Following the S8000fd, Fujifilm comes back into the battle with a new bridge, the S8100fd.  It has an 18x optical zoom and 10 million pixel sensor.  Compared to this model, there are two new rivals: the Olympus SP-570 UZ, which has the same technical sheet though with a 20x zoom; and the Panasonic DMC-FZ18, which contrary to the other two has an 8 million pixel sensor.

Handling

The S8100fd displays serious construction.  The rubber coating on the handle allows a good and pleasant grip.  We also find this same coating with the 570 UZ, but Olympus opted for a shorter handle.  There are also several functions on the S8100fd that are offered by Fujifilm digital compacts, notably the F button for setting sensitivity or image quality.  The 2.5 inch LCD renders images nicely and display is quite fluid. 

The S8100fd has a wide angle and offers a large focal range (27 mm - 486 mm) although it relies on a relatively small sensor (1/2.3").  ISO sensitivity goes from 64 to 6400 ISO; however, definition is at 5 million pixels for 3200 and 6400 ISO. 

In terms of speed, this camera isn’t one of the fastest.  Startup is a little less than 2 seconds and expect 1 second for autofocus.  Moreover, recording time between two photos is very long at 3.3 seconds when the FZ18 does it in 1 second.  This is compensated for by the burst mode.  There are two settings, one with 12.8 i/s and the other at 6.9 i/s. The only dampener on our enthusiasm here was that images were captured at 3 and 5 million pixels, respectively.

Quality of images

The 10 million pixel sensor produces good results and nice colors.  As for the lens, it also offers pleasant photos; however, on our test scene the image was slightly overexposed.  Smoothing becomes visible at 200 ISO and noise is perceptible starting at 400 ISO (although this a common score for all cameras).  Beyond this sensitivity, details are significantly ‘’fluffy’’.  A very good macro mode is available with focusing from 1 cm.  As for video (640 x480 pixels) is slightly lacks sharpness.  You can record sound but the zoom still isn’t unfortunately isn’t usable.
 
Stabilization by movement of the sensor is efficient enabling to obtain very sharp shots of our test Barbie at 1/6s and 400 ISO.  Note, however, that the Panasonic FZ18 isn't inferior and our Barbie was sharp at 1/5 seconds from 200 ISO.  This produced an image with less noise and more pleasant and natural colors.  Otherwise, the Olympus SP-570 UZ has sharp shots at 1/13 second and 800
ISO, but this image didn’t lack a certain amount of grain.


So Panasonic, Olympus or Fujifilm?

These three manufacturers made special efforts in terms of the construction of their cameras which means a comfortable feel in hand for these bridges.  This is especially true for the S8100fd.  However, for image quality, the situation is a little more complicated.  Actually, each model has its own particularity: the S8100fd better manages increases in ISO, notably in high sensitivities, and Panasonic has a more efficient stabilization system and color rendering (especially in low lighting).  And finally, for the Olympus, we preferred its burst mode that attained 13.5 i/s.