Fujifilm S100FS Review

Very fast to average speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	2.4 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on, the lens to deploy and take a shot. Not bad, but could be a little faster.
Shutdown	0.3 second	How long it takes to retract lens.
Buffer clearing time	11 seconds* 9.1 seconds** (after 7 Large/Fine JPEGs)	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.
	7 seconds* (after 7 Small JPEGs)
	28 seconds* 7.9 seconds** (after 4 RAW files)
Note: Buffer clearing times marked with a "" were measured with a Olympus 1GB Type-H xD-Picture card, those marked with "*" were measured with a SanDisk Extreme III SD card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. Other settings such as ISO sensitivity also affect cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Startup and shutdown times are above average for a long zoom. Buffer clearing times are slow when using xD memory cards (and we were using the higher-speed "type H" card here), but quite reasonable with a fast SD card. (Clearing times will of course vary with resolution, file type (JPEG vs RAW) and the speed of your memory card.)

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	0.8 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to Play	0.5 second	Time to display a large/superfine file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	0.6 second	Time to display a large/superfine file already on the memory card.

Better than average times here.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus Wide	0.510 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.808 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Full Autofocus, with Flash	0.467 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position, flash enabled.
Pre-focused	0.027 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Continuous AF	0.511 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.
Manual focus	0.266 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "pre-focused."

Shutter response is slightly better than average at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.51 second and 0.81 second respectively. Enabling the flash did not seem to add any delay (in fact, it averaged slightly faster), which is unusual. "Pre-focusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of only 0.027 second, which is quite fast indeed. Continuous AF lag was about the same as full single shot autofocus lag, but manual focus cuts the lag almost in half, to just 0.266 second. All in all, a pretty responsive for an all-in-one camera, but full-AF lag times at telephoto could be an issue in shooting sports. (On the other hand, if the situation was such that you could prefocus by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button prior to the shot itself, the S100fs is as fast as most anything on the market in that mode, including SLRs.)

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	0.18 second	Time per shot, averaged over 2 shots, then slows to 1.39s per shot; 4 seconds to clear.*
Single Shot mode 640x480 JPEG	1.10 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots; 2 seconds to clear.*
Single Shot mode RAW	1.12 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 4 shots, then slows to 5.03s per shot; 28 seconds to clear* with an xD card, 7.9 seconds to clear** with a fast SD card.
Early shutter penalty?	Yes	Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer. The S100fs' behavior here is a strike against it.
"Long Period" Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	0.89 second (1.13 frames per second); 3 frames total; 5 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 3 frames, then slows to 1.40 second or 0.71 frames per second.
"Long Period" Continuous mode 640x480 JPEG	0.88 second (1.13 frames per second); >20 frames total; 2 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
"Long Period" Continuous mode RAW	n/a	RAW capture not supported in this drive mode.
"Top 7 (RAW 3)" Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	0.34 second (2.91 frames per second); 7 frames total; 11 seconds to clear* 9.1 seconds to clear**	Time per shot, averaged over 7 frames.
"Top 7 (RAW 3)" Continuous mode 640x480 JPEG	0.34 second (2.91 frames per second); 7 frames total; 7 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over 7 frames.
"Top 7 (RAW 3)" Continuous mode RAW	0.34 second (2.94 frames per second); 3 frames total; 17 seconds to clear* 5.8 seconds to clear**	Time per shot, averaged over 3 frames.
"Top 50" Continuous mode 3MP JPEG	0.15 second (6.76 frames per second); 21 frames total; 11 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over 21 frames. Maximum resolution drops to 3-megapixels in this mode.
"Top 50" Continuous mode 640x480 JPEG	0.15 second (6.76 frames per second); 21 frames total; 7 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over 21 frames.
"Top 50" Continuous mode RAW	n/a	RAW capture not supported in this drive mode
Flash recycling	5.9 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
Note: Buffer clearing times marked with a "" were measured with a Olympus 1GB Type-H xD-Picture card, those marked with "*" were measured with a SanDisk Extreme III SD card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. Other settings such as ISO sensitivity also affect cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

The Fujifilm S100FS' cycle times vary from very fast to average. In single shot mode, the S100FS can take two shots with only 0.18 second delay between them, but then slows to 1.39 seconds per shot, which is still pretty good for an 11-megapixel camera. Cycle time is about 1.1 seconds for small JPEGs and RAW files, however with the JPEGs the buffer never fills, while in RAW mode, it fills after 4 shots. The Fujifilm S100FS has multiple continuous modes. In "Long Period" mode, it managed 3 large/fine JPEGs at 1.13 frames per second, before slowing to an average of 0.71 frames per second with an xD card, we didn't try that particular mode with an SD card, it's possible that the faster card could permit more shots could be captured before pausing. In "Top 7 (RAW 3)" mode, the camera managed 7 large/fine or small JPEGs at 2.91 frames per second, but only 3 RAW frames at 2.94 frames per second. In "Top 50" mode, the maximum resolution drops to 3-megapixels, and the camera managed to capture 21 3-megapixel JPEGs or 21 small JPEGs at 6.76 frames per second(!) Three megapixels is a useful resolution, enough to make decent-looking 8x10 prints - So the Top 50 mode is a useful option for fast-breaking action. Flash recycling after maximum power discharge takes 5.9 seconds, which is pretty good.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	2,155 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are reasonably fast. You probably won't feel that you need a card reader and SD cards may give even higher speeds.

Bottom line, the Fuji S100FS is a responsive camera overall, and is capable of high burst rates at lower resolutions.

Battery
About average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, LCD On (CIPA standard)	250
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, EVF On (CIPA standard)	250

The Fuji FinePix S100FS uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Battery life is only about average for a lithium-ion design (below average considering the physical size of the S100FS), so we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Fuji FinePix S100FS accepts xD-Picture or SDHC/SD memory cards, and comes with about 25MB of built-in memory. The table below shows approximate capacity of the internal memory, image size, and compression ratio.

Image Capacity with 25MB Internal Memory		Fine	Normal	RAW
3,840 x 2,880	Images (Avg size)	4 5.4 MB	9 2.7 MB	1 23.2 MB
3,840 x 2,880	Approx. Comp.	6:1	12:1	0.7:1
2,816 x 2,112	Images (Avg size)	-	16 1.5 MB	-
2,816 x 2,112	Approx. Comp.	-	12:1	-
2,048 x 1,536	Images (Avg size)	-	30 817 KB	-
2,048 x 1,536	Approx. Comp.	-	12:1	-
1,600 x 1,200	Images (Avg size)	-	38 657 KB	-
1,600 x 1,200	Approx. Comp.	-	9:1	-
640 x 480	Images (Avg size)	-	156 160 KB	-
640 x 480	Approx. Comp.	-	6:1	-

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC/SD or xD-Picture memory card, at least a 1GB card, preferably a 2 or 4GB one if you plan on shooting RAW and/or video. Note that the bundled Fuji software interpolates RAW files to 5,440 x 4,080 pixels. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)