FUJIFILM FinePix S9000 Zoom Digital Camera

There are a number of things that make the difference between the right camera and the wrong one, chief amongst them the quality of pictures it takes. But almost as critical are size, weight, balance, feel, features, controllability, shooting modes and, perhaps most critical of all, the user. The camera that may encourage one person to become a great photographer, could well make the next one take up knitting instead.

It is within the world of user expectations and needs that the S9000 must be measured. Some will find this camera an almost absolute ideal for greatness, some will pick it up, turn it over, and put it down in a hurry to move on.

There is much in this camera to recommend and applaud. The quality of build; the extensive zoom; the 9MP image size; the quality of CCD; the presence of such things as a flash hot shoe and external flash port; the multiple shooting modes including full manual; the placement of zoom ring on the lens barrel where it truly belongs; the existence of a manual focus ring - also on the lens barrel where it belongs; the high button count which makes the camera body look a little cluttered, but gives the user ready access to a number of features often otherwise buried in menus; the ISO 1600 sensitivity rating; the through-the-lens metering and viewfinder; the swing-up/down LCD….. not an endless list, but an impressive one. Set against it, the few things to criticize seem unimportant, but they are telling; the size, weight and bulk; the slight imbalance in feel; the electronic rather than manual zoom and focus; the apparent 'flatness' in images…..

The S9000 is an SLR-style digital camera with a 9MP super CCD, 28-300mm (equivalent) zoom, sporting full auto, aperture priority, shutter priority, anti-blur, landscape, portrait, general program, nightshot, Natural Light and manual shooting modes, all controlled from a dial on the top. Metering and viewfinder are done through the lens in SLR-style, but this is not a digital SLR. The viewfinder is electronic, not optical, and the lens is fixed, not exchangeable. As such, it's not easy to know exactly where in the camera marketplace the S9000 falls. It's certainly too sophisticated to really be a glorified 'point-n-shoot' but not quite a D-SLR either. Given the $699 recommended price, it falls between those two camps too, though rather closer to the D-SLR market than the point-n-shoot. Recent price changes have seen it available for as little as $430 after a $100 mail-in rebate, and at that pricing level, it becomes a very attractive proposition for those who were perhaps seeking a good prosumer model, but couldn't afford, or justify, the S9000's full price tag.

Make no mistake though, this is a superb camera regardless of the drop in price. The size, weight and bulk of it are very reminiscent of the now old-fashioned SLRs of 20 years ago, and in many ways it's built just like one. The casing is solid and feels more than a little robust. It's size means that it really doesn't fit in the palm however, and the weight of it means that it's almost essential to operate it with both hands - arguably as it should be of course for best results. The placement of the zoom and focus rings round the lens barrel will instantly help SLR users of old feel very comfortable, though the electronics that drive these controls make themselves rather apparent in use. Still, one advantage is that their placement helps to encourage the very handling that helps produce clear and stable images - the right hand on the large, comfortable grip, and the left on the lens barrel.

Controlling the camera is a simpler process than most. Some functions are on buttons where in other cameras they are more often embedded in menus, and the layout of controls and even the menu systems themselves are reasonably well thought out. My only real gripe is that the up/down/left/right controller to the right of the LCD, and the centered 'OK' button in the middle of it feel unnecessarily awkward to use. In comparison to the same control on an S5100 model, this one is stiff and cramped, and gives very poor tactile feedback.

The most common options when taking a picture are on a menu accessed by pressing the 'F' (for Photo) button on the back panel, then using the up/down/OK selector to make the choice. Image size and quality, speed, etc are all available in that menu, and because the viewfinder is electronic, the options appear in that or the LCD panel, whichever is selected. The choice of LCD or viewfinder is accomplished by a button press on the back, and the camera will retain the choice.

The LCD is small by modern standards. 2.5 inch panels are not uncommon now, and this one is 1.8. That's adequate for most things, but not good enough to quickly assess image quality without clicking the navigation buttons to zoom in. Thus it's easy to end up with an image that is incorrectly focused or suffers camera shake that the LCD isn't large enough to show, but becomes apparent when the image is transferred to computer or paper. Zooming in to images in playback mode helps, but it's an extra step that a bigger LCD would help avoid. Still, the 1.8 panel is clear and sharp enough for everything else. It also hinges at the top so it can be swung upward to assist in waist-level shots, or then flipped downwards to help with above head-height shots. It doesn't, however, swing out sideways to allow viewing from the side or front.

The wide array of shooting modes is both a blessing and a curse. There are so many options that it can seem difficult to select the right one for each circumstance, but in the end they allow each user the choice of whatever mode(s) they feel most comfortable with, and a selection that is almost certain to fulfill almost all conceivable need. Many will likely never depart from the full auto option, which does indeed give very credible results, but full manual and the aperture or shutter priority modes give very satisfying results and allow creative control that automatic really doesn't.

Metering is controlled from a rather fiddly rotary dial on the back, allowing the user the choice of multi area, center weighted or overall/average metering, and a small button in the center of the dial allows the exposure to be easily locked for such situations as backlit subjects. Focusing options are controlled by a dial on the left-side of the camera (from the user's standpoint) with the choice of continuous autofocus for moving targets where the camera will continuously focus on what is in the center of the viewfinder, single autofocus mode where the camera will focus as the shutter release is half-pressed, and manual focus, controlled by the ring on the lens. To assist in manual focus, a button on the back quickly zooms up the image, and another button allows a 'one touch' single focus where the camera will autofocus on the center of the image. In combination, these features work very well, and the manual focus ring is certainly a real boon to those who like the feel of SLR photography but can't afford the price of a D-SLR camera. The manual focus ring operates an electronic system, so it isn't quiet, but it is smooth.

Other controls allow exposure compensation, continuous shooting mode, macro/super-marco, flash, and an option to overall shooting information on either veiwfinder or LCD.

In use, the camera is very responsive, having a speedy startup, and allowing more rapid shot taking than most other cameras.

The S9000 takes 4 AA batteries but Fuji don't supply rechargeables, just one set of alkaline cells. In use, around 250-300 shots can be expected from a fully-charged set of 2200mAh NiMH batteries, which isn't bad. Of course it depends on the use of LCD or viewfinder (viewfinder uses less power, but being electronic, it still uses more than an optical one would) and how long the camera is left on between shots. Still, it fares better than many other cameras and doesn't give any reason for criticism in this respect. However, the irrationally tiny 16Mb xD card supplied with it is almost insulting. To be acceptable, this would barely suit anything more than a 2MP camera, since 16Mb will only allow 3 images at best quality, and won't accommodate even a single RAW image. Thus it's essential to consider the need for an additional memory card. Thankfully they are not expensive, but that makes it all the more frustrating that Fuji don't provide one with the unit. The S9000 takes both xD and Compact Flash cards. Compact Flash is generally cheaper, but in this unit xD cards seem a little faster.

Pictures are…. Well, pictures are both incredibly good and slightly disappointing. It depends on what you're used to. Image quality is, in itself, truly excellent in almost all circumstances - with one notable exception I'll get to shortly. Pictures are very sharp, contrast is handled extremely well, and color balance is outstanding. So why disappointing? It depends. Users who have come from inexpensive digitals may find the images look rather 'flat' lacking in deep color saturation and contrast that makes the image stand out - and these criticisms are genuine. Inexpensive cameras tend to over saturate and produce contrasty images because they look better, while the S9000, in common with D-SLR cameras, tends to be far more natural since serious photographers spending the sort of money needed for these camera types are generally more likely to want to process their own enhancements when the images are uploaded, and far less likely to want or need their cameras to do it for them. However, the S9000 does have a 'chroma' setting in the Photo menu, which results in the more consumer-oriented color and contrast settings for those who wish the camera to render more familiar results. This option is set to 'off' by default.

Some earlier Fuji cameras have been criticized for rather high levels of noise, but in common use, the S9000's picture quality is superb and to all intents and purposes, noise free. Where it doesn't fare so well is in a feature Fuji have included to mitigate the absence of an image stabilizer. While many prosumer cameras have such a feature, the S9000 does not, and instead features an option where in poor conditions where longer than ideal shutter speed would likely induce shake, it increases sensitivity to allow shorter shutter times. While the camera can go up to ISO 1600, anything above 400 begins to suffer noticeable noise. It's still better than not getting the shot, but it's not as good a solution as a competent stabilizer.

Whether that is a problem depends on the way the camera is used. It isn't likely to affect the sort of shots that users typically want to get, but this is not a typical camera. The best way to avoid disappointing images in this situation is to manually control film speed through the Photo menu, and to keep it to 400 or lower where noise is not a problem. If a shot cannot be had without going above this, ISO 800 is not bad, but at any rate it would be clear from selecting it that the resultant image would suffer noise unless circumstances allowed use of a tripod and longer shutter speed.

With the noise on higher ISO ratings taken into account, the quality of images off this camera are among the best I have seen from anything less than a Digital SLR. Undoubtedly the 9MP resolution helps, though it's far from being the only higher resolution camera on the market at this or lower price, and the super CCD technology in the S9000 is also a factor, but the lens is also of good optical quality.

It would be very easy to recommend this camera to anyone who is serious enough about photography to spend more than it takes to get a consumer/mass market model. There is so much to like about it and the results are so good that it is hard to find fault. But the upside of sophistication, SLR-like handling qualities, feature-rich technologies and build quality in combination gives rise to a camera that is bulky and heavy. What makes this hard to contend with rather than easy to dismiss as an inevitability in this sort of design is that the handgrip is really just slightly too large for comfort, particularly since it feels slightly too far away from the center of the camera to allow for good balance. It doesn't prevent the camera being used very effectively, but can make holding it, handling it and setting up shots with it just a little less comfortable than they could be. Larger hands would help, but most of us don't have the choice!

The best advice is to find one and pick it up and try it out for a few minutes - that's as long as it would take to gain a good sense of comfort in use. If it feels uncomfortable, it may just be a matter of getting used to it, or it may be that this camera will simply not be the right one to buy since the weight/size/balance is not something that can be changed. On the other hand, if it handles well and feels good, the S9000 would be very hard to beat at the current price for a combination of features, options and picture quality.

The S9000 is not for casual photographers who take a few snaps on vacation once a year. It'll do that job and a whole lot more, but for those sort of uses, there are far smaller, cheaper, easier to handle models that would score much higher on ease of use and portability and wouldn't necessarily sacrifice much in image quality - if any at all. This is a camera for the serious user who wants to capture high quality pictures in what may be demanding circumstances, and feels the need for a lot of personal control over the outcome. It's a camera that encourages the user to experiment, that provides a range of accessible tools to assist in getting exactly the shot that was being sought.

Professionals, on the other hand, will likely find the S9000 doesn't perform quite well enough. D-SLRs have greater flexibility, better optics and therefore provide sharper and more predictable images. Professionals would likely also pay a far higher price.

And that is really the dilemma this camera faces. It falls between two stools than are increasingly being drawn closer together by technical developments. Consumer cameras are getting better, more feature-laden and higher quality, professional cameras are getting cheaper. The S9000 sits a little uncomfortably in between. It's not the only camera in that narrowing band, but it seems inevitable that in the end, it's place in the market will get swallowed up by cheaper cameras getting better, and better cameras getting cheaper.

So is it worth it?

In my view, yes. The S9000 gives results that are rather better than most users will ever actually need, and it contains features, controls and modes that allow great flexibility, all at a price that now it's dropping, make it a very attractive proposition to anyone who considers taking pictures a serious matter. Users looking for ease of use are well catered for, as are those who need semi-automatic or full manual control. It's a camera that the amateur enthusiast can take seriously; that will give every ounce of flexibility that is likely to be needed, great picture quality, and still remain more affordable than D-SLRs, particularly when a lens of comparable nature is taken into account. It's the casual, occasional photographer, along with the professional, for whom this is not a serious contender. It lacks image stabilization, and with a 300mm telephoto that just begs to be sued, that can be a disappointing omission - particularly if using the auto-ISO mode to let the camera speed up the shot to compensate, risking noise levels that could be less than acceptable.

Those in the market for a digital camera above the realm of the myriad point-n-shoot models, and who look to take the best pictures they can, and perhaps want to exercise a little creative control but don't want to spend D-SLR money to get it, should seriously consider this camera. It's certainly big, and for some it may be uncomfortably balanced, but it handles extremely well and offers a feature set that may well make it the best choice. It's very easy to feel impressed at what Fuji have accomplished with this model, and it also begs criticism for not being quite as good as cameras that cost twice the money. That's a great compliment to it.

In the future it may well be that there is no place for a camera of this design; a feature-laden SLR-style model balanced uncomfortably at the top of the point-n-shoot pile. But while the gap between consumer and professional cameras is still distinct, the S9000 fills it admirably well.