Fujifilm Finepix S3500

(Fujifilm Finepix S3100 in the USA)

Review Date: March 15th 2005

Features

The Fujifilm Finepix S3500 has a 4.23 megapixel 1/2.7-inch CCD that delivers 4.0 million recorded pixels. There are 4 image sizes available (2272 x 1704 (3.87 million) / 1600 x 1200 / 1280 x 960 / 640 x 480), which can be recorded as JPEGs in a range of different quality settings. The camera features a 6X optical zoom lens that is equivalent to a 39–234mm lens on a 35mm format camera. There is also a digital zoom that offers up to 3.4x magnification (depending on the selected image size). The xD-Picture Card memory card format is supported.

The Finepix S3500 offers four different shooting modes - Auto, Manual, Scene and Movie. The Fujifilm Finepix S3500 has a single exposure metering mode, TTL 64-zone metering, with exposure compensation available in the Manual shooting mode. There are also four different Scene modes available (Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Scene). The Fujifilm Finepix S3500 can record movies at 2 different settings; 320x240 pixels at 10 frames per second and 160x120 pixels at 10 frames per second. Both settings are recorded in the Motion JPEG format and can be played back by QuickTime 3 or later. There is one type of focusing available and the aperture range is f2.8 to f8.7. Shutter speeds range from 2 seconds to 1/1500 second. The camera has a Macro setting which allows you focus as close as 10cm from your subject.

There are a range of ISO speeds (ISO 64-250), but they are automatically chosen by the camera depending upon the shooting mode and conditions. There are 7 different White Balance settings to choose from (Automatic, Manual (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light (Warm White), Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light). The built-in flash offers a range of different modes; Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, plus Slow Synchro, Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro are available in the Manual shooting mode. The effective range is 0.3m to 3.5m at the wide-angle lens setting and 0.8m - 3.5m at telephoto.

To compose your images, you can use the LCD monitor or the electronic viewfinder. The Fujifilm Finepix S3500 has a 1.5 inch colour TFT LCD monitor which has 62,000 pixels and offers 85% scene coverage. The electronic viewfinder is 0.33-inch in size with 110,000 pixels and offers 86% scene coverage. There is also a monitor brightness control to make it easier to compose your photographs in low light situations. The monitor brightness works for both the electronic viewfinder and LCD screen. The camera is powered by 4 x AA size alkaline batteries or 4 x Ni-MH rechargeable batteries. The camera's dimensions are 99.7mm (W) x 77.3mm (H) x 69.3mm (D), and it weighs 285g without batteries and storage card fitted. There is a metal tripod mount in the middle of the bottom of the camera.

Finally, the standard box kit contains a 16Mb xD-Picture Card, USB cable, AV cable, 4 x AA type alkaline batteries, shoulder strap, lens cap, adapter ring and a CD-ROM containing various software (USB driver, FinePix Viewer and ImageMixer VCD2 for FinePix). You will need to invest in a few more xD-Picture Cards to store your images on, as the supplied 16Mb can only store approximately 16 images at the default 4M file quality setting. You will also have to budget for some rechargeable batteries and a recharger, as the supplied alkaline batteries don't last very long.

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Fuji Finepix S3500 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.