The E900 provides a rubber-surfaced
grip with a decorative chrome insert, and a rubber-clad thumb
rest on the back. The grip area itself is topped by three
controls, grouped in yet another polished chrome area.
The Shutter Release, nearest the front of the camera,
is a two-stage release that provides AF-Lock and AE-Lock when
held half-pressed. Behind it and to the left, the Power
Switch is mounted flush to the surface, and has to be
held pressed for more than 1 second to turn on the camera
— which takes less than 2 seconds to extend the 4X
zoom, and be ready to shoot — while turning off the
camera is instantaneous when the button is pressed.
The Mode Dial is closest
to the back, and turns easily — sometimes a bit too
easily — to any of its 10 positions, starting
with the Program mode:
Programmed Auto
leaves the selection of the aperture and shutter speed
up to the camera, but allows the user to modify all
other parameters (white balance, sensitivity,etc.).
In addition, once the camera has established the aperture
and shutter speed — shown on the monitor —
the program can be shifted using the up and down
arrows of the 4-direction control, making it possible
to select alternate combinations of aperture and shutter
speeds that would result in a similar exposure. Sensitivity
can be set from a range of 80 through 800 ISO. Auto
ISO is not available.
Shutter Priority
allows selecting the shutter speed while the camera adjusts
the aperture. A shutter speed range that covers from 1/1000
second to 3 seconds is available. Sensitivity can be set
from a range of 80 through 800 ISO, Auto ISO is not available.
Aperture Priority
allows selecting the aperture and in turn the depth of
field of the image. With the zoom at the wide angle end,
the E900 has an aperture range of f2.8 through f8, while
at the telephoto end, the range covers from f5.6 to f8.
Sensitivity can be set from a range of 80 through 800
ISO, Auto ISO is not available.
Manual mode provides
full control over both aperture and shutter speed. The
aperture range is the same as with the Aperture Priority
mode, but the shutter speed range is greater than what
is available with Shutter Priority, covering from 1/2000
second down to maximum exposure time of 15 seconds. Sensitivity
can be set from a range of 80 through 800 ISO, Auto ISO
is not available.
The next mode is to capture Movies:
The E900 is able to capture
movies with sound at 30 frames per second. Two image
sizes are available:
640×480 pixels
320×240 pixels
During the recording the white balance and exposure
are constantly adjusted but the optical zoom is disabled
to prevent the noise from its motor from being recorded.
Recording lasts as long as there is space on the memory
card.
The next group of modes are the 4 Scene modes:
Night prioritizes a
slow shutter speed — with a maximum of 3 seconds
— and presets sensitivity to 80 ISO, but allows
it to be modified if necessary or set to Auto. A tripod
should be used. If the flash is opened the only modes
available are Slow Synchro or Redeye Reduction.
Sport is designed to
give priority to the shutter speed. Sensitivity is automatically
controlled, and will increase to maintain a high shutter
speed. Sensitivity can also be set to a specific value,
or left on Auto.
Portrait softens
skin tones and contrast. Sensitivity is preset to 80
ISO but can be modified, or set to Auto.
Natural Light takes
advantage of the Super CCD HR's high sensitivity and makes
it possible to capture an image under low ambient light.
The camera increases sensitivity up to 800 ISO if necessary,
and Forces off the flash, even if it is opened. The sensitivity
is automatically set to Auto ISO, and cannot be altered.
Rounding out the modes selectable with the Mode Dial
is the fully automatic, point-and-shoot Auto mode:
With the Auto mode,
the E900 is completely in charge of the exposure parameters,
leaving the user to simply point the camera and press
the shutter release. Nevertheless, the user is provided
control over resolution and image quality, including access
to the RAW format, continuous mode (but not bracketing),
macro mode, self-timer, sensitivity (both Manual and Auto),
and Colour mode.
More controls are arranged on the right side of the E900's
back, next to the 2-inch, 115,000 pixel LCD
monitor. First, at the top and immediately below the Mode
Dial, is the Zoom Control. The zoom control is a rocker
switch which moves the zoom very quickly from one end to the
other of its focal length range.
And, as is so often the case,
the control also serves to zoom in (up to 5.5X) and out of
a photo on the monitor in playback.
Next down is the button that starts the Playback mode:
If it is held pressed for
more than 1 second, the button can also be used to start
the E900 directly in the Playback mode when the
camera is turned off, without deploying the lens. Moreover,
once the camera has been activated this way, touching
the shutter release deploys the lens.
The 4-direction control dominates
the controls on the back of the E900. The 4-direction control
provides navigation of the E900's menus, and 3 of its
directional arrows support additional functions:
With the camera in Playback
mode, the up arrow serves to Delete unwanted
images. The button displays a short confirmation menu
from which the image currently on screen can be deleted.
The right arrow serves
to select Flash Modes, but only if the flash has
been popped-open first. The flash modes available are:
Auto, Redeye Reduction, Forced Flash, Slow Synchro and
Slow Synchro with Redeye Reduction. Forced Off is assumed
when the flash is left closed.
And the left arrow
starts the Macro mode, which disables the zoom
and locks the lens at the wide angle end. The Macro
mode allows the lens to focus on a subject that is from
7.5 to 80cm (3 inches to 2.6 feet) as measured from
the front surface of the camera body. (See the Test
Photos section of the review for more information.)
At the centre of the 4-direction control is the MENU/OK
button. It displays the menu that corresponds to the camera's
current mode — capture or playback — and to the
Mode dial position; and the same button is used to confirm
selections made in the menus.
The next button is labelled on the bevel of the LCD monitor:
DISP/BACK. It controls the way information is presented
on the monitor, and also serves to back out
of an operation or selection, when a menu is on-screen:
The default display of
the E900 superimposes some basic camera settings on
the monitor's image: metering, macro mode, image size
and quality, remaining number of shots, ISO, shooting
mode, shutter speed and aperture, and of course the
AF brackets.
Pressing the button once removes all the superimposed
information until the shutter release is pressed halfway,
which causes the camera to show the aperture and shutter
speed along with the AF brackets.
Pressing the button a second
time returns to the default display, but adds a composition
grid.
A third press changes the display to what Fujifilm
calls the Post shot window. The Post shot assist
window displays the current shot in a larger window
on the right and up to the last three shots —
starting from the bottom — in a stack on the left
side of the monitor.
With the E900 set to the
Playback mode, the default display superimposes
the image number, the shooting date and time, and the
icon for the playback mode briefly, leaving only the
playback mode's icon overlaid on the screen after a
couple of seconds.
Pressing the DISP/BACK button once removes all
superimposed information. Pressing it twice presents
the images as an Index screen (9 thumbnails per screen)
from which an image can be selected with the 4-direction
controller, and displayed full-screen using the OK
button.
A third press of the button replaces the index screen
by a calendar view that shows three images at a time
by shooting date.
To the right of the DISP/BACK button is the Photo
Mode button sporting the FinePix logo:
When the E900 is set to
one of the capture modes the Photo Mode
button calls up a menu from which the image size
and quality, sensitivity (ISO) and the Colour
mode can be selected. (For more information see
the Characteristics section of the review.)
With the E900 set to the playback mode, the
button displays a menu from which DPOF tags can
be assigned to images that will be printed. The FinePix
E900 is PictBridge compatible, and can be connected
directly to a similarly compatible printer via USB to
make prints.
While the manual release
for the pop-up flash that is on the right of the optical viewfinder,
the remaining two buttons on the FinePix E900 are aligned
at the top left of the monitor. Both these buttons superimpose
their options on the monitor, and the right and left arrows
of the 4-direction control are used to select the setting.
First, at the upper left, the top button controls the Continuous
Shooting modes:
Top 4-frame continuous shooting(available
with all still image shooting modes): the camera
captures up to 4 frames at 1.5 frames per second.
Auto bracketing(available when the camera
is set to P, A, S or M only): this function allows
capturing a group of three images that include one
image with the selected aperture and shutter speed,
one overexposed frame, and one underexposed frame.
A range of ± 1 EV in 1/3 EV increments
can be used to bracket the exposure.
Final 4-frames continuous shooting (available
with all still image shooting modes): the camera
captures up to 40 shots at 1.5 frames per second while
the shutter release is held pressed, but only records
the last 4 frames.
Long-period continuous shooting (Auto
and Scene modes only): allows capturing up to
40 shots at 0.6 frames per second.
The last button is the Exposure Compensation button:
Exposure Compensation
is available over a range of ±2EV in 1/3EV
increments when the camera is set to P, S
or A modes. When the button is pressed, a scale
is displayed on the monitor. And when the E900 is set
to Manual Mode, the button serves to adjust the
aperture.
In addition, when the camera is set to the Auto shooting
mode or any of the Scene modes, the button displays
a real time histogram when it is pressed.
With the E900 in Playback
mode, the takes on another role: displaying the shooting data.
Pressing the
button adds image size and quality, ISO, shutter speed
and aperture, colour mode, flash mode, white balance
and exposure compensation information.
In addition, the camera displays a histogram of the
image below the image's thumbnail while making potentially
overexposed zones of the image blink in the inverse
colour.
The E900's pop-up flash has an
effective range, when the sensitivity is set to Auto ISO
— which is only available with the Auto mode and the Scene
modes — of 30 cm to 3.7 m ((1 to 12.1 ft) when the lens
is at the wide angle end and 60 cm to 1.9 m (2 to 6.2 ft) at
the telephoto end.
The FinePix E900 offers a
clean and elegant design that places the controls so that
they are not only easily accessed, but comfortable to use.
The FinePix E900 is also very fast. Fast to turn On and turn
Off, and fast to respond to the shutter release. In fact,
the shutter release could be described as a hair trigger,
as it will easily capture a shot before the camera has had
time to focus, or even capture a photo while the user is simply
trying to get an AE/AF lock.
Compare Prices for Fuji FinePix E900Zoom Digital Camera Battery Charger (CH-9700)
Introduction
is displayed on the monitor. And when the E900 is set
to Manual Mode, the button serves to adjust the
aperture.
