Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd (Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd)

Member Name: clivefallon

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd
Date:	03/04/07 (826 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good quality, build and ease of use

Disadvantages: Fixed LCD screen, better if not fixed

Please note - This review is specifically intended to be technical. This is a semi pro camera and the review is based around the user having a knowledge of digital photography.

Thanks for reading.....

Fujifilm's high-spec semi-pro series, the Finepix S6500fd fits nicely in to Fujifilms range between the slightly higher spec S9500 and the lower spec S5600. It actually has many of the features of the S9500 including the f2.8-f4.9, 10.7x optical zoom lens and if truth be known, is not far off being the same price, the same size and the same weight as the S9500.
The S6500 is supposed to be the lower-spec camera, so it lacks a few of the S9500's features. It only has a 6.3-megapixel SuperCCD HR sensor, compared to a 9.0-megapixel sensor. The 2.5in, 235,000 pixel LCD monitor is bigger and sharper, but lacks the S9500's fold-out ability. It has a more basic layout, which means that some useful features, like the self-timer, are relegated to the menu. It also lacks the cable release thread on the shutter button.

The S6500 is in some ways better than the S9500. It offers a wider range of shutter speeds in program mode, a higher maximum ISO setting of 3200, improved high-ISO noise reduction, and Fuji's new hardware based face detection system. This is where the "fd" comes from. The camera will automatically recognise up to 10 faces in the frame, and adjust focus and exposure accordingly to ensure the best possible picture. It is very impressive but could take some of the skill away from photography and possibly some of the enjoyment too. The S6500 can record in RAW mode, this helps to avoid quality issues but take up about 13Mb per picture!

Price? Well the S6500fd can be bought online for anywhere between £190 and £210 where the S9500 goes for about £250. It may be worth paying the extra but to be honest, I am happy with the 6.3 megapixel using RAW.

The S9600 is due out soon so keep an eye open for it, it may be a stronger contender depending on it's price.

The S6500fp had a tough poly-carb shell and well put together. It has a large and comfortable handgrip and ergonomically friendly controls. It takes less than 2 seconds to start up and has handy continuous shooting modes allowing pictured to be taken every 1.7 seconds, or 3 pictures per second but only 3 will be stored, either the first or last 3 taken.

It runs on AA batteries (x4) so life depends on the type of battery you use. XD Picture cards are used in the SD6500fd. The pop-up flash is also very good, with an effective range at wide angle of an impressive 8.3m, or 4.6m at the telephoto end.

With the sensor the S6500 also inherits the F30's amazing high-ISO performance. At 1600 ISO there is roughly as much image noise as the S9500 produced at 800 ISO, which is to say not much. At the maximum 3200 ISO the noise reduction system does sacrifice a lot of fine detail, but the exposure remains consistent and although there is some colour distortion in darker areas the images are usable. This gives the S6500 a big advantage over most other high-end super-zoom cameras. Despite its lack of image stabilisation it can be used hand-held in low light with a reduced risk of movement blur. Image stabilisation compensates for camera shake, but can't do anything about your subject moving, which can still ruin a picture at low shutter speeds. By providing usable images at shutter speeds at least three stops faster than most other cameras can manage, the S6500 avoids the problems of both camera shake and moving subjects, resulting in sharper pictures.

Verdict

The S6500fd is a very good camera for the price, with great handling, huge creative versatility and superior picture quality, but it suffers by comparison to the higher spec and similarly priced S9500 which is still available. The face-recognition technology is impressive, but really not all that useful.


Technical Specification - Courtesy of Fujifilm

Number of effective pixels 6.3 million pixels
CCD sensor 1/ 1.7-inch Super CCD HR
Number of recorded pixels Still image : 2,848x2,136 / 3,024 x 2,016(3:2 format) / 2,048 X 1,536 / 1,600x1,200 / 640 X 480 pixels
Movie : 640 x 480 pixels ( 30 frames/sec.), 320 x 240 pixels ( 30frames/sec.)
Storage media Internal memory (approx. 10MB)/ xD-Picture Card™ ( 16MB - 1 GB )
File format Still image : JPEG (Exif Ver 2.2 )
CCD-RAW
(Design rule for Camera File system compliant / DPOF-compatible)
Movie : AVI (Motion JPEG )
Lens Fujinon 10.7 X zoom lens , F 2.8 - 4.9
Lens focal length f=6.2-66.7mm Equivalent to 28 - 300 mm on a 35 mm camera
Focus Mode : Single-AF , Continuous AF, Manual Focus, One-touch AF(when using Manual focus)
AF system : TTL contrast-type , AF-assist illuminator
AF frame selection : AF(CENTER), AF(MULTI), AF(AREA)
Focus distance Normal : approx. 40 cm / 1.6 ft. to infinity(W) approx. 2 m / 6.6 ft. to infinity(T)
Macro : approx. 10 cm /4.0 in. to 3.0m / 9.8 ft.(W) approx. 90 cm /3.0 ft. to 3.0m / 9.8 ft.(T)
Shutter speed 30 sec. to 1 / 4000 sec.
Aperture F 2.8 F11Up to 13 steps in 1/3 EV increments Manual /Auto selectable
Sensitivity AUTO / Equivalent to ISO 100/200/400/800/1600/3200
Exposure control 256-zone TTL metering Multi, Spot, Average
Exposure modes Programmed AE(When using P mode : Program shift is enable), Shutter-priority AE,
Aperture-priority AE, Manual exposure
White balance Automatic
Manual (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light (Warm White) Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light
Viewfinder 0.33 inch low-temperature polysilicon TFT (approx. 115,000 pixels) , approx. 100 % coverage
LCD monitor 2.5 inch Amorphous silicon TFT ( approx.235,000 pixels), approx. 100 % coverage
Flash Auto
Effective range (ISO 1600): Wide angle: Approx.0.6 m - 8.3 m / 2.0 ft.- 27.2 ft.
Telephoto: Approx.2.0m - 4.6m / 6.6 ft - 15.1 ft.
Flash mode : Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro.
Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro.
Self-timer Approx.10sec./ 2 sec. delay
Video output NTSC / PAL selectable
Digital Interface USB 2.0 High-Speed
Power source 4 AA type alkaline batteries (included)/4 AA type Ni-MH rechargeable batteries (optional) or AC power adapter AC-5VX(optional)
Dimensions 130.9 (W) X 97.5 (H) X 128.0 (D) mm / 5.2 (W) X 3.8 (H) X 5.0 (D) in.
Weight Approx.600 g / 21.2 oz.(excluding batteries and xD-Picture Card )
Digital zoom Approx 2x
Shooting modes Normal : Auto, Anti-blur, Scene Position ,Macro, Movie, Continuous,
SP: Natural Light, Natural & Flash, Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Fireworks, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Museum, Party, Flower, Close-up, Text
Continuous :
1.Top-3 ( max.2.2 frames/sec., up to 3 frames)
2.Final-3 ( max.2.2 frames/sec., up to 3 frames)
3.Long-period (max.0.7frame/sec. Up to memory card size)
Colour modes B&W / CHROME / STANDARD
Movie recording 640 x 480 pixels, 30 frames/sec.
320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames/sec.
With monaural sound, AVI format (Motion JPEG)
Voice Memo Up to 30 sec. WAV format
Playback functions Single frame, 9 Multi-frame, Sorting by date, Image rotate, Post shot Assist window (3 frames), Voice Memo, Trimming, Automatic playback
Accessories included • 4xAA type Alkaline batteries
• Shoulder Strap
• USB cable
• A / V cable
• Lens cap
• Lens cap holder
• Lens hood
• CD-ROM
o FinePixViewer RAW File converter included)
o ImageMixer VCD2 LE for FinePix
o RAW FILE CONVERTER LE
Optional accessories • xD-Picture Card™: 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB
• PC Card Adapter DPC-AD
• CompactFlash™ CardAdapter DPC-CF
• 4 x AA type Ni-MH 2700Ah batteries
• Wide conversion lens WL-FXS6
• Premium and mini multi-purpose leather cases
• Worldwide Travel Charger (including 4x AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries)
• Wide Conversion Lens WL-FXS6
• DPC-AD PC Card Adatptor (xD Picture Card and Smart Media)
• DPC-CF CompactFlash Adaptor for xD-Picture Card
• DCR2-161 16 in 1 USB 2.0 multi-format Digital Card Reader and 3 portUSB 2.0 Hub
• DCR2-xD USB 2.0 Memory Card Reader for xD-Picture Cards
• AC-5V Car Adaptor
Number of images / recording time on xD-Picture Card™:
Number of images / recording time
Modes S6000 fd Still image Movie
Number of recorded pixels 2848 x 2136 6F 2848x 2136 6N 3024 x 2016 ( 3:2 format ) 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 640 x 480 640 x 480 320 x 240
Internal Memory (approx.10MB) 3 6 6 12 15 77 Approx. 8 sec. Approx. 16 sec.
DPC-16(16 MB) 5 10 10 19 25 122 Approx. 13 sec. Approx. 26 sec.
DPC-32(32 MB) 10 20 20 40 50 247 Approx. 27 sec. Approx. 54 sec.
DPC-64(64 MB) 21 42 42 81 101 497 Approx. 55 sec.. Approx. 109 sec.
DPC-128(128 MB) 42 84 84 162 204 997 Approx. 111 sec. Approx. 219 sec.
DPC-256(256 MB) 85 169 169 325 409 1,997 Approx. 223 sec. Approx. 7.3 min.
DPC-512(512 MB) 170 339 339 651 818 3,993 Approx. 7.4 min. Approx. 14.6 min.
DPC-M1GB(1 GB) 341 680 680 1,305 1,639 7,995 Approx. 14.9 min. Approx. 29.3 min.
© 2007 , Fujifilm. Specifications are subject to change without notice.

Summary: Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Features:
Picture quality: