Front
As was the case with the Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro and S3 Pro, it's useful to think of the front half of the camera as a Nikon product, and the back half as Fujifilm's domain. In the case of the FinePix S5, the differences between the fronts of the S5 and the D200 are cosmetic – the front of the pop-up flash says Fujifim rather than Nikon, the right shoulder says S5 Pro, not D200, and there's a little Super CCD SR logo at about 5 o'clock on the lens mount platform. The S5 also lacks Nikon's little red chevron just under the control dial on the hand grip. The grip and the left side of the body are covered with a textured rubbery material that's easy to hold securely.
The functional items on the front include a comfortable hand grip with a control dial and a large autofocus assist/self-timer/redeye control lamp between the top of the grip and the viewfinder hump. Along the left side of the lens mount are the depth of field preview button and a customizable function button. The Nikon F lens mount looks a bit small compared to newer mounts, and it doesn't dominate the front the way the Canon mount does on the EOS D30. The large lens release button is on the right of the mount, above a lever that controls the autofocus mode. A 10-pin connector for remote control, GPS connectivity, and a bar code reader is above the lens release.
Back
The S5 Pro's back has the same arrangement of buttons as the Nikon D200 but a few serve Fujifilm-specific functions. Starting at the upper left are the large and convenient Bracket and delete buttons. Below them, in a column along the left side of the 2.5-inch LCD, are the Playback, Menu, Display/Back, Setup and Face recognition buttons. The relatively large viewfinder is above the LCD, with a large, soft rubber eyecup surrounding. The diopter control is on the upper right of the eyecup and is stiff enough to stay put when bumped. The autofocus/exposure lock button is to the right of the viewfinder, and a ring around it selects the meter pattern. Next to that is a button to activate autofocus, and at far right is the rear control dial. The dish-shaped 4-way controller is to the right of the LCD, with a locking lever below it. Below that, there is a rotating control for the autofocus pattern and a substantial lever for unlocking the memory card slot. The far right of the back is contoured for a comfortable thumb rest and grip.
We didn't set the D200 down next to the the S5 Pro, but the only differences we noted between the two backs are the functions of the buttons along the left side and perhaps the LCD. In our view, the D200's ergonomics are excellent so we're glad to see that Fujifilm didn't fix what wasn't broken.
Left Side
Large rubber covers conceal and protect jacks for AV output, USB connectivity, and an external power source. There's a chrome strap high and forward on the side.
The media card door takes up most of the right side. The strap lug is very high and toward the back which is out of the way for all but the most atypical grips.
Top
The round control on the left side of the top has three pie-shaped buttons on top that are for Quality, ISO and white balance. A ring around the control sets the burst mode and self timer. It's a little embarrassing that Fujifilm kept the High and Low burst modes – High is only 2 frames per second, that only leaves 1 fps for Low. It would be more accurate to label them Low and Lower. The viewfinder is capped with a popup flash and a dedicated hot shoe. As on the D200, the S5's popup flash works as a command module for Nikon's current wireless flash system. There's a large monochrome LCD to the right of the viewfinder that displays exposure data, image quality settings, ISO, white balance, exposure compensation for flash and ambient light and battery status. Two large buttons in front of the LCD controls the exposure mode and exposure compensation. The shutter release is out on top of the grip, surrounded by the power switch, and also activates an illuminator for the monochrome LCD. Again, Fujifilm didn't mess with Nikon's excellent layout.
Bottom
The metal tripod bushing is directly under the lens axis and is surrounded by a very large non-skid, non-scratch patch of rubber. The battery compartment looks exactly like the one on the D200 and the battery is the same size. Unfortunately, batteries are not interchangeable because of the S5's different (probably greater) power neeeds.
