The Finepix S2000HD is a "bridge" camera that fills the gap between simple point and shoot cameras and the complicated Digital SLRs. But, after using another bridge camera, the Canon S3is which I bought more than 2 years back, it is safe to say that the S2000HD is just a point a shoot camera with a larger zoom and body.
Features :
When presented along with its siblings, the S1500 and the S2500, it would seem that the S2000HD would offer middle ground between the other two cameras. This is mostly true, except that the S2000HD was released more than a year before the other two! I am not sure why the misleading naming is used. Except for the minor changes in zoom, the most important reason to choose the 2000 over the other two is the location of the memory card slot. The 2000 has a discrete card slot while the other two include the slot with the battery compartment, the frequent opening and closing of which is not advised due to the strong springs which increase the change of breakage.
The main features of the S2000HD that interested me:
15X zoom even in video mode, full manual control, High speed shooting - upto 13.5 fps at 3MP!, optical image stabilisation, uses SD card, uses 4 AA NiMH batteries (much better than having a proprietary Lion battery and charger which are harder and costlier to buy)
Other features that are not of interest to me or I will rarely use :
face detection : I am not THAT dumb!
upto 6400 ISO sensitivity : no practical use since any pic taken above 100 ISO shows grains or signs of smoothening which decreases sharpness many preset scene settings : for novice users, who would like to step outside the Auto settings but are not yet ready for manual operation, the scene settings offer some scope for experimentation. High Def video recording upto 1280 X 720 : unless you have an HD enabled TV or intend to view the video on a monitor, you don’t need to shoot in HD. HD movies consume more space and take longer to process. Normal VGA video 640 X 480 is adequate in most cases.
10 MP : I will rarely shoot pics at the full resolution, simply because larger images require more disk space to store. Unless you will take prints larger than 5X 7 inches, you don’t need to shoot above 5 MP.
Other features that I think are unnecessary or disadvantages :
1/2.33 inch CCD sensor, probably the biggest reason why the cam is priced so low is the miniscule size of the sensor. Larger sensor sizes yield better pictures in low light. This sensor size is more common in point and shoot cameras
Dual Image Stabilisation : Fujifilm achieves image clarity in shaking conditions by shifting the lens (which is desirable) and boosting the sensitivity or ISO to 800 (which is not desirable). I would have preferred to switch off just the ISO booting bit in the IS (and retain the lens shifting), but this can’t be done. Higher ISO images look grainy.
LCD screen : unlike the versatile display on the S3is, the LCD screen on the S2000 is fixed. So it doesn’t aid in framing shots from difficult angles, like overhead or near ground. Most significantly, this is not a true "LIVE MODE" display. What this means is that the screen does not correctly represent the final picture. This is quite frustrating. At most the LCD screen is just a playback surface.
Aperture starts at 3.5 : this means the total light gathering is lesser that lenses that start at 2.8. Coupled with the smaller sensor, this camera is only usable in bright light outdoor conditions at ISO 100.
Impressions :
Like most bridge cams, the S2000HD is chunky and comfortable to hold. The build is all plastic but feels solid. The plethora of buttons are all located ergonomically, except the two buttons behind the shutter release. The cam works well and poses no issues in most areas. It is quick to start up, shutter delay is minimal. zoom has two speeds, macro has two levels, the menus are well laid out. Nothing to complain. Except the following :
Negatives :
After having used the Canon S3IS, it is easy to find faults in the S2000HD’s design and operation.
Single hand operation : Like P&S camera, the S2000HD encourages single hand operation. This means that the camera overlooks the efficiency of having two hands simultaneously working. One simple operation like manual focussing requires the acrobatic moving of the zoom button with the index finger while the thumb is used to press another button. It would seem logical to shift one of these functions to the left hand to ease things. Another related issue is with the two buttons positioned behind the shutter release button, which are difficult to reach while taking a pic. It would be more convenient if the buttons were offloaded to the left hand.
Autofocussing : It may be a problem with the lens array or the focus detection algorithm of the camera, but Autofocus is frequently not accurate. Even in bright light. And since you can’t focus while taking a video, sometime you end up with off focus subjects.
Zoom motor noise gets recorded by audio while movie recording. And audio is recorded only in Mono (not stereo).
Can’t take still shots while shooting video. The Canon could.
Oversaturated images : All colours are too rich.
Positives :
It should be easy to beat a two year old camera especially because of the advances in technology during this period. And the S2000HD scores better than the S3is in some areas for this reason alone.
The high speed shooting is a really addictive feature. This cam can take 33 shots at 13 fps at 3 MP and at 7fps at 5 MP. This is a direct result of a larger buffer to store the pics as they are captured, before being written to card. Stitch up the shots of any fast action and you get a very impressive flicker effect. Fast action like the toddler’s split-second smile. Unforgettably captured only with the Fuji.
The compression codec does a fine job of retaining picture quality while compressing the file. The S3is could only record 8 mins of video per GB of storage at one time. The S2000HD can store 40 mins of video on a GB.
The Auto settings do a fine job. Yes, it took me some time to find that one out! After fooling around with all settings, I discovered that the only way to get satisfactory results in less than bright and sunny conditions, is to let the camera do all the work - much like a P&S camera. By using high ISO, and then smoothening the images to remove grains, the cam manages to get "good" overall results. The images are oversaturated, though.
Conclusion
I deliberately avoided buying another Canon (the S20is) to replace the S3is because of the cost. At 27000, the S20IS (which was my first choice) is twice the cost of the S2000HD.
In any amateur setting, one would be shooting more videos than pictures. The 3 yr old nephew’s gleeful response to an incoming wave is better captured as video than photo. And for this reason I think I can overlook the not so minor lacunae in the S2000Hd’s repertoire. And for this reason also, I find myself picking up the 2000Hd more than the S3IS for most outings.
But, for any normal still photo session, the Fuji is a distant second choice.