Fuji S6000 / S6500fd
Discussion
In my quest for a new camera, I've pretty much narrowed it down to this.
Been reading lots of reviews and sample galleries, and today I went into a store to have a handle of one - really impressed, confirmed to me how much of an improvement manual zoom and focus is. Also does Raw, nice and quick, lots of manual control, and a big 28-300mm lens.
My dad knows a fair bit (Keen amateurr) and reckons its about the right 'level' for me.
The reason I like it is it offers all the features I think I want?
I want something to improve my skills, take it as a bit more of a serious hobby, and its affordable. DLSRs are a world I do not wish to, and cannot afford to indulge in yet, I reckon I would be over my head to begin with anyway.
I will be using it for a variety of things, I take my current one out with me walking/biking, round town, to parties etc, and to motorsport, bike races, car shows etc.
Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether this is a good choice? Anyone use this model?
Are there any blindingly obvious competitors I've missed out?
Looking at paying ~ £140 from a store or ~£110ish pre-loved off ebay hopefully. Probably in the next couple of weeks.
ETA - this beastie
Been reading lots of reviews and sample galleries, and today I went into a store to have a handle of one - really impressed, confirmed to me how much of an improvement manual zoom and focus is. Also does Raw, nice and quick, lots of manual control, and a big 28-300mm lens.
My dad knows a fair bit (Keen amateurr) and reckons its about the right 'level' for me.
The reason I like it is it offers all the features I think I want?
I want something to improve my skills, take it as a bit more of a serious hobby, and its affordable. DLSRs are a world I do not wish to, and cannot afford to indulge in yet, I reckon I would be over my head to begin with anyway.
I will be using it for a variety of things, I take my current one out with me walking/biking, round town, to parties etc, and to motorsport, bike races, car shows etc.
Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether this is a good choice? Anyone use this model?
Are there any blindingly obvious competitors I've missed out?
Looking at paying ~ £140 from a store or ~£110ish pre-loved off ebay hopefully. Probably in the next couple of weeks.
ETA - this beastie
Edited by snotrag on Saturday 8th December 23:23
I bought the S5000 three years ago and it's been a belter of a camera, the only draw back with it is it soesn't have a very good zoom like the 6000, but i suppose it is getting old now.
The other little thing i dont like about it is that it is 4 X AA batteries which it can go through like wildfire when you use it a lot, i would prefer if it had a lithium battery.
The best price i have seen it at is £147 from Asda of all places but perhaps you can get it cheaper from somwher else, perhaps Digital Camera Company.
Stephen
The other little thing i dont like about it is that it is 4 X AA batteries which it can go through like wildfire when you use it a lot, i would prefer if it had a lithium battery.
The best price i have seen it at is £147 from Asda of all places but perhaps you can get it cheaper from somwher else, perhaps Digital Camera Company.
Stephen
For what you're looking at using it for, you won't go far wrong with something like this. You'll probably find the shutter lag a bit of an issue when trying to take motorsport pictures but, you just have to adjust your technique to accommodate that.
My S5000 has just died after many years of use and abuse. I found the battery life to be brilliant. The 4x rechargeables would certainly last me for a full day's racing and more. It's taken some fantastic pictures. If I could justify buying a replacement (which I can't), I'd certainly be looking at something like this model.
And, if it takes XD cards, I have some spare ones and a card reader you can have for much cheapest as they don't fit any of my cameras now!
My S5000 has just died after many years of use and abuse. I found the battery life to be brilliant. The 4x rechargeables would certainly last me for a full day's racing and more. It's taken some fantastic pictures. If I could justify buying a replacement (which I can't), I'd certainly be looking at something like this model.
And, if it takes XD cards, I have some spare ones and a card reader you can have for much cheapest as they don't fit any of my cameras now!
I think this is basically the newer version to the one that I used to have 
Replace the 4xAA batteries with a couple of sets of 2300mah rechargable and a charger and a couple of XD cards and you're good to go
The only problems I found with mine was the digital zoom when trying to utilise the full 300m leaves the images pixelated so I tried not to use it
The RAW mode isnt bad and the photos really can come out nice, but its very limited by Fuji using their own RAW file system which can only (IIRC) converted using their software which is a little limp
This camera is good for stills and can be used for motorsport, but have patience and be prepared to delete a few shots as the continous burst is woefully slow and the shutterlag can be a nightmare, but plan your shots and pick them accordingly and you can nab some good action with it!
The funny thing about the Fuji bridge cameras (well, mine at least) was the photos weren't bad, but the video quality was excellent
Replace the 4xAA batteries with a couple of sets of 2300mah rechargable and a charger and a couple of XD cards and you're good to go
The only problems I found with mine was the digital zoom when trying to utilise the full 300m leaves the images pixelated so I tried not to use it
The RAW mode isnt bad and the photos really can come out nice, but its very limited by Fuji using their own RAW file system which can only (IIRC) converted using their software which is a little limp
This camera is good for stills and can be used for motorsport, but have patience and be prepared to delete a few shots as the continous burst is woefully slow and the shutterlag can be a nightmare, but plan your shots and pick them accordingly and you can nab some good action with it!
The funny thing about the Fuji bridge cameras (well, mine at least) was the photos weren't bad, but the video quality was excellent
snotrag said:
Looking at paying ~ £140 from a store or ~£110ish pre-loved off ebay hopefully. Probably in the next couple of weeks.
Can be had direct from fuji uk as a refurbished unit for 133 delivered. https://secure.fujifilm.co.uk/shop/consumer/digital/digital-cameras/d-slr-long-zoom/finepix-s6500fd
www.7dayshop.com are competitively priced for xD cards and the rechargeable NiMH batteries you'll also need. I got 2300 2600 and 2700 sets, not because I expect the higher cap sets to last longer, but to make identifying the different sets of batteries easy
Just found out this has been discontinued - now im not sure what to do. Its replacement doesnt seem to have the manul zoom which i like so much, and its about £50 more expensive.
What do I do? Borrow a few quid off my old man and get one now before its too late? Or is it likely to drop in price?
Bit worried now...
What do I do? Borrow a few quid off my old man and get one now before its too late? Or is it likely to drop in price?
Bit worried now...
I have had a 6500 for about a year or so. It's been a great camera, much nicer/sharper images than the smaller compacts I've had before. I found the colour to be bit flat in standard mode but I think it's great using the 'chrome' setting. It has all the manual controls you would find on an SLR, should you want them.
Just to clarify some points made already. The full 300mm zoom is optical, not digital, so there is no pixelation. The 28mm wide is very good for indoor/family type shots. The only problem is camera shake at high zoom as there is no IS. This is somewhat offset by the camera performing well at higher ISO for a non SLR. The Super CCD seems better than similarly priced rivals in this respect. Very low 'noise'. This also makes it good in low light situations when you can't use a flash.
The RAW files will go into Adobe Photoshop Elements no problem, although I just use jpeg because I seem to make pictures worse when i try to 'improve' them!
Battery life is good. I take pictures mostly outdoors with some flash and I can fill a 512mb card, 100 - 140 shots, on one set of 2300mah batteries.
The lcd viewfinder came in for some criticism in reviews when new, but I've not had any problems and use this most of the the time.
The frustrating thing is that writing to the XD card is really slow so taking shots in rapid succession is painful. For some reason, the focus is really noisy, almost like it's broken, on the one I've got. It's always been like that so I assume it's normal.
As mentioned in another thread recently, it is not easy to get photos with a shallow depth of field with this camera due to not having wide apertures available the more you zoom (I think
) . Someone more techy than me can probably explain this.
Hope this helps
Just to clarify some points made already. The full 300mm zoom is optical, not digital, so there is no pixelation. The 28mm wide is very good for indoor/family type shots. The only problem is camera shake at high zoom as there is no IS. This is somewhat offset by the camera performing well at higher ISO for a non SLR. The Super CCD seems better than similarly priced rivals in this respect. Very low 'noise'. This also makes it good in low light situations when you can't use a flash.
The RAW files will go into Adobe Photoshop Elements no problem, although I just use jpeg because I seem to make pictures worse when i try to 'improve' them!
Battery life is good. I take pictures mostly outdoors with some flash and I can fill a 512mb card, 100 - 140 shots, on one set of 2300mah batteries.
The lcd viewfinder came in for some criticism in reviews when new, but I've not had any problems and use this most of the the time.
The frustrating thing is that writing to the XD card is really slow so taking shots in rapid succession is painful. For some reason, the focus is really noisy, almost like it's broken, on the one I've got. It's always been like that so I assume it's normal.
As mentioned in another thread recently, it is not easy to get photos with a shallow depth of field with this camera due to not having wide apertures available the more you zoom (I think
) . Someone more techy than me can probably explain this.Hope this helps
bluest2 said:
I have had a 6500 for about a year or so. It's been a great camera, much nicer/sharper images than the smaller compacts I've had before. I found the colour to be bit flat in standard mode but I think it's great using the 'chrome' setting. It has all the manual controls you would find on an SLR, should you want them.
Just to clarify some points made already. The full 300mm zoom is optical, not digital, so there is no pixelation. The 28mm wide is very good for indoor/family type shots. The only problem is camera shake at high zoom as there is no IS. This is somewhat offset by the camera performing well at higher ISO for a non SLR. The Super CCD seems better than similarly priced rivals in this respect. Very low 'noise'. This also makes it good in low light situations when you can't use a flash.
The RAW files will go into Adobe Photoshop Elements no problem, although I just use jpeg because I seem to make pictures worse when i try to 'improve' them!
Battery life is good. I take pictures mostly outdoors with some flash and I can fill a 512mb card, 100 - 140 shots, on one set of 2300mah batteries.
The lcd viewfinder came in for some criticism in reviews when new, but I've not had any problems and use this most of the the time.
The frustrating thing is that writing to the XD card is really slow so taking shots in rapid succession is painful. For some reason, the focus is really noisy, almost like it's broken, on the one I've got. It's always been like that so I assume it's normal.
As mentioned in another thread recently, it is not easy to get photos with a shallow depth of field with this camera due to not having wide apertures available the more you zoom (I think ) . Someone more techy than me can probably explain this.
Hope this helps
sounds like Fuji improved upon the S5600 then Just to clarify some points made already. The full 300mm zoom is optical, not digital, so there is no pixelation. The 28mm wide is very good for indoor/family type shots. The only problem is camera shake at high zoom as there is no IS. This is somewhat offset by the camera performing well at higher ISO for a non SLR. The Super CCD seems better than similarly priced rivals in this respect. Very low 'noise'. This also makes it good in low light situations when you can't use a flash.
The RAW files will go into Adobe Photoshop Elements no problem, although I just use jpeg because I seem to make pictures worse when i try to 'improve' them!
Battery life is good. I take pictures mostly outdoors with some flash and I can fill a 512mb card, 100 - 140 shots, on one set of 2300mah batteries.
The lcd viewfinder came in for some criticism in reviews when new, but I've not had any problems and use this most of the the time.
The frustrating thing is that writing to the XD card is really slow so taking shots in rapid succession is painful. For some reason, the focus is really noisy, almost like it's broken, on the one I've got. It's always been like that so I assume it's normal.
As mentioned in another thread recently, it is not easy to get photos with a shallow depth of field with this camera due to not having wide apertures available the more you zoom (I think
) . Someone more techy than me can probably explain this.Hope this helps
Was apprehensive about buying anything yet when I have the expensive month of December to contend with. But, My old boys done me a favour and ordered it for me on his Credit card so I can pay him back in January. 
Means I can get to grips with it over the holiday period while theres lots of interesting places to go and people to see.
Should be here in a few days, let you know how I get on!
Means I can get to grips with it over the holiday period while theres lots of interesting places to go and people to see.
Should be here in a few days, let you know how I get on!
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