Fujifilm's FinePix S700

The nicely priced S700 has good features and SLR styling but an awkward electronic viewfinder.

Fujifilm's FinePix S700 adds an SLR-style frame to the solid functionality of an advanced point-and-shoot. Its best traits are its long battery life, manual controls, 10X optical zoom, and image stabilization--not a bad combo in a $250 model.

The camera powers up in less than 2 seconds, and the shutter button responds fairly quickly. It handled close-up shots nicely; I photographed a quarter at a distance of about 2 inches, and the resulting shot looked crisp and clear.

In our lab tests, the 7.1-megapixel S700 earned a high score for color accuracy and an average score for sharpness. Its scores for distortion, however, were subpar. In our battery-life tests, the camera's four AA alkaline batteries supported 475 shots--much better than the average score.

I liked the camera's 'Natural Light and Flash' mode shooting option, where the camera captures a pair of consecutive shots--one without flash and another with flash--so you can compare which lighting captured the better image. A continuous-shooting mode snaps shots at a resolution of either 7 megapixels (the unit's maximum) or 4 megapixels. This feature worked fine, but it was a bit slow to record.

The S700 has the chops to perform well in most shooting scenarios. You may find the body a bit bulky, though.