Fujifilm FinePix S9000 Zoom Review

The S9000 features a fast, large-diameter, 10.7X Fujinon f=6.2-66.7mm wide-angle zoom lens (f/2.8 - f/4.9) with a focal length equivalent to 28-300mm on a 35mm camera. The zoom is controlled with a manual ring on the lens barrel. The all-glass, multi-coated lens is constructed of 13 elements in 10 groups. The aperture range is F2.8 to F11 in 13 steps (1/3 EV increments). The lens is threaded for 58mm filters.

The high-speed TTL contrast-type AF system operates in Single-AF or Continuous-AF modes and has three types of frame selection; Multi, Area or Center. The high-power AF-assist lamp ensures proper autofocus even in low light conditions.

The working range of the auto focus in Wide-angle is approx. 50 cm (1.6 ft.) to infinity (in High-speed shooting mode: approx. 2 m (6.6 ft.) to infinity. In Telephoto it's approx. 2 m (6.6 ft.) to infinity (In High-speed shooting mode: approx. 4 m (13.1 ft.) to infinity).

The Macro range is 1 cm to 1 m (0.4 in. to 3.3 ft. wide-angle only) and the Super Macro range in Wide-angle is approx. 0.1m/0.3ft. to 2m/6.6ft., in Telephoto it's approx. 0.9m/3.0ft. to 2m/6.6ft.

The lens may be manually focused by using the ring at the end of the lens barrel (when in manual focus mode), this is an electronic focusing ring, it is not mechanical. The One-Touch AF button can be used in conjunction with manual focusing.

On the side is the INFO button, in record mode displays the current exposure comp., white balance, metering, ISO and sharpening settings, in playback it toggles the extended information and histogram. The Focus switch toggles Single AF, Continuous AF or Manual focus modes, the button in the center is the One-Touch AF, it's used to momentarily enable auto focus when in manual focus mode. On the bottom is the Macro/Super Macro focus mode button.

Included is this petal-shaped lens hood to prevent flaring when used outdoors or in brightly lit environments.

The eyelevel viewfinder is a tiny, high resolution (235,000 pixel) 0.44-inch color LCD. It gives you true TTL (through the lens) viewing with exposure info and camera data overlayed on top of the live view.

You select the EVF or color LCD by pressing the EVF/LCD button to toggle between the screens. The refresh rate is adjustable for either 30fps or 60fps for the EVF and LCD and both displays will "gain up" in low-light conditions. Playback review and menus can be accessed by either display. The EVF shows approx. 92% of the captured image and has a dioptric adjustment. The LCD offers a 100% view during image playback.

The 1.8-inch color TFT LCD monitor can be extended and tilted to cover many different viewing angles as can be seen in the next couple of pictures.

It can emulate an old fashioned waist-level finder

or it can be tilted down when holding the camera above your head.

Controls on the back: The AE-L button is used to lock the exposure so you can recompose the shot if desired. Mounted around the AE-L button is the Metering mode switch with positions for: Multi, Center and Spot metering. The EVF/LCD button toggles the active display. The Focus Check button magnifies the center portion of the screen during manual or auto focusing. The 4-way jog switch lets you navigate menus, select images and operate the image magnify function during playback and is used to control the digital zoom function in record mode. The MENU/OK button calls up the menus and accepts selections. The "F" Photo mode button lets you change image size/quality, ISO speed or color mode. The DISP button controls the amount of information overlayed on the displays and in playback it calls up the image review modes, when accessing menus it's the BACK button and cancels the current menu operation.

Controls on the top: The shutter release with the Power / Record / Playback mode switch mounted around it. The buttons for flash mode, exposure compensation and shooting mode (Normal, Continuous, Top 4 or Final 4), work with on-screen menus that you select the desired option by rotating the Command Dial. Also note that the shutter release is threaded for use with standard cable releases.

The Mode Dial has positions for: Program AE, Shutter-speed priority, Aperture priority, Manual, Movie, Anti-Blur, Natural Light, Night, Portrait and Landscape.

The high-profile flash must be manually "popped up" by pressing the release button on the side when required. The working range is Wide-angle: approx. 30 cm-5.6m (1.0 ft.-18.4 ft.); Telephoto: approx. 60cm-3m (2.0 ft.-9.8 ft.). This is an intelligent flash with modes for Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced On, Off, Slow Sync and Slow Sync + Red-Eye Reduction.

The Audio/Video Out port is for connecting to a television (video signal is user-selectable for NTSC or PAL).

And a 5V DC INput jack for the optional AC power supply or an external battery pack.

The xD-Picture Card and CompactFlash Type II card slots are accessed by a opening a door on the side of the handgrip. Fujifilm supplies a 16MB xD card which is absurd considering this is a 9-megapixel camera and it won't even hold one RAW image.

Thankfully the S9000 can use any size xD-Picture Card up to 1GB and is compatible with even larger and much faster CompactFlash cards and IBM/Hitachi Microdrives. Shown here is the spacious and speedy Lexar 80x 1GB CF card.

The S9000 is powered by four standard AA type batteries. Fujifilm supplies alkaline type but we strongly recommend the use of the highest capacity NiMH rechargeable batteries available -- you can see why by looking at the chart below.   (For emergency use I suggest you keep a set of one-use Photo Lithium AA batteries in your camera bag.)