Once we had a new fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro ($1,900, street, body only) in our hands, we stopped calling this new camera a tweak and starting calling it what it really is: the baddest DSLR Fuji has made yet. Yes, that’s a compliment.
As we noted in our First Look (December 2006), this replacement for the S3 Pro consists of a Nikon D200 body with an eye and brain transplant: Fujifilm’s 12.3MP Super SR CCD, plus the requisite Fuji processing engine and firmware.
Our field tryout of a preproduction S5 Pro was very much a Brief Encounter, but it was enough time to form a very favorable opinion of the camera. First off, Fuji’s choice of the Nikon D200 body is an excellent one: solid, ergonomic, well sealed, and logically laid out. All camera systems — shutter, metering, autofocusing, flash, battery power — are straight D200. So if you want to know how the camera looks and feels, consult our test of the D200 .
Fuji’s contribution to the mix, a CCD sensor similar to the one used in the S3 Pro, initially gave us pause. When we tested the S3 Pro (April 2005), its resolution was degraded by color banding and other problems to the extent that images effectively equalled about 7MP at ISO 100 — and worse at higher ISOs.
The S5 Pro’s sensor, however, gets a new moire filter in addition to upgraded processing, and Fuji seems to have hit on the right formula this time. Even with not-ready-for-prime-time firmware, our S5 Pro could resolve about 2100 lines on average at ISO 100, which would put it smack in competition with the 10MP DSLRs now on the market. At ISO 1600, it lost a little more than 10% resolution, which would still easily qualify it for an Excellent rating — were this an actual test of the camera.
Moreover, detail at the limit of resolution is remarkably clean — the resolution target lines don’t break up or blur so much as they gradually lose contrast until they merge. In real-world shooting, this should translate into very crisp JPEG images that also maintain fine gradation.
On our early sample of the camera, noise suppression appeared not to be quite optimal, so we ran a few preliminary noise tests, and found no higher than Low noise through ISO 800. We expect full-production models will better that performance.
Fuji DSLRs have gained something of cult status among portrait and wedding shooters, and Fuji is clearly catering to this audience with the S5 Pro’s expanded controls for wide dynamic range and skin tone reproduction. Here’s a rundown:
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