Fujifilm launches its first digital camera with 10x optical zoom

Fujifilm today announced the FinePix S5000 Zoom, a high specification, compact and affordable digital camera with an awesome 10x optical zoom Fujinon lens.

This neat, SLR-style camera will satisfy the most ambitious photography enthusiast’s appetite by enabling them to capture close-up, pin-sharp distant subjects. Unlike the multitude of silver-bodied compacts on the market, the designers of this camera did not focus their thoughts on the interior of a handbag or shirt pocket when they conceived the FinePix S5000 Zoom. Nothing has been compromised in the pursuit of optical and imaging excellence – in fact, despite its ultra-compact dimensions, the FinePix S5000 Zoom will spend little time in any bag.

Take it on safari and the10x zoom will truly encapsulate the detail of Serengeti life. The FinePix S5000 Zoom’s capacity for continuous shooting also guarantees you can track classic sporting moments frame by frame. It even achieves sharp focus on moving subjects, so memories of sporting events will no longer be ruined by far-off, blurry action shots.

In addition to the spectacular zoom lens, the FinePix S5000 Zoom also boasts Fujifilm’s Super CCD HR technology, ensuring images are clearer and sharper than cameras with a traditional CCD. Refined in-camera signal processing has taken Super CCD HR’s performance to a new level of sharpness and image purity. What’s more, the resulting 3.1 million effective and 6 million recorded pixels can be stored exactly as they were recorded, using the camera’s RAW mode.

There are other 10x optical zoom cameras available, but no other camera can boast the photographic achievement of packing such a powerful sensor and optical zoom into such a compact body. The FinePix S5000 Zoom’s 10x zoom lens is a real feat of optical engineering, and will quickly lay bare the limitations of the widely-misunderstood ‘digital’ zoom.

With low power consumption – just one of the benefits offered by the xD-Picture Card™ system – and spot metering to capture complex image tones accurately, the FinePix S5000 Zoom is a technical all-rounder with a lens that excels.

The FinePix S5000 Zoom looks like an SLR, weighs the same as a compact camera and handles like a dream. Give it the chance to perform, and this product will really show its worth. So take it out there, and let its actions speak for themselves.

FinePix S5000 Zoom: features at a glance
• Fujinon 10x optical zoom lens equivalent to 37-370mm on a 35mm camera
• Compact, SLR-style body shape to give you features and performance without the bulk
• Fourth Generation Super CCD HR sensor with 3.1 million effective pixels, delivering 6 million recorded pixels
• QVGA movie capture at 30 frames per second (fps) with sound
• High sensitivity settings (up to ISO 800) to allow photography in a wide range of situations, including low light without flash
• Improved autofocus for faster shooting response
• xD-Picture Card™ providing large storage capacity, low power consumption and fast write speed (512MB card now available)

Adrian Clarke, Fujifilm’s Director of Consumer Products, commented, “This is like an SLR’s little brother – with all the enthusiast attitude, but less of the cost and complexity. Photography fans awaiting a truly compact digital camera capable of 10x zoom will be genuinely excited by the FinePix S5000 Zoom.”

Pricing and availability
The FinePix S5000 Zoom will be available in September 2003 at a price that will be finalised closer to the retail launch.

About Fujifilm
Fujifilm is committed to developing the very best imaging and information products, both conventional and digital. The company employs more than 72,000 people worldwide, with 173 subsidiaries stretching across four continents. Outside of Japan, Fujifilm has key manufacturing facilities in Europe and the USA for core products such as colour film, colour paper, single use cameras and PS plates, and two further factories in Brazil and China. It has a global turnover in excess of £13 billion.

Fuji Photo Film (UK) Ltd has been supplying the imaging, printing and graphics industries, as well as professional and enthusiast photographers, with high quality, innovative products and services for over 25 years in the UK. It currently employs more than 450 people and has become one of the country's most popular photographic brands. Fujifilm is also the market leader (by value) in digital camera sales, having retained the top share of the UK digital camera market every month since November 1998.

www.fujifilm.co.uk

Specifications and features

Feature FinePix S5000 Zoom
Number of effective pixels 3.1 million pixels
CCD sensor 1/2.7” Super CCD HR
Number of total pixels: 3.14 million pixels
Number of recorded pixels Still image: 2,816 x 2,120 (6.0 million) / 2,048 × 1,536 /
1,600 × 1,200 / 1,280 × 960
Movie: 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames/sec. with monaural sound
File formats Still image: CCD-RAW / JPEG (Exif Ver 2.2)
Movie: AVI (Motion JPEG)
(Design rule for Camera File system compliant / DPOF-compatible)
Storage media xD-Picture CardTM (16 / 32 / 64 / 128 / 256 / 512MB)
Number of images / recording time Please refer to chart below
Lens Fujinon 10x optical zoom lens
Lens focal length Equivalent to 37 – 370mm on a 35mm camera
Focus Autofocus / AF Area Focus / AF (Centre) Focus / Manual Focus
AF assist illuminator available
Focus distance Normal: wide angle: 90cm to infinity
telephoto: 2.0m to infinity
Macro: wide angle: Approx. 0.1m – 2.0m
telephoto: Approx. 0.9m – 2.0m
Shutter Speed Auto / Manual: 2 sec. – 1/2000 sec. depending on the shooting mode
Aperture f2.8 – f8 10 steps in 1/3EV increments Manual / Auto selectable
Sensitivity Auto Equivalent to ISO 160 - 200 (at flash off)
Equivalent to ISO 200 - 400 (at flash on)
Manual Equivalent to ISO 200/400/800
(resolution fixed at 1M for shots taken at ISO 800)
Exposure control 64-zone TTL metering-multi, spot, average
Exposure Modes Programmed AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual
White balance Automatic
Manual (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light (Warm White), Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light
Viewfinder 0.33 inches 110,000 pixels electronic viewfinder
LCD monitor 1.5 inches low temperature polysilicon TFT (114,000 pixels), 90% coverage
Flash Auto flash using flash control sensor
Effective range:
Wide angle: 0.3m – 6.0m
Telephoto: 0.8m – 5.5m
Flash mode: Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro., Red-eye Reduction and Slow Synchro
Self-timer 10 sec. delay
Video Out NTSC / PAL selectable
Terminal USB socket & A/V socket, power input socket
Power source 4 x AA size alkaline batteries / 4 x Ni-MH rechargeable batteries (optional) or
AC power adapter (optional)
Dimensions 112.7 (W) x 81.1 (H) x 79.3 (D) mm
Weight Approx. 337g (excluding batteries and media)
Camera Functions
Digital Zoom 2.2 x (1,280 x 960 pixels), 1.8 x (1,600 x 1,200 pixels),
1.4 x (2,048 x 1,536 pixels)
Shooting modes Normal:
Auto, Scene Position (Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Scene)
Continuous:
- Top 5 (5 frames/sec. up to 5 frames)
- Final 5 (5 frames/sec. up to 5 frames)
- Long period (max. 1.8 frames/sec. up to 40 frames. at 1,280 x 960 pixels)
Colour Modes B&W / Chrome / Standard
Movie recording 320 x 240 pixels: 30 frames/sec.
With monaural sound, AVI format (Motion JPEG)
Voice memo Up to 30 sec. WAV format
Playback Single frame (with max.18x playback zoom), 9 multi-frame
Accessories included • 16MB xD-Picture CardTM
• 4x AA-size alkaline batteries
• Shoulder strap
• USB cable (Mini-B)
• A/V cable for FinePix S5000 Zoom
• Adapter ring (AR-FX5)
• Lens cap
• CD-ROM
・USB driver
・FinePix Viewer
・ImageMixer VCD for FinePix
・RAW File Converter LE

Optional accessories
• xD-Picture Card™: 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512MB capacities available
• Rechargeable battery (2HR-3UF)
• Battery charger with Batteries (BK-NH/BK-NH2)
• Wide conversion lens: (WL-FX9/WL-FX9B)
• Tele conversion lens: (TL-FX9/TL-FX9B)
• AC power adapter (AC-5VH/5VHS)
• PC card adapter (DPC-AD)
• Image memory card reader (DPC-R1)
• CompactFlash™ card adapter (DPC-CF)
• Soft case (SC-FXS5)

FinePix S5000 Zoom standard number of available frames / recording time per xD-Picture Card™ :

Number of recorded pixels
2,816 x 2,120 2,816 x 2,120
(6.0 million) 2,048 x 1,536
(3.2 million） 1,600 x 1,200
(1.9 million） 1,280 x 960
(1.2 million）
Movie recording time
Quality RAW JPEG JPEG JPEG JPEG QVGA (30fps)
Image Data Size Approx. 6.7 MB Approx. 1.5 MB Approx. 780 KB Approx. 630 KB Approx. 470KB
16MB 2 10 19 25 33 Approx. 26 sec.
32MB 4 21 40 50 68 Approx. 54 sec.
64MB 9 43 81 101 137 Approx. 109 sec.
128MB 18 86 162 204 275 Approx. 219 sec.
256MB 37 173 325 409 550 Approx. 7.3 min.
512MB 75 347 651 818 1,101 Approx. 14.6 min.

Specifications are subject to change.

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Fujifilm launches its first digital camera with 10x optical zoom