Sep 15, 2010 06:08 PM
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Fujifilm Finepix S5700
This is the replacement model for my Finepix S5700 that broke twice and Fujifilm would rather replace it than repair it again. I was pleasantly surprised at this, but I was disappointed
Not to be getting my J30 back because I truly loved that camera, even if it did fail me twice. Anyway, despite having a brand new camera to play with, I could not shake off my disappointment, and this was magnified by the fact that the upgrade did not seem as good.
Basic Details
A 12 megapixel digital camera with 3 x optical zoom, and a 2.7inch LCD screen on the back. It’s very slim at 18.5mm thin, so slimmer than my previous model. It’s ideal for having with you when you’
Fujifilm Finepix S5700
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;re out and about; it’s also very lightweight. I take mine everywhere with me, either in my pocket, in my handbag, in the change bag, or in the buggy. It’s easy to fit in any little space because it is so small and very transportable! It comes with a lithium battery which you remove for charging (charger provided). Requires an SD card, which is not provided.
Functions
The controls are very simple to navigate. They are all located on the back right hand of the camera, alongside the LCD screen (apart from the on/off switch, shoot button and zoom - on top of camera).
First of all you get an 8 mode wheel where you can change the setting of the camera.
Below that is the ’play’ button which you press to view your images.
Below that is the ’Display/back’ button which allows you to alter the display and go ’back’.
Finally below that is a circular button which is used for menu options, erasing images, macro, flash and self timer. Each function is very straight forward to use and most beginners would be able to work out how to use this camera without too much trouble, it’s all very user friendly.
The camera has quite a few good features or modes should I say. The wheel on the back of the camera spins easily to change the mode. There are 8 pre-set modes on this wheel, and funnily enough I do actually use a couple of them.
Modes are:
Auto - shoots according to conditions
SR Auto - Selects optimum settings for conditions
P - pre-programmed mode - I have had a look at programming this and there is not a lot you can alter so I see this as a pointless setting!
MOVIE - Movie recording with sound
SP2 - Smile and shoot, the camera will take a picture automatically when it detects a smile, you don’t even have to lift a finger.
SP1 - Panorama - Panorama pictures with 3 or less photos - this is really good!
N - Natural light, basically switches the flash off
N&Flash - Takes two pictures, one with natural light and one immediately afterwards with a flash
Now to say that I am a kind of point and click girl and don’t have much time for changing modes and wondering about the ambience of a photograph, I find these settings on the camera to be quite user friendly. This is mainly because all I have to do is turn the wheel if I feel the need for a different setting, there’s no faffing about with numbers or other such things.
My favourite mode is obviously the Automatic setting because this selects for you the best settings for the picture and makes everything easier, and almost guarantees that you will get a decent photograph. But although the camera is mainly set at auto, I have been known to dabble with the other positions on the wheel!
I like the automatic smile detection because sometimes children (my main subject matter) can be a bit awkward when you want them to smile, and often smile just after or just before you take the shot. But when you have it on this setting you can just hold the camera and tell them to smile and the moment they smile, a picture will be taken. This also works not in my favour because I have two children, two children who like to wind me up and smile at different times...so I often get a photo of one smiling and the other frowning...but it’s all good fun to look back on in years to come! But having said that I do like it, it also fails to work in low light conditions, such as indoors (even in daytime). The person who is smiling has to have brilliant white teeth and the sun has to be shining on them for the camera to activate. It’s actually quite a frustrating setting really, but can be good in the right conditions.
I also like the Panorama setting, this is a novelty really but it allows you to take a long scenic shot. All you have to do is take a picture of the first part of the scenery you are shooting, then when you go to take a picture of the next part, the edge of the first part shows at the side of the screen to allow you to line it up, and then again for the third picture. Then the camera joins them all up and hey presto you have an extra long photograph! Not sure how you would get these size photos developed, but its good fun creating them!
The other mode that I use occasionally is N&Flash, this is good because it takes two photos in quick succession and you can just delete the one you don’t like. It’s always good to see how a scene will look with and without the flash. Often the flash can make things look overexposed and white with too many shadows (so I’m told????), so sometimes a photo looks best in natural conditions, so this is a handy tool for someone like me who doesn’t really have a clue about flash or no flash. I usually still end up opting for the flash version because it seems to brighten up the colours.
Obviously I also use the MOVIE setting for when the kids are doing something ridiculous or funny, and I have been really pleased with the way this captures the kids on movie. Today I took a little video of them reading a book together, the eldest was reading to the youngest and the youngest was giggling and chipping in every now and then. Their speech is really clear and the video quality is good, I can put it full size on the computer and their faces are still really clear. The only drawback is the constant fuzzy sound that you get in the background, it doesn’t stop you from hearing what’s going on in the video, but it’s still annoying.
I have tried using the camera on SR Auto but I find this setting to be quite irritating. I know that it is meant to make things easier for you and to get the best out of the conditions, but I have found it to be a bit slow and not really work for me.
When I first got the camera, I for some reason, had it on SR Auto all the time; I found myself getting so annoyed with the camera and hating it because every time I tried to take a picture there seemed to be a delay from pressing the shoot button to the picture actually being taken. I also noticed a lot of fidgeting in the lens department, it sounded like the lens was shuffling in and out and I felt that it didn’t really know what it was doing.
But then I read the manual and realised that all that delay and shuffling was because the camera was adjusting itself accordingly to get the optimum shot. So if you are the patient sort and your main subject matter isn’t two hyperactive children, then you might like this setting, but I really cannot stand it!
The settings which I do not use are the pre-programmed one (pointless as I said above) and the natural light one (the one that doesn’t use the flash). I don’t use the latter because you can turn the flash off on the Auto setting if you feel the need, so there is no need (in my humble opinion) to use this setting.
My Thoughts
My first impressions of the camera were not good. It seemed a bit flimsy and not quite as substantial as my J30 (I was really missing my old camera); the first thing I noticed was that the zoom control seemed a bit loose and I thought if I used it too much it might fall off (it hasn’t I hasten to add!). I also thought that the flap that fixes over the battery compartment seemed a bit flimsy and seemed to be hanging on by a thread that could fall off at any time (it also hasn’t!)
Looking back now, if I’m honest I was comparing it too harshly with my old camera and looking for faults, and the fact that this one is so lightweight just made it seem so fragile in my clumsy hands, but clearly it’s not because it is still in one piece, despite being on the beach with me (yes it’s been near sand and survived), in paddling pools (yes it has been splashed), dropped on the floor numerous times, dragged around by my 1 year old in her desperate attempts to please me by returning all my items to the kitchen (thanks love so that’s where you think I live!!?)
I have found the camera really easy to use, as I stated above it’s easy to alter settings and everything is pretty straightforward. It’s actually worked really well for me so far, but it’s not without its faults, in my opinion anyway (more on that later).
Picture Quality
The pictures come out great, very crisp and clear, especially once developed. I have to admit the colours come out much better once I have had them developed rather than looking at them on a computer screen. The camera boasts ’Blur-free Photos’, apparently high ISO settings and fast shutter speeds avoid blurred photos, I don’t know what that means, but I know I still get my fair share of blurred photos! But I take that many that the blurred ones don’t really matter.
Zoomed in images come out just as good as non-zoomed images. I only really noticed this today because I actually took a photo of my daughter in the sun with the zoom to the maximum, and looking at it now there are no differences in quality from the standard images. I sometimes hesitate before using the zoom and find myself moving towards the subject rather than zooming in, but I shall make more of an effort to ’zoom-in’ from now on, especially since I know for sure that a zoomed in image is perfectly adequate.
Outdoor images seem to be of much better quality than ones taken indoors, but I’m guessing this is usual for most cameras of this type. We all know natural light is the best. Don’t we?
