In a nutshell - sum up the Fujiflim Finepix S9600....

[Mrs NucSquash]

....as the title suggests, is the finepix S9600 any good???

Thank you

Nik

[GetCarter]

It seems to come fifth in similar camera reviews. So it's OK.

Not a Canon or Nikon mind, but not bad for the price.

[fluffnik]

I've got one, and mostly I like it.

I bought it as an upgrade from a S5600 with which I'd been very pleased for two features in particular, the 28mm wide end and the tilting viewfinder - height changes are tricky in a wheelchair...

• The lens is mostly very good, if a little slow, f2.8 only applies at 28mm and f4.9 at 300mm is not great for handholding at low ISOs or differential focusing.
• The manual zoom ring is great, the manual focusing ring usable and AF reasonably quick and reliable.
• The HQ jpegging is not a HQ as the 5600's HQ jpegging. RAW is slow - 4-5s between shots - but can give great results.
• It's almost as big as a dSLR and the handling is mostly very good, but some things are buried too deep in the menus.
• Fuji's WL-FXS6 auxiliary wide angle is pretty good.
• It has a hot shoe.

I think it might be a little frustrating after a dSLR, but it ain't at all bad...

Some examples, and some others, shot RAW, many with the WL-FXS6 auxiliary wide angle.

PM me if you'd like a couple of full size samples.

[Mrs NucSquash]

Well I went and had a look at the fuji today and I compared it size wise to the canon 400D - It is just a little bigger which I was surprised at and also quite heavy.

I have bought myself the canon powershot S5 IS - and so far I am really really pleased with it. A little more expensive then the fuji but I have always had canons and I like its setup.

Will take some test shots later on.

Nik

[Mrs NucSquash]

Test photos - Not bad at all I dont think:


(please note my otherhalf isnt strangling the dog, barney is just yawning)









What do you think??

Camera spec: 8 megapixs / 12x optical zoom etc....

[fluffnik]

Mrs NucSquash said:

What do you think??

Dog's nose test seems to be becoming a standard...

Looks good.

One of the things that pushed me (and my collection of xD cards) toward the S9600 was the 28mm wide end, the other was RAW support; if the Canon had had those its more twiddly screen would have been a winner for me...

Enjoy!

[GetCarter]

Love Barney... and his nose

(I think I have posted several too many pics of my dog's nose - hence the comment!)

[Mrs NucSquash]

GetCarter said:

Love Barney... and his nose

(I think I have posted several too many pics of my dog's nose - hence the comment!)

Yeah but dogs are such great subjects to photograph - I would use them as my subject all day if they would let me !!!

Barney is the mouth photo, the rest are my other dog banjo!

[GetCarter]

Mrs NucSquash said:

GetCarter said:

Love Barney... and his nose

(I think I have posted several too many pics of my dog's nose - hence the comment!)

Yeah but dogs are such great subjects to photograph - I would use them as my subject all day if they would let me !!!

Barney is the mouth photo, the rest are my other dog banjo!

I would ask if Banjo was highly strung... but I have far more sense than that.

You'll see how bonkers I (and my dog) are by following the link

http://www.stevecarter.com/charliethedog/index.htm

[Mrs NucSquash]

They are fantastic!

What a lovely looking dog - banjo doesnt really like having his photo taken and barney doesnt sit still long enough to really take good shots of him.

Those are great though!