Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom
(Fujifilm Finepix S9000 Zoom in the USA)
Review Date: November 28th 2005
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Features
The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom has a 9.24 megapixel, 1/1.6 inch CCD that delivers 9.0 effective megapixels. There are 6 image quality / size settings available (3,488 x 2,616 (9.12 million) / 3,696 x 2,464 (3:2 format) / 2,592 x 1,944 / 2,048 x 1,536 / 1,600 x 1,200 / 640 x 480 pixels), which are recorded as JPEGs. There is also a RAW format. The camera's 10.7x optical zoom lens is equivalent to a 28-300mm lens on a 35mm format camera. There is also a 2x digital zoom should you feel the need to use it. The camera is supplied with a 16MB xD-Picture Card and also supports CompactFlash and Microdrive memory cards via a dual-slot system.
The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom offers Auto and Program exposure modes plus 5 different scene modes (Anti-Blur, Natural Light, Night, Portrait, Landscape). More advanced shutter priority, aperture priority and manual exposure modes are also available. The maximum aperture is f2.8 (wide) – f4.9 (tele), and the shutter speed range is 30 secs. – 1/4000 sec. A Bulb setting for longer exposures is also offered in the manual exposure mode. There are 6 ISO speeds ranging from 80 to 1600 and an Auto option. There are 7 different White Balance presets to choose from (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent (Daylight), Fluorescent (Warm White), Fluorescent (Cool White), Incandescent/Custom white balance (2 types)), plus an Auto setting. The camera offers exposure compensation in ± 2 in 1/3 EV stops. The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom offers TTL 256-zone metering with 3 different options - Multi, Spot and Average.
The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom has a normal shooting mode, Self-timer (2 secs. or 10 secs.) and 3 different Continuous modes - Top 4 (up to 4 frames at 1.5 fps), Final 4 (last 4 frames before releasing the shutter button at 1.5 fps) and Long-period (up to 40 frames at 1.1 fps max.). There are 3 different colour effects on offer - B&W, Chrome and Standard. Contrast, Saturation and Sharpness can all be adjusted in 3 levels. The Macro setting allows you to focus on subjects that are as close as 10cms, whilst the Super Macro setting lets you get as close as 1cm. The camera offers 3 auto-focusing systems - AF (centre), AF (multi) and AF (area) - and you can also choose continuous AF or manual focus. An AF assist illuminator helps to achieve focus in low-light situations. The built-in flash offers 6 different modes (Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro., Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro). The flash range is 30cm–5.6m at the wide-angle lens setting and 60cm–3m at tele-photo. The camera also has a hotshoe so that you can fit an external flashgun.
To compose your images, you can use the tilting LCD monitor or the electronic viewfinder. The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom has a 1.8 inch colour TFT LCD monitor which has 118,000 pixels and offers 100% scene coverage. You can change the refresh rate of the LCD screen from 30fps to 60fps. The EVF is 0.44 inches in size, has 235,000 pixels and also offers 100% scene coverage. The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom can record movies with sound at 640 x 480 / 320 x 240 pixels at 30fps. Video is recorded in the AVI Motion JPEG format. The length of the video is only limited by the size of the memory card that you are using. You can also record a voice memo. A histogram is available in both shooting and playback modes. The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom supports the DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) and PictBridge printing standards, and it connects to a computer via USB 2.0.
The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom's dimensions are 128.0 (W) x 93 (H) x 129.0 (D) mm, and it weighs 645g without the battery and storage card fitted. The camera is powered by 4 x AA-size batteries. There is a metal tripod mount in the center-right of the bottom of the camera, in line with the lens. A mechanical (threaded) cable-release socket allows you to attach an external cable-release, and there is a 58mm filter thread on the lens.
Finally, the standard box kit contains a 16MB xD-Picture Card, 4 x AA-type Alkaline batteries, Shoulder strap, USB cable, A/V cable, Lens cap, Lens cap holder, Lens hood, Owner's manual, and a CD-ROM containing: USB driver, FinePix Viewer, ImageMixer VCD2 LE for FinePix and RAW file converter LE. Note that you can only store 3 images at the highest quality JPEG setting on the supplied 16Mb memory card. You will therefore need to invest in some more memory cards to store your images on. Also, the supplied batteries are not rechargeable ones, so you should ideally purchase at least 2 sets of 4x AA-size NiMH batteries and a recharger.
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