Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd Review
Review Date: October 4th 2007
Author: Mark Goldstein
Leave
a comment about this Review
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 8 megapixel Fine
JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around
3Mb.
Noise
There are 8 ISO settings available
on the Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd which you can select at
any time if the camera is in any of the creative shooting
modes. Note that the image resolution is reduced to 4 megapixels
for the fastest settings of ISO 3200 and 6400. There is virtually
no discernible
noise
at
the
slowest
settings
of ISO 64, 100 and 200, but noise and slight loss of detail
is apparent at ISO 400, particularly in the shadow areas.
At ISO 800 image quality has deteriorated quite a lot as
the camera blurs detail to try and hide the noise, and ISO
1600 should really be avoided at all costs. Here are some
100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have
been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand
image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the
camera images are quite soft at the default sharpening
setting of Standard and benefit from some further sharpening
in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Alternatively you can
change
the in-camera
sharpening level if you don't like the default results.
File Quality
The Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd has
2 different image quality settings available, with Fine
being the highest quality option. Here are some 100%
crops which show the quality of the various options, with
the file size shown in brackets.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd handled
chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with only
small levels of coloured fringing mainly present around the
edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in
the examples below.
Macro
The Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd offers
a SuperMacro setting that allows you to focus on a subject
that is just 1cm away from the camera! The first image shows
how close
you can get to the subject in Macro mode (in this case a
compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd are Auto, Red-eye Reduction,
Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, and Slow Synchro Red-eye
Reduction + Slow Synchro . These shots of a white coloured
wall were
taken
at a distance of 1.5m.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Auto
Flash - Telephoto (486mm) |
|
|
 |
| |
|
And here are some portrait shots.
Both the Auto setting and the Red-eye reduction modes caused
a very small amount of red-eye.
|
|
Auto
(100% Crop) |
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
Red-eye
reduction (100% Crop) |
|
|
 |
| |
|
Night Shot
The Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd's maximum
shutter speed is 4 seconds, which is limiting if you're
seriously interested in night photography. The shot below
was taken using a shutter speed of 4 seconds, aperture
of f/2.8 at ISO 100. I've included a 100% Crop of the image
to show what the quality is like.
|
|
Night
Shot (100% Crop) |
|
|
 |
| |
|
Anti Shake
The Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd has
an anti-shake mechanism (CCD-shift
type), which allows you to take sharp
photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras.
To test
this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the
ISO speed set to 100. The first shot was taken with anti
shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here is a
100% crop of the image to show the results. As you can see,
with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than
with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem
to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful,
sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.
Overall Image Quality
The Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd produced
images of good quality during the review period. The S8000fd
dealt very well with chromatic aberrations, with limited
purple
fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations.
The built-in flash worked well indoors, with a tiny amount
of red-eye and good overall exposure. The night photograph
was OK, with the maximum shutter speed of 4 seconds allowing
you to capture just enough light for most situations. Macro
performance is amazing, allowing you to focus as close as
1cm away from the subject
and capturing
lots of
detail. The 8 megapixel images were a little soft straight
out of the camera at the default sharpening setting, which
can be changed in-camera. The S8000fd produced
noise-free images at ISO 64, 100 and 200, with ISO 400 showing
some noise and slight blurring of detail. ISO 800 has quite
visible noise and ISO 1600 is best avoided at all costs.
Anti-shake is a feature that sets this camera apart from
its competitors and one that works very well when hand-holding
the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto
end of the zoom range.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd
have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
Compare Prices
Support PhotographyBLOG: Buy the Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd from
one of our affiliate retailers:
|
RSS
Feeds
