Fuji FinePix S6000/S6500fd
Revision as of 06:53, 16 November 2022 by Hanskerensky (talk | contribs) (Added link to user manual page)
image by Martin Taylor (Image rights) |
- 6.3 Megapixels with 6th Generation Super CCD-HR Technology, 1/1.7" size
- 2nd Generation of Real Photo Technology with new RP Processor II
- Face detection technology with one-touch operation
- Picture Stabilization with easy mode dial access
- Dual Shot mode
- I-Flash Intelligent Flash system
- 2.5-inch LCD for easy framing and sharing pictures
- 4 - AA battery operation (AA alkaline batteries included)
- 10.7x Optical Zoom with manual control (6.2-66.7mm f/2.8-4.9)
- 15 selectable scene position modes
- Movie Recording with Sound @ 30fps
- Internal memory (Approx 10MB) for onboard storage
- Compatible with xD Picture Cards for storage up to 2GB
Strengths and weaknesses
Based on professional and user reviews.
Strengths
Image quality
- Excellent resolution and sharpness makes very good to excellent photo quality
- Class leading high ISO performance, especially if pictures are made in RAW and post-processed. This makes the camera a great option for low light conditions
- Archives low noise from ISO 100 to 400. At ISO 800 little noise is visible. ISO 1600-3200 are usable but requires additional noise reduction post-process
- When compared to other super zoom with noisy pictures above ISO200, the ability to shoot at ISO 400 to 1600 with low noise compensates lack of real optical image stabilizer
- Nicely saturated colours
- The 6MP resolution is well-suited to the size of the chip
Lens
- 10.7x zoom lens with highly versatile 28-300mm zoom range (6.2-66.7 mm f/2.8-4.9)
- Low distortion lens with excellent edge-to-edge performance
- Threaded lens for optional filters, wide angle (WL-FXS6) and telephoto converters
- Wide-angle mechanical zoom lens is smooth, precise and well-made
- The 28mm wide angle provides excellent coverage for landscapes and in tight internal spaces
- Non removable lens means sensor is safe from dust, so no need to remove lenses to clean it
Speed
- Very low shutter lag
- Great focusing speed
- Fast and responsive operation
- The photo lag time and refresh rate is better than most Cameras
Controls
- Comprehensive and intuitive photographic controls and menus
- Full manual control
Battery use
- Above average battery life
- Uses AA batteries which are easily found anywhere and any time
- Accepts Ni-MH rechargeable batteries
Flash
- Powerful flash performance
- Red eye is not a problem with this camera
- Strong AF-assist lamp which is very good for low light focusing
- Very capable i-Flash producing attractive flash shots
- Control over flash intensity
- Its "Slow Syncro" flash mode takes natural looking pictures without the usual harshness of flash exposures
Movie Mode
- Nice movie mode with good resolution; zoom can be used while filming
- Fairly fast focus (especially towards the wide end of the zoom range)
Options
- Fast and effective face detection system, great for shooting portraits or groups of people in social situations; can also be used in playback mode
- Face detection ensures focus and exposure
- Playback face detection shows close-ups for verification
- Manual zooming via rubberised ring around lens barrel is simple and effective
- Manual zoom is also excellent for silent zooming while in movie mode
- Helpful "Natural Light & With Flash" function
- Manual Focus Ring with One-Touch AF makes manual focusing simple and easy
- Programmed AE mode with Program Shift
- Area AF with 49 positions for easy off-centre focus
- Full exposure flexibility and many features make this camera perfect for learning and growing in digital photography
- Live view of histogram is available for composing pictures
- Great manual mode which is not available in other similar super zoom cameras
- Ability to Shoot in RAW format which allows huge flexibility in editing and adjusting parameters like white balance, sharpness, colour, Noise reduction, colour curve, etc. This is essential for professional-looking pictures
LCD and EVF
- Large 2.5 inch LCD screen visible in bright outdoor light and dimly lit rooms
- Great LCD resolution with 235k pixels giving Bright and sharp image
- LCD gains up very well in low light
- Very smooth LCD and EVF refresh rate
Construction
- Bridge body with manual zoom and focus rings
- Very good looking camera. Its Professional look resembles a DSLR
- Camera feels light but sturdy too, and has an excellent grip
- The fixed lens comes with a nice hood and allows the use of polarizer filters for creative control.
Others
- USB 2.0 High Speed support
- Amazingly low price for the lens and sensor quality
- For the quality and features this camera offers, an average US$300.00 is an excellent value
- Good software package. RAW editor is included for editing RAW images
Weakness
Image Quality
- High contrast tone curve tends to clip shadows or highlights
- Noise reduction and JPEG artefacts (when viewed at 100%) at all settings from ISO 400 and up
- ISO 1600 / 3200 JPEGs are not as good as those given by the FinePix F30 (can be solved by shooting RAW)
- JPEGs are slightly over-sharpened, can look a little over-processed (can be solved by adjusting sharpness to soft)
- Auto white balance is not great under artificial light
- In camera Noise deduction system produces slight loss of detail at ISO 800. The loss of details is more pronounced at ISO 1600 and 3200
- Chromatic aberrations may be present
- The camera doesn't produce its best pictures in Auto mode, so to get full advantage of the camera P, S, A and M modes are needed to be understood
- Auto and Natural modes has the tendency to use high ISO
Lens
- No optical image stabilization which helps with telephoto and slow shutter pictures. Instead the camera offers Picture Stabilization mode which boosts ISO and degrades quality
Speed
- Full shutter speed range only available in full manual (M) mode
- Slow shot-to-shot speed when capturing RAW images
- Bust mode is slow and at fast Continuous Mode the buffer is limited to only to 3 shots
- Impossibility to disable post-shot review meaning that is required to wait 2 or more seconds before the camera is ready to take another picture; thereby eliminating any speed advantage of using higher speed memory or RAW mode
Controls
- Needs a command dial
- White balance, metering, raw mode and other options are hidden in menus
Flash
- No hot-shoe for additional more powerful flash
Movie Mode
- Hard to control zoom lens in movie mode
Options
- FinePix Studio software doesn't let the user to control noise reduction
- No ability to set a top at ISO400 in Auto ISO mode (like in the Finepix F30)
- Shutter-priority limits shutter speed to 4 Seconds
- No way to disable post-shot review in single-shot mode
- There's no delete button in playback mode, to delete you have to go through the menu
- There is no way to delete a picture immediately after taking it
- Shallow depth of field (isolate subject from background) is not easy to achieve
- Face detection won’t work if the subject turns sideways or if is covering its eyes or mouth
- Unable to adjust the WB in the AUTO mode - only for one of the P, A, S and M modes
Construction
- Battery compartment doesn't lock so it may pop open
- Tripod thread is made of plastic
- Little amount of built-in memory, only 10 MB
- The camera is big and bulky
LCD and EVF
- No tilting LCD for easier different positions shooting
- The resolution of the Electronic View Finder (EVF) is only 135K pixels so it is not very sharp. It would have been better if it have optical viewfinder
- The colours in the viewfinder are shifted a little to the blue side
Others
- The camera uses xD Picture card as storage media. They are more expensive and are limited to 2 GB. Other formats offer more storage like Compact Flash and Secure Digital.
External links
Review compilations
- Fuji FinePix S6000/S6500fd review at DPReview.com
- Fuji FinePix S6000 review at Imaging-resource.com
- DC views
- Digicam review
- Fuji FinePix S6000 review at Reviewed.com
Sample photos
- Pbase
- Fuji s6500 group on Flickr
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/s6000fd/ s600fd tag] on Flickr
- http://www.dpchallenge.com/camera.php?CAMERA_ID=1575&view=owners
- https://web.archive.org/web/20080109202649/https://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26764 (archived)
- http://meinekamera.00hensche.de/index.html (in German)