Hello, today I let fall my old (but dear) camera and hmmm... I've to buy a new one (the shipping for the mending would exceed the price of a new and better one!) So I would like to know if some of you use the Fuji Finepix S5000, because it's one of the cameras I could buy. What do you think of it ? In France it's very cheap for a camera of this category. It's sold the same price as a Canon Powershot A95 or a Nikon Coolpix 5200 : about 450 euros. But the Fuji is a 5 mega-pixels and has a 10x otpical zoom (against 3x zoom on the canon and the Nikon) Does this price hides a trap ? What interresses me in first place is the optical zoom. The Konica Dimage Z3 has 12x one and the Powershot S1 a 10x zoom. Both are more expensive than the Fuji (respectively 500 and 550 euros) but are they really better ? I could afford the Konica, but the Canon is a bit too much... Thanks for your help, and say a little prayer for my dead Toshiba... Sam

I liked the S3000 so for me the s5000 is even better. You might want to check the actual used pixels from the ccd chip. If I remeember correctly the S3000 had a difference between the number of actual pixels recorded and the number of theoretical ones. Bsteph

Had a S5000 at one stage...nice zoom 38-380mm....Very small, very lightweight. Its actually a 3mb cam BUT interpolated to go up to six. Has a lens hood so you can attach filters. Has all the 'normal' features, Auto, prog, aperture, shutter prioities etc etc...good cam to 'learn' on if your new at this game :) good luck in your find :) jim

Bsteph , you're right about the number of pixel it's a 3mp chip but the camera's electronic may calculate up to 6mp. The S5000 has been replaced by the S5500 which has (for the same price !!!) a 5mp CCD. I'll look on Fuji's site to know if it records 10mp (???!!!) What I would like to know is if this camera needs a long time between two shots. I'd like to photography animals, and racing cars, and Mister Rabbit with Mrs Rabbit :-))) , and when you work for a newspaper the quarter of a second is sometimes as long as the whole eternity.

My last 3 cameras have been Fuji's, and I'm still using the 4900 I bought nearly 3 years ago. It was cutting edge then and had a 6x Optical zoom whereas rivals only hade 3-4. When I got it I tried quite a few different ones, and still ended up with the Fuji again, and on it's performance will probably stick to the brand when I renew. My only gripe at the time was the delay between just pressing the button normally and it focussing and taking the shot; since then I've learnt effectively about just pressing the button way to get it to focus, flicking it to manual focus prior to getting the shots - then hitting the shutter where it takes the shot straight away and straight on to the next one. (",)

I have this camera and all of my photos in my gallery were taken with it! I'm new at this and it has been an easy camera for me to learn on. I just love it. It does have the capabilities to take rapid shots like the race cars you describe. I would recommend it highly! Check out my gallery and see what you think?? I would like your opinion! I'm still learning all the things it can do! Akemi

the s5000 has a SuperCCD with 3MP and the S5500 a "normal" CCD with 4MP; the interpolated 6MP of the S5000 correspond qua technique to 4-5 MP of "normal" CCDs. So the images of the S5500 are 4MP at most! Usually the newer cameras have become quicker in shutter delay so if I had the choice I'd prefer the S5500 (I had the S5000 for testing over a weekend - quite content, but I was already in favor of the S7000 - even more content after 9 months as the smaller zoom range is sufficient for me )

I received the S5000 as a gift from my son and have loved it since the first time I shot with it. It not only is a great camera for an intermediat user but advanced users will like it as well. I've been shooting for over 35 years and find it to be like the 35's I "grew" up with when in manual mode. (I love the fact that there's a manual focus btw.) I'd not hesitate to purchase one knowing what I know about them now. I also like the fact that it accepts "close-up filters" and I can get to within an inch of my subject. Fuji is the only digital I've owned as well and I'll stick with them due to their quality and workmanship.

@Geneb19 : are some photos from your gallery taken with thi camera ? You make splendid pictures !

Attached Link: http://www.photo-genesis.net

First of all...thanks very much. :-) Yes, all of the images in my gallery here are taken with the S5000. The images at Photo-Genesis were taken with a variety of different cameras but most of my work there is with either the S5000 or the S3000, which I originally purchased prior to receiving the S5000. I think you'd really enjoy working with either one for that matter and only recommend the S5000 because it has some features the S3000 doesn't. It's a great camera to grow with in my opinion. (But I'm "eyeing" the S3 by Fujifilm. lol)

I think your photos will stop my hesitations... And what about ergonomy ? If you could improve something on this camera, what would it be ? How to make children quickly, so that I'll save my money and get a free camera ? Sam

Ergonomically, it's ideal for me. My hands aren't large and I've found some cameras difficult to use for that reason. The S5000 has all of the controls in the right places for my taste at least. I'd not necessarily change anything but, rather, add a few things. I'd do away with the "movie" portion of the camera since I have no interest in using it. Maybe free up "space" for other features that way. The 2nd thing I'd add would be to give it a higher megapixel count. I like really large prints when I print the images and find that the 6 megapixel equivalant of the S5000 isn't high enough sometimes unless I run it through a filter to smooth things out. The big thing I'd like to see is better white balance control. The falls shots are a good example of this aspect. The original images have very blue tinted water in them and doesn't look natural to me. I postworked them in PSP 8 to get rid of that blue tint. Not a show stopper but it would be nice to have something besides the "pre-sets" the camera comes with now.

As for having children quickly...believe me you won't be saving money that way! lol I have to admit though that all of the kids have always been my biggest fans. :-) (Either that or out the door! lol)

Let me know if you get the S5000! We can trade "war stories" about it. I like that kind of back and forth because I always pick up new ways of taking advantage of the features of the camera!

Gene

I'm looking to your photos on Genesis, while writing this. They are a good advert for the Fuji, and above all, they're the kind of picture I like to make (trees, and rivers, an birds and all...) My father has a S5000, as a begining I think I'll borrow it from him for a little while. Nothing's worth a try ! Then... I'll tell you !

Once again...thanks a million for the compliments! Good deal with borrowing the camera. A sure way to save some money if it turns out you don't care for it for some reason. Gene

My father doesn't use it very often. I could borrow it for a long long time ...... ;-)

hmmm...reminds me of a few items my son has "borrowed" from me. lol