As tough and cheap as old boots... (Fujifilm Finepix S5500)

Member Name: failme

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix S5500
Date:	22/01/06 (156 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unbreakability, professional features, 10x zoom

Disadvantages: If you push it to its limits it ocassionally takes poor pictures; lack of image stabiliser

In my line of photography I needed something tough, and was recommended this beasty: the FujiFilm FinePix S5500 Zoom.

It's survived being chucked out of windows (don't ask), rain, water, dust, snow, etc. The tough polycarbonate shell takes practically ANY punishment, so who cares if it looks a little cheap?

Picture quality is generally good, especially if you use a tripod and fiddle with all the settings - it's a great first step to a professional camera as it'll teach you to do more than just pointing and shooting. 4 megapixels isn't much compared to many current cameras, but you don't really need mega megapixels unless you're printing over A3 size. In low-light conditions on high ISO some "burning" occurs in the lower left corner of the picture and it's usually pretty noisy, not too serious though and can be hidden in post-editing.

The new S5600 takes all the S5500's qualities and adds higher ISO, noise reduction and image stabiliser. The perfect hard-wearing camera!

Summary: Great first step up to pro cameras

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