Fuji FinePix S6000fd Digital Camera Review
By Richard Baguley
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
Published on December 11, 2006
The large FinePix S6000fd has many of the advantages of a DSLR camera. It has a long 10x zoom lens, takes 6.3-megapixel images and has the same solid handling that entry-level DSLRs offer. But the lens is fixed, and, with an initial retail price of $499.95, it’s several hundred dollars less than other DSLRs like the Canon Rebel XTi. It also includes trendy face detection technology.
The S6000fd is certainly not a compact camera. At 5 inches deep and 5 inches wide, it really needs a dedicated case or a good-sized bag for transportation. But at 21 ounces, it’s not too heavy. You could carry it around your neck for most of the day without causing back spasms or tension headaches. On the back of the camera is a 2.5-inch LCD screen, which we found to be very sharp and clear. The electronic viewfinder wasn’t so good, though. It has a much lower resolution of 115,000 pixels compared to the 235,000 pixels of the LCD screen, which makes it difficult to see fine details. The LCD does have the advantage of being viewable in bright sunlight, but we’d rather see a decent viewfinder.
While the camera fits comfortably in the hand, making adjustments can be a little awkward. There are buttons for commonly used options such as the autofocus mode, Face Recognition mode and exposure compensation, but there are also some unusual buttons. For instance, there’s one to enable the digital zoom which is an odd choice that would've been better placed in the on-screen menu. The exposure compensation and Burst mode buttons also have to be held down while scrolling the multi-selector dial – a tedious operation that requires both hands. In addition, the on-screen menu is poorly organized. There is no way to go back in the menu structure. If you want to change several items, you have to change one, then exit and re-enter the menu system.
Although the FinePix S6000fd may look like a DSLR, it doesn’t take pictures like one. We found the images contained undersaturated, gloomy colors. There was plenty of sharpness, though mainly due to some very aggressive in-camera processing to enhance the apparent detail. The noise in the images was minimal, even when shooting in low light. The maximum ISO setting of 3200 also makes it great for low light shooting.
The S6000fd’s Burst mode has some nice touches. It can record either the first or last three images taken after the shutter is pressed but only with an average speed of 2.2 frames per second (fps). It can only capture a maximum of three frames, which is not enough if you are trying to record something like a golf swing or football pass. The Kodak P850 is slightly faster at 2.4 fps, and the Canon G7 is a bit slower, although it can snap photos until the memory card is nearly full - it won't pause after three shots like the Fuji.
One outstanding feature of the Fuji S6000fd is the Face Recognition autofocus. It works extremely well, picking out the faces in an image and tracking them to focus and meter from. This is a big plus if you are planning on taking a lot of photos of people since it means no more messing around with focus spots or manual focus to take pictures of groups or for candid shots. We also found the Flash mode to be very good; even in tough lighting situations, flash photos of people came out well.
The Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd stacks up well against its ultra-zoom competitors. The more compact Nikon S4 and chunkier 6-megapixel Olympus SP-500 have 10x optical zoom lenses. The Kodak P850 offers an upgrade in zoom with its 12x lens and optical image stabilization, something also included on the Canon G7 but not on the Fujifilm S6000fd.
Face recognition is the standout feature of the S6000fd. It takes good but not exceptional images. The long zoom is great for shooting sports and the high ISO setting and low noise is good for low light shooting. Just don’t expect it to replace a digital SLR.For a more in-depth review, visit the Fuji S6000fd Review at our partner DigitalCameraInfo.com
|
|
