Among the few digital cameras featuring a 18X optical zoom lens, the Fuji Finepix S8000fd holds its own well while being the most limited such camera in terms of features. Not many people can overlook the less-than-perfect LCD coverage - its 97% but nearly everyone else shows 100% - or the shutter-speed range which stops at 4s. However, those who do not mind will find the S8000 marginally better than its main competitor, the Olympus SP-550.

 

Limitations aside, the Fuji S8000 performs in line with the expectations of a compact camera sporting at 27-486mm zoom range and built-in stabilization. There are a bit more chromatic aberrations than usual, some very light softness and distortion but that is the price of building such a lens. On the positive side, the camera produces good looking images with saturated colors, good metering, lower noise than average and good retention of details. The S8000fd is generally fast (except for playback) plus can shoot at 7 FPS or 15 FPS at reduced resolutions. This camera boasts several other excellent numbers like a flash-range of to 8m at wide-angle and 500 shots battery-life per charge (CIPA standard).

 

The bottom line is that the S8000fd is a worthy ultra-zoom as long as you can ignore its biggest stumble, the LCD/Viewfinder coverage, and you do not plan to do any night photography with it. For the rest, you will have to content with the Olympus SP-550, its successor the Olympus SP-560UZ or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18

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