Fujifilm S5 Pro Review
Review Date: July 19th 2007
Author: Gavin Stoker
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12M Fine JPEG mode, which gives an average image size of around 5Mb.
Noise
There are 16 ISO settings covering 100-3200 available on the Fujifilm S5 Pro which you can select at any time. The Fujifilm S5 Pro displayed an amazing lack of noise with regard to its images � delivering a performance at ISO 1600 that would be comparable to that from lesser cameras at ISO 400, with ISO 3200 equivalent to the kind of results normally seen at ISO 800. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
ISO 80 (100% Crop) |
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1000 (100% Crop) |
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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 sharp at the default setting and don't really require any post-processing in Photoshop (the sharpened images below just look over-processed).
Original
(100% Crop)
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Sharpened (100% Crop) |
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Chromatic Aberrations
The AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF ED lens that we tested the Fujifilm S5 Pro with handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review, with only small levels of purple fringing mainly present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.
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Example
1 (100% Crop)
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Example
2 (100% Crop)
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Flash
The flash settings on the Fujifilm S5 Pro are Auto, Flash On, Slow Syncro, Red-Eye Reduction and Flash Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Flash Off - Wide Angle (27mm) |
Flash On - Wide Angle (27mm) |
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Flash Off - Telephoto (105mm) |
Flash On - Telephoto (105mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots. Neither the Flash On or the Red-Eye Reduction options caused any amount of red-eye.
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Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Red-Eye Reduction |
Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Fujifilm S5 Pro's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds, plus there's a Bulb mode for even longer exposures, perfect if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 1/5th seconds, aperture of f/3.5 at ISO 800. I've included a 100% Crop of the image to show what the quality is like.
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Night Shot |
Night Shot (100% Crop) |
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Overall Image Quality
Overall the Fujifilm S5 Pro displayed an amazing lack of noise with regard to its images � delivering a performance at ISO 1600 that would be comparable to that from lesser cameras at ISO 400, with ISO 3200 equivalent to the kind of results normally seen at ISO 800. Which means, if you're indeed shooting in low light without flash, as most social photographers worth their salt prefer working these days, the Fujifilm S5 Pro is capable of delivering results that are bang 'on the money'. Though the standard Nikon lens used for our test wasn't perhaps the sharpest tool in the box, it's a more than adequate all rounder - even if there was some distortion at the edges of the frame at maximum wide-angle settings, causing walls to bend and buildings to pitch queasily. Still, the Fujifilm S5 Pro delivered some lovely, colourful shots with plenty of detail (check out the tree bark and feathery 'fronds' of conifers among our test samples) and dynamism, though, as ever, some questions marks hang over whether the results are up there with those from a 'true' 12 megapixel camera. Then again, its' chosen market aren't going to be producing billboards or even posters with the results, the standard wedding or portrait photo being the classic 8x10.
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organisation. Our test results for the Fujifilm S5 Pro have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.