Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 16 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)

I got the camers 3/15/13 and so far I am impressed. I am not a pro photographer but I do make software for a living. We make a product called iWatermark for Mac, Win, iPhone/iPad and Android so we quite a bit of experience with cameras. If you are interested our site is available with a search of Google (reviews don't allow links).

This is my initial review. To get it out of the way the highlights are 50x zoom, Raw as option, video up to 440 fps (at very small rez). I've tried them all. They work as advertised and they are awesome features for a camera this inexpensive.

Features

* 16 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor. Photos look great.

50x optical zoom lens (35mm equiv: 24-1200mm). Simply awesome.

Great Optical image stabilisation

3 inch 920k dot tilting LCD screen. Love the tilting LCD very handy when shooting over peoples heads. Also for shooting at kid or pet level.

Hotshoe

920k dot electronic viewfinder (EVF)

Full 1080p HD video recording with stereo sound and at 60 fps.

ISO 100-12800

1cm minimum focusing distance

HDR & panorama modes

Full manual controls and RAW shooting

10 fps continuous shooting full rez or down to 480fps (240 x 180 pixels) or 240fps (320 x 240 pixels) or 120fps (640 x 480 pixels).

Many special effects.

Switch on Time to Taking a Photo 2.55 secs

Shot to Shot without Flash 1.4 secs

Shot to Shot with Flash 2.8 secs

I am still experimenting with the huge number of features in hardware and software of the camera and will report back when I get some time.

It is the most powerful, versatile and inexpensive camera I've ever owned and I would recommend it highly. I have tried all the other super zoom cameras and this is the winner for me.

PS To solve the squabble by two other reviewers the manual zoom is in the usual place by the shutter button on the right top and on the left side middle of the lens. It works well and smoothly with a bit of noise.

Being skeptical about buying a DSLR (due to the cost mainly) I decided to try out this bridge camera, and I must confess I was more than impressed. The main feature of course is the unbelievable 50x zoom, which is totally stunning, and will help you take photos you could never have imagined. Photo quality is quite good, although noise does make its way into certain iso settings, but it's not that obvious and you can easily correct this by "playing" with the settings(or lighting, if possible) . The camera focuses really quickly, though in macro mode if the light is low it may have a bit of a difficulty focusing. You can set the shutter and the aperture, or just switch to auto and let the camera decide what's best for it's shot. Generally, the photos in auto mode are very good, unless you want to tweak the settings for a specific shooting. You also get many creative options, like the toy camera effect and the cross screen, among others, which can give nice creative photos without the need of additional editing. Video quality is simply amazing, and luckily the camera keeps its focus(unlike previous Fujifilm models). There is also the option of raw saving, if you have the need for it. The lcd screen is crystal clear and it can tilt so it makes taking low or high photos a piece of cake.

My only complaints:

-the proximity sensor on the eyepiece is a bit tricky because it can be triggered by your body or hand and the lcd switches off to the eyepiece, which is kind of annoying ( you can select for the lcd to be always on and render the sensor inactive, which is exactly what I did).

-the sound of focusing is apparent in videos ,like in previous Fujifilm's models.

-Battery drains quickly especially if using the zoom, so you better have a couple of extra batteries at hand.

For its features (especially the 50x zoom) and price, this is definitely a bargain. Due to the small amount of noise at certain iso settings I would give this camera 4 stars, but because of the price it is offered and the features it has, I chose to give it 5. Overall I'm very pleased with it and very happy that I bought it!

Buy Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 16 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black) Now

Very pleased with this camera. I would like to make it clear that I am not a pro in photography, so those who expect an expert review may skip reading mine. I bought before this one Nikon COOLPIX S9200 16 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 18x Zoom NIKKOR ED Glass Lens and Full HD 1080p Video (Black) and had to return it since it was making blurry pictures and could not lock focus, also: when zoom used , the focus was missing at all. This Fuji camera is big (but light) and not so easy to carry everywhere or put it in your purse, but it is definitely worth carrying it. The pictures are crystal clear even when you use just automatic settings, or at night time(night pictures are a big issue with almost all cameras, but not with this there are modes for beautiful night landscapes) . It is easy to lock a focus, also you don't need sturdy hand quite shatterproof.(Make sure to hold the zooming lens underneath for extra support check some youtube videos from fuji for instructions). The 50x zoom is amazing you can use it as a binoculars and see exotic bird in the sky :). The close up photos of a flower or leaf are so crystal and detailed beautiful. The 360 panoramic pictures also! The videos perfect.

CONS: Many people complain that the lens cap has to be removed manually for me this is a minor inconvenience (this is a huge lens and closing and opening automatically requests a lot of power).

Also: the battery doesn't last a long time, but it is not expensive, I would buy a spare one to carry in the camera bag.

I still have not tried all the modes and possibilities of this amazing camera. I have to say Well done, Fuji!!!

Read Best Reviews of Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 16 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black) Here

The Fuji SL 1000 is a great all around camera. The construction and features are user friendly and the quality of the pictures for the money, are second to none. I also own a Nicon D 7000.

What I realy like about the Fuji is that is a lot lighter and with features that the camera offers makes it a great camera for travel.

If I realy want the best pictures quality wise then I use my Nikon, but like I said for travel and wildlife photografy I don't see any other camera comming even close to this one once again for the price. I paid a little over $ 300 in amazon. The other camera that I considered very carefuly was the Canon sx 50 but the price difference was sustancial and I went with the Fuji.Battery life is a little bit short but for a little over $ 20 you can get the Wasaby replacement batteries (2) of them plus an extra charger.

Once again I do not have any reservations recommending the Fuji SL 1000 as a secondary/Travel-wildlife camera

Want Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 16 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black) Discount?

The Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 is Fuji's mid-level super zoom bridge camera. The S series is a notch below Fuji's high-end HS series of bridge cameras. Although it lacks some of the settings and features of the HS series, the SL1000 does have some features that are impressive. The main feature is its massive 50X zoom lens. Before I go any further though, I must point out that although this camera looks a little like a DSLR, it is not. It is a bridge camera with the same tiny sensor as you average pocket point and shoot camera. It is just housed in a DSLR style body, with some extra features and a massive zoom lens. Now that we got that out of the way, on to my review. Unboxing the Fuji SL1000, I noticed that it weighs slightly less and is slightly smaller than the Fuji HS50EXR super zoom. It weighs much less than my DSLR. In the box are the usual assortment of accessories. I was disappointed that there is no lens hood. First charge of the battery took about 90 minutes. The proprietary battery is charged in a proprietary external charger. The camera itself has average build quality and is almost entirely plastic. I was disappointed that even the tripod mount is plastic. The camera's ergonomics are very good, and everything is well laid out. No SD card is included, so make sure you have one. A fast "Class 10" speed card is recommended. The SL1000 menu system is very simple and easy to figure out. The camera has a variety of shooting modes including full automatic and "manual". There are also some built in filter effects which are pretty neat. I was disappointed there were no settings to adjust the camera's Noise Reduction like there is on the HS Series. The SL1000 does have RAW Mode which is a very good thing.

I set out on a sunny day, and took over a hundred pictures under various conditions. I used several different modes and settings. I shot mostly in (P)Mode, and auto mode. I used Fine/JPEG Format, not RAW. Refresh time between shots was very fast. I noticed that when shooting in shady conditions, the camera would use an unnecessary high ISO. Sometimes 400 or higher. I turned off Auto-ISO and manually selected ISO 100 or 200 if needed. The 50X zoom lens performed well. It's incredible 24-1200mm range didn't disappoint. The 3" high resolution screen is very good. It's is clear and bright. It isn't an articulating screen though. It only slightly tilts, which I thought was kind of a weird design. While out, I also took several minutes of video to evaluate later. When I got home, I also shot a few dozen indoor pictures for testing purposes. I shot most of them in simple auto mode to see how the camera would handle low light without any help. After shooting 100+ pictures and several minutes of video, my battery still shows as full which tells me battery life is very good.

When I finished my testing, I hooked the camera up to my PC and HD Monitor using the included USB cable. Thankfully, the cable is standard and not proprietary. Once downloaded, my results generally very good. Almost all my outdoor pictures came out excellent no matter what mode I used. Details were great. Colors were accurate. I didn't notice any optical aberrations, etc. The Fuji's Image Stabilization generally did a great job, but a steady hand is needed at the high end of the zoom. The overall results were almost as good as my higher end HS50EXR, but not quite. I did notice a little image noise, especially when the camera went above 100 ISO. My indoor results were good too. Image noise wasn't bad up until ISO 400, and still acceptable at ISO 800. I have no doubt that with a little tweaking of the camera's settings, my results could be even better. My HD test video came out excellent too. It did not disappoint on my HD monitor.

The Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 is not a DSLR, and it isn't perfect. It is a very good point and shoot camera with an incredible lens though. With a little trial and error, it produces very good results outdoors, and good results indoors as long as you keep the ISO as low as possible. I recommend it.

Pros:

Incredible 50x Wide Angle Zoom Lens.

Electronic Viewfinder.

Hot shoe.

Good automatic modes.

Manual controls.

RAW Mode.

Generally very good image quality indoors and out.

Very good 1080i HD video quality.

Fast focusing and refresh time between shots.

Very good battery life.

Good value.

Cons:

Average build quailty.

Tiny 1/2.3-inch CMOS Image Sensor.

Image noise noticeable above ISO 100.

No noise reduction settings.

No lens hood and mediocre accessories.

Proprietary battery.