Fujifilm FinePix E900

Reviewed January 2006

Characteristics

Using a 1/1.6 inch Super CCD HR (High Resolution) with 9.0 million effective pixels, the FinePix E900 captures a maximum image size of 3488 × 2616 pixels.

The FinePix E900 has a sensitivity range that covers from 80 ISO to 800 ISO (80, 100, 200, 400, 800) and the ISO is manually selected when the camera is set to P, A, S, or M modes. But, when the camera is used with either the Auto shooting mode, or one of the Scene modes, in addition to offering the possibility of selecting the ISO setting, an Auto ISO mode is available. (Note that the Natural Light mode is limited to Auto ISO.)

A 4X a Fujinon optical zoom, composed of 6 elements in 5 groups with 3 aspherical elements to reduce distortion, and offering a focal length of 7.2 mm to 28.8 mm, equivalent to a 32 to 128 mm zoom, is used to capture images.

Apertures start at f2.8 when the zoom is at the wide-angle end — f5.6 at the telephoto end — closing down to f8 in both cases. A button at the lower left of the lens serves to release the chromed lens trim, making it possible to attach the TL-FXE01 telephoto converter (1.94x), or the wide angle converter WL-FZE01 (0.76X) to the AR-FXE02 Ring Adapter.

A 7.6X digital zoom is also available (see our article about digital zooms). The digital zoom is enabled in the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for a listing of all the options contained in the Setup menu) and can produce an image with a field of view comparable to a 30.4X magnification (equivalent to a 976mm) in combination with the 4X optical zoom. However, as the digital zoom uses the central portion of the image and then interpolates it up to the current image size, resulting in a low image quality.

The E900 has a shutter speed range that covers from 1/2000 second to 15 seconds when used in the Manual mode, but the shutter speeds available to the camera, or the user, vary with the shooting mode in use. With the Program, Auto, Natural Light, Portrait and Sport modes, the range is from 1/2000 to 1/4 second. With the Night and Shutter Priority modes, the range is 1/1000 second to 3 seconds; while with the Aperture Priority mode, the range is from 1/1000 to 1/4 second.

Images can be saved at any of 6 image sizes:

• 9M: 3488 x 2616 pixels
• 3:2: 3696 x 2464 pixels
• 5M: 2592 x 1944 pixels
• 3M: 2048 x 1536 pixels
• 2M: 1600 x 1200 pixels
• 03M: 640 x 480 pixels

And while the highest resolution offers 2 levels of JPEG compression, Fine and Normal, all the other sizes are saved with a preset level of compression that cannot be changed. At the highest JPEG image quality, 9M Fine, the image is compressed with a ratio that is in the range of 6:1, while with the Normal setting, the compression increases up to 12:1.

In addition to the JPEG format, the E900 provides a RAW mode, which has to be enabled in the Setup menu, unlike the image size selection which is made in the FinePix Photo Mode menu (see below). RAW images are saved without any processing by the RP (Real Photo) processor of the E900 and have a *.RAF extension. These images need to be processed later on a computer using RAW File Converter LE, a utility included with the camera. Processed photos can then be saved into a more common format such as TIFF so they can be opened by other applications. Worth noting however, with RAW File Converter LE, no post-processing or correction of images is possible and saving a RAW image as TIFF is quite slow.

As noted above, the FinePix E900's image quality and size settings are part of the FinePix Photo Mode menu, called up by pressing the button on the back of the camera. The same menu also controls settings for sensitivity and colour:

• Quality: to choose image size and quality (see above).
• ISO: Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, or 800 ISO.
• FinePix Colour offers 3 options:
  • Standard: the default setting.
  • Chrome: to accentuate colour saturation, as is the case for some slide films.
  • B & W: to record the image in black and white.

These options are reduce to a simple selection of image size : 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels, when the E900 is set to the Movie mode.

The remaining user settings for the E900 are spread out over the Photography menu, and the Setup menu which is longer (see the Interface and Software section of the review for details about the Setup menu). The Photography menu, is displayed by pressing the MENU/OK button and is available in all modes. However, it is only when the camera is set to P, A, S or M that all of its options are modifiable:

• Self-Timer offers settings for either a 10-second or a 2-second delay once the shutter release has been activated. Worth noting, the self-timer must be reinitialized after each use.

• Photometry (metering): provides three metering systems: Multi which evaluates the frame in 64 segments and performs automatic scene recognition to adjust the parameters; Spot, meters the centre of the image; and Average which calculates an average for the entire frame.
• White Balance: Auto, Custom (allows setting the white balance under ambient light, using a white surface), Sun, Shade, Fluorescent 1 (daylight), Fluorescent 2 (warm), Fluorescent 3 (Cool) or Incandescent.

• Focusing controls how the auto focus operates:
  • AF Centre focuses exclusively at the centre of the frame.
  • AF Multi allows the camera to identify the subject in a wide area near the centre of the frame.
  • AF Area allows moving the focus point to any of 49 points in the frame using the 4-direction control.
  • Continuous AF: constantly adjusts the focus as the subject moves.
  • Manual Focus: makes it possible to adjust the focus using the zoom control while holding the button.

• Set: is the access to the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for more information).
• Sharpness provides three settings: Hard, Standard, Soft.
• Flash Brightness Adjustment: makes it possible to vary the intensity of the flash over a range of ±2/3 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
• Bracketing serves to choose the bracketing step: ±1/3 EV, ±2/3 EV, or ±1 EV.

As noted earlier, the complete range of settings shown here is only accessible when the camera is set to P, A, S or M. When the the E900 is used with either the Auto Shooting mode, or with any one of the Scene modes, the only options that are accessible are Self-Timer, and Set.

The Playback mode's menu is also composed of 2 parts, the system moving from the first to the second seamlessly, as it does with the Photography menu:

• Erase: this option serves to erase the Frame currently displayed, or All Frames, with the exception of those that are protected.
• Image Rotate: changes the orientation of an image in 90° increments to the right or left.
• Print Order (DPOF) serves to select images that will be printed. The numbers of prints to make of each image can be specified, and the date can be superimposed on the image. The option can also be used to clear all previously set DPOF settings.
• Protect: serves to make one or all images "read-only" so they cannot be erased accidentally.

• Playback: makes it possible to review images as a slide show with a selectable time interval between images, either one of two transition effects, or as multiple images per screen, or with a timer overlaid on the images.
• Set: is the access to the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for an outline of the options contained in the Setup menu).
• Voice Memo: allows attaching a voice annotation, up to 30 seconds long, to an already captured image displayed on the monitor.
• Trimming: makes it possible to zoom into a portion of an image and save to the zoomed section as a new image.

The FinePix E900 is compatible with xD Picture Cards. The xD card slot is located under the camera, and covered by the same door that covers the batteries. A 16 MB xD card is included with the camera, but in view of the fact that one of the E900's RAW images has a file size of 18.8 MB, and that images captured using 9M Fine, tend to average around 4 MB, the acquisition of a greater capacity xD should be made at the same time as the camera is purchased.

As a guide, the chart below shows image storage capacities for both the 16 MB xD card and an optional 1 GB card:

The FinePix E900 is powered by two AA-size batteries, and in North America the camera kit includes 2 Fujifilm brand Ni-MH batteries and a 2-battery charger (BC-NH02). Recharging batteries takes approximately 5 hours, and a full charge is indicated by the LED of the charger turning off.

First at the top is the yellow AV Out jack to connect the camera to a television. The E900 is compatible with both NTSC and PAL, an option selected in the Setup menu. Next is a DC-in jack to connect the E900 to household current using the optional AC Power Adapter (AC-3VX). Finally, at the bottom is the USB 2.0 Hi-speed port, and its protocol (DSC or PictBridge) can be set in the Setup menu as well.