FujiFilm FinePix S6000fd (FinePix S6500fd)

Opinion: .
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Can be only compared in IQ with Fujifilm FS100/ f20/30/31, Nikon S7000, Canon s90/95 G11/12
at "compact camera/tiny sensor/fixed lens" world.

The Sony R1, Sigma DP1/DP2, Fujifilm X100 are superior or far superior with larger sensors (but no so practical in use).

In general all reflex and MILC camereas are better...the last ones very compact and low noise capable to replace this Fujifilm.

So... is one of the 10 best compact cameras ever made: Low noise, faster, very sharp, zoom barrel (not by bottons), good WB, very usefull focals and brigth lens, usable video -today-, viewfinder...and many more.
The honeycomb Super-CCD sensor is magic, and fujifilm may trying this tech in m4/3 or other compacts I think.
Any Panasonic from FZ line can´t touch this camera... even today.
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Opinion: Yes, it is best to start and for everyday. It really was an excellent purchase.

Opinion: I love this camera. I have it almost four years. No wear and tear on the body. It's a great camera for outdoor use and birding. I have had other cameras but none good match the IQ of this one. I must have taken around six thousand pix with it and love it.

Opinion: I used for 2 years now, and I think its the best value for money. Image quality is superb, even no stabilizer. Easy to use, and understanding menús. Only thing I dont really like is the hole for a tripod in plastic, but the manual zoom and focusing is really good, and you can use a manual focusing, but pressing the button left, you can focus by electrónic focus. The best quality image for the money. Battery life is really good, and you can use AAA size with no problem. Smart flash really works.

Opinion: i decided to buy this camera after reading the review
on dpreview. seeing the comparing tests i said this is
the best camera for the money, so i instantly go for it!
i thnk the real test of a digital camera stands in the
quality of the picture. no matter what camera you use,
after a whyle you get used with the layout of the
buttons, etc, but the image quality is something
objective, it cannot be doubted or "get used to". i
tested this camera againsta a 10mp panasonic set for
6mp and mine was clearly better than the competitor
(and that's because the density of the piexls). Fuji was
generous enough and not too greedy to give users a
big sensor uncluttered with too much mps, but only 6.
so the quality of the detail stands out even compared
to some of today's cameras.

and now justifying my notes:
constructionh; this goes in the same fashion as
"getting used with the camera". i am the kind of user
that cannot aford more cameras at a time. so i cannot
really compare cameras "in their time". but after 2
years of using this one i find the controls to be just
where they are supposed to be, intuitive and easy to
get to! that means i'm not bored of it!!!

features: what else for these money? i payd less than
300 euros for it 2 years ago! it was the cheapest for
these features, and the best one compared to the
competition. right, some "easy to get to" options
might be hiden too deep in the menus, but, as i
sugested before, this gets used to, and thye ultimate
argument is the image quality, not the menus.

image quality: it was the best in it's price class at the
time of buying, acording to the tests on dpreview
(wich i sait i considered when buying). if you don't
belive me, see the test results.

ease of use: this goes well with the features tab. the
problem would be, though, about some buttons that
have the most useless functions, like the digital zoom
button. for a bridge camera that goes as far as having
manual zoom, wasting a button for digital zoom feature
is such a miss, especially when the camera has such a
good image sensor!

value for money: i bought this camera when the price
was lower tha 300 euros (romanian market), quite long
after initial lounch, so IT WAS cheap for it's capabilities!

Opinion: since i bought 2 years ago, and until now, i have no doubt about this camera. great one

Opinion: I love the IQ, even in RAW. No Image Stabilisation, but i´ve not missed it. The ISO-Performance is outstanding in this Class.
Use White Balance setting Daylight, and outdoor the Pictures are ok.

Opinion: Simply a fantastic camera!!!

Opinion: Ive owned an s6500fd for about 2 years, it was my first digital camera after 30 years of shooting film and i used it for all my digital work for some time, even though ive now got a newer bridge camera and a dslr, i still use the 6500 for low light work, mounted on a tripod at iso 400 this camera is amazing at night, but try setting the sharpness to low, then increase the sharpness with computer software or shoot raw files, the "in camera" processing seems to go from too soft to too harsh with no in between, also i found the auto white balance dreadfull, but if you set it manually its fine, despite these slight failings this camera is quite capable of giving dslr quality photos in most situations if you take the time to play with its settings and learn how to get the best from it.