Advertisement
Advertisement
Read Next

How An Auto-Leveling Tripod Makes Life Easier For Photographers
Getting your tripod level can be...
Fujifilm X-H2S Review
Read our review of the X-H2S to find...
5 Reasons To Buy A High-Quality And Adjustable Tripod
Shopping for a tripod can be confusing....
Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG DN Art Lens Review
Nobody else makes a lens like the Sigma...Advertisement
Featured Articles

Read More
Choosing A Tripod For Your Style Of Photography
Contrary to what you might have heard, you do not need a tripod that can’t be moved without a forklift. Here's what to consider when choosing a tripod and head.

Read More
Best Cameras For Wildlife Photography
To capture the decisive moment in animal activity and behavior, choose a camera with the AF performance, speed and image quality that are up to the task.

Read More
Exploring Our National Wildlife Refuge System
The National Wildlife Refuge System protects vital habitats, making them excellent destinations for wildlife photographers.

Read More
Depth Of Field In Macro Photography
In macro photography, depth of field is especially important to ensure the details of your subject are sharp. Use these 5 tips to get the best results.

Read More
Lenses For Wildlife Photography
When it comes to selecting lenses for wildlife photography, the first thing most photographers look for is focal length—a long lens that can reach out and cover great distances, bringing animals in for close-ups—but other features are also incredibly useful.

Read More
Peavine Cove
Watson Lake Park is located four miles north of downtown Prescott, Arizona.
This is the 1st of your 3 free articles
Become a member for unlimited website access and more.
FREE TRIAL Available!
Learn More
Already a member? Sign in to continue reading
Fujifilm FinePix S9100
It’s amazing just how much is expected of a basic camera today. Fujifilm’s loaded FinePix S9100, successor to the S9500, does its best to raise expectations even more with an array of impressive features.
Novices will have an easy time with the S9100. There are the typical automatic presets for nighttime, portrait, landscape and natural lighting. A picture stabilization mode also is available for fast-moving subjects, freezing them in action through a computerized combination of ISO and shutter speed. The pictures are crisp, though a little noisy as the ISO increases.
The LCD screen size has been bumped up to a two-inch display and, while still small compared to other monitors of its class, it’s incredibly sharp and bright.
The LCD provides a great picture preview, and it’s anchored to a swivel for a tilting view, helpful for those low-to-the-ground or up-in-the-air shots that usually require uncomfortable body contortion.
For those of us used to focusing through a viewfinder, Fujifilm has included an EVF (electronic viewfinder). Mostly helpful for those occasions when you just can’t get the LCD out of the sun, the EVF is essentially a low-resolution internal video display cast directly from the sensor. Just as with the LCD screen, vital information, such as a histogram of the potential shot, can be overlaid.
A variety of manual features will please the more advanced shooter. A particular favorite of mine is the one-touch autofocus button, located on the side of the camera. While shooting in manual focus mode, it’s just a touch of the button to pull focus from long range to close, and then it’s a quick fine-tune from there with the focus ring included at the base of the lens.
There’s a 10.7x optical zoom lens, 28-300mm, with an optional wide conversion lens that adds 0.8x magnification. ISO sensitivity begins at ISO 80 and extends all the way to 1600.
The sensitivity at this rate provides for some really low-light shooting, but there’s an obvious increase in noise, even at not very high ISO levels.
The S9100’s 9-megapixel, fifth-generation Super CCD HR (high-resolution) sensor can capture a variety of JPEG sizes and also in uncompressed RAW format. Shooting in this format allows for great maneuverability in postproduction. The files are much larger and the camera’s processing time is longer, but the noticeable improvement in dimension and image quality is worth it. The camera has slots for both CompactFlash/Microdrive and xD Picture cards, addressing the extra need for storage. You can even load both types at the same time if you feel you need the backup.
I had fun playing with the camera, too. The S9100 shoots in standard mode, black-and-white or a chrome mode for high-contrast and high-saturation pictures, useful for bright pictures of subjects like flowers or sunsets. And the movie mode can record at 640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps. Recordable audio is available as a voice memo, attachable to any of your pictures.
The included flash is good for close shots, and you can add an additional flash when you need more light. Six white-balance presets can be previewed on your scene in the monitor. There’s onboard cropping and rotation, and you can print directly from the S9100.
The Fujifilm FinePix S9100 is well designed, with everything a camera at this price range should have and more, though I’d class it as a high-end consumer choice rather than a low-end prosumer model, due mainly to lower image quality at higher ISO settings. Estimated Street Price: $599.
Contact: Fujifilm, (800) 800-FUJI, www.fujifilm.com.
Specs Of Note
Sensor Size: 9-megapixel Super CCD HR
Zoom: 10.7x optical; 2x digital
Lens: 28-300mm (35mm equivalent)
LCD: 2-inch tiltable
File Format: RAW, JPEG, AVI (Movie)
ISO: 80-1600
Shutter Speed: 4 to 1/4000 sec., plus Bulb
Shooting Speed: 1.5 fps up to 4 frames
Size: 5×3.7×5.1 inches
Weight: 22.9 ounces
1 Swivel LCD screen for shooting outside of eye level
2 RAW file capture in addition to JPEG
3 28-300mm optical lenswith a 10.7x zoom
4 A variety of automatic and manual shooting modes for a variety
of situations