Put the camera down Sir, and step away from the booth...
Written: May 17 '02 (Updated May 20 '02)
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Pros: Super zoom, great action photography, and the best digital movies ever.
Cons: A storage and power hog. It can get expensive fast.
The Bottom Line: If you need 3M resolution, action photographs, or movies this camera is superb. Experts will love its advanced features, but heavy movie use will quickly eat up memory and money.
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| WulfsDen's Full Review: FUJIFILM FinePix S602 Zoom Digital Camera |
One of the best things about recent computer shows, is the advent of digital cameras. After several hours of listening to fledgling actors spew corporate technobabble about the latest enterprise (not the starship) vaporware, it's nice to be able to pick up something solid like a camera.
Since I already have a big camera, I wanted to see the little Fuji Finepix 2600 but, as readers of my Mavica FD95 and FD97 reviews will remember, I have a weakness for big, sexy zoom lenses. My interest in the 6x Optical Zoom of the Fuji Finepix S602 was inevitable.
When you pick up a camera at a show, there are three main responses: you can put it down quickly; you can ask lots of questions; or you can look at the exit to see if you can outrun the security guard. This camera is of the third type. Unfortunately, my short legs were never fast, and this camera will not ship until June 2002, so I cannot be as detailed in this review as I would like.
The Fuji Finepix S602 Zoom is their flagship camera. Let me say right away, that its price ($799) and capabilities will be way over the top for most users. It seemed a little smaller (W4.8 x H3.2 x D3.8) than Mavica FD97, and it weighs just over a pound with batteries. There are several key points I would like to discuss, although the camera has far more capabilities and features than I can cover here.
In the Box.
- 16MB SmartMedia card
- Four AA-sized alkaline batteries (not rechargeable)
(Rumor has it that this may change to 4 NIMH plus charger by the time they ship.)
- Shoulder strap
- Lens cap with cord
- USB cable
- A/V cable
- CD-ROM (FinePixViewer, Adobe ActiveShare, PhotoDeluxe, and ArcSoft VideoImpression)
- Printed manual
Lens and CCD.
The optical lens and the CCD array are the two features that control the ability of a digital camera to take good images.
The S602Z has a 3.1-million effective (3.3 total) sensor, 1/1.7" super-CCD that has hexagonal rather then the usual square pixels, allowing Fuji to pack the sensors closer together to collect more data. This produces super high resolution, 2832x2121, 6-Megapixel extrapolated images.
Now, I am not too keen on extrapolation (the camera guesses) and I prefer to leave guesswork to the software on my PC. The 3-Megapixel setting of 2048x1536 probably closest represents the real capability of the camera, but, since the pixels are not in a square grid its hard to be sure. It will also take pictures at 1-Megapixel 1280x960, and VGA 640x480.
The lens is the same very high quality, large diameter 6X Optical Zoom lens that Fuji Finepix 6900 Zoom uses. (f/2.8-f/11; 13 steps. 35-210mm, 35mm equivalent zoom with two macro settings.) Now normally, I am not too excited about digital zoom, preferring to leave electronic magnification to PC software, but the S602Z's capability is intriguing: 4.4x (640 x 480), 2.2x (1280 x 960), 1.4x (2048 x 1536). This means that a lot of the time, the electronic zoom is simply using the unused (at that resolution) sensors rather than extrapolating. Because it has a larger CCD than the 2-Megapixel Mavica, it allows the 6X zoom on the S602Z to perform a lot like the Mavica's 10x Zoom. Impressive.
The lens is an extremely large 58 millimeter, but you have to buy an adapter so you can use standard 55 millimeter filters.
One thing the super-CCD excels at is low light situations. It can perform with the equivalent of an ISO-800 and even an ISO-1600 film, although these settings are restricted to the 1-Megapixel resolution. Once again, the camera is making use of the extra pixels to supplement its information. I like that. One problem is that the cameras low-light ability sometimes outstrips its low-light focussing, and you need to resort to manual focussing.
Picture Storage.
The S602Z has both CompactFlash and SmartMedia slots and comes with a 16MB SmartMedia Card. A switch allows you to choose the default save media when both are present. The CompactFlash slot can use an IBM 1-GB Microdrive ($500). This can hold an unreal amount of photographs. Depending on the resolution, you can chose up to four levels of detail. The pictures are stored as compressed JPEGs except for the highest, uncompressed TIFF format.
This table shows the resolution available, the typical picture size, the number of pictures that will fit on the 16MB SmartMedia Card (included), and the number that will fit on a 1GB Microdrive.
6M (2832x2128)
- High (TIFF) 18MB 0/59
- Fine 2.4MB 6/443
- Normal 1.2MB 13/938
- Basic 460MB 33/2190
3M (2038x1536)
- Fine 1.3MB 12/842
- Normal 590KB 26/1729
1M (1280x960)
- Fine 620KB 25/1682
- Normal 320KB 49/3285
VGA (640x480)
- Normal 130KB 122/8213
While this is an impressive list, it is disappointing that only the 6M mode supports TIFF. I would have preferred it on the 3M mode. Think about it. The 6M mode has the camera "guess" half the pixels, but you can store it exactly. The 3M mode needs no guessing, but you cannot avoid losing some detail to storage compression. Isn't that frustrating? Personally, I doubt I will ever use 18MB just to store camera guesswork.
You can transfer the pictures to your PC via a USB port and/or you can view them directly on your TV. Supposedly, you can use the S602Z as an Internet camera for chat, but I had no chance to try that.
Movies.
Without a doubt, this is the best "still" camera I have ever seen at shooting movies. With a 1GB Microdrive, you can shoot over 15 minutes of VGA 640x480 resolution movie at 30 frames per second, with sound. The only snafu is that you can't use the telephoto while your shooting the movie, because the microphone will pick up the sound of the lens moving.
Length of movies:
Memory Card VGA (640 x 480)/QVGA (320 x 240)
16 MB 13/27 sec
64 MB 55/110 sec
128 MB 112/222 sec
1 GB 925/1833 sec
Action Photography.
In my Mavica FD97 review, I discussed the difficulty taking action shots. The S602Z, however, excels at action photography. It has a minimal shutter lag, a short time between shots, and several burst modes. The camera uses a passive technique for general focussing, and then the usual contrast focussing for fine adjustment. This works extremely quickly.
The camera can take a burst of five frames sequentially at 0.2-second intervals. It can also take a last-five burst, where you follow the action with the shutter pressed taking frames every 0.2 seconds, and, when you release the shutter, the last five are stored. A long-period continuous shooting mode will take up to 40 shots at 0.6-second intervals at 1280 x 960 resolution. It can also take a burst of three shots in a row taken with varying exposure compensation values (±1/3 EV, ±2/3 EV, or ±1 EV). Not so applicable to actions shots, but very handy nevertheless.
The zoom in for fine focus setting that I complained about in my Mavica review has an on/off switch on the Fuji. Yes!
Batteries.
The S602Z uses four standard AA batteries. Fuji claims that you'll get about 205 shots with alkaline batteries, and 265 shots (per charge) on NiMH batteries, but using an IBM Microdrive will lower those numbers by about 15%. These batteries are certainly cheaper and easier to find than proprietary batteries.
Flash.
The Fuji has a nice pop up flash with a range of about 5 meters, red eye reduction, and all normal flash functions. A hot shoe allows the use of any external flash as long as it can set the aperture & sensitivity and it can use external flash synchronization.
Other Stuff.
The camera has a full range of other normal functions for a camera of its price and class including white balance, many programs settings, full manual mode, record 30 seconds of sound with pictures, self timer and so on. It has an extensive, fairly intuitive menu system, with a shift button for fast navigation. It has a built-in miniature LCD through-the- lens viewfinder and 2" color LCD playback monitor. Tons of additional information is available while viewing, possibly too much.
Comparison to Fuji Finepix 6900 Zoom (retired).
- Same 6X optical zoom, electronic viewfinder, and full manual controls
- New 3rd-generation Super-CCD sensor
- ISO 800/1600, but only at 1 Megapixel
- Up to 15 minutes of 640 x 480 video on 1-GB IBM Microdrive.
- Supports both SmartMedia and CompactFlash Type II
- Dual auto-focus modes: contrast-based and new infrared focusing.
- Continuous shooting mode (Hold shutter. Last 5 frames stored upon release.)
- No proprietary battery -- now uses four AAs.
Comparison to Sony Mavica FD97.
The Fuji is much better than the Mavica at movies and action photography. It is also better in low light situations. It has higher resolution, more picture size options, a bigger largest image, and the availability for much more storage. It also has a full manual mode available for advanced users. The zoom capabilities are almost comparable to the Mavica, despite the smaller 6x optical zoom. (Actually, the total magnification is higher in 640x480 resolution.) However, it has more buttons and dials, which are great for experts, but more confusing for the average user. It is capable of running on standard batteries, but using the burst modes with flash and a Microdrive really eats up power.
The Mavica's floppy disk system is much easier to transfer to your PC, and more convenient. The Sony sure-shot lens steadying system makes it much more likely a novice will get a good shot at extreme telephoto. (I did not realize how good this was, until I started playing with the S602Z.) The InfoLithium battery always tells you exactly how much time you have left. The built in charger allows you to run the camera, saving power when viewing TV or editing. I slightly prefer the Mavica's 10x-lens and the color representation. I think it is easier to use but, then again, I use a Mavica every day.
The Mavica will connect to both a NTCT TV and a PAL TV, while the S602 will connect to one or the other, depending where you bought it. The Mavica AC Adapter will handle both European and American voltage/frequency, the S602 AC adapter, available separately, is voltage specific. In an amazing oversight, the S602 does not appear to have slideshow capability.
Although the Mavica FD97 and the Finepix S602 have similar list prices, the Mavica street price is about $100 lower. By the time you load the cameras up with storage and necessary accessories, the S602 costs about twice as much as the FD97. While the movie mode is great, 1-GB Microdrives cost $500 each and soon become expensive.
If you need the movies, action shots, and higher resolution (3M), the Fuji Finepix S602Z is an excellent choice, and expert users will really appreciate some of the advanced features. However, if you mainly shoot lower resolution shots (2M or less) for Internet and family use, and are more of an average user, you may well prefer the less expensive Mavica FD97 or the even more reasonable Mavica FD95. (A few years ago, when I paid almost $1000 for my FD95, I never thought I would describe it as reasonable.)
The Bottom-Line.
This really is a nice camera, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. However, I don't think the picture quality is as good as it could be, especially at 6M and/or extreme wide angle. I do like the burst modes, and the full manual mode. The movie capability is awesome but it eats up storage and Microdrives are expensive. I am not planning to run out and trade in my Mavica, but if Santa were to drop a S602Z in my stocking, you would not hear me complaining.
Buyer Beware.
This camera does not ship until June 2002. Some camera stores on the web are listing it as in-stock, and charging a $200 premium. While it is possible they have a few pre-release cameras, there is no guarantee that they won't take your money and ship it when everyone else does. My advice: save your money and buy it discounted when it ships.
See Also:
Sony Mavica MVC FD95: http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-2600-39C22D4-396E1AA8-prod4
Sony Mavica MVC FD97: http://www.epinions.com/content_63018602116
Fuji Finepix S602 Zoom: http://www.epinions.com/content_64254873220
Digital Cameras for Bunnies: http://www.epinions.com/content_2654445700
CD Burners for Bunnies: http://www.epinions.com/content_2645663876
Just cut&paste the URL into your browser's address window.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 699
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