Fujifilm FinePix S5200

When I purchased this camera last year. I was what you most people would call a motivated amateur. I had been very interested in photography and had a even won a photography contest years prior.
But I was always yearning to learn more. So I set about looking for a camera that was in my budget and would let me have the control I wanted. And from everything I had read and heard I bought this camera. For several reasons.
1. I liked that it had a ore professional look and feel to it.
2. That I could add filter and lens to enhance the photographs
3. It had plenty of preset photography settings.

This camera met all of my expectation and then some. I was hooked from the minute I had it. I found it great to handle, just like I wanted, and it had plenty of settings to get me started as I learned. And it was inexpensive.

This camera has made me want to pursue a career in photography, something I had forgotten I enjoyed while using other cameras. I am buying a DSLR soon and my wife loves this camera so much I am giving it to her.

The strengths are many. The unique Fuji chrome color setting is great. It really brings out the vivid colors in the photographs. It also has a standard color and a B & W setting.
Even without macro lenses it takes great macro (closeup) shots without having to by the macro set. Although if you really want to get close you should get the macro set it's well worth the price. Gives you something to do on bad weather days.
The LCD screen is great. It has a huge screen and an easy to follow menu.
This camera gives you the option of saving in Jpeg or RAW which is really great. Especially if you want to play with them in a photo program later.
The battery consumption can be great as long as you use rechargeable batteries. They'll last forever, but I suggest you carry a spare set just encase your going to be out all day.
It offers auto bracketing which is highly sought these days as HDR (high dynamic range) is becoming a popular art photography process. It is one of my favorite things to do.
If I had to pick one reason why I like this camera it would have to be it's usability. Although there are some great DSLR camera's out there this camera can do just about everything they can.

I didn't find to many weakness with this camera. Except the low light noise. That is a huge problem with this camera even with a high ISO and an open f stop there is a lot of noise. I would definately use the flash or turn on some lights if your using it in low light.
It does have a night time feature but you need to have a tripod with you and that doesn't always work out especially if it's a party or outdoor gathering.
The other big problem I had is with the anti-shake feature. It doesn't have one. Fortunately I take lots of landscapes, mostly waterfall pictures. So I have a tripod with me all the time. But for quick shots of my cats it is difficult so I have taken to using the 3 shot feature lately which really helps.

I have had several digital cameras before the other two where Kodaks. The features were similar but as technology evolves so did the cameras features. Although my last camera a Kodak DC4800 had similar features, it was much smaller and harder to navigate. I didn't really enjoy the photography as much. The handling of the camera was different to as it was a very small camera and finding a place to put your fingers always seemed to get in the way.

I have no comment really about the service as I have never used it. My camera has worked great and have had no problems with it.

Great image quality. Gives sharp and true to life photos.
Fast response and great ergonomics.
I experimented with this camera in different light conditions, still and moving subjects and i was really impressed by the outcome. Noise levels were indeed low even at high ISO.
And the best thing of all, I don't have to do post editing - instant print or burn to CD/DVD.
Anti-blur feature also works well.
Fuji's Real Photo Technology really deliver's!

Image quality, fast response, good ergonomics, reasonable price, 10X optical zoom.

I only see one - manual focus. Focus ring would have been excellent.

Outstanding new product from Fuji: I'm very impressed with the features and image quality for the price. Fuji have got the 5th generation CCD technology right and the sensitivity and noise levels put the competition to shame, and even approach the quality of cameras with much larger sensors. The lens is well matched to the CCD and gives extremely good corner to corner sharpness, especially in the middle of the zoom range where I normally use it and at f/5.6. Even at maximum zoom sharpness is very good. Enough automation for the beginner to use, and enough manual control when required for any serious photographer.

Sensitivity range from 64 to 1600 ISO. At 1600 ISO it's much better than most competitor's small sensor 400 ISO: noisy but usable. Great lens Great features, especially in this price range. Very fast response times (1 millisecond to take photo after focus and exposure are locked.) No discernable shutter lag. Great Fuji color, excellent auto white balance with manual overrides and custom. Takes AA batteries, Alkaline (supplied) or NiMH. Great Video mode (if that's what floats your boat in a still camera) Flexible and easy to use

A faster lens would have been nice in conjunction with the high ISO. Still a great lens though. This class of camera would benefit from a zoom ring on the lens intstead of push buttons. Supplied 16Mb xD card is rediculously small (6 shots at 5MP fine). Wake up Fuji, no-one bothers with these any more.

Gave the competitors a test run

Not used