I bought my S5000 in February. I had some of the same problems at first. I played around with the focus settings and I finally found what worked best. The focus settings are located to the left (if you are looking at the back of the camera) of the flash. I also have found that using the "P" setting instead of Auto works much better for me.

I too, have a hard time not shaking while trying to take pictures. Especially when I am taking a close up. Adjusting these setting helps the problem. this will also fix the issue with the view finder. My veiw through the veiw finder is acutally a tiny bit fuzzy...but the pictures turn out great.

As for zoom....watch out for entering into the Optical zoom. When you look at the zoom on the screen there is a line for maximum zoom ...the range will go past that, when it does it is in optical zoom and the pictures are not as crisp. I NEVER go past that line.

The manual has all of the directions for adjusting the focus settings...the fuji website is also a great resource. If all else fails go to a camera store (like wolfe cameras..not best buy!) THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO ASSIST YOU.

I hope this helps.