FujiFilm FinePix S9100 (FinePix S9600)

Opinion: I've been using the 9600 for two years, bought in 2006 even if the brand wasn't that known and appreciated here in Italy.

:: The Body ::

The camera is quite well built, is near all-plastic made but it can surely last for years even under an hard use. There are still some weak points, like the infamous gear on the rear right, which in the older s9500 model caused many and many copies of the camera to get serviced. Another weak (but not that weak) point is that the lcd isn't protected as some lcds from Canon cameras...but let's say that most cameras on the market shares this point.
Apart of that, the camera is pretty well built: the lens doesn't wobble, the body doesn't makes odd crick-crack sounds, and generally the ergonomics is very nice.

i've heard that Fujifilm enginereed this camera with Nikon...i don't know if it's true, but it may be.

By the way, i've seen a copy of the lens mounted on the S9600 exposed by Tamron: there were many voices that the lens was made by Tamron, but now, it's confirmed :o) . It's a small Tamron lens, built for Fujifilm.

:: Taking Photos ::

The camera feels responsive enough to take most photos, but not enough for sport or action shooting. There are a few good reasons: the AF, even though still decent in good light, goes hunting in low light (but even in good light, you have a compact digital camera AF not a reflex one ;o) it won't make miracles); the slooooow burst speed; the speed and amount of buffer (the camera takes 2 or 3 seconds to process an image after you took it).

That said, the camera is ok: the zoom ring is smooth enough, there's no shutter lag, the viewfinder is good and has a nice refresh rate (but NOT in low light, as most electrical viewfinders). I also would like to explain a thing about the manual focus ring: is there, you can use it, you may even take photos using it. But.
But has a slow response, not immediate, has not enough grades for MF adjust. Honestly, it hasn't the feel of a manual focus ring, to tell the truth it hasn't a feel...but i don't think it would be that useful, since the evf and the lcd aren't big enough to make good use of it. So, don't wonder, if you aren't going to buy the camera for it.

About batteries: this is a reason for what i preferred this camera. Standard batteries. Ok, maybe they doesn't last for an impressive bunch of photos, but you can buy 8 or 16 AAA batteries (and that is more comfortable to look for the precise model of lithium battery that you camera need).
Ah, i was forgetting to say that the camera is pretty lightweight, maybe not for his cathegory, but surely for a camera with an equivalent 28-300 lens attached it is :o)

:: Image Quality ::

The camera can shoot in Jpeg (with different resolutions and quality) and in Raw (unique size and resolution). Let's say that i've never used any Jpeg setting apart of the better and bigger one, and the 3x2 one. A note: i've started using the 3x2 one after a few months i got the camera, cause i discovered that the 3x2 format suits well for a lot of things. Plus, the 3x2 weights around 1,5-2 mb while the best 4/3 weights around 3,5-4 mb. And let me say that there's basically the same detail in it, at least in the way i setted the camera ;o)

Ah, my settings for the Jpeg if you want to know:

Contrast: standard
Saturation: standard
Sharpness: the lower level.

I'm applying this settings cause i discovered two important things:

1) with standard sharpness, you get a kind of "mudding" of the finer detail: you lose most noise, you gain some edge sharpness, but you definatly lose the finest detail;
2) If you set sharpness at the lower level (but leaving the other two settings as default) you obtain a really interesting thing: you gain detail, good colours (standard saturation) and good contrast (standard contrast)...so, you gain a kind of raw picture! And then you can apply sharpening as YOU prefer!

Needless to say that i shoot mostly in Jpeg :o), even though i've used raw sometimes, but i don't think there's that much more detail in a compact camera raw file (than in a digital SLR -that i do have).

What else to say? Well, about the price, i've paid it 500 € in Italy, probably i may have spent less (around 350€) on the internet but i preferred to buy it in a physical shop.

Opinion: Using this camera for a year now - but putting it for sale... these are the reasons:
- crappy JPEG compression algorythm (event on best quality artifacts are very visible)
- unadmissable level of purple fringing for this class
- sometimes weird and unnatural colors
- slow in recharging flash
- incredibly stupid menu - some examples: in order to activate RAW mode you should go several levels in the menu; no direct button for timer; and some other usual settings burried deep in the menu structure
- sometimes inexplicably out-of-focus even though it says is focused
- the above mentioned RAW mode is fairly useless - it takes forever to save the files, and the result is not better than the jpegs... all the problems are still there...
these are the cons - but this camera isnt all-bad - here are the pros:
- excellent viewfinder
- rotary control for aperture/shutter (dslr like)
- fine mechanical zoom control
- bright and wide lens
- metallic tripod thread
- excellent battery life - and runs on AAs too
- good storage media - Compact Flash

Opinion: This camera delivers exactly what I wanted compared to my digital SLRs.
- totally silent setting available (compare that to the clack, clack of an SLR in a concert hall or for candids)
- Great lens and most usable zoom range from true wide .5x to 6x tele (compared with standard focal length)
- Flip up LCD for low or high angle shots
- Video with zoom during record
- Compact light weight package
- SLR-like controls good except for manual focus.
- Small sensor DOF is good - makes deep focus easy.

The downside:
- it's slow, especially focus - no good for action. Must plan ahead and prefocus.
- IQ decent up to ISO 200. Can't compare with DSLR at higher ISOs, which lose fine detail to noise (as with all small sensor cameras).
- bokeh poor. Limits artistic control.

I marked this down on Ease of Use to make the point that it operates like a DSLR but not as well. LIke a DSLR, images need post processing. Don't consider as a P&S. Fuji F-series much faster and better out of camera results.

Opinion: At a first view it's a good camera, nice objectiv, good viewfinder and a good LCD. But if you're unlucky tryning to set your white ballance, then all is screw. I didn't make it. All setings is wrong, automatic, manual or other presets, no picture taken don't respect real colours. In low light with a little zoom you can't focus not at all, automatic or manual (worse than my camera PowerShot A550 which is half price). I've tried, only way was to illuminate the scene with a flashlight. The autofocus light is a joke, is too dispersed to be utile.
Second bug, in low light you can't see nothing on LCD or viewfinder, it's a kind of image with ISO 3200 mixed with lots of pixels. All what you can do is guessing because is nothing to see. The colours are stupid, or you have red and blue all over in excess and if decide to diminuish the amount of contrast, color or contour you will obtaine really flat colours and no depth at all (all washed and flat).