Viewfinder

The S2 Pro's viewfinder has a rubber eyepiece cup (which can be removed for accessory attachment). The view itself is clear, bright and sharp with a good focusing screen. As I noted in my D100 review the actual view itself appears to be very slightly smaller than the D60 (although there's not much in it). The S2 Pro does have a sliding dioptre lever tucked away on the right hand side.

Viewfinder view

Through the viewfinder you'll see the center-weighted metering circle and five indicated AF area markers. Note that the active focus area darkens when selected. The on-demand grid lines can be turned on via custom function 2, these are useful for ensuring alignment when taking landscape or architectural shots. Along the bottom of the viewfinder view you will see the status bar. This provides you with an overview of camera (photographic) settings as well as exposure settings.

Batteries

Just like the S1 Pro the S2 Pro splits its power requirements in half. Firstly there are two CR123A (or DL123A) batteries in the base of the hand grip, these power the photographic side of the camera - exposure, auto focus, vibration reduction (on VR lenses), AF illuminator. These batteries are fairly common camera batteries and do seem to last a long time. In the base of a camera is a battery tray which holds four AA batteries, these power the digital side of the camera - capture, processing, LCD display etc. We recommend high capacity AA NiMH's, they should last for several hundred frames.

Storage Compartment

On the rear of the S2 Pro you will find a horizontally hinged door which is opened by pushing a small lever on the right side downwards. Inside you will find two storage slots, one for SmartMedia (up to 128 MB - useful!) and the other for Compact Flash Type I or II (including IBM Microdrive). Note that there are no rubber seals around this door and thus rain water or dew could make its way into the storage compartment.

Connections

On the left side of the camera are a variety of connectors. Firstly there's a PC Sync socket, this will be a very welcome new addition for studio photographers. Below this is an IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connector, again another useful new addition to the S2 Pro which allows for high speed transfer of images as well as tethered remote shooting using the supplied 'camera shooting software'. Below this, grouped together, are the DC-IN, Video Out and USB connectors.

Camera Base / Tripod Mount

On the bottom of the camera you'll find the metal tripod socket which is aligned exactly with the center line of the lens. The mount also appears to be in line with the focal plane (position of the imager). As I have commented on with other Digital SLR's it would have been nice to see a rubber coating on the bottom of the camera.

Pop-up Flash

The S2 Pro's pop-up flash is released by pressing a small button on the left side just below the flash. Opening the flash automatically enables it and charges the flash capacitor ready to shoot. The flash has a guide number of 12/39 (m/ft) at ISO 100. Just like the D100 the S2 Pro fires its flash only once for each shot, enabling red-eye reduction illuminates the AF assist lamp.

AF Assist Lamp

The AF assist lamp on the S2 Pro will automatically illuminate the subject if light levels are too low for the AF system to make a good focus. The lamp can be enabled or disabled via a custom function.

Flash Hot-shoe

The S2 Pro has a standard Nikon hot-shoe which can accept a wide range of Nikon Speedlights including the new SB-80DX and SB-50DX (pictured below).

Lens Mount

The S2 Pro has a Nikon F lens mount, it can accept almost any Nikkor F mount lens. Full camera features are only available when you use G or D type AF Nikkor CPU lenses.

Box Contents

Contents of the retail box are:  • Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro digital SLR body  • Neck strap  • Body cap  • LCD cover  • Eyepiece cover  • 2 x CR123A batteries  • 4 x AA Alkaline batteries  • Video, USB and IEEE 1394 cables  • CD-ROM's (inc. Photoshop Elements)  • Manual, Quick Start Guide