Fujifilm FinePix S1500 Review

#1 Jan

Since two weeks ago, I am owner of S1500. Al experimented with many and I am very satisfied

12:31 pm - Wednesday, June 3, 2009

#2 Matt

i bought one of these after reading many generally positive reviews.  i managed to get this for £170 with a bag and 4gb card. 

it seems these bridge cameras can have battery life issues and in the reviews that gave info about the s1500 battery life, this one seemed to do quite well. 

with the supplied alkalines mine managed to get just over 450 images.  seeing as it was a new toy, there was lots of flash and zoom in use too.  ive put a set of 2650mah rechargables in there and have since gone past 1000 images with no warnings yet.  so in terms of battery life im very impressed. 

i am admitedly a relative newb to slightly more advanced camera settings so my attempts at getting night shots at Le Mans were pretty poor.  ill keep on practicing though

otherwise, im more than happy with the image quality so far.  when comparing this to my friends 400d SLR Canon, the Fuji’s pictures are a fair bit darker if used in auto mode, but im sure it could be tweaked to improve the performance.

10:51 am - Tuesday, June 16, 2009

#3 Fearnofishbob

I am looking @ the S1500 to replace an aging Canon.I had an S5000 and did not like the shutter lag it had, has anyone experienced shutter lag with the S1500 ??
Also what is the maximum SD card size that the S1500 will accomidate. I tried to get this info from Fuji’s website with no luck !!

7:40 pm - Saturday, June 20, 2009

#4 Marian

From Fuji site you can find out that max size for card (tested) is 16Gb

2:51 pm - Wednesday, July 1, 2009

#5 Kathie

Went from a Fuji F30 classic to the S1500 based on bridge style, extreme zoom and auto optimal setting.  Took terrific outdoor shots of my son’s graduation. Enjoyed the panorama setting which stitches 3 consecutive shots together in one saved picture. Indoor pics are grainy in natural light.  Movies were great! 15x zoom really nice addition. Camera has great rubberized grasp. I’m still no expert at aperture, shutter speed settings.

8:49 pm - Saturday, July 11, 2009

#6 Jim Albani

I am wanting to pick up this camera, however, I would like to know how the action shots taken with this camera are ? Are fast moving objects blurred at all ? is the camera capable of taking images that are quickly moving using the higher shutter speed ? I would appreciate the feedback

8:08 pm - Friday, July 17, 2009

#7 keith

Bought one of these a few months ago and I have been nothing but pleased.  It does everything well and it has different settings you can just click for different light conditions. Sporting events, night, fireworks etc.
I love the night setting that keeps the shutter open for longer and creates really cool pictures.
Its been really simple to operate also. Im no expert but Ive delved into photography enough to be able to use the more advanced features as well, which are very cool…like the panoramic setting . You wont go wrong with this camera and the price is very attractive.

5:40 pm - Sunday, August 2, 2009

#8 Jeff

My mom bought one of these and I borrowed it. I had it for over 3 months and she forced me to return it! So I bought me one. This is so much bang for the buck. Miles ahead of my Cannon point and click. I love the fact that it is AA batteries so replacements can be just around the corner if you run out. When I used mom’s for 3 months, I never had to replace the battery so I have no idea how long they will last.

The images are so much clearer than my other cameras and you will appreciate the professional looking shots. With a little thought you can shed that “point-n-click” image for good.  I got mine for $179 with free shipping on Amazon.

11:05 pm - Wednesday, August 12, 2009

#9 Tony Jones

10 million pixels is all very good but I need to take photos for emailing.Is the resolution variable?
Is the flash permanently off unless activated.My current camera has flash permanently on unless disabled which I find inconvenient.

8:42 am - Thursday, August 13, 2009

#10 jimbob

just got this as a gift.thanks sandra x. could anyone tell me what filters to use on this cam. thanks.

10:26 pm - Sunday, August 16, 2009

#11 Jules

I have a question. I bought one of these cameras and everything is fine except when I do video, the audio is impaired by the sound of the auto zoom. Can anyone tell me if this autozoom can be turned off? Or should I just invest in a video camera?

3:54 pm - Tuesday, August 25, 2009

#12 Ju1iet

Bought an S1500 last week, and I am returning it today. Compared to my Canon, the image quality is just not up to par. The noticeable color noise and lack of crisp details are noticeably worse than any of my Canon A560.

Yes, the S1500 has a great form factor, a nice price, and some really attractive features. Those features tempted me to try it. But if the resulting images are lousy, what’s the point?

Perhaps I’m too picky, but my Canon has spoiled me, and the S1500 takes much poorer photos in all conditions.

6:50 pm - Tuesday, August 25, 2009

#13 Tibor

I can only recommend it for everybody!
I bought first a Nikon L100 with high hopes, than i returned it same day and got a FinePix S1500.
It is a very good value for its price!
I’m an expert hobby-photographer and totally satisfied with this bridge-camera.

2:33 am - Wednesday, August 26, 2009

#14 sajo

@ #9

yes, you can choose from different resolutions, and flash is very easy enabled/disabled

4:17 pm - Thursday, August 27, 2009

#15 Neill

My mums thinking of getting one of these can anyone tell me if they are a sesible buy for the technophobic ! She has a Minolta film slr but never really changes lenses etc so it is a bit of a waste. I was encouraging her towards a compact but she likes the slr look and has arthritis so prfers the chunkier type of grip. So all in all can anyone give me an honest thought plus the cheapest/best buys shop etc.
Many thanks

8:19 pm - Saturday, September 26, 2009

#16 Jules

@15

This camera would be good for your purposes. It’s light yet it gives you the feel of something that’s bigger.

I found the cheapest prices at Amazon, although that was a month ago so I’m not sure about how valid a point that would be right now.

Mine was $179 at that time but I’m sure you’d find it for less than that if you shop around a bit.

You really can’t go wrong. It takes good pictures and for the technophobe, there’s no need to ever take it out of auto. The grip on the right-hand side has a good amount of space but still manages to be snug. My hands aren’t that big and it feels comfortable.

10:11 pm - Saturday, September 26, 2009

#17 Hannah

For the last year or so I’ve really been getting into photography.
A few friends of mine have been asking for shots of their band, and another for sporting event photos, can anyone tell me if this camera’s really built for those sort of good quality shots?

10:20 pm - Tuesday, September 29, 2009

#18 Jules

@17

I took a bunch of pics during a Blues Festival in poorly lit conditions. There were 8 bands and 7 of them absolutely loved the pics that I took. The one that didn’t want my stuff already had a photographer travelling with them.

So the short answer is yes, given the usual little edits, I found that this cam works well for those types of shots.

1:32 am - Wednesday, September 30, 2009

#19 dean

Just used my camera for the first time in anger at a deer park. Deer and background were similar colour but I seemed to get a lot of white in the photo on the deer and especially on the grass. Mode was normal and flash was off. Overcast conditions. Any help please, I am a semi beginner so can’t blame the camera. Did AF assist kick in. Could I have used SRauto. Thanks.

4:16 pm - Sunday, October 4, 2009

#20 Jules

Dean,

It sounds like your picture was over exposed. SR might help solve your problem. Or if that doesn’t work you can try this:

Turn your dial to P. The hit the +- button on the right bottom of the cam. Use the Up/Down, Left/Right cursers or the back to adjust. Now you can darken your shot gradually and manually until you get the light, or lack thereof, that you’d need.

The only way to do it is to play around with the settings until you find the desired result. Try to remember what you did under specific conditions to get it right…that would be the most important thing so that you can repeat it when you need to.

4:39 pm - Sunday, October 4, 2009

#21 Jules

* on the back to adjust. Sorry

4:41 pm - Sunday, October 4, 2009

#22 dean

Jules
many thanks for your reply. All a bit new at the moment. Thinking about what I did. I believe I held the shutter button down too long at the halfway stage before I took the shot,could that have let too much light in causing the over exposure. Thanks in advance if you can answer.

5:13 pm - Sunday, October 4, 2009

#23 Jules

I doubt that.

Once it focusses and locks in you should be all set. However, if you then move onto say, a different background, your exposure would be incorrect since the auto focus chooses the exposure levels for you. So that might have done you in also.

So unless you changed your focal point of view (which might have happened) holding down the shutter half way for an extended period wouldn’t necessarily screw up your exposure.

5:51 pm - Sunday, October 4, 2009

#24 John

Jules #11

I have the same problem with the video audio being impaired by the auto-zoom.  Have you found a fix for the issue?

4:52 am - Monday, October 12, 2009

#25 Jules

John #24

Nope. Had to buy a vid cam instead. Canon Vixia 200. Haven’t had much time to test it out. But obviously the quality is much superior and I reckon I did the right thing.

6:16 am - Monday, October 12, 2009

#26 Sandy

I have been researching cameras for a few weeks now, I would really like to try something other than a point and shoot camera.  I’m undecided between this one or the Panasonic ZS-1 (point and shoot).

I was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me how the lag time is between taking shots.  Any opinions on which one I should go with would be great too! This Fuji one just seems like such a great deal.

Thanks!

8:08 pm - Tuesday, October 20, 2009

#27 John

Sandy, I use a Canon G10 and my girlfriend has a Fuji S1500.  The only negative issue I’ve had with her camera is the autofocus noise completely destroys the audio on her videos.

I haven’t noticed significant lag time with the Fuji but I’m aware that others claim that to be an issue with the camera.

8:37 pm - Tuesday, October 20, 2009

#28 eleanor

im really thinking about buying this cam, but i wanted to know if it´s good for sunsets and daybreaks pics.

6:57 am - Thursday, October 22, 2009

#29 Jules

@#28
Here’s the thing:

Saying a specific camera takes good pictures is like saying one piano plays better tunes than another.

Yes, it has to do with equipment but it has more to do with the pianist at the end of the day. Or for our purposes, the photographer.

For the price of this camera I still don’t think you can go wrong.

Combine that with some research and homework, and perhaps invest in some post production software (Photoshop) and this camera will take any picture you want. It has the obvious limitations and even the most seasoned pro will tell you that most of the work is done after you’ve taken your shot.

I still recommend this camera for the average person who would like to switch from a point and shoot to something a little more involved.

Sunrise, sunset it doesn’t matter. The right person behind the camera is what makes the difference.

We buy these things expecting that they’ll do everything for us and that’s simply not the case. You need to invest more than just a little money to get the results that you need.

2:52 pm - Thursday, October 22, 2009

#30 eleanor

Thank you! Im definitely going to buy this camera, because for its price i think it´s worth a try. And i agree with you when you say “The right person behind the camera is what makes the difference”. i have been using a sony w-50 for a while and im very proud of some of my pics.

7:29 pm - Thursday, October 22, 2009

#31 Stevo

Like others, I am a Cannon guy. I returned the horrible Nikon L-100 as well. I have the Cannon A-720 which takes better close up video, but distance video is not very good, where the Fuji will makes adjustments in brightness and sharpness. It was a close call on this one. I weighed the versatility of the Fuji (along with price) - against the negatives. The zoom was a big factor, and it’s crystal clear image. I’m keeping mine.

2:36 am - Saturday, October 24, 2009

#32 Steve

I purchased one of these cameras 6 weeks ago and have already taken 2500 pictures with.  I am more than pleased with the performance and the quality of my pictures.  All sorts of subjects were covered including low light, super macro, really fast exposures.  I have only had one problem and I do not think it is related to the camera.  I was playing with the camera in a continuous shooting mode, trying to capture blue jays in our hanging feeder.  Lots of action, but hard to capture with single shots.  I had the camera set at maximum picture size (10mp).  I had shot about 25 or 30 pictures capturing some great pictures, so I continued shooting more.  I was into maybe 60 or 70 more pictures when the camera quit taking pictures and threw an error code onto the display saying it could not write the file.  OK, card full I thought.  The card is a 4 gb el-cheapo model, but seemed to work well.  SO I took the card out, put it my card reader and nothing.  Windows gave it a drive letter and nothing else.  It could not read the card.  Much discussion was held at work and suggestions were made to try some file recovery programs.  Tried about a dozen of them with the same result, nothing to recover.  One program actually gave me a clue, Card size 0 Bytes.  This sort of tells me the card has some how fried itself and that my pictures (750+) are gone.  I have tried the card in several computers and even in a different camera, result the same, cannot read card.  I know this has not been caused by the camera, so was it the card itself.  As with most things, more expensive is better.  I would appreciate any comments about this if anyone has had similar problems.  I have done a lot of reading on the net and this is not an isolated problem as lots of folks are loosing pictures.  I am just glad my pictures were nothing important like a wedding.  Thanks for reading this post.

Steve

11:39 am - Sunday, October 25, 2009

#33 Josh

i got this bad boy today. and i must say its the most enjoyable thing ive bought. i like all the features and i think its a pretty cheap but quality camera :D batteries have been hangin in there took over like 300 pics max settings and still good.

7:19 am - Monday, October 26, 2009

#34 Jules

#32 Steve,

Cheap memory cards are like cheap hookers. While the outside may seem functional enough, chances are, there’s something seriously wrong on the inside.

With memory cards though, it usually hides in the circuitry - low quality connections often lead to low quality performance and worst of all, total loss of information.

Also, while cheap hookers have a proclivity towards smack and crack, manufacturors of cheap memory devices have a tendency to use even cheaper crap components to make their products.

So in essence, it’s about balance - you wouldn’t match up a good buddy with a cheap hooker now would you?

1:59 pm - Monday, October 26, 2009

#35 Steve

Jules.  Thanks for the reply to my question.  I am leaned a long way to the side to replace my card that I have left.  I have a 2 gig Kingston home not being used so I thing I will put that in the camera till I get a 4 gig replacement.  And you are right, I wouldn’t match up a good buddy with a cheap hooker.

Steve

4:16 pm - Monday, October 26, 2009

#36 Jules

One thing about file recovery though. I read on Stumble about a week ago, this advice:

Put your drive in a freezer for a couple of hours and then try to retrieve any lost information.

However, the advice pertained to a hard drive as opposed to a memory card (which is basically a miniature version.)

I haven’t tried it but these guys swear by it.

Worst case cenario - frozen card syndrome - which is not that far from screwed up card syndrome. A case of which you currently have either way.

10:41 pm - Monday, October 26, 2009

#37 Eric

#32 Steve

I think your photo can be recover.

First go to the Disk management program, check if the drive can be read or not.

If it show a partition, it’s fine, move to next step, else create a working partition on the disk.

Next, quick format it to erase off the FAT table in the drive (Please don’t full format it as it will erase all the file), this is to allow any program to access the drive.

(all the action above is to make the drive accessible to file recovery program)

Last, install any file recovery program and scan the surface, and your fill will be there!!

10:53 am - Thursday, October 29, 2009

#38 Steve

Jules and Eric:  Many thanks for the comments.  I have nothing to loose and posibilly something to gain.  Disk Management thing is also great idea.  I will give these both a try over the weekend.

9:22 am - Friday, October 30, 2009

#39 Steve

Eric:  OK< I have not tried to freeze the card yet but have gone thru the Disk Management as you suggested.  When I get far enough into the Disk Management program, the program tells me there is no media in the drive therefore I cannot partition it as you have suggested.  I have also tried this from the command prompt, with pretty much the same story, no media.

Where do I go next

8:18 pm - Sunday, November 1, 2009

#40 Eric

Steve, the solution i suggested is to solve the problem when camera corrupted the FAT table while updating the FAT table, which make us can’t access the file.

If we can refresh the FAT table, and access the drive, we can recover it. I encounter this problems many time before as i use my aged memory card on my DSLR.

From your discription, you can’t even detect the drive, it’s mostly due to circuit damage, which is unrecoverble hardware failure. I encounter before when i use a SD to CF adaptor on a nikon D3.

Luckily i clear my photo before i do this, and my Kingston 1GB SD card go into warranty on the next day.

Anyway, don’t let your S1500 go because of this. Use a better quality memory card will do.

3:00 pm - Monday, November 2, 2009

#41 Paul

Had a fuji 7.2 megapixel…...but got stolen

Replaced this with the s1500…........the 7.2 was absolute perfection.
It had good ergonomic design,simplicity of design and it did what it said it would do in an effective manner.

The s1500…....doesnt fit in its case…...dosesnt fit into the hand unless you are three and by comparison is as absolute nightmare.

They had a perfect solution. this one is awkward noisey in video mode, slow in ever other mode and has severe learning disability.

A real real dissapointment.  Its in the drawer where it will fester dust I guess.

4:02 pm - Wednesday, November 11, 2009

#42 dave

just bought my wife an s1500,and am wondering what memory card i should get.i am new to these sort of camera,normally just use disposable ha

3:25 pm - Friday, November 13, 2009

#43 Jules

@ Paul

What are you Gulliver?

Granted the video sucks but that’s why it’s not a video camera but a bridge camera.

Buy a new case.

Cameras don’t have learning disabilities, people do.

5:07 pm - Friday, November 13, 2009

#44 Jules

@Dave

I use an 8gb Sandisk. $13 at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-SDHC-Memory-SDSDB-8192-Package/dp/B0018BOLIC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1258129751&sr=1-8

Your quality setting will determine how many pics you can take until the card is full. For example:

On a normal 10mp setting you should be able to take 3100 pictures. Refer to page 109 in your Pdf manual for more examples.

Sandisk is a good quality memory card and I adivse you to seriously think about quality. If you read some of the previous posts you’ll find that cheap memory cards come at their own price; namely they screw up and lose your pictures.

5:37 pm - Friday, November 13, 2009

#45 Steve

Does anyone know if Fuji intend to produce filters for the FinePix S1500? A UV and Polarizer would be good.

7:42 pm - Saturday, November 14, 2009

#46 Jules

Steve,

Here’s a kit

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DMITQA

9:28 pm - Sunday, November 15, 2009

#47 Sofala

Jules, two reviewers who both state that you can’t fit filters to Fuji S1500, have you tried them?

11:16 pm - Sunday, November 15, 2009

#48 Jules

Steve,

Ultimately the answer to your previous question seems to be no. I just searched the good search now, but everything I see tells me that there are no filters for this camera.

However, if you are intent on using filters you can get some and McGuyver them on.

Where there’s a will there’s a way.

Also, I found 46mm filters that should, theoretically, fit. But don’t hold me to that. If you want you can check it out:

http://www.filterhouse.com/46mm_kenko_-_lowest_cost.cfm

11:28 pm - Sunday, November 15, 2009

#49 Steve

Cheers for the info Jules and it does look like I’ll have to McGuyver them on!

7:58 am - Monday, November 16, 2009

#50 Anirban

Is it possible to attach extra lens to this camera. And how about view finder is it also like a small lcd screen ???

10:17 am - Monday, November 16, 2009

#51 Jules

Anirban,

Duckt tape seems to be an option. And yes, the view finder is a small LCD.

3:30 pm - Monday, November 16, 2009

#52 Sofala

Good point Jules duck tape would probably do the trick.

Do you have any shots I could view that you took using the S1500?

9:28 pm - Monday, November 16, 2009

#53 Jules

http://northerninformationsights.blogspot.com/2009/10/iargo-springs.html

There you go. Some of these were taken under low light and as you will see, some not. But I think it’ll give you a fair idea.

11:48 pm - Monday, November 16, 2009

#54 Jules

This is probably my favorite one.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AXlID1vFkHE/SvIC7QwM-UI/AAAAAAAAD04/bEUX-yFVVQ0/s1600-h/Buildings35(1).jpg

11:53 pm - Monday, November 16, 2009

#55 Akki

Hey Steve
pls suggest which one to chose from out of Sony H20 and Fuji S1500fd,
especially when its ur first camera and first salary too…

12:11 pm - Tuesday, November 17, 2009

#56 Ani

Thanks Jules,

I have read some review, they are saying that picture quality is not so good. Is it true ?
And regarding extension of telephoto lens, doesn’t this camera have inbuild feature for extension, like clamp or somethimg like that. Can we call inbuilt lens in this camera, a telephoto one.

7:31 am - Wednesday, November 18, 2009

#57 Jules

Ani,

I’m not a big Wikipedia fan but they do have a good article on the subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephoto_lens

As for picture quality, I guess it depends on what you’re using it for. I do quite a lot of photography for work and nobody so far has comlained about the quality of my work.

Besides, it’s not the camera - it’s the person that takes the picture that makes the difference.

4:53 pm - Wednesday, November 18, 2009

#58 john mccormack

Hi, Can anyone tell me what the leather(?) cover is actually of - it feels slightly rubbery to my partner, so this would be a problem for me (I’m latex allergic). Fuji’s website is of no help in finding out the answer. Thanx.
Jon

1:39 pm - Saturday, November 21, 2009

#59 Sofala

Thanks for those? I take it you were using a tripod? It does make a huge difference?

1:54 pm - Saturday, November 21, 2009

#60 Jules

Sofala,

No, as a matter of fact I never used a tripod on any of those. The stabilizer is pretty good at what it does.

5:01 pm - Saturday, November 21, 2009

#61 Jules

John,

I really have no idea mate. There’s no tag on the inside of it?

I’m not allergic to anything…except gravity but when it comes to those things, I’d rather be safe than sorry.

I bought another bag that holds more stuff. I have my little voice recorder, 2 sets of rechargeables, notebook, pens, smokes, phone, thumbdirve, wallet, and a genie in my bag.

5:09 pm - Saturday, November 21, 2009

#62 Juan'

Umm,

I Ordered this camera the S1500 from Dell on Thursday and it should be here by thursday or Friday.

But i realy want to know if you can put a fisheye lens on the camera.???

6:46 pm - Saturday, November 21, 2009

#63 Juan'

Never mind ignore that comment.

Im a starter and really want to get into photography.

Ive never had a camera of my own but im only 13 and a half so i have good reasoning.
For myself i realy like photagraphy because Its a good way to show youre perspective of the world.

For myself as an amateur is this a good camera and considering getting into photography Is it a headstart.?

6:59 pm - Saturday, November 21, 2009