Fujifilm FinePix S4500 (Black) review: Fujifilm FinePix S4500 (Black)

To avoid any confusion for what you're about to read, let's get something straight: The Fujifilm FinePix S4500, S4400, S4300, and S4200 are all the same camera, but with different lenses. The S4500 has a 30x f3.1-5.9 24-720mm lens; the S4400 a 28x f3.1-5.9 24-672mm lens; the S4300 a 26x f3.1-5.9 24-624mm lens; and the S4200 a 24x f3.1-5.9 24-576mm lens.

6.8

Fujifilm FinePix S4500 (Black)

The Good

The <b>Fujifilm FinePix S4500</b> offers a 30x zoom lens, AA batteries for power, an electronic viewfinder, and manual and semimanual shooting modes all at a bargain price.

The Bad

The S4500 feels and performs like a low-end point-and-shoot. Requires a lot of light to get good photos and videos in auto.

The Bottom Line

A nice feature set and a long lens make the Fujifilm FinePix S4500 one of the better megazoom cameras available for those on a budget.

Everything else about them is the same, including its 14-megapixel CCD sensor and image processor. So while I tested the FinePix S4500 for this review, the shooting performance and picture quality will essentially be the same -- as will the design and features -- regardless of what model you're interested in.

Despite its dSLR-like design, the S4500 is a point-and-shoot camera and a fairly low-end one at that. If you're expecting the photo quality and shooting performance of a dSLR or even a higher-end compact like Fujifilm's own HS30EXR, you won't get that. Make no mistake: You get what you pay for.

What you do get is a megazoom lens, AA batteries for power, an electronic viewfinder (something that's typically dropped by other manufacturers at this price), full auto to full manual shooting modes (rare in this class), and decent photo, video, and shooting performance outdoors in good lighting. For those on a budget who simply must have a long zoom lens, it's one of the better options available.

Picture quality
Overall, the S4500's photo quality is good as long as you're willing to work within its limitations. But, if you're the type to never leave auto or use a tripod, you might not be 100 percent happy with its photos.

Basically, like most lower-end to midrange compacts, the S4500 can take some nice photos below ISO 200 that can be used at reasonably large sizes. The more you have to go above ISO 200, however -- whether for shooting indoors, using the zoom lens, or both -- the less satisfied you might be with the results.

Fujifilm FinePix S4500 sample pictures

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See all photos

Without enough light, the camera will boost the ISO to keep shutter speeds fast enough to freeze movement (and this camera's lens needs a lot of light). However, increasing the ISO also increases noise and noise reduction that, in turn, softens details. Once the S4500 hits ISO 800, though, it will start to use slower shutter speeds to get the correct exposure. Depending on how slow it gets, if you're not on a tripod and your subject isn't still, you'll end up with soft, blurry photos.

This is common with this class of camera, not just the S4500. What is specific to the S4500 is the photo quality at ISO 800, which is OK for Web use at small sizes if you don't mind softness and visible noise.

Something goes horribly wrong at ISO 1600 with color and subjects are just too soft, so I would avoid using this or the higher ISO settings available at reduced resolutions. On the upside, Fujifilm doesn't use this setting when shooting in Auto; it will drop the shutter speed instead. (To read more about the camera's photo quality, see the slideshow above.)

Movie quality is good, suitable for viewing at smaller sizes. As with photos, low-light video is noisy, but that's typical of video from lower-end compact cameras. The zoom lens does work while recording, but you will hear it moving. Also, just like when shooting photos, the autofocus can be slow with the lens zoomed in and in low light.

Shooting performance
Editors' note: We recently updated our testing methodology to provide slightly more real-world performance information, so the results aren't necessarily comparable with previous testing. Until we're finished refining our procedures, we will not be posting comparative performance charts.

All things considered, the S4500's shooting performance is pretty good for this class of camera. It can't compete with slightly more expensive models with CMOS sensors and high-performance processors, but it's not frustratingly slow either. I would not, however, recommend it if you need it for regularly shooting fast-moving subjects like active kids and pets or sports, especially indoors. You'll get something, but it likely won't always be what you wanted.

From off to first shot takes about 2.8 seconds, but you have to wait for the camera to fully start before pressing the shutter release. Its shot-to-shot time is 2.4 seconds and 2.8 seconds with flash. Shutter lag -- the time from pressing the shutter release to capture without prefocusing -- is 0.4 second in bright lighting and about 0.7 in dim conditions. However, depending on your target and how much you've zoomed in, these times will increase.

Fujifilm includes several burst-shooting options at full and reduced resolutions. It has a 14-megapixel six-shot burst that got up to 1.5 frames per second in my tests. After you shoot, though, the camera won't let you take more photos for quite some time while it processes and stores -- up to 20 seconds in my tests. There is a regular continuous setting that is equally fast at first, but slows down fast, dropping to an average of 0.8fps for 10 photos. Again, this isn't bad for this kind of camera at its price, but it's not nearly as fast as models costing $100 or $200 more.

Design and features
Though far from pocketable, the S4500 is tightly packed despite its main attraction: the wide-angle 24-720mm-equivalent lens. The giant right-hand grip gives you something to really hold onto, and also houses the four AA-size batteries and SDHC card slot, plus it has room for shooting controls. Though the batteries give it heft, the camera's plastic body doesn't scream "quality construction." It does help, though, that the lens barrel and grip have textured rubber on them.

On back is a respectably bright 3-inch LCD and above it is a small electronic viewfinder (EVF). All settings are viewable on both. The color quality seems to be off on the LCD, which makes judging your shots on the spot difficult.

On top and in back you'll find buttons for switching between the EVF and LCD; Playback; F-mode; Menu/OK; Exposure Compensation (also used for changing aperture and shutter speed settings); Display (for adjusting information displayed or framing grids); and a directional pad for navigation and changing screen brightness, flash, macro settings, and an Instant Zoom feature that's intended to help with framing erratically moving subjects while using the zoom lens.

Pressing F-mode brings up a contextual shooting menu, and pressing Menu/OK brings up another set of shooting and setup menus. Fairly standard stuff; once you remember when to press F-mode instead of Menu, it's straightforward to use.

The flash needs to be raised manually with a button on the left side of the body. However, unless you're in a shooting mode that specifically requires flash, the camera does not tell you when you might need to use it -- even when left in auto. (Note: I've read several user reviews saying the S4500 has a faulty flash. This was not my experience, but is certainly something to be aware of should you buy it.)

The camera is powered by AA-size batteries, and although it's packaged with alkaline batteries it takes lithium ion and rechargeable NiMH types as well, both of which will get you much more shooting time than alkaline. The batteries and the memory card slot are accessed through a locking door on the bottom of the camera. The door takes some force to hold down and lock when closing, which might be frustrating for some users. On the right side of the body is a small door covering Mini-HDMI and Micro-USB/AV ports for connecting to a computer, a monitor, or an HDTV.

Worth noting is that you can tag photos and videos for uploading to Facebook or YouTube. You'll have to install the Windows-only software on your computer for it to work, but otherwise you just tag your files in camera and then connect to your PC by USB or pop the SD card in a reader, and the uploader starts automatically.

Those who are either working up to using a digital SLR or need to satisfy a number of different users with one camera will appreciate the large assortment of shooting options. If you want the camera to do most or all of the work, there are Program and SR Auto (automatic scene recognition) modes. There are 17 scene modes to choose from, too. They're mostly standards like Portrait, Snow, Beach, and Sunset, but there are a couple extras like a smile-activated shutter release and Fujifilm's Natural with Flash that takes two consecutive shots, one with flash and one without.

If you like to control exposure, the S4500 does have manual and semimanual shooting modes. (There's a Custom mode, too, so you can define a frequently used group of settings.) For the most part, though, the real control is over shutter speed with settings from 8 seconds to 1/2,000 second. Apertures are limited to two stops at each step of the zoom range through to the 200mm focal length. After that you get three at each step. In both cases the smaller aperture is achieved with a neutral density (ND) filter.

For taking close-ups, the S4500 can focus as closely as 0.8 inch from a subject. If you're more into wide-angle shooting, there's a Panorama option on the mode dial. You press the shutter release with the camera aimed where you'd like to start your panorama shot and it puts a circle and a target on the screen. Put the circle in the center of the target by moving the camera to the right and it'll take the next shot when it's centered. Do that once more and it'll take your three shots and stitch them together in-camera into a single photo. This is best for scenes with little or no movement, but it works well in those cases.

Conclusion: Recommended with reservations
With the Fujifilm FinePix S4500 as well as its other S-series linemates, your money is going toward the zoom lens and other features like the EVF, but not great build quality or excellent photos and videos. It's completely possible to get good photos from the S4500, but it's not a camera you can leave in auto for all shooting conditions. Its advantage is that you can actually take more control away from the camera than most in its class, so you can set things like shutter speed and ISO for better results. If you're going to leave it in auto, though, you're going to need a lot of light to get good results.