Grab and Go .. s5700 a camera for all occasions.

When I'm at work I quite often find myself in parts of the country that I would otherwise never contemplate visiting. Partly because I don't have any reason to or simply that I don't know these areas exist. Quite often you see some odd or quirky things that ordinarily you wouldn't encounter.

Lots of folks have what I call a grab and go camera. Its usually a small camera and is easily tucked into a bag. The Fuji F550EXR is an example. I have gravitated to the bridge/super zoom class of cameras in the past. We still use the s1000fd and the s5700.

Even though the S5700 is only a 7.1 mega pixel camera and technologically speaking a dinosaur (produced in 2007), to my mind at least it still outperforms its younger sibling the s1000fd, and by a considerable margin at times. The only real gripe I have with the s5700 is the purple fringing seen on some macro shots and occasionally on normal shots. Generally this can be sorted with PP work, but for general snapshot works its not really an issue.

I take this camera with me on a daily basis when at work. As its only about a third of the size and weight of the HS20 it makes it an ideal travel companion. Sporting a 10x optical zoom ( 38 - 380mm equivalent) it has a useful range for a good many photographic occasions. With my favourite settings for this camera set in "P" mode ( which are very similar to my HS10 settings) I'm ready to go. One of the nice things with this camera, and I have no idea why this wasn't continued in later models, is a live histogram on the LCD when shooting this mode. Its very helpful when trying to adjust the EV settings.

As a rule the s5700 isn't a particularly good low light shooter so I try to avoid this type of shooting if possible. The ccd in these cameras were always a little noisy in low light. One of the really nice things is that this camera will shoot as low as ISO64 and has a really useful F3.5 - F13.6 aperture range which makes for some nice sharp images when shooting in good light.

The series of photos in this article were all taken with the s5700 on a drab overcast and often wet day. I was still able to get some nice shots of the rural area we were in at the time.

This camera is ideal for this type of quick shot work, as its fast, lightweight, has reasonable IQ that doesn't require too much in the way of PP work, and allows me to take images that are fun and I can go back to with the HS20 for a better quality image if I see something really worth the time and effort.

Taking AA batteries is a plus as well as the only businesses you come across in the remoter rural areas can be the local dairy or gas station and they always have AA batteries that will work in this camera. Something to be aware of if you are using cameras that require much more efficient types of AA batteries, such as the higher end, slow discharge, rechargeable. 

When you way up all these things it quickly becomes apparent that the s5700 is a good travel camera that gives a reliable output for very little cost. A good one of these can be found on Trade Me or EBay for very little, and make a great little travel companion.So if you have one of these little cameras and you were thinking about selling it or throwing it in the trash, reconsider that as it is still a great little performer, and by far and away one of the best small super zooms Fuji produced before introducing the Newer HS series cameras.