Fujifilm FinePix S602 Zoom

Opinion: My brother and I got our mom a 2MP FujiFilm camera for Christmas 2001 (and she loves it), and I was so impressed with the images from her compact camera, I decided to look at the FujiFilm line for my first digital camera. Having average around 8-10 rolls of 35mm on past vacations, I decided to research via Internet (including this site) and get a digital camera before my next trip. I was also getting discouraged with the photo processing at the local big-chain department store (will keep nameless but think you can guess). I also wanted to get one with some advanced features and full manual capability (shutter speed, aperture, etc.) to learn with without having to purchase a high-end 35mm SLR at the time.

I got this camera in Nov. 2002 along with a 1GB MicroDrive about a week before my Hawaii trip. Camera was $700 at the time. After returning home and downloading the images, I was impressed with the image quality and excellent color reproduction. I also didn't realize I took around 640 photos and 7 videos, LOL. A friend went with me on the trip and I gave him a copy of the images on DVD and he also was impressed with the image quality.

In 2005 he was getting married and I was asked to photographed the wedding with my camera. They were very pleased with the results overall and I also used the images to create a DVD slide show set to songs from their wedding.

I've taken alot of family related photos such as holidays, birthdays, etc. and my family loves the photos. My brother and his wife were so impressed with the images from this camera, they bought a FujiFilm digital camera also.

Overall I've been very pleased with this 3MP camera over the past 5 years and I absolutely dread the day when it bites the dust. I haven't touched my point-n-shoot 35mm since then and I've probably got some 35mm film that is no longer any good. I've printed several 8x10s and 5x7s from some of the images and have been very impressed with the results. Other items that encouraged my purchase was support for two different storage media (SM and CF/MD), usage of AA-size batteries instead of a proprietary battery, full auto or full manual mode, macro capability (fun to play with), and excellent reviews and sample photos from various websites (including this site).

Opinion: Over the years I've found this to be a solidly built and tough (for plastic) camera. It's been dropped, soaked in rain and generally abused and it's still working.

I've been pleased with the abilities of the macro modes and the wide range of focal lengths. Images are reasonably sharp if you keep the camera steady and have plenty light. For what you pay for, it is good value for money. For 6X4 images from a compact or P&S, this would work nicely. Good for holidays or otherwise "risky" trips where more expensive cameras might be missed.

The camera is very simple to use and has fully automatic modes which mean you can start off snapping straight away and also has some limited manual functions you can turn on later for more control.

It takes both Smart Media cards and Compact Flash. You will find it hard to get Smart media cards (as of 2006), but there are plenty CF that will be suitable.

Opinion: It's about time I wrote a review about it!

I've had the camera for two years now. Actually, this is my second one, as I got the first one stolen after one month!

After 40,000 pictures I would say, the weakness is the extending lens mechanism. I presume this may be the case with other prosumer cameras, extending lenses are very fragile. Using a neck strap is STRONGLY discouraged as the camera will bang its lens into objects as you move around. I use a holster instead. If the lens mechanism breaks (and it can easily, it's only held by three puny ABS plastic tabs), it's practically a write-off. Solution: buy a filter adapter and keep it on PERMANENTLY!

Apart from that, the rest of the construction is quite good. After two years using the camera daily, the button lettering has worn off and the zoom buttons have lost their silver coating (they're beige underneath), but it has never failed me except twice when it rebooted itself.

The AF is quite slow compared to the present crop of prosumers, but it is accurate and quite fast at outdoor light levels. Low light interiors are more of a challenge, if yoiu cannot find a contrasty subject (best focusing reference are vertical lines when shooting horizontal) and use a flashligfht. Sure wish it had an AF assist lamp!

Auto white balance is almost always exactly right on. Except for night and performances shot under colored lights, I basically never have to correct the white balance.

Contrast and exposure are very good. Dynamic range is very good, actually better in than that of the S20Pro in JPG mode and the colors are very good, except for a slight tendency for slightly yellowish reds and greens.

Speed of operation is excellent once focus is set. The last 5 picture mode is great, it really shoots at 5 frames per second! But if you want a fast camera for candids, this is not it. By the time you've started the camera and attained focus, that expression is probably gone.

The VGA movie mode is a must if you intend to use the camera for vacationing, but like most prosumers, you can't zoom while shooting, and the mike is very sensitive to noise.

It's OK with batteries, as long a s you use high capacity NiMH. With freshly charged batteries, you can shot continuously for several hours. I average 200 pictures most of them with flash (house interiors and details) on a set of batteries.

The flash is OK, but that's about it. It's not TTL, so results tend to vary a lot. It's range is fairly limited (up to maybe 20 feet).

I get the best image quality at 6MP fine and 160 ISO. 400 is usable, but any dark areas will be quite grainy. 3MP normal takes very little space and as long as you use ISO 160, you can get very good results straight out of the camera with normal sharpening. 800 and 1600 are usable but very noisy. You NEED Neat Image to remove the excessive chroma noise this mode causes (I find luminance noise much less objectionable) .

In day to day operation it is very easy to use. Most controls are easily set and accessed. One irritant would be the camera forgetting to rest itself to high resolution mode once it has been set to 1MP mode (for high ISO shooting). Another irritant, it will reset itself to 400ISO after a session shooting in 1600 if you stop to check your pictures. Finally, it has a great voice memo mode but it can be used automatically after shooting only if you are in full auto mode, which is quite restricted in features.

It can still be found occasionally for around $250 or so (about $150 as of may 2006), which is an excellent price for the value. For viewing on screen only, it's more than enough (my monitor is set at 2048x1536) and even in 3MP normal mode, it produces good letter sized images.

Its main drawbacks are: zoom only starts at 35mm eq., which is hardly a wide angle at all. You can't zoom during filming. The autofocus is slow indoors and in the shade.

Opinion: I just love this camera,though I am still coming to terms with the digital way of shooting. The AE L still confuses me therefore I just ignore it. I mainly shoot A priority or S, on 3M fine, this gives great print outs at 8 x 10. If this camera packed up I would go out and buy a 7000.

Opinion: It’s pointless comparing this to a digital SLR. It’s not.

I'm an artist who uses a camera on an almost daily basis, and I wanted to try out digital, with out a huge outlay, so after looking at what was on offer I bought this second hand through ebay. I needed a camera that is easy to use with good image quality, aperture and shutter priority and the macro feature really appealed.

I thought that this camera would be used alongside my old EOS 35ml SLR, I have been amazed that it has totally supplanted it, with the exception of taking slides.
If you are printing up to 10 x 8 this should meet your needs, unless you are unusually demanding, in that case you should be getting a DSLR, you are going to need it.

If your prints aren’t up to scratch, you should find a good tutorial on preparing images for print. Remember the old a bad workman blames his tools maxim... just a quick hint, in Photoshop open your image then (menu) image>image size>enter the new size>uncheck resample image>ok. Now the resolution will go from 72 dpi up to a printable size, aim for 150 to 300 dpi for acceptable to excellent results.
This camera has been excellent

Opinion: Even though the 3 megapixel sensor is a bit outdated it it still WAY good enough unless you are planning on making prints over A3 size.

In my opinion the ergonometry of this camera is EXCELLENT. Even though it can be a monster to lug around sometimes it is very easy to get around and if you know the shift commands in a whole day of shooting you will never need to touch a menu.

I love the ISO 800-1600 option.. even though its only at the 1M mode, it has saved a few pics for me.

Good battery life. one set of 2000Mah batteries lasted me a whole 256 memmory card. (not shooting TIFF)

The "final five" shooting made is ingenius. VERY cool.

The macro mode is great, Even though it suffers from barrel distortion, its hot half as bad as you would probably think.

Almost everything is great about this camera accept a few things.

1. The battery low warning only comes on about 5 seconds before it shuts down... seems useless to me. Plus you have no way of telling how low/high your batteries are.. theres no way to tell.

2. For some reason, the panasonic camera i upgraded from gets faster shutter speeds at the same ISO as this cam.. it seems about, ISO 400 on ths s602 is about 300 compared to the panasonic. This seems a bit slow... Or maybe the panasonic is fast... Who knows.

3. TIFF is only available at the 6m mode.. none for the non-interpolated 3m mode.

4. the shutter lag seems a tad slow.. for sports I normaly use the continuous mode

thats all ive found bad about this camera, to me the good far outweighs it.

I say well done fujifilm.. (even though battery thing realy bugs me)

Opinion: I am only a beginner to digital photography and have only had the experience of taking photo's of my family. and have only ever had a very cheap 35m camera. My husband was given a kodak digital camera for his job. And since then I have had the good fortune to try several others one being a kodak DX6490Z. Now being a very proud grandmother of 5 very goreous grandchildren I was in need of my own digital camera. After a lot of research I purchased a Fuji Finepix S602Z and what a wonderful camera this is, I have taken in the vicinity of 1200 pic's. I find every thing about this camera perfect for me these are the best images I have ever taken EVER. I have taken my own portraits of the children, They are as good if not better than portraits myself and friends have paid quite a lot of money for. I have only high praise for this camera.
WELL DONE AND THANK YOU FUJI

Opinion: I am a novice photographer and up until 2 months ago was using a basic Sony Cybershot point and shoot camera (Sony DSC-S30). I bought this camera to tie me over until I delve into a full digital SLR. I spent much time researching and reviewing cameras....I had a few requirements as follows:

1. Full manual control of shutter, aperture and focus.
2. Full auto mode
3. At least 6x zoom
4. Ability to use filters
5. Can use CFII memory (so I can re-use when I buy my Digital SLR)
6. At least 3 Megapixel

Of all the cameras that met these requirements, the S602z was by far the best price. I really like the camera and am using it quite a bit though most of the photos on my website are still from the Sony camera(http://www.carlowise.net). Overall, I say this is a great camera and amd very pleased with it except for one flaw (described below).

Opinion: The 602 was my first foray into digital (3/03). Since then, I've also added an Oly E20N. The 602 is a really great camera with rich colors and fast performance in good light. The 6mp interpolated files may not look so great viewed at 100% on a computer screen, but they print out fantastic up to 8X10. If you want to print straight from the camera, use 6mp Normal mode. If you want optimal quality use 6mp Fine. You'll just need to do some post sharpening/contrast work before you can print.

The 602 feels great in the hands and has some really useful features like frist 5 or last 5 (at almost 4fps) and super-macro (fantastic close-up capability). It works well in program, aperture priority and shutter priority and is resonably easy to use in manual mode. Some may find all the external buttons daunting but it's really a plus after you've used the camera awhile. All those buttons allow you to access menu items directly without having to dig through several screens of the LCD/EVF.

The 35-210 zoom covers a lot of ground and you don't really need the accessory lenses. I have them both, and rarely bother to take them out. It is a good idea to the adapter tube to allow you to use filters and protect the lens barrel.

My only two wishes would be for an af assist light for low light situations and TTL flash. I'm spoiled by my E20N + FL50 combo (full TTL plus 1/640 sync speed).

This camera is no longer in production but has been superceded by the s7000 and s20Pro. Both offer better speed and improved resolution. If I didn't have the 602, I'd probably go for the s7k as it's substantially cheaper than the s20Pro.