Good entry point to SLR photography (Fujifilm Finepix S9600)

Member Name: simodewey

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix S9600
Date:	15/09/08 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: So much control

Disadvantages: Auto focus isn't as responsive as our old point and click

This is only our second digital camera, but we decided to go upmarket with this one. The Finepix s9600 has a RRP of £423, but can be found in a lot of places for considerably less than that. We got ours from Amazon for a sweet £179.99.

The s9600 is designed to bridge the gap between a point and click camera and a true SLR, and is a good choice for someone looking to get into "proper" photography on a budget. Although the lens is fixed it has a massive 10X optical zoom and super macro settings. There is also the option to screw on other add ons. We fitted ours with a filter lens the minute we got it, just to protect the lens, as if that gets scratched (being non-removable) the camera has had it.

If you want it to, the camera will let you have complete control over aperture, shutter speeds, inbuilt flash, exposure, focus etc. It also has individual settings that let you play with just one aspect at a time.


The camera can shoot in RAW format, which allows you far more control in your editing suite - although the files are 18MB and I would advise buying the largest memory card you can if planning to use this.

The image quality is fantastic. Colours are very true to life and the image detail at its highest setting is gobsmacking.

My only complaint is that although I love it in manual mode, as a point and click camera it can be hit and miss. Sometimes you get a crisp in-focus shot and sometimes you don't. I experimented with this last night with a lot of different settings - just taking a photograph of my knee - and it was very hit and miss. Sometimes the camera can take long to focus that you've missed your shot. I have got used to using the manual focus to get the shots I want.

All in all - at this price I don't think you can go wrong, it's a great entry into the SLR world - although I can see why previous reviewers have moved on from it.

Summary: At this price you probably won't find anything better

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