I was looking for a "prosumer" priced and sized camera with the following features:

1. Uses non-proprietary batteries (this one uses 4 AA batteries)
2. Capable of optical zoom during video recording (this camera does that, but see below)
3. Capable of digital zoom during video recording (this camera does 5.7x digital zoom - if you turn on the digital zoom feature, you can optically zoom before starting the video record, and then zoom digitally another 5.7x from that point forward - optical zoom does not work during the video if digital zoom is turned on)
4. Long zoom (15x - lens range is equivalent to 27.6mm - 414mm on a 35mm camera)
5. HD video mode (1024 x 720 videos, also does regular 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 videos).

Although this camera does do optical zooming during video recording, there are some downsides to this feature. You can hear the little gear motors running during the zoom (I've posted a YouTube video so you can hear the sound - it's audible but not super loud). The focusing in room lighting at maximum zoom is not very accurate. There is no macro mode during video zooming. The digital image stabilization works well at low zoom, but not as well at high zoom during video recording as it does for still photos (the digital image stabilization works better in stronger light than room lighting, and so this is probably related to the low light focusing problems at high zoom). At 1024 x 720 resolution, each continuous video recording can only last for about 15 minutes, or 4GB.

As for the rest of the camera:

The digital image stabilization works very well for still photos.

The mono audio is pretty good, much better than what has been posted about an equivalent series of Panasonic cameras.

Like all digicams, this one drains alkaline AA batteries quickly (it comes with a set of four alkaline AAs) - use NimH batteries!

The lens comes with a lens cap which is a bit loose. Fortunately there is a strap to attach the cap to the camera. The lens itself does not allow for any lens filter attachments.

Manual mode allows for two aperture settings (f3.5-5.4 to f7-10.8 depending on zoom setting) and speeds from 1/1000 sec to 4s. There is a nice histogram and exposure meter that lets you know how the exposure will turn out (although in my camera, the middle of the meter setting was a bit too light).

The black plastic body feels a bit cheap and flimsy. Would have liked a sturdier aluminum body.

The camera comes from the factory with all the clicks and noises turned on, but you can turn them all off.

There is a good macro and super macro mode (focuses down to 1cm from the lens) for still photos. However, macro mode doesn't seem to work during video recording.

The flash has to be manually popped open - if it isn't, it won't pop itself open and you won't get any flash. However, it is reasonably powerful, and can light up an entire backyard at night from 15-25 feet away.

There's an HDMI plug which I haven't tested yet. The camera body also has a proprietary plug to hook to a standard USB plug to download photos and videos from the camera. You get one proprietary USB cable with the camera, don't lose it! The cover to these two plugs is rather flimsy.

Lots of other features, which I haven't tested yet. I'm sure others will post in more about this camera

All in all, a nice camera with lots of features.

Colors are not natural.
Resolution should be better.
I hoped for better video quality.
Maybe the price tells more about the quality of this camera.

After reading the details on the Fuji website, I decided to wait for the release date and order this new product rather than get the S1000. I was mainly attracted by the High Definition video and the zoom capability with video. I've only had it for a few days, so this is a preliminary review which I will probably update after I've had a little more time to put it through its paces.

I generally agree with everything the first reviewer said about the camera, although it doesn't feel cheap or flimsy to me. Certainly not at this ($275.00) price point.

If you don't already have two or three sets of rechargeable batteries, prepare to make the investment. At least while you are learning to use all of the features, you are going to be draining AA's four at a time with breathtaking speed. Nevertheless, the fact that a camera with this many bells & whistles uses a common battery size you can purchase anywhere was one of the dealmakers for me. Once I am more familiar with the operation and options settings I expect I will not be using up the batteries quite so fast. Fuji says 400 shots with rechargables, 300 with Alkalines, and 600+ with Lithiums.

The little rubber cover for the USB/HD connectors makes me wonder about its durability. It's a little hard to pull open all the way (maybe that will loosen up a bit with more use), and I worry that one overly energetic yank will either break the tiny cord that attaches it to the camera or pull it out completely. Be careful with this.

The optical 15x zoom with video does work well (except for the motor noise which does get faithfully recorded on the soundtrack). It is selectable for optical or digital zoom, so if you can't live with the noise, you can work around it. The digital zoom with video is quite limited, though: only 2x at VGA or lower and only 3x in HD.

For still pictures the 15x zoom is extremely impressive, and when combined with the digital zoom you can get over 85x total magnification. With the dual image stabilization switched on, I have taken handheld pictures in bright sunlight at the maximum zoom and gotten useable -if not razor sharp- images. I think Fuji have done a really good job with this. You'll see things in your photos that you can't make out with the naked eye. You have optical zoom capability in macro mode, and digital zoom only in "super" macro.

The HD video looks really good, but one caveat. If you're planning on watching the videos on your computer, you're going to need a relatively powerful system. I think Fuji says at least a Core2Duo @ 2GHz or higher & 1 Gig of RAM minimum. I have a first generation MacBook with a 2GHz CoreDuo and 2GB of RAM, and the HD will play soothly in Quicktime, but only if the "high quality video" option is disabled in the program preferences. Otherwise it's choppy. Whether it's activated or not I am unable to see any difference in the "quality" of the images, the only difference is the smoothness of the playback.

If I have anything I consider a negative, it's this: Fuji seems to be eliminating the included AC power adapters and sockets on their cameras. I have a FinePix 6800Zoom and it has a socket that you can directly plug into, but for this far more power hungry camera you have to buy a separate AC adapter and a separate adapter to connect THAT to the camera. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Combined cost for these gizmos is over $60.00 currently, and seems a bit steep to me. Especially since they imply that you should use an AC adapter when connecting the camera to a computer. If you need it for proper operation, it ought to be included, seems to me. How much would it have cost them to just put a socket connector right on the camera? With volume manufacturing I can't imagine that it would have been more than a few pennies. Then you would only be out the $25 or so for the AC unit.

That point aside, I like it very much, so far. Recommended.

The FujiFilm S2000HD arrived a week ago and I noticed that the LCD display, when taking a picture, and when reviewing certain pictures, had a line running down the right 1/3 of the LCD screen - and the screen was just a tad darker to the right of the line vs the left side. The line wasn't apparent 80% of the time, but was a distraction on a new camera. I got an RMA from Amazon and returned it yesterday. The defect didn't appear on any of the pictures when viewed on the computer.

I currently have a Casio EX-Z600 - a 6 megapixel vs the Fuji's 10. The pictures from my 2 1/2 year old Casio are definitely equal to, and in some instances better than the Fuji. I especially wanted the macro in the Fuji to be superior, but after taking several pictures in a restaurant with both the Fuji and the Casio, at the same time - alternating, even my wife said the macro pictures taken with the old Casio were more colorful, showed more detail, and showed significantly less noise that did the Fuji (when viewed on a 22" HP widescreen monitor). Question now is whether the Fuji was defective other than for the LCD display. I suspect not.

I liked this camera - I found the controls to be very intuitive and easy to use. I really liked the 16x zoom. The lens cap pops off easily, but this is necessary because when you turn the camera on, the lens does extend just an inch or so. The lens cap does need to fit loosely so that it will pop off if you forget it when powering the camera on. The cap has a small string to attach it so it doesn't get lost. I purchased 8 rechargeable hybrid AA batteries, and a 16 GB SD card for this camera, but I'm not going to buy another and may wind up not using either the batteries or SD card. Maybe pictures taken in daylight on the Fuji are equal to the Casio, but I can't keep it without seeing any significant improvement over the old Casio.

I really don't know what some people here think they are reviewing but this is not a DSLR it is a bridge camera. Its supposed to between DSLR and consumer point and shoot. You should be buying this camera for complete DSLR in a smaller / more convient package (that would be worth much more money, look @ fuji's S100fs $600) Myself I don't want a DSLR simply because it is too much camera for the shots I take but Point and Shoots don't cut it, if this is you then bridge camera's are for you.

There are two main things I look for in camera's these days, Zoom (Optical of course, digital is quite useless) and Movie Mode. You see I find myself taking as many videos as pictures, or at least a good portion. And to all those how say get a camcorder well I have this to say: I am not an amuteur film maker, I am making short movies to document things I need simple but nice video and I still like excellent picture quality and I am not taking two devices everywhere I go.
That said the zoom on this is amazing and the Image stabilization works incredibly well in both picture and movie mode. I was filming a look-out tower the next mountain over from the castle at full zoom and it was quite stable very nice. There is some barrel distortion at either extreme but it is not that noticable to myself.
Of course the other thing was movie mode which is 720P, I was doubling MP from my old camera figured I should also do the same for video, that and all my displays are at least 1080P so HD(720p) was required. The big thing about the fuji was it used generic MP4 codec instead of apple's useless quicktime that is so horrible at backward compatabilty. This is why I did not go Panasonic or Olympus (plus those cost more.) Yes there is noise in movie mode from the zoom if you zoom fast but you can slow and it won't be noticable at least you have the option, most camera's do not give you the option and forceable limit the zoom speed to quite it down.
Picture quality is quite nice in general however I mostly have taken pictures on sunny days so I may not be able to judge accurately. The option for aspect ration is nice since all my displays are widescreen but you sometimes want a nice full frame as well. There are quite a few scene modes which is quite helful and manual options are almost to much I have had to read up to learn how to use half of them, my previous camera had aperature and shutter control, this has much much more.
High speed modes are quick and shutter lag is nearly non existent. As far as battery power I sot 2GB of photos over the course of a day plus a few videos and never had the low batt light come on, of course I am using NiMH 2800 mah so there is some juice behind them. As far as flimsy usb cover I could care less since I just pull my SD card and plug direclty into my card reader, much easier and the SD door is quite robust. In fact the whole camera is, yes its plastice but very sturdy and nicely textured, if you want a metal body find a camera for $500 or more. The lens cap I was also initially wary about but it stays on nicely and since it is not the clip kind is very easy to take on and off in a hurry. I've had mine since the first days they came out in the begining of Sep and have had no issues with it.
So in summary know what camera you are shopping for this does exactly wht its supposed, with a great combination of features all for and extremely low price ($100 less than the competitors.)

There are a few things I would like to mention that are in other reviews that I belive stem from lack of using the right-setting.
Battery Life - Some seem to have problems here, as stated above I get very good battery life out of the camera, however I have set it properly. Tha camera asked you to set the type of battey (just a pop-up reminder not the actual menu) whenever you change the batteries with the current setting displayd. It has Akaline, Li-Ion (non-rechargable), and Ni-MH. So make sure you change it to get optimum battery life, also Fuji recommends not to use Ni-Cad.
Red-Eye - again some say there are serious issues, yet I cannot get red-eye when using the red-eye mode WITH face detection, which what you are supposed to do, whether these publicatious even have red-eye flash on is not mention, nor face detection. There is the option to use face detection with red-eye removal as well (don't now what for, maybe later removal?) face detection is new to me, but I can still turn it on and get great pictures. Without it all the camera is doing is the standard double flash for prevention of red-eye not removal, and of-course prevention doesn't always work (actually red-eye flash in my experience only prevents red-eye 1/3 of the time in any camera.)
Auto ISO - this is in Scene, Natural (basically a scene) and auto modes, which make sense to me, if you are selecting automatic options, why wouldn't ISO be automatic, these auto modes depend on limiting what the user can set to intrepet what would be the best setting and doing it itself. If you want ISO control it is available in the manual modes where it should be.
Zoom Noise - again control your speed when zooming when you can (the zoom speed is dependant on how much you pull the zoom switch) If you need to zoom in fast you can, at the expense of some noise from the zoom mechanics being picked-up, but at least you have the option.

Finepix S2000HD review:

After two weeks of hands-on work with this camera, I've concluded it's very cute and does many things well but it can be frustrating to use.

What it does well:

* In good light, it takes photos and high definition video which are sharp and have good color saturation.

* The tiny flash is surprisingly powerful, even when lighting a fairly large room.

* It offers a wide range of image sizes and formats (ie., 16:9, 3:2, etc.)

* It takes excellent close-up photos of flowers, insects, etc.

* It has some interesting and useful features including high speed (33 fps) photography at 3MP, red-eye reduction, etc.

* It's extremly cute (like a baby dSLR) and easy to carry around.

Why it's maddening:

* The electronic viewfinder (EVF) functions like a traditional optical viewfinder. When using the EVF, however, you must continue looking through it to see the image you just shot as the latter doesn't appear on the camera's main viewscreen after you take it. The logic is you only use the EVF when it's too bright to see the main viewscreen, however, I'd like to be able to use the EVF to save on batteries and use the main viewscreen to confirm my photos after each shot.

* The camera menus are frustratingly inconsistent between different camera modes. For example, some modes allow you to change the ISO while other modes allow only "auto" ISO. The auto-only option should ONLY be on the auto mode.

* Setting the shutter speed and aperature isn't entirely intuitive. To increase the shutter speed, for example, you have to push the down arrow button. I know, push down to admit less light, but I don't think that way when shooting. If I want a faster shutter speed, I should be pushing the up arrow button.

* When setting aperature, you're only given a choice of two aperature settings (f3.5 and f7 when on wide angle, for example). If I'm adjusting the aperature, I'd like to set it to any setting I desire, not just two.

* The macro and super-macro modes require separate button clicks to activate and deactivate. In the field, this quickly gets annoying, especially when similar video closeups don't require the same adjustments. If closeups work when shooting video, they should also work with still photos.

* No threads for lens filters. I have a skylight 1A filter on all of my SLRs and dSLRs. With a little camera like this one, I'd like it to have the same protection for its lens.

* No battery level indicator until the batteries are almost entirely drained.

* The full camera manual is a PDF on CD. For a camera that definitely requires you to read the manual to get reasonably comfortable (or at least minimally frustrated) with it, a printed full manual is a must-have.

What's unacceptable:

* When shooting toward the sun (not necessarily directly at it, but with the sun at your face), the viewfinder image takes on a strong bluish tinge which is distracting. The photos themselves are fine, but forget trying to judge color accuracy when looking through what looks like a clear, blue shower curtain.

* The "blue shower curtain" effect IS a problem on your final result when shooting lower resolution video (620x480 or 320x240). Face toward a major light source such as the open sky and your low-rez videos will have a noticeable blue curtain "falling" down the screen at those bright spots.

* Ridiculously short battery life. I like using AA batteries and have two Pentax dSLRs in which battery life isn't an issue. Why this little camera goes through AAs like popcorn is an engineering problem IMHO.

* Zooming while shooting video sounds like a zipper zipping and unzipping on the audio. When shooting, plan on editing out any zoom-transitions you have in your video later.

Bottom line: I *want* to like this camera, but it's annoying enough that I haven't fallen in love with it. Hopefully many of the issues above can be addressed with a software update. The hardware issues, however, make the camera feel like it's still not ready for prime-time.

The new Fuji s2000 is an adequate camera for long range shooting. Controls are close for one with big hands, optical zoon works great and overall, a good camera at a moderate price. Wide angle is good, quality of pictures are good, long zoom pictures not good. Low light pictures are good.

I really don't know what some people here think they are reviewing but this is not a DSLR it is a bridge camera. Its supposed to between DSLR and consumer point and shoot. You should be buying this camera for complete DSLR in a smaller / more convient package (that would be worth much more money, look @ fuji's S100fs $600) Myself I don't want a DSLR simply because it is too much camera for the shots I take but Point and Shoots don't cut it, if this is you then bridge camera's are for you.

There are two main things I look for in camera's these days, Zoom (Optical of course, digital is quite useless) and Movie Mode. You see I find myself taking as many videos as pictures, or at least a good portion. And to all those how say get a camcorder well I have this to say: I am not an amuteur film maker, I am making short movies to document things I need simple but nice video and I still like excellent picture quality and I am not taking two devices everywhere I go.
That said the zoom on this is amazing and the Image stabilization works incredibly well in both picture and movie mode. I was filming a look-out tower the next mountain over from the castle at full zoom and it was quite stable very nice. There is some barrel distortion at either extreme but it is not that noticable to myself.

Of course the other thing was movie mode which is 720P, I was doubling MP from my old camera figured I should also do the same for video, that and all my displays are at least 1080P (and calibrated, including the 80" projector) so HD(720p) was required. The big thing about the fuji was it used the general MP4 codec instead of apple's useless quicktime that is so horrible at backward compatabilty and platform/application specific. This is why I did not go Panasonic or Olympus (plus thye cost more with features not needed.) Yes there is noise in movie mode from the zoom if you zoom fast but you can slow and it won't be noticable at least you have the option, most camera's do not give you the option and forceable limit the zoom speed to quite it down.

Picture quality is quite nice. The option for aspect ration is nice since all my displays are widescreen but you sometimes want a nice full frame as well. My displays are also calibrated and I have taken pictures of them and the room around them (projected on wall) and the colors match perfectly, its the best comparison test I could think of. There are quite a few scene modes which is quite helful and manual options are almost to much I have had to read up to learn how to use half of them, my previous camera had aperature and shutter control, this has much much more.
High speed modes are quick and shutter lag is nearly non existent. As far as battery power I sot 2GB of photos over the course of a day plus a few videos and never had the low batt light come on, of course I am using NiMH 2800 mah so there is some juice behind them. As far as flimsy usb cover I could care less since I just pull my SD card and plug direclty into my card reader, much easier and the SD door is quite robust. In fact the whole camera is, yes its plastice but very sturdy and nicely textured, if you want a metal body find a camera for $500 or more. The lens cap I was also initially wary about but it stays on nicely and since it is not the clip kind is very easy to take on and off in a hurry. I've had mine since the first days they came out in the begining of Sep and have had no issues with it.
So in summary know what camera you are shopping for this does exactly wht its supposed, with a great combination of features all for and extremely low price ($100 less than the competitors.)

There are a few things I would like to mention that are in other reviews that I belive stem from lack of using the right-setting.
Battery Life - Some seem to have problems here, as stated above I get very good battery life out of the camera, however I have set it properly. Tha camera asked you to set the type of battey (just a pop-up reminder not the actual menu) whenever you change the batteries with the current setting displayd. It has Akaline, Li-Ion (non-rechargable), and Ni-MH. So make sure you change it to get optimum battery life, also Fuji recommends not to use Ni-Cad.
Red-Eye - again some say there are serious issues, yet I cannot get red-eye when using the red-eye mode WITH face detection, which what you are supposed to do, whether these publicatious even have red-eye flash on is not mention, nor face detection. There is the option to use face detection without red-eye removal as well (don't know what for, maybe later removal?) face detection is new to me, but I can still turn it on and get great pictures. Without it all the camera is doing is the standard double flash for prevention of red-eye not removal, and of-course prevention doesn't always work (actually red-eye flash in my experience only prevents red-eye 1/3 of the time in any camera.)
Auto ISO - this is in Scene, Natural (basically a scene) and auto modes, which make sense to me, if you are selecting automatic options, why wouldn't ISO be automatic, these auto modes depend on limiting what the user can set to intrepet what would be the best setting and doing it itself. If you want ISO control it is available in the manual modes where it should be.
Zoom Noise - again control your speed when zooming when you can (the zoom speed is dependant on how much you pull the zoom switch) If you need to zoom in fast you can, at the expense of some noise from the zoom mechanics being picked-up, but at least you have the option.

Right out of the box, my S2000HD had a problem with the LCD display-- it would streak purple vertical lines whenever I aimed the camera toward a bright light source (e.g. Toward a window from inside the house on a sunny day). Fuji customer support advised to return the camera, since this is NOT normal. I really like the camera's features and quality otherwise.

Amazon return was very easy. I opted to get my full refund, since I'm not sure yet if I want another S2000HD. I'm considering the Panasonic DMC-TZ5K because it's more compact and has 10x optical zoom, but know I would miss the Fuji's 15x optical zoom and AA batteries.

I'm a new Fujifilm Finepix camera user but recently used it on a trip to Vermont with my husband and two dogs. I knew there would be a lot of moving pictures and the anti blur feature was great for that. We haven't had a chance to use the video feature but I understand the rechargeable batteries are the best way to go for that. We took well over 150 pictures with the standard AA batteries and still haven't had any issues (unlike two previous cameras). I like the idea that you can use AA, rechargeable or lithium batteries.

I did buy a 16 GB SDHC card for it with a card reader and it was very easy to transfer pictures with it. It does have internal memory to save some pics too, which is convenient.

Hope this helps.

I bought this camera to upgrade from a Kodak Z730 point and shoot. I wanted good zoom, good pics in low light situations, and great color images of my two daughters in their various activities. This seemed like a good fit. I took about 50 pictures with it at my daughter's birthday party and was not pleased. The images were washed out, not crisp; the color was off (my daughter's dark brown hair had visible orange pixels in it); and most pictures had blurry streaks where ever someone was moving. Most noticable was a horrible shutter delay which caused me to lose many good shots of my kids... by the time the image was captured, the moment was gone. Since most of my pictures are of children under the age of 7 in action, this was not acceptable. I returned the camera.
I ended up buying a Canon Powershot A590IS instead and am very happy with it. Much lower price, better images, better color, much clearer focus, faster shutter speed. The video it captures is also good quality. Though I loved the Kodak Easyshare software, I was pleasantly surprised with the software that came with the Canon.
I went crazy trying to research the best cameras for my needs and decided that you really have to just buy a camera that has the features you want and then test it out in your own environment. You can't tell how something is going to work in the store or by talking to sales people or by reading online reviews. Amazon has a great return policy and I got a full refund for the Fujifilm camera within a few days of sending it back. I am not a professional photographer nor a novice; I just want good, solid pictures of my children and our family. I am planning on upgrading to a digital SLR in a few years but for now, the Canon works great... much better than the Fujifilm.

First - I am not a pro or even an amateur photographer. I still use my old Nikon N40 35mm but at a recent family party the younger kids teased me about my old camera. The only "digital" I have is my cell phone. So it was time to upgrade. After lots of research, I almost bought a point&shoot Canon, but on a trip to Costco, I saw the Fuji s1000 and really liked it. While checking the price on Amazon I found the s2000hd and for $50 more decided to buy it.

Today's 1st day pics and videos surpassed my expectations. Remember I am not a pro, but the menus are all intuitive and the settings were easy to learn. I did spend a couple hours reading the manual and testing things out. After that I printed the 2 "camera display" and "mode dial" pages from the manual (which is on a CD) so I'd have something to refer to while walking the neighborhood and taking pics. For those who said they'd like a paper user manual - if you have a CD, you can print JUST the 2 or 3 pages you need to use. Save a tree.

This is a wonderful camera for someone who wants more than a point&shoot, but who doesn't want a higher end DSLR. It's so easy to take great pictures and videos. I love the macro zoom - my roses never looked more beautiful - sharp, clear and bright colors.

It did suck up the batteries at first but that was just me trying out EVERY setting and function. Once I settled down and figured out how things work, I was able to get a couple hundred pics and 2 videos with one set of rechargeables (buy a quick charger and a few sets of AAs).

So far I totally love this great little camera.

0 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars I did not like it !!, September 26, 2008
By OC, CA

Colors are not natural.
Resolution should be better.
I hoped for better video quality.
Maybe the price tells more about the quality of this camera.

I liked the idea of SLR but don't have the patience to deal with reading the manual. I was able to take a few test shots and bring to my brothers wedding for excellent pictures! I still have some learning but 30 minutes was all I needed to point and click high resolution pictures and HD video.

So far so good with this camera. I'm still learning about it. Colors are vibrant & I have taken some pretty amazing shots with it. As mentioned in another review there are sometimes purple smears on the LCD screen when the camera is pointed at a very bright light. I don't know where he got his info that this is a camera defect but I looked this up on Fuji's website and here is what it said:

When composing an image, vertical stripes appear on the viewfinder and LCD screen. However the vertical stripes are not displayed on the played back image or downloaded image on the PC.

This symptom (CCD smear) is not a camera defect. When the camera receives strong incident light on focal plane, the image signal temporally over flows internally inside the image capture device (CCD), and appear as vertical lines.

However when the shutter is released, the amount of the light coming into the image capture device is controlled by the aperture and shutter speed; Therefore the recorded image does not show vertical stripes. This problem is usually noticeable during framing or movie mode.

So, apparently this is not a defect. I can attest to the fact that nothing shows up on the actual picture.

I love this camera, the price has gone down since I bought it and I am amazed at all the features. Go for it, for the money you can't go wrong. Still looking for the HDMI cable to watch photo's thru HD TV. Haven't spent much time looking tho. Pics look great with the cables supplied till I do find them.

I received this camera as an early Christmas present. The Digital Zoom is great, and the pictures turn out clear and sharp. There are so many programed and manual settings that this camera is great for seasoned and beginning photographers. The Ten Megapixels make cropping easy. This camera has exceeded all of my expectations.

I purchased the S2000HD to replace my Fuji FinePix S5000. After firing over 130,000 pictures through the S5000, I thought purchasing another FinePix camera would bring the same or better results. This camera has let me down!
The S5000 shots at 6 megapixels with amazing clarity and color saturation. I have printed pictures up to 2' X 3' where you begin to notice the pixels. An 11" X 17" picture turns out sharp and crisp. When I read the specs about the S2000HD, I was excited to have picture quality with additional upgrades including a larger LCD screen, wide-angle lens, and faster `burst' picture mode for sporting events. But the results were offset by poor performance and even poorer customer service.
On Halloween I shot about 100 frames of `trick or treaters' at my door. About a dozen were clear enough to see details in their costumes. I shot on the automatic mode and almost created a traffic jam as the kids had to wait for the camera to focus, set, and flash. My old camera would perform this function in less than a second while the S2000HD thought about it for several seconds then produced a poor shot. I soon learned to forget trying the automatic setting and move on to one of the pre-set shooting modes.
I just returned from a cruise to the Caribbean and tried to find a `comfort level' with this unit, because like others I `wanted' to like this camera. After almost 2,000 pictures, I am here to report it did not happen.
Others have reported the view finder `whiting out' when viewing a bright scene, and it frustrated me! Any shot with a bright sun forced me to take the shot `blind' hoping to catch the scene and waiting for the picture review to see what I shot. The `BEACH' scene position produced washed out results of the beach (along with the automatic setting), but the `LANDSCAPE' setting produced great colors. But don't use this setting in a medium to low light setting. After down loading the pictures today, the good color results were wiped out by poor focusing.
The lens cap is a total joke. It doesn't stay on unless you keep it in a bag. After visiting the Turk Islands I was reviewing my pictures and noticed a blurred spot on the pictures. Somehow when the cap fell off I must have touched the lens and left a smudge mark thus ruining almost all the shots.
The topper is trying to contact Fujifilm to ask questions. I tried their website and found the typical preset question-answers did not address my concerns, and when I tried to complete a questionnaire/problem form, the response came back after hitting the send tab that the page could not be found. I tried their technical service hot line in New Jersey for 4 hours and was told on the answering message to call back during normal hours. I called from Seattle on a Tuesday from 8:00 AM to about 1:00 PM! I tried other location and actually reached a lady in Texas who put me through to a technician. The guy could barely speak English and after several minutes finally said the focusing may need to be adjusted and send it their New Jersey facility where they would take a look at it and get it back in a couple of weeks. I was leaving the next week on vacation!
The bottom line is if you haven't bought this camera....DON'T! I passed the 30 day return window for Amazon's return policy during my trip so I am STUCK with this thing. I could tell you about some good points about the camera, but it would be like me telling you everything wrong about your girl friend, but adding she cooks a great pot of chili.

I would love to like this camera and have kept it by my side for two weeks trying to find a "happy place" with it. Many valid points in the previous reviews. I am no professional. I just have way too many blurry shots that would have been clear with my previous camera. Returning item and will continue to research.

I love this camera. I have read the previous reviews as well. Yes, the lens cap is a little cheap but it stays on. Yes, you do see lines when aiming to direct light but the images are wonderful. I was a little dissappointed at first (for about an hour) when I first started taking pictures but after I spent that first evening reading the manual and playing with the various settings (about 1.5 hours) I am now in love with it. I previously had a kodak that went kaputz on me within 10 months but my other fuji has lasted 5 years and while a very basic model-still takes the same quality pics as the day it came out of the box (which is why I decided on Fuji again). I can take pics in a darker room with no flash and they turn out wonderful. I have taken over 500 pictures since i bought it and am only on my second set of batteries which is still going strong. You need to make sure you select the right battery when you put new ones in to maximize the life. I love the continuous shooting mode--that was the test for me and it is a wonderful feature. I love the control you have over quality used. I do highly recommend printing the manual--pages 70-93 or so for sure and reviewing them and I highly recommend playing with the various settings as it will help you get the most of your camera. My husband says he feels like he is at a press conference because I never seem to let it leave my hands! I am very happy with it and have no regrets. I think it is definately one step short of an SLR but a whole lot better than a basic point and shoot.

I really wanted to like the Fuji S2000HD but it just had to many fleas.My first big complaint is that it does not have full manual control even though the specs say it does. I had ordered this Model because it was supposed to have full manual controls, but Found out that I could only adjust a low and a high F stop in M mode. Now I called Fuji customer service and they informed me that the 2000HD should have full control of the aperture range in M mode., but I have seen another couple of reviewers here stating the same thing only two aperture range adjustment can be made in M mode. So either the cameras we received are defective or that is a design limitation , either way that does not work for me.No provisions at all for filters or tele converters.A very screwy menu system that becomes down right irritating at times, not hard to understand just tedious.In my opinion to many fluff features.But there are a lot of things I liked about this Unit , it is very light and compact, has very sharp crisp optics. Does not use any screwy proprietary battery packs to gouge more hard earned money out of consumer. It uses four cheap highly available AA batteries.View finder was was clear and bright and the rear screen was the same even in bright sun light.Also it is one of the few cameras on the market now, that has vista compatible software.Yes, almost any camera will work with vista, but not to many cameras out here now have vista compatible software.Make sure you read the fine print on compatibility with vista if you plan on using the software bundle that comes with what ever camera you decide on. There are usually quite a few asterisks on the topic on which version of vista you have installed. Home edition or 32 bit or 64 bit. Oh well, I am sure you get the idea.Watch your prices when shopping for a Fuji line , I have seen wildly fluxing pricing on this line at diffrent retail sellers. Example Radio shack has the sf 1000 for 225.00 dollars that is the price that amazom has the 2000HD for.

I saw this camera at Best Buy and loved it but came online to look at reviews. I was a little concerned because it definitely got some mixed reviews. I went back to Best Buy to look at it again (I just need to see things in person sometimes) and ran in to the Fuji rep who was servicing the store. She was an AMAZING help to me. She showed me tons of features on the camera that I might not have known about. I also started asking her about some of the issues I saw in these reviews and she answered each one perfectly. It boils down to the fact that people get used to the way that one camera does things and then expects future cameras to do the same. Most of the time they are different. This is a great camera but you really need to learn how to do things. I'm a mom and getting great (and fast) pictures of my kids were my main concerns. This camera achieves that and I am very happy. Now, its not completely perfect but I can definitely work with the issues I have. You can't beat the price either!

I love this camera. My uncle bought it for me and sent it to me through Amazon. I am no camera expert, but then again it was only 200$.
The camera feels small and compact, but powerful and agile. It has plenty of features that I have no idea what to do with! There's so many. The video quality is great, much better than I would expect from a camera that's meant for point and shoot. The batteries seem to last me plenty, but then again I don't take hundreds of photos every 10minutes.
I recommend this great camera at such a great price.
=)

I have owned several digicams over the last 9 years. This camera was my first Fuji. I was initially very excited over all it's features but Fuji should be ashamed they released this to the market as is. All the reviews stating is has trouble with autofocusing and with overexposure are 100% correct. If you are lucky 2 out of 10 photos will be more or less in focus. The rest are most likely to be blurry no matter what settings you use on the camera or overexposed. I guess if you were willing to just do manual focus you might have a chance though.

The videos are very subpar. I was expecting to be able to hear the zoom motor during movies which you can (very loud and clear) but it was a big surprise to be able to also hear the autofocus itself when you are not zooming going "click, click, click" throughout the movie. Add to this the fact that the movies are as blurry as the pics and you have a dud.

Finally, the LCD will inexplicably flicker (go off for a few seconds, come back on, go off for another second, and then come back on). I would be tempted to say mine was defective but I got 2 from Amazon and they both did this. Needless to say I did not keep this camera.

So then, why are some people giving this good reviews? I can only conclude that they have never had a digicam before and hence compared to a cheap film camera the pictures look great. However, compared to a decent digital camera they are horrific. The professional sites more or less all recommend you buy something else and I have to agree. I just wish I had looked at their reviews closer before buying this.

If you want to see some sample video from this camera go to vimeo.com and search for S2000 HD. I put up an example where you can clearly hear all the noise from the zoom motor and autofocus. Decide for yourself.

I have read many of the reviews on this camera before and after I purchased it and the biggest issue I have with the S2000HD is the proprietary USB ports/cables -- a shameless and unnecessary grab at our wallets by FujiFilm. Aside from that, this camera has everything a serious amateur photographer could want at a price that is unbeatable.

I saw the S700 about a year ago at local RadioShack and I was very tempted to buy that camera but held off since it did not have true IS (neither mechanical nor optical). A friend of mine did buy it and loved it; he bought some filters for it and his photos were amazing. This was very influential in my decision to purchase the S2000HD since it has the same basic specs as the S700 with many added features; if a lesser model could produce such "finepics", surely an upgraded version would do that and more. I'm glad to say, my logic was correct!

Before purchasing the S2000HD, I went to 3 top digital camera review websites. A close contender for my money was the Canon SX110 IS. Since I already owned the Canon Optura 20 and the A620, I was leaning towards getting the Canon since I was already familiar with their products and had some compatible accessories. In fact, the SX110 garnered a point to point and half higher rating on all three reviews I read which was not surprising to me. While not a huge difference it was enough to make me pause: was the S2000HD the wiser choice; more bang for the buck but I knew Canon and although pricey, in my mind it would be the sure bet. Canon = quality which tends to be true most of the time.

On November 21st, I took my vows with the S2000HD and from the first moment I removed it from the box up to now just over a month later, my love has only grown.

A word on battery consumption: a few reviews have lodged complaints that the batteries do not last long. This has not been an issue for me at all; in fact I have been impressed with the battery life considering the large LCD display on the back. I have a feeling people are not setting the battery type in the main setup menu correctly or they might have bad batteries.

Last word: for the serious amateur on a budget, the S2000HD is worth every penny.

This was a gift for my daughter. She researched it, and this is the only thing she wanted. It was packaged well, and we were very happy with it.

I'm glad that I picked this camera. It takes real nice pictures once you get in on the right setting. I gave it a 4, because I wish they would have more instruction on the how to set the shutter speed. I would recommend this product.