Fuji FinePix S9500 Review

Overall Rating

Loads of features, light (for its size), comfirtable, easy to use, fast powerful zoom, batteries last forever.

Could do with some nice extra software features (see full review)...

Ever since I got the Fuji Finepix S9500 Zoom camera I take it everywhere with me. It doubles as a great camcorder too, so lightens the load on most trips.

What made me choose this camera was the manual twist barrel 10.7x optical zoom. I never liked the push button zooms you get on most cameras as these take too long to compose a shot - and they are not very precise either.

The S9500 allows you to compose a shot so fast you get the shot you are after. Only yesterday I was out with the camera on a 9.5 mile walk along a river, with the camera round my neck. The camera was off when I scared a moorhen out of cover from some reeds, and it half flew, half ran across the river. I brought up the camera, switched it on, and zoomed in to compose the shot in such a quick and swift movement I managed to get a shot of the moorhen skimming across the water with the ripples from each footstep in its wake. The cameras wake-up time is so quick!!

The features on the camera help get that perfect shot, but for a novice the number of features can be daunting, and may never be touched with the program mode left on AUTO - which is perfect for the point and shoot aspect of photography which most of us do anyway. With so many features I end up taking more than one shot of a subject using the different program modes - I find this helps with getting to know the camera and what program mode to be in for a particular shot. OK, this does sound like too much fiddling around, but you do not have to do this - there are the basic "Landscape", "Night", "Portrait"... etc modes for those of you who just want to get the shot over and done with :o)

So far I have been lucky enough to use the camera in most circumstances - landscape, portraits, macro, and action shots, and I find the camera so great to use in all these scenarios. OK, some of the pictures have not come out as expected - but that is just user error :o)

The option to show a grid on the display is very useful for taking landscape photos etc. I no longer have to worry about having to rotate pictures due to not holding the camera level as I can use the display against the horizon for reference.

The menu system is a breeze to get round, with loads of extra features here too, but I have not used many of these features yet, getting only as far as using the User-Setting white balance, timer, and a neat battery discharge feature :o) But there are so much more to play around with and change.

The flip-up LCD is excellent to use. At first I thought I would have liked one that rotates fully like the Minolta A200, but have since changed my mind - the flip-up is just enough, although I would like to be able to face the LCD inwards to protect it, as most of the time I use the view-finder screen for taking shots when out & about. A neat trick is to purchase a plastic cover you can get for the Sony-PSP and trim it to size and stick it to the LCD - protects it nicely from scratches, and is easily removed if you want to replace it.

The video mode is excellent, and saves you have to carry a camcorder round, unless of course you know you will be doing more movies than stills. But the quality is excellent and I can get about 5 minutes on my 512mb XD card.

The things I would like to see changed, which I am sure can be done by a simple software upgrade - but first I need to explain a feature I use on the camera which lets you choose how long a picture stays on the screen for after you have taken it. I have this set to indefinite until I press the "OK" button, which then takes it off the screen and allows me to take another photo. While the picture is on the screen I would like to be able to: 1) Delete the picture - this will save time in the transfer of pictures, or going into view mode to delete it. 2) Allow me to add a voice comment without having to go into view mode.

In essence this camera is excellent, and I am glad I waited for it to hit the shops. I love it. I purchased the Lowe Pro Rezo 140 case for it, and it fits in perfectly with just enough room for some accessories - so I recommend this case :o) I also recommend Uniross 2800mah rechargeable batteries - I have a 2 packs of 4 and they seem to last forever - I can go a whole day of zooming, switching on and off, taking photos etc, and a single pack will last all day, taking in excess of 140 pictures.

Members' Comments onDemonTraitor's Review

• march3uk on 23rd Jan 2007

  I agree with this review in every respect. The Fuji Finepix 9500 is a very good digital camera. The software is not so bad for general use, but the Raw conversion is a waste of time. Instead, download the free program S7Raw at www.photo-freeware.net/s7raw.php. It turns the 9500 into a much more versatile tool.

• Dogmad on 30th Sep 2007

  RAW does let this camera down, I would like to use RAW more but the write time of 13 seconds plus to the card is just too long for me to wait, I always worry about missing that once in the life time shot because the camera isn't ready.