Major Con:
I'll let the others talk about the details, but I just got off the phone with Fuji tech support and was told Fuji is saying to stay away from CompactFlash and use Microdrive instead. Microdrives cost ALOT more just so you know.S602 - GREAT Camera for creative photos not hi-res geeks I purchased a Fujifilm S602 after my poor and much loved Olympus C2000Z bit the dust. I always thought after near four years of trailing behind the technology, that things had not changed much. I was very wrong. The changes are completely beyond my expectations.
IMPORTANT:
I have modified this review in light of investigations leading me to find out I was wrong about the hardness setting concerns.
What I thought was smearing due hard/soft image setting is due to the ISO setting! WHEN USING ISO 400, FINE DETAIL IS SMEARED giving the picture an odd, fudgy, appearance. Once I set the camera to ISO 160 for outdoor work, all is fine.
MINOR niggles:
Battery cuts out with VERY little warning (like a few seconds!).
Not good AUTO focussing in dim conditions.
Tricky to use manual focussing (don't know if there is another camera with an electronic viewfinder which offers better, but...). The camera uses a small blown up area in the centre of the screen to focus on, but its not too easy (neat feature though)
Can be a little tricky to navigate round all the features (but I'm getting used to it).
Would've been nice to see more lower res options; eg 1024x786, and why have a 'basic' 450k version of the 2000x3000 image????
Slight, but noticeable unfocussing at image edges (left and right) on hi res shots.
NOT a pocket camera.
SUMMARY OF GOOD POINTS:
Big and high quality lens giving nice, and colourful images and the flash is not need for most pics which is great!
FANTASTIC features from full auto control to completely manual with light metering; I'm still learning about them after three weeks of constant use!
Virtually everything is customisable.
Very good range of shutter speeds opening up great possibilities (including flash synced pics down to 1/10000 sec!)
Preview mode (click once you are happy with a shot to store)
Dual/triple media format; CF (upto 512mb - not the 128 in the manual), SM and IBM Microdrive.
Display grid making accurate horizons a breeze.
Three shot mode; one over exposed, one 'normal' exposure, and one under exposed.
Multi expose pictures as many times as you wish, building layer upon layer of imaging.
VERY GOOD battery life. Much better than my old camera; well over 100 pics using the flash intermittently and also the screen all the time! Use NIMH batteries though.
6x Zoom -very useful; more than I would have thought.
640 X 480 Full vga movie mode with sound.
ISO 1600 option for low light no flash pics (a bit grainy for usual pics, though)
NOT a pocket camera (looks the part).
So many other good things and more which I have not discovered yet!
It can be used as a point and click snapper, or it has all the manual features one could hope for for really creative shooting.
The fact that you have COMPLETE manual control from 15 secs shutter down to 1/10000 AND aperture settings from F2.8 - F11. This completely manual option is coupled with a very handy light meter which means that the manual mode is really easy to use. In fact I use it for most scenery pics.
I bought this camera for work (machinery pics) and mainly for its big lens for capturing good pics without flash in lowish light.
It has delivered a heck of a lot more; I now look at the old Olympus C2000Z and at this side by side. I paid the same price for the Oly four years ago and thought cameras had not moved on since; I was wrong!
Having said all this I am aware that other cameras now may offer even more to the consumer; I think this camera offers a little more to the creative user - If you think you will never use the major creative features of this camera and picture size and quality are absolute criteria, look elsewhere as you'll find cameras which will offer a smidgen better picture quality or higher resolution, but for a blend of excellent picture quality, all the features you could want, and value for money (price for this unit is very keen now), then look no further.
The S602 had enough manual features to keep me happy, things like manual focus, fstops, etc...
The navigational features of the S602 are very intuitive and easy to navigate. I was seriously considering the Olympus C-4000, but the C-4000 didn't have an intuitive interface, so it was either more MegaPixels or good interface, for me a great interface means more time to take great pictures.
The only problem and a common complaint on most digital cameras is that the batteries die too quickly. If you get this camera, make sure you get an AC-5V adapter when you download your images to your computer.
