Fujifilm's new cameras
FinePix 4700 and FinePix S1 Pro
by Rick Smith (January 2, 2000)
Fujifilm has recently introduced both the FinePix 4700 Zoom (consumer) and FinePix S1 Pro (professional) digital cameras - the first products to incorporate Fujifilm's new Super CCD image sensor technology.
 Fujifilm FinePix 4700
The .58-inch Super CCD used in the FinePix 4700 Zoom has a whopping 4.3 million-pixel image resolution and is capable of creating pictures as large as 2400 x 1800 resolution. Shutter speeds on this camera range from 1/2000 second to three seconds, with an adjustable ISO sensitivity of 200/400/800. It can play back up to 80 seconds of AVI video with sound with the included 16MB SmartMedia card.
Being able to create these sensors with this colossal resolution is the result of Fujifilm's new, radically different CCD with larger (approximately 60-percent), octagonal-shaped photodiodes situated on 45-degree angles. Since the CCD is designed specifically for digital still photography, this pattern increases sensitivity, improves signal-to-noise ratio and offers a much wider dynamic range, which results in sharper, more colorful images.
While the FinePix 4700 Zoom can work as a simple point-and-shoot camera, it has a fast (f/2.8) 3x OPTICAL Super EBC Fujinon aspherical zoom lens with a focal length equivalent to a 38-114mm zoom on a 35mm camera. Macro capability is as close as 11.8 inches. The camera's pop-up flash is effective to a distance of 11.5 feet and provides the five modes of automatic, red-eye reduction, flash-on-demand, flash cancel and slow synch flash for motion effects. Improved electronics boots the camera , cycles images with no buffer in under two seconds and is USB compatible. The camera runs on two AA alkaline batteries. The Fujifilm FinePix 4700 Zoom will be available in April 2000, at $999.
 Fujifilm FinePix S1 Pro
The Fujifilm FinePix S1 Pro, the first of a new breed of SLT cameras from Fujifilm has a 1.1-inch Super CCD sensor that delivers an staggerering 6.1 million pixels with a 3040 x 2016 resolution. It uses Nikon F mount lenses and is capable of continuous shooting for five frames at approximately 1.5 frames/second. It also features an adjustable ISO equivalents of 320/400/800/1600 with a shutter speed of 1/2000 to 30 seconds. Fantastic! It is compatible with SmartMedia AND CompactFlash AND the IBM microdrive. Incredible choice of media!
Intended for the professional or very serious amateur digital photographer, the Fujifilm FinePix S1 Pro has a variety of controls, including four shooting modes (single frame, continuous, preview and multiple exposure), five exposure modes (general-purpose program, auto-multi program, shutter-priority auto mode, aperture-priority auto mode and manual exposure control) and five variable program modes (portrait, landscape, close-up, sport and night scene). There are even eight modes for white balance (auto, fine, shade, incandescent light, custom and three for fluorescent light)!
The FinePix S1 Pro has three different resolutions of 3040 x 2016, 2304 x 1536 and 1440 x 960 and can store the images in three different file formats of TIFF-RBG, TIFF-YC and JPEG. And what I like, it lets you CHOOSE from three compression modes when using the JPEG file format. Images can be viewed on the 2-inch liquid crystal display. This camera runs on four AA alkaline batteries for the image-handling system and two Lithium batteries for controlling the camera system. It is USB-compatible and will be available in June 2000 at under $4,000.
Copyright
© 2000 Rick Smith All rights reserved.
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