Fantastic camera from beginner to expert (Fujifilm Finepix S9600)

Member Name: Stephoohla

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix S9600
Date:	05/08/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use

Disadvantages: Can't change lens, external flash may be preferred

This was my first professional camera when I first started getting into photography, and I'm still being impressed by it.

Before this camera, I was used to piddly little compact digital cameras that you basically turned to 'Auto' and clicked away for easy results. However, I decided I needed something more, and after a bit of careful consideration (mainly over my bank balance than over what camera I wanted, as I was actually clueless), I selected this one.

When I first got it out of the box, I was surprised that I immediately knew exactly how to use it without consulting the manual. All the buttons have pictures on so you know exactly what they do.

I'm not going to go into specifications because there's probably plenty of professionals on here who know a lot more than me, but for a starter photographer with not a huge budget, I'd say this is the camera for you.

If you want to be more technical with the camera than there is plenty of capacity to do so. There's lots of things I haven't even explored about the camera and I've had it for about a year and a half!

It's a great camera, not too big or clunky either, and fits nicely in a standard camera case.

I have been using this as my main camera for all my photography work for the past year, mainly photographing models, landscapes and bands. This camera has the ability to focus on different points as well as just having one main focus area, therefore pictures of landscapes come out brilliantly, as it captures all the colours. For dark areas though, I find that sometimes the flash is not adequate, therefore attach my own, and this is something I recommend if you're shooting something further away.

For photographing people, the focus on faces is incredible, therefore I've always received really good results. I find on some other cameras that they can omit some colour which can make the photos look lifeless, but not on this one.

The times I have been most impressed with this camera is when I'm photographing bands live, which is my main area of work. Usually, there's loads of movement, flashing lights and other unpredictable issues at these events, therefore I was a bit worried upon buying the camera that it wouldn't be up to standard in this area, but I was really wrong. Even sometimes I'll put the mode on 'auto' and let the camera take care of the details and I'm still impressed by the results, as the flash seems to capture a lot of colour but without much movement, which is difficult to do on most digital cameras. Using different settings on the camera, such as changing the ISO,etc, will achieve different effects but it all depends on what you're going for.

It's a fairly basic camera, but it does everything it needs to do and with a few attachments, etc, will be an excellent buy. It's an affordable yet professional camera.

Summary: I would recommend this camera

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