaline batteries
• Software CD-ROM containing USB drivers, FinePix Viewer, QuickTime, and ImageMixer VCD
• Instruction manual and registration information

Recommended Accessories

• Large capacity xD-Picture Card, at least 256MB
• Two sets of rechargeable batteries and charger
• AC adapter kit

Conclusion

The previous Fujifilm S5100, 2800 and 3800 Zoom cameras were exceptional values for the money, and the updated Fuji FinePix S5200 offers the same great value with the addition of a 5.1-megapixel CCD, and decent high ISO performance. The S5200's higher resolution is a welcome improvement, providing great image quality for a budget-priced digital camera, and its 10x optical zoom is excellent for distant subjects. Its color is more accurate than that of most consumer digicams, although that means it's less saturated on bright colors than most consumer cameras. Overall, the Fuji S5200 has just about all an enthusiast user could want in terms of expanded photographic controls, including full Manual exposure mode for ultimate creativity. About all it lacks relative to its competitors in the 10x zoom category is image stabilization. Given its price and its 5-megapixel resolution, its lack of stabilization really can't be counted against it. For everyday shooting indoors or out, under bright or dim lighting, the S5200 does very well and really sets a benchmark for an affordable long-zoom digicam with enthusiast features. Recommended, and a Dave's Pick as one of the best digital camera values on the market, thanks to its combo of features, image quality, and price.

Design

Fuji FinePix S5200 Design

Small, lightweight, and comfortable in the hand, the Fuji FinePix S5200 adds to Fujifilm's growing line of very portable digicams. Building on the previous design of the S5100 and its predecessors the 3800 and 2800 Zoom models, the S5200 features an all-black, textured plastic body that feels professional. The S5200 easily fits into one hand, but is a little too substantial for shirt pockets. Still, the Fuji S5200 could easily find its way into larger coat pockets and purses, and the accompanying neck/shoulder strap is a convenient carrying option. Measuring 4.4 x 3.3 x 4.4 inches (113.5 x 85 x 112 millimeters), the camera's all-plastic body keeps it fairly lightweight at just 17.25 ounces (489 grams) with batteries and xD-Picture Card. The S5200's black exterior is handsome, with a smoothly sculpted handgrip. Camera controls are just about right for such a small camera, with most popular features accessible without visiting the menu.

The front of the Fujifilm S5200 is attractive, with shiny silver highlights on a black matte body. The entire camera looks for all the world like a miniaturized SLR. Unlike the S5100, the lens does not protrude from the camera front, remaining inside the barrel. A plastic lens cap protects the lens from scratches when not in use, and tethers to the camera body and clips onto the neck strap to prevent it from being lost. Just inside the lip of the lens barrel, there are plastic filter threads. The lens shares the front panel with the autofocus assist illuminator and the self-timer lamp. With the pop-up flash released, the flash itself is visible. The good-sized handgrip on the left side of the front panel ensures a secure hold on the camera, and is substantial enough to be useful without detracting from the camera's portable size. Right of the lens is a small metal dome with holes for the microphone.

The right side of the camera (as held from the rear) is pretty bare, showing only a neck strap attachment eyelet above the name plate.

The DC In, USB, and Audio/Visual Out connection jacks are on the opposite side of the camera, and are protected by a tethered rubber cover. Above them on this side of the camera is the FinePix S5200's xD-Picture Card slot protected by a hinged, plastic door, which snaps firmly into place. When this door is opened, power is cut to the camera, and the camera must be switched off and back on again to resume use. To the left of the door is a speaker, one of the clearest speakers I've heard on a digicam. Finally, the neck strap attachment eyelet sits above everything else.

The Fujifilm S5200's top panel features the Focus mode selector lock switch and button, the Power/Mode dial surrounding the Shutter button, Continuous Shooting button, Exposure Compensation button, Mode dial, and pop-up flash.

The remaining camera controls are on the Fuji S5200's back panel, along with the LCD monitor and EVF viewfinder eyepiece with its diopter adjustment dial to the left. Positioned to the right are the zoom controls and arrow buttons, arranged as a Five-way navigation pad, and including Macro and Flash controls and the Menu/OK button in the center. The Display/Back button below it controls the information display in Playback and Record modes, and backs out of menu selections. To the right, the Photo mode button accesses resolution, ISO, and color settings. The Low light viewfinder button above the navigator pad brightens the display temporarily to aid composition in bright light; it is reset to normal after each shot. The EVF/LCD monitor selector button above that switches between the EVF or LCD display. A sculpted thumb rest on the right side of the back panel facilitates a tight grip on the camera, reinforced by the excellent hand grip on the front. To the left of the Fujifilm S5200's EVF eyepiece is a small LED, which reports the camera's current status (such as when focus is set, flash is charging, etc.).

The Fujifilm S5200's bottom panel is nice and flat, though a series of raised bumps gives your fingers something to grip when opening the battery compartment cover. This sliding cover moves outward (toward the side of the camera) before opening on a hinge to reveal the compartment. This is a great design for making the best use of space on the camera body, but bad for tripod work because you have to dismount the camera from the tripod to change batteries. I suspect this won't be much of an issue for users of this camera, as its designers clearly intended it for on-the-go use, not studio shooting. The tripod mount features metal threads (kudos for that) and is slightly off-center from the lens. The off-center mount is a little awkward for shooting panorama photos (a fairly uncommon practice, I suspect), but the position places it close to the camera's center of balance, increasing stability and reducing strain on the tripod threads (though I doubt this lightweight camera is going to strain anything).

Fuji FinePix S5200 External Controls

Shutter Button: Located on top of the camera, this button sets focus and exposure when pressed halfway. A full press fires the shutter.

Power / Mode Dial: Surrounding the Shutter button on the top panel, this dial selects the camera's operating mode. Three choices are available:

• Record: Sets up the camera for recording still images.
• Playback: Allows the user to review captured images, delete them, zoom in on them, or set them up for printing.
• Off: Shuts off the camera, signaling the lens to retract.

Exposure Mode Dial: Adjacent to the pop-up flash compartment on the top panel, this dial controls the main exposure mode. Choices are:

• Auto: Places the camera under full automatic exposure control. The user can adjust zoom, flash mode, and image size and quality settings.
• Program: Camera sets aperture and shutter speed, leaving the rest in the control of the user.
• Shutter Priority: User sets the shutter speed using the up and down arrows, and the camera picks the best aperture.
• Aperture Priority: User sets the aperture using the up and down arrows, and the camera sets the best shutter speed.
• Manual: Offers complete manual control over exposure. User can adjust shutter speed with the up and down arrows, but must press and hold the Exposure Compensation button to adjust aperture using the same buttons.
• Movie: Allows the camera to record moving images with sound.
• Anti-blur: Sets higher shutter speeds to capture action.
• Natural Light: Retains the natural ambience of low-light conditions like candlelit services, school concerts and birthday cakes.
• Portrait: Enhances skin tones and softens colors and focus.
• Landscape: Sets focus to infinity for sharper landscape shots and turns off the flash.
• Night: Slows shutter speed for night shots, can be used with or without flash.

Focus mode selector switch and button: Button selects between Single AutoFocus (S-AF), Manual Focus (MF), and Continuous AutoFocus (C-AF), and a twist lock keeps the setting from being changed accidentally.

Continuous shooting button: Selects among continuous shooting mode options, which include Top 3-frame, Auto Bracketing, Final 3-frame, and Long-period continuous shooting. Button must be held down, while settings are adjusted via the left and right arrows on the Five-way navigation pad.

Exposure compensation button: Available in Program, Shutter, and Aperture Priority modes, EV is adjusted by a total of +/-2EV in 1/3 increments. User holds Exposure compensation button down and uses left/right arrows to set compensation.

Zoom Rocker Control: In the top right corner of the back panel, this zoom control has discrete "W" and "T" for zooming to wide and telephoto settings. In Record mode, these buttons control the optical and digital zoom. They also control focus in Manual focus mode. In Playback mode, these control digital enlargement of captured images.

Five-way navigation pad: Located just right of the LCD, these buttons navigate left and right through settings menus. In Record mode, the left button accesses the Macro shooting mode, while the right button controls the flash mode. In playback mode, the surrounding four buttons can pan around inside a zoomed image. Top and bottom arrow buttons set Aperture and Shutter speed in Manual, Aperture, and Shutter Priority modes. The center Menu/OK button both activates the menus and confirms selections.

Photo mode button: Allows user to set image resolution, ISO, and FinePix color settings.

EVF/LCD Button: Below right of the EVF eyepiece, this button alternates the viewfinder display between the eye-level viewfinder and the rear-panel LCD monitor.

Display / Back Button: Below left of the Menu / OK button, this button backs out of menus and menu selections. When no menu screen is displayed, this button cycles through several LCD display modes. The image and information display is on by default. A framing grid is added to that display with the first press of the Display button. A third press displays only the image. In Playback mode, this button toggles between an image information overlay, no image information at all, and an index of images on the storage card. When playback zoom is enabled, this button switches from panning mode back to zoom mode.

Low Light Viewfinder Button: Below the EVF / LCD button, this button brightens the LCD display. Pressing the button a second time returns to the normal brightness level.

Operation

Fuji FinePix S5200 Operation

With more of an enthusiast's set of controls, the Fuji FinePix S5200's user interface is nevertheless easy to use and understand with a little practice. Exposure mode, Flash, Macro mode, and zoom all feature external controls. Settings like Exposure Compensation and White Balance are adjusted through the (likewise uncomplicated) LCD menu. Navigating the LCD menu system is easy, via a menu bar that runs along the bottom. There are only a few options for the Record menu when you're in either the Auto or Scene modes, confined to adjusting the self timer, adjusting the LCD, and entering the Settings menu. In Program, Shutter, Aperture, or Manual mode, additional options include White Balance, AF Mode, Metering (called Photometry), Bracketing, Sharpness, and Flash compensation. The Setup menu is accessed as an option on the Record and Playback menus. The camera's small size and few controls also make it easy to operate one-handed. There are just enough controls and menus, though, that even the experienced digicam user should familiarize themselves with the camera by giving the manual a closer look.

Record Display: In any shooting mode, the EVF and LCD monitors show a concise information readout by default. An outline box and crosshair indicate that the AF and exposure metering are determined from the center of the frame. Also displayed is the exposure mode, resolution, quality, and number of available images. Camera settings such as flash mode, EV, etc. are also displayed if enabled. Pressing the Display button once disables the information display. Pressing it again enables a fine black framing grid in addition to the information display, which divides the image area into thirds horizontally and vertically. (Grids like this are handy for lining up buildings and other objects.) A fourth press brings up a Post Shot Assist Window that shows the current scene and the last three images shot along the left side of the monitor.

Playback Display: In Playback mode, the main display shows the captured image and a small playback symbol, while the date and time of capture and the file number appear for just a few seconds as you scroll to each new image. Pressing the Display button removes the icon and disables the momentary information display, showing the image only. A third press calls up the index display mode, which displays images on the memory card as tiny thumbnails, nine at a time, and also shows the date and time of capture, and file number of the currently highlighted image for a few seconds. Another press of the button takes you to the Date Sorting screen, which lists the dates images were shot on the left side of the screen and displays thumbnails for each date on the right as you scroll through the dates.

Fuji FinePix S5200 Modes and Menus

Record Mode: Marked on the Power / Mode dial with a red camera symbol, this mode allows you to capture still images. Eleven exposure modes are available via the Exposure Mode dial, including Auto, Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual, Movie, Anti-blur, Natural Light, Portrait, Landscape, and Night. Auto mode is fairly self-explanatory: the camera does just about everything. The P, S, A, and M modes offer varying degrees of control up to complete control in Manual mode, and the Scene modes take over control again, biasing settings for a given situation. Finally, Movie mode records short movies with sound. Following is the complete Record menu, though some options are not available in all modes:

• Self-Timer: Activates the 2- or 10-second Self-Timer mode.
• Photometry: Selects among Average, Spot, and Multi point exposure modes.
• White Balance: Adjusts the overall color balance. Choices are Auto, Custom, Daylight, Overcast, Daylight Fluorescent, Cool White Fluorescent, Warm White Fluorescent, and Incandescent.
• High-Speed Shooting: Turns the high-speed shooting option on or off.
• AF Mode: Selects among Area, Center, and Multi point AF modes.
• Option/Set-Up: Accesses the following Setup submenu, as well as the LCD Brightness adjustment.
• Image Display: Turns on an instant image review, which displays the image immediately after capture.
• Shutter Volume: Sets shutter sound to Low, Medium, or High, or turns it off.
• Beep Volume: Sets beep sound to Low, Medium, or High, or turns it off.
• Playback Volume: Sets playback volume on a scale of zero to 10.
• Frame Number: Continues frame numbering from card to card, or Renews numbering with each new card.
• LCD Brightness: Sets LCD brightness on a scale of -5 to +5.


• Digital Zoom: Sets digital zoom on or off.
• CCD-RAW: Enables CCD-RAW mode, whose images must be processed on a computer with special Fujifilm software.
• Zoom position: Lens position can be set to go to a certain zoom setting when the camera is powered on, or it can be set to default.
• AF Illumination: Turns AF Assist lamp off and on.
• Auto Power Off: Sets the Power Save function to enable after two or five minutes of inactivity.
• Format: Formats the xD-Picture card, erasing all files (even protected ones).


• Date Time: Sets the camera's internal calendar and clock.
• Time Difference: This option lets you set the time for another time zone. For example, when traveling, you can specify the time at home and for where you are, and the time difference is applied to captured images.
• Language: Sets the menu language to one of seven options. (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and two Asian languages.)
• Background Color: Sets the menu background color.
• USB Mode: Sets the USB mode to DSC (storage class device) or PictBridge (for connecting to a PictBridge device).
• Video System: Designates the video signal as NTSC or PAL.


• Discharge: Discharges the batteries completely, handy for avoiding "memory effect" in rechargeable cells (do not use for alkaline cells; you will not be happy with the results).
• Reset: Resets all camera settings to their defaults.


• Sharpness: Adjusts the in-camera sharpening to Hard, Normal, or Soft.
• Bracketing: Sets up exposure bracketing for plus or minus 1/3, 2/3, or 1.0 EV

FinePix Photo Mode Button:
Pressing this silver button marked with an F brings up another menu that allows setting of image quality mode, ISO sensitivity, and FinePix color modes.

• Quality: Sets the image resolution and quality. Choices are 5M Fine (2,592 x 1,944), 5M Normal (2,592 x 1,944), 3:2 (2,736 x 1,824), 3M (2,048 x 1,536), 2M (1,600 x 1,200), and 0.3M (640 x 480). In Movie mode, options are 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 pixels.
• Sensitivity: Sets the ISO to Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, or 1600.
• FinePix Color: Sets camera saturation modes, which include Standard, Chrome (which is color with increased saturation), and Black & White.

Playback Mode: The traditional playback symbol (a green arrow within a rectangular outline) indicates this mode on the Power / Mode dial. Here, the user can review captured images, enlarge them, delete them, or set them up for printing on a DPOF-compatible output device. Pressing the Menu button pulls up the following options:

• Erase: Deletes the selected frame or all frames.
• Image Rotate: Rotates the current image clockwise or counterclockwise.
• Print Order: Sets DPOF tag with date, without date or resets all.
• Protect: Adds or removes write protection for individual frames or all frames.
• Playback: Enables an automated slide show of captured images on the memory card, letting you select the transition style and interval.
• Set: Allows you to adjust the LCD brightness, or pulls up the same Setup menu as in Record mode.


• Voice Memo: Records a 30 second voice memo in WAV format to accompany an image.
• Trimming: Lets you crop an image by zooming in and saving the cropped portion as a new file.

Optics

Fuji FinePix S5200 Optics

Lens

Zoom
Excellent 10x optical zoom range, with good performance.

The FinePix S5200 zooms over the equivalent of a 38-380mm range, quite impressive for a consumer digital camera. Details are well-defined at wide angle and telephoto, though partly from some high-contrast edge enhancement on the camera's part. Still, good results at both zoom settings. Some coma distortion is noticeable at full wide angle, though the effect isn't strong. The camera's 4x digital zoom takes it out to 40x total, though with the loss of quality that digital zoom creates. Still, the camera attempts to preserve finer details by increasing contrast to compensate for the softer resolution.

Macro
A slightly below average-size macro area, though with good detail and high resolution. Flash exposes well at telephoto, though the lens blocks it at full wide angle.

The FinePix S5200 performs well at its macro setting, capturing a minimum area of 3.21 x 2.40 inches (81 x 61 millimeters), which is below average. Detail and resolution are both good. The S5200 allows macro shooting at full wide angle and at telephoto, both of which capture roughly the same size area. Details are a little sharper, and corner softness less severe, at full wide angle however. (Most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode.) Where the telephoto setting pays off however, is with the flash. At full wide angle, the flash is blocked by the camera's long lens, resulting in a harsh shadow in the bottom of the frame. At telephoto, the flash intensity is slightly less, but results are consistent throughout the frame. Best bet? Shoot at wide angle when you don't need a flash, but switch over to telephoto if a flash is required.

Distortion
Impressively low barrel and pincushion distortion.

This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel--usually at wide angle) or inward (like a pincushion--usually at telephoto). The FinePix S5200's 0.3% barrel distortion at wide angle is very low among digital cameras I've tested, as is its 0.04% pincushion at full telephoto (actually about one pixel). Impressive results!

Barrel distortion at 38mm is 0.3%

Pincushion at 380mm is 0.04%

Chromatic aberration
Moderately high, small effect on images at edges.

Chromatic aberration is moderately high at wide angle and telephoto, showing about 4-5 pixels of bright coloration on either side of the target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)

Corner Sharpness
Slight softening in the right corners of the frame, strongest at telephoto.

The FinePix S5200 produced only moderately soft corners in a few shots, with the most visible effect in the far right corners at full telephoto. Quite a bit of the softness is likely due to chromatic aberration.

Viewfinder

Coverage
Good accuracy with both the electronic optical viewfinder (EVF) and LCD monitor.

The FinePix S5200's electronic optical viewfinder (EVF) and LCD monitor both proved quite accurate, showing about 102% frame accuracy at wide angle, and about 99.5% at telephoto.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Fuji FinePix S5200 Exposure

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Slightly oversaturated color (especially reds and blues), very typical of consumer digital cameras. Generally good hue accuracy.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located towards the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center.

Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life. The FinePix S5200 does slightly overdo the strong red and blue tones, though overall saturation is pretty pleasing. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc. The S5200 occasionally pushed skin tones toward a warmer tint, though results were still good overall and quite believable.

The other important part of color rendition is hue accuracy. Hue is "what color" the color is. The S5200 did push toward either a warm or a cool overall color balance, depending on the white balance setting and composition, though results here were also quite good overall. Fairly tame color control overall.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Moderate warm cast with both Auto and Incandescent white balance settings, though good results in Manual mode. About average exposure compensation required.

Color balance indoors under incandescent lighting was pretty good with the Manual white balance setting, though the Auto and Incandescent settings resulted in warmer casts. The FinePix S5200 required a +1.0 EV exposure compensation boost for the most pleasing results, about average for this shot. (That said, the Incandescent white balance setting was quite overexposed at +1.0 EV, and looked best with a +0.7 EV adjustment.) Overall color looks good, though the blue flowers in the bouquet are quite dark and purplish. (A very common outcome for this shot.) Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the US.

Outdoors, daylight
Good overall color, though slightly warm color balance. Lower than average exposure compensation, though high contrast.

Outdoors, the FinePix S5200 responded to bright lighting with high contrast, limiting both highlight and shadow detail. Still, the camera required far less positive exposure compensation than normal. Color was usually bright and nearly accurate, though depending on the white balance setting, overall color balance either appeared slightly warm or cool.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
High resolution, 1,100 - 1,200 lines of strong detail.

Our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 1,200 lines per picture height horizontally, and about 1,100-1,150 lines vertically. Extinction occurred around 1,850 lines horizontally, and around 1,700 lines vertically. (The camera did produce slight color artifacts at lower line frequencies, visible in the full-sized res target shots.) Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail. Beware that while you might be able to make out what looks like distinct lines at numbers higher than those we've mentioned here, the camera is just doing its best to continue interpreting the lines. If you zoom in and follow them from the wider portions, you'll see the lines converge and reappear several times, so the lines you see at 1,500 and higher are really only artifacts generated by the camera's imaging system.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Fairly sharp images, though some visible edge enhancement as well as slight noise suppression.

The FinePix S5200's images are sharp overall, though often due to some edge enhancement from the camera, particularly in high-contrast subjects such as the fine foliage above. (Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.)

Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears. The crop at far right shows this in the lighter and darker areas of Marti's hair, which do show slightly limited detail. Still, highlighted individual strands are quite visible against her cheek and elsewhere.

ISO & Noise Performance
Low noise at the normal sensitivity settings, very high noise that blurs detail at the higher settings.

Noise remains fairly low at the FinePix S5200's lower ISO settings, though it increases dramatically at ISOs 800 and 1,600. At ISO 400, image noise is higher, but not terribly distracting. However, at ISO 1,600, image noise is so strong that it greatly blurs fine detail, and gives the overall image a watercolor effect.

Extremes: Sunlit and low light tests
High resolution with good overall detail, though high contrast and limited shadow and highlight detail. Excellent low-light performance, capable of capturing bright images under average city street lighting and much darker conditions.

Sunlight:
Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

The FinePix S5200 had a little trouble with the deliberately harsh lighting in the test above, producing very high contrast with washed-out highlights and deep shadows. Noise suppression in the shadows limits detail there, and the highlights hold onto very little detail as well. I chose a +0.3 EV exposure compensation adjustment because the overall exposure looked best, though the default exposure definitely has less intense highlights. (In "real life" though, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown above; it's better to shoot in the shade when possible.) I also chose the Manual white balance, despite the slight warm cast, as the Auto setting resulted in too cool skin tones.

Low light:
The FinePix S5200 performed quite well in low lighting, capturing bright images at the lowest light levels we test at. (Though at ISOs 64 and 100, results were only bright to about 1/4 and 1/8 foot-candles respectively, about 1/4 and 1/8 as bright as normal city street lighting at night.) Color balance was actually pretty good with the Auto white balance setting, and the camera's autofocus system worked unusually well, able to focus on the subject down to the darkest light level, even with its AF-assist light turned off. Though I would expect a 15-second exposure to produce slightly brighter results at ISO 100, the FinePix S5200 still performs very well here.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux
ISO 64	3 sec f3.2	8 sec f3.2	15 sec f3.2	15 sec f3.2	15 sec f3.2
ISO 100	2.5 sec f3.2	5 sec f3.2	13 sec f3.2	15 sec f3.2	15 sec f3.2
ISO 200	1.3 sec f3.2	2.5 sec f3.2	6.5 sec f3.2	13 sec f3.2	15 sec f3.2
ISO 400	1/1 sec f3.2	1.3 sec f3.2	3 sec f3.2	6.5 sec f3.2	10 sec f3.2
ISO 800	1/3 sec f3.2	1/1 sec f3.2	1.5 sec f3.2	3 sec f3.2	5 sec f3.2
ISO 1600	1/6 sec f3.2	1/3 sec f3.2	1/1 sec f3.2	1.5 sec f3.2	2.5 sec f3.2

Flash

Coverage and Range
The S5200's flash proved slightly limited compared to its telephoto capability, and produced a slight blue cast under incandescent lighting. Our standard shots required more exposure compensation than average.

Flash coverage was fairly even at wide angle, though with a hint of falloff in the corners of the frame. However, at full telephoto, the flash was just too weak for use. In the Indoor test, the S5200's flash resulted in the same intensity at the default exposure setting as with a +1.7 EV exposure compensation boost. The flash did produce a slight blue cast in the highlights, though the background incandescent lighting resulted in a warmer, orange cast. In the Slow-Sync flash mode, results were very similar, though with slightly stronger blue and orange casts.

The FinePix S5200's flash illuminated the Davebox target fairly well to about 10 feet, where intensity began to falloff. Results are quite dim at the 13-foot distance.

8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft	12 ft	13 ft
1/125 sec f3.4 ISO 100	1/125 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/125 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/125 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/125 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/125 sec f3.5 ISO 100

Output Quality

Print Quality
Good print quality, great color, very usable 13x19 inch prints at ISO 100. ISO 800 images are very soft at 8x10, acceptable at 5x7, great at 4x6.

Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon i9900 studio printer, and on the Canon iP5200 here in the office. (See the Canon i9900 review for details on that model.)

With the Fujifilm FinePix S5200, we found that it had enough resolution to make very crisp 8x10 inch prints. At 11x14 and 13x19, its prints were still good, more than adequate for wall or table display. At high ISO, image noise levels are held in check, but at the cost of rather soft-looking images. ISO 200 photos look great printed at 8x10 inches, and even ISO 400 images are very good, but ISO 800 and 1600 images are marginal even at 5x7 inches, but look fine at 4x6. As such, the ISO 800 and 1600 images are still usable, but before you venture into that space, remember this limitation. If you're only going to print full-frame 4x6 images, you can feel free to play all over the map; but if you have any inkling of enlarging, stay to ISO 400 or below. Overall, that's still pretty impressive performance from a small camera with a very long lens. Many other cameras ISO 400 setting is about as noisy as the S5200's ISO 800, so Fujifilm has come a long way.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Fujifilm FinePix S5200 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Fuji FinePix S5200 Performance