Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

The Fujifilm FinePix S5100 was announced in August 2004 and made its debut on the market at the retail price of $499. The successor to the FinePix S5000, the S5100 adds more megapixels on a different type of imaging processor and fifty bucks to the price tag. The digital camera touts 4.23 and 4 effective megapixels on its 1/2.7-inch CCD. The most prominent feature of this FinePix model is its Fujinon 10x optical zoom lens; equivalent to 37-370mm zoom range in 35mm format. The S5100 is an amalgamation of styles, offering the look of an SLR, control of an intermediate camera, and the weight of a compact camera.
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Picture Quality / Size Options (6.5)
The picture size and quality can be set by pushing the “F” button and scrolling through the Image Quality settings. The options are 2272 x 1704, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, and 640 x 480. These options come with the number of frames you’ll be able to capture right on the menu. Images can be shot in CCD-RAW, JPEG, or AVI (Motion JPEG). The file type options are located in the Setup menu.

Picture Effects Options (6.0)
The picture color effects mode can be found by pressing the “F” button and scrolling to the FinePix Color menu. Standard, Chrome, and Black & White color modes are available. It would have been nice to see a few more settings included, particularly with the camera’s masked reliance on automatic controls. Most point-and-shoot cameras utilize the custom image presets and picture effects options as a means of providing the user with some creative control that is otherwise restricted by the lack of manual settings.

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