Fujifilm has announced today the FinePix S7000 Zoom (top) and S5000 Zoom (bottom) cameras. The S7000 has the 6x optical zoom (35 to 210mm) and 6M pixel SuperCCD HR sensor, which can produce 12M pixel images. The S5000 has the 10x optical zoom (37 to 370mm) and 3M pixel SuperCCD HR sensor, which can produce 6M pixel images. Both cameras allow you to save your images in the RAW format (Great news for photographers). The S7000 has the shutter speed range of 15 sec. – 1/10,000 sec (wow!) and the S5000 has 2 sec. — 1/2000 sec (Both cameras will be great for sports or fast-action photography). Both cameras come loaded with the features that enthusiastic photographers want: electronic viewfinder, multiple metering systems, ISO800, exposure compensation and bracketing, white balance control, etc.
Both cameras use the new xD slot instead of SmartMedia (the S7000 still has a CF slot), and USB 2.0 connections. The S7000 is priced at $799 and S5000 at $499.
Check out both cameras at the official Fuji page.
PS. Perhpas it's time for our colleague Craig to upgrade his Olympus C2100???
Never! Well, OK, not never, but my trusty Olympus C-2100 UZ (http://craig.dynup.net/photography) will likely serve me well for several years to come. I *still* don't see any digital cams with optical image stabilization and 10X zooms...do you??
- Craig
No, but with the faster shutter speed, you might not need it with Fuji when taking fast-action photography whereas the Olympus definitely needs the stabilization given its slower shutter speed (1/800 sec). For most telephoto zoom at that range, you really need a tripod anyway for slower shutter speed. The Finepix S7000 looks very interesting (even though it's only 6x, you can use it with 1.5 and .79 converters as well).
Craig talked me into the UZI a couple of years ago and I have never looked back. It's an awesome camera. (Not awesome enough to buy a spare though!)
Another cool side effect of the image stabolized lens is the ability to take pictures in extremely low light without a flash and still get crisp images. I have had success at 1/10 seconds using a steady hand and good breath control.
That Fuji S5000 looks quite nice. I HAVE to have 10X zoom now that the UZI has spoiled me so. Too bad they did away with Smartmedia for that model.
I think Smartmedia is pretty much dead at this point . . . CF on the other hand is a different story.
I give the S7000 a big thumbs up, However I dislike the S5000 because of a)xd only b)3MP only.
The S602Z was #1 below digital SLRs, now I guess it will be #2 after the S7000