The PERFECT (or very near) CAMERA!

I have been looking into the Fuji FinePix S100FS for quite some time since I have owned an S700 which I had great luck with.  I finally found an open box model for $520.00 so I bought it.  I was not disappointed!

This is a great camera in all possible situations.  It is simple enough for the beginner to use in full "Auto" mode, but has all the bells and whistles a pro or semi-pro could want.

Unlike earlier Fuji cameras that I have owned, the zoom is manual.  This is a great feature since it is much faster to zoom in or out exactly like you want it without waiting for the powered zoom.  You also don't waste batteries on zoom motors in the camera.

I've tried to take a lot of photos with this camera to experiment with the different modes, but I haven't scratched the surface of what this camera can do.  I really like Film simulation bracketing FSB feature that lets you shoot in Velvia, Provia, Portrait or Soft modes to simulate film camera photos.

The continuous shooting mode is great.  I shoot quite a bit of racing and it's great to get a series of fast photos to capture the action.  With this camera, you can shoot up to 33 frames per second (with reduced pixel count.)

This is an 11 megapixel camera and the photos come out beautiful.  The large photo size means that you can shoot anything and crop the parts of the photo you don't want out and still have a high resolution photo.

I was skeptical about using non-standard batteries.  I normally prefer and preach about buying cameras that use standard AA batteries, but this one uses a special NP-140 Ni-Mh battery.  I bought a second battery to use as a spare, but after two weeks of messing around and taking some Christmas photos around the house, I have not had to recharge the first battery yet!

If you are looking to move up to a camera that you can grow with as you improve at photography, this is it!  It will do basically anything that a digital SLR will do but without changing lenses.

The only complaint that I had with my entire purchase was the case that I bought for the camera.  The case is supposedly designed by FujiFilm for the S100FS and other Fuji cameras, but the S100FS is extremely tight in the case.  I wanted more protection, so I bought a Lowepro case that has plenty of room and plenty of cushioning.