Product Reviews

Big zooms must mean big business to camera makers - just about everyone has at least one in their range. And Fuji, one of the largest manufacturers of digital compact cameras, has four different models. Its latest is the FinePix S8000fd which, as the current flagship, boasts an enviable specification.

For starters this SLR-style camera sports an 8.3 megapixel resolution CCD, a wide-angle-to-super-telephoto lens with a massive 18x zoom (27mm-486mm) and a sizeable 2.7in colour monitor.

While 8.3 megapixels will provide plenty of detail up to A3 if printing at home, it's the extreme zoom ratio of the Fujinon-branded lens that stands out. Although not the first digital compact to offer that range, the S8000fd ups the resolution by a million pixels on arch-rival Olympus' SP-550 UZ and delivers a marginally wider look to snaps. Capable of isolating distant subjects one minute and taking group snaps in the pub the next, as well as offering an impressive 1cm macro mode, these models are among the most versatile of digital compacts.

High magnification carries with it the risk of blurred pictures due to camera shake. However this is Fuji's first offering to sport a new CCD-shift mechanism to counter this.

This not only helps to combat blur when light levels tumble but also lessens your dependency on hiking sensor sensitivity and, with it, unsightly noise, to achieve a shake-stopping shutter speed. As the unsightly speckles are as disappointing as poor focus and blur from camera shake, it's good to see makers taking a more sensible approach.

Maximum sensitivity is ISO 6400, though from ISO 3200 the resolution is halved to just four megapixels. Perhaps more importantly though, capped at either ISO800 or ISO1600, the maker has expanded the options by offering a choice of Auto ISO settings up from the usual ISO100-400.

As a result of declining sensitivity when the lens is zoomed, focus operation and accuracy at the longer focal lengths are another very real concern - and narrow depth of field compounds the issue.

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To counter this the focus system has a highly sensitive cross-type AF sensor. But if you want a snap of someone, the inclusion of the maker's impressive face-detection AF system, pioneered on previous point-and-shoots, should also pay dividends.

In our tests the face-detection system took two to three times as long to focus on a stationary subject in telephoto mode as it did at the lens' widest setting, partly a result of having to move internal lens elements over a greater distance. But this was expected.

Accurate focus on a moving subject at the lens' longest settings depends on so many variables that mostly it's down to luck. But face-detection works extremely well at the wider settings, easily detecting up to nine individuals on the screen and, as claimed, correcting for strong backlighting and red eye when using the built-in flash.

In low light, using the telephoto settings, the cross-shaped AF sensor proved a pretty reliable backup, and the anti-shake system helped to improve sharpness a little. Noise levels aren't as low as the eight-megapixel F40fd and ugly colour blotching is quite noticeable at ISO800. Like many compacts, the S8000fd finds poor lighting challenging.

The Fuji is a lot smaller than any digital SLR but it's sturdy and comfortable to hold. The outer shell is plastic, though the quality of finish is several notches above previous offerings. It's light too but like the Olympus, the choice of four AA-size batteries pushes the mass to over half a kilo.

Outdoors, using the default settings, the colours seem a little muted - especially noticeable with skin tones - though greens and blues look pleasing. There are scant image parameter settings but a quick trip into the F-mode submenu to select the F-Chrome option provides more vivid-looking colours. Picture quality is good - images are pin-sharp at the wider-end, though there's the usual lowering of contrast at the extreme telephoto setting. We also noticed some purple fringing at the edges of high-contrast scenes but barrel distortion is relatively low. And thanks to a clever short-telephoto preset feature, there's far less distortion than is common at close-range when using the 1cm super-macro option.

Fuji ought to follow the example of Panasonic's new, similarly priced DMC-FZ18. It too boasts an 18x zoom - and a lightweight rechargeable lithium battery capable of lasting twice as long, powering around 400 snaps, and ensuring that the camera weighs in at around 400g all in. This aside, the FinePix S8000fd is a good choice and we recommend it. But you should also check out the FZ18 and Olympus' latest SP-560 UZ.