Manual Control Options
The FinePix S5 Pro is set up for convenient manual shooting, offering manual control of all exposure and image parameters, as well as focus.
Focus
Auto Focus - The FinePix S5 Pro uses the same autofocus module as the Nikon D200. It has a total of 11 sensor sites, with 3 columns of 3 sites toward the middle of the frame, and 2 more sites closer to the sides of the frame. The module can be switched to wide mode that consolidates the 11 sites into 7 larger ones. We didn't test the focus system exhaustively or in a controlled way, but it seems to act just like the D200.
Manual Focus - The FinePix S5's focusing screen is bright and contrasty, and the S5's viewfinder image appears larger than competing cameras'. We found it easy to focus manually. We'll look at focusing more closely in a full review, but our first impression is that the S5 is indistinguishable from the Nikon D200 in this respect.
Exposure
The Fujifilm FinePix S5 offers program, aperture-priority, shutter-priority and full manual exposure control. The meter readout in manual mode is an analog-like scale, with a cursor that slides between plus and minus signs. The user is meant to center the cursor between the two to set correct exposure.
The S5 offers exposure compensation 5 stops above and below the metered setting for ambient light with 1/3-EV increments. The AF/AE button can freeze an exposure reading while the user recomposes the image. The S5 offers options to link control of flash and ambient exposure.
Metering
The FinePix S5 offers matrix, center-weighted and spot metering. The matrix system takes many discrete readings across the field of view, and evaluates them to detect backlighting and other difficult situations, and compensate for them. Our first look at the S5 wasn't sufficient to evaluate the system. Look for our full review for a more definitive evaluation. The S5's center-weighted pattern offers the option of setting the center circle of interest to a diameter from 6 to 13 mm, just as the Nikon D200 does. The S5's spot mode measures a very small area of the frame. We couldn't tell from our first look at the camera, but we guess that the spot measurement is taken at the active autofocus site, because that's what the D200 does.
The S5 offers an exposure fine-tune option that allows the user to bias exposure for each metering mode individually. The control operates in increments of 1/6 EV, up to a full EV. Its effect is not reflected in the camera's readouts, so users need to take care to remember if they set it.
White Balance
The Fujifilm S5 offers auto white balance, a total of 9 preset balances, direct Kelvin entry, and custom white balance. It can save up to 5 custom settings. The 9 presets are: Daylight, Tungsten, Flash, Shade and 5 fluorescent settings. It feels as though 5 fluorescent settings should be overkill; we didn't like the results from any of them under the fluorescent lighting of the crepuscular yet opulent Las Vegas Convention Center.
The most recent advance in white balance to diffuse from manufacturer to manufacturer is white balance fine-tuning. Fujifilm's take on it is distinctive. The user can create a fine-tune setting with two sliders, one on a Red to Cyan continuum and the other running from Blue to Yellow. That one setting, which is created with a menu, applies equally to auto white balance and all the presets. Each custom setting – the ones a user makes by photographing something white – can be fine-tuned individually, using the same two-slider interface. Kelvin settings run from 2500 to 10,000K, and can't be fine-tuned.
Our evaluation of the S5's white balance performance will have to wait for our full review, when we test the camera under controlled conditions.
ISO
When we reviewed the FinePix S3, we wondered why it lacked 1/3 EV steps and a 3200 setting. Our logic about 3200 was this: the S3's 1600 blew away the competition, and most of them offered a 3200 that looked like the dog's lunch from last week. It followed that whatever Fujifilm delivered at 3200 would look good comparatively. Such is our power in the camera industry that Fujifilm acquiesced on both counts. 1/3 EV steps are a significant convenience, matching the increments for the other exposure parameters. We look forward to testing the S5's high ISOs for color and noise levels.
Shutter Speed
The FinePix S5's shutter runs from 30 seconds to 1/8000, with flash sync up to 1/250, plus B for longer exposures. The regualr range can be set in 1/3 EV increments. We have found that exposures as long as 30 seconds tend to tax cameras' noise control algorithms, and we look forward to testing the S5 on this front as well.
Aperture
The FinePix S5 accepts all new Nikon autofocus lenses and most of the old ones, and controls their apertures via electrical contacts in the mount. Manual focus lenses can mount, and be used in manual and aperture-priority exposure modes. Many auto flash capabilities are also available for old lenes if the user manually enters focal length and aperture data. Again, this level of lens compatibility owes its existence to Nikon's D200 design, and the fact that Fujifilm didn't muck with it.
