My first Fuji bridge camera was the excellent S7000 a couple of years ago. I bought it used, refurbished, and I was amazed what a fantastic imaging chip it had with 12MP, wonderful dynamic range, brilliant fuji film emulation JPEG, and ease of use. Some of my favorite shots were done using the S7000. One of my shots using that camera has gotten well over 8000 views in Flickr.
I also have the S2 and S3 Fuji SLRs using the Nikon 16-85mm lens for which I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the imaging chip (basically the same as the S7000) and the very sharp Nikkor lens. This is a great line of imaging chips Fuji has developed and continues with the EXR version and the JPEG software in-camera that brings out the best this remarkable imaging chip can do.
But the Fuji S2 and S3 are quite large and heavy, especially with a Nikkor zoom lens attached. So I was glad to see that a successor to the Fuji S100 was available at a reasonable price and with additional features.
This might become your preferred walk-about gear. You can do quite a lot with its features. The 435mm zoom is real. The 30mm wide-angle is about all you need for most situations. The sharpness varies according to how steady you hold the camera. Yes, there is vibration reduction, but at such an extreme zoom it never hurts to brace yourself against something on these long telephoto shots for optimum results.
This review is based solely on using the EXR setting. I wanted to see what it would do on its most touted super automatic mode. It pairs three ways of using the imaging chip's two types of pixels along with six scene modes. The choices it makes are not always what I would choose. Too often it would select too low an ISO speed or shutter speed on a telephoto shot but it generally got good results. The color was excellent but not as exaggerated as I prefer in the Velvia film emulation mode. But certainly no complaints.
When in EXR mode it selected ISO 800 or higher, graininess or noise was visible on high magnification in Picassa 3, the editing software from Google. But this is only something you would see if you blew up a photo to print at 20" by 30" or greater. It is not noticeable on my 22" monitor at full size. And certainly not on a snapshot or even 8" x 10" print. You would have to spend at least two to three thousand dollars more for an SLR and top lens to get better image quality. It is not the same quality I get with my S2 or S3 and a top nikkor lens.
But fortunately, the camera does not cost nearly as much or weigh as much! The results from my use so far in my limited use are encouraging, to say the least. This is a great bridge camera. The F2.8 lens is fast at wide angle settings. On automatic modes it will even jump to ISO 6400 if needed to get the shot. I don't think there are many amateur photographers who would regret buying this.
The battery, right out of the box, had some charge. You can load it in the well designed battery compartment (when you flick the yellow tab it falls right into your palm) and take a few test shots to get some familiarity with the features. But charge it for a couple of hours and you will get over three hundred shots. It is a good idea to buy the AC power input unit for doing your upload to your computer lest the battery give out during the process. Also, the external power unit is good for studio type work where you are shooting many hundreds of shots daily. You can find aftermarket batteries and power bricks for this on Amazon at very good prices.
The feel, the ergonomics, of the S200EXR are excellent. On manual, you use the control dial to change the shutter speed, but hold the +/- button on top while using the control dial to change the aperture. On photo review mode, use the up and down on the main dial to magnify the reviewed image. It has no front control wheel as some cameras of this type do.
I'd recommend keeping it on continual autofocus. It hunts a bit on single autofocus. In general, I was pleased with the focus I got. There are three modes you can choose so experiment to find what suits your needs.
The latches for the memory card, battery, and I/O connections are sturdy and fit perfectly, avoiding accessory compartment rage a few cameras engender. The lens takes a 67mm filter. I noticed no vignetting on wide angle, but a thin filter is always a good idea. Just get lens protection, not UV or warming or anything like that. The editing software in your computer is what does those things now. If you want motion blur, get an 8X neutral density filter. Another good one to have is the polarizing filter which brings out the sky, cuts through reflections, and reduces the shine on skin in portraits. Fujifilm Finepix S200EXR 12MP Super CCD Digital Camera with 14.3x Optical Triple Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD
Let me say for starters I have been dabbling in photography for years and have always had Nikons. F100, D100, D90. I wanted something to carry around without the huge camera case and lenses so I tried the Canon Sx10is which in itself is a nice little camera, then Panasonic FZ35, which again is a nice little camera, both of which feel like toys in comparison to Nikon D90, but their results are very good, but Pany was just too small for my hands. Then comes the SX200EXR. All the feel of an SLR without the motorized zoom, which I hated, and so far results that are very impressive. The colors and resolution are IMHO on par with any DSLR I have used without even trying to get it right. Although you can go full manual if you want to, all the programs from shutter priority to auto EXR are showing great results. Auto EXR is very impressive and I usually wouldn't say that about any "auto" mode!
There has been alot of talk about the fringeing problem that it's predecesor, the S100SF has and I have yet to see any with this camera. I love it. - Fujifilm - Finepix - Photography - Digital Camera'
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