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The Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd
(designated FinePix S6500fd in Europe) is another
member of that group of cameras that are commonly referred
to as bridge cameras. Shaped like an SLR, it is just a bit
smaller than some of the more compact dSLR, has a 6.3 megapixel
resolution, and a 10.7X optical zoom.
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and secure feel.
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Unchanged from previous cameras in this series, the Power Switch is
located around the shutter release, and decides whether the
camera enters the playback or capture modes when powered on:
- OFF
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Playback mode :
Capture mode
The Shutter Release itself — the chromed round
button at the centre of the Power switch — is a standard
2-stage system, starting the autofocus and auto exposure when
pressed to the halfway point, and locking both when held there. |
Two buttons are positioned
immediately behind the shutter release. The one on the left
controls:
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The Continuous Mode,
which displays the following options on the monitor:
- Top 3-Frame Continuous Shooting: shoots up
to 3 frames (maximum 2.2 frames/second at the best
JPEG image quality and the highest resolution).
- Auto Bracketing captures 3 frames with ±
1 EV in selectable 1/3 EV increments.
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- Final 3-Frame Continuous Shooting: releases
the shutter up to 40 times at a rate of 2.2 frames
per second but records only the last 3 frames captured
prior to when the shutter button is released;
- Long-Period Continuous Shooting: allows capturing
40 frames at approximately 1.5 frame per second. Focus
and exposure are locked at the first frame.
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While the button on the right controls:
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On the right is the Exposure
Compensation button, which offers a correction range
of ± 2 EV in 1/3 EV increments when the camera
is set to P, S or A modes, and allows changing the aperture
when the S6000fd is set to the Manual
mode.
With the S6000fd set to the Playback
mode, the button can be used to display the image under
review as a thumbnail at the top right of the screen
while the shooting parameters are displayed on the left
and a histogram for the image is shown below. |
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In addition, the
button can be used in combination with the DISP/BACK button
to increase the brightness of the LCD monitor, or return it
to its normal brightness level.
The only other control on the top right side of the S6000fd's
body is the Mode Dial. The Mode Dial has 11 positions: |
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Auto Mode, is the point
and shoot mode. The Auto mode puts the camera in control
of all photographic settings, leaving the user to select
the resolution (the image size), the colour mode, and
the self-timer. An access to the Setup menu is available
as well, and it includes the option to shoot RAW format
images. |
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The Program Mode selects
both the shutter speed and aperture, but the combination
selected by the camera can be changed by the user with
the 4-direction control — Program Shift —
making it possible to control the depth of field by selecting
a different aperture, or give preference to the shutter
speed. |
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Shutter Priority Mode
allows the user to set the shutter speed while the camera
matches the selection to an aperture. The mode offers
a shutter speed range that covers from 1/4000 second to
4 seconds when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and
1/2000 second to 4 seconds at the maximum telephoto end. |
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The Aperture Priority Mode
gives the user control over the aperture, selecting from
a range that covers, in 1/3 EV increments, from f2.8 through
f8 when the zoom is at the wide angle end, and f4.9 through
f8 at the telephoto end. |
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Manual Mode provides
full control over both aperture and shutter speed. The
aperture range available is from f2.8 to f11 at the wide
angle end, and f4.9 to f11 at the telephoto end, while
the shutter speed range covers from 1/4000 second to a
maximum exposure time of 30 seconds. |
The Movie Mode, just like the Auto mode, acts as a separator
between the advanced modes and the Scene modes:
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The Movie Mode records
at 30 frames per second with mono sound at either one
of two frame sizes: 640 × 480 pixels or 320 ×
240 pixels. During the recording, the zoom is available
as it is manually controlled. Focus and white balance
are set at the first frame, while the exposure is adjusted
as necessary. Recordings last as long as there is space
on the memory card.
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The Scene Position is the access point to the S6000fd's
10 Scene modes beyond the 4 that have their
own Mode Dial positions:
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Sports is intended
to give priority to capturing moving subjects and
therefore maximizes the shutter speed by increasing
sensitivity as needed, up to 3200 ISO. The flash
is automatically opened but can be controlled. |
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The Night mode
allows an exposure time as long as 4 seconds, and
adjusts the sensitivity from 100 to 200 ISO to minimize
noise. By default the flash is automatically opened
and set to the Slow Synch mode with Red-eye Reduction,
but that setting can be user modified. |
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Fireworks mode
captures fireworks photos using f8 and an exposure
time that can be selected from 1/2 second to 4 seconds,
while fixing the sensitivity at 100 ISO. |
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Sunset enhances
reds and yellows to capture vivid sunset colours.
The mode has access to a shutter speed range that
covers from 1/2000 second down to 4 seconds. Sensitivity
is automatically controlled and can range up to
1600 ISO. The flash is automatically opened but
can be controlled by the user. |
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Snow boosts the
exposure to ensure that snow is captured as white,
and that its brightness does not cause the metering
system to underexpose. Sensitivity is automatically
controlled and can be as high as 800 ISO, while
the shutter speed has a range of 1/2000 second down
to 4 seconds. The flash is automatically opened
but can be controlled. |
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Beach functions
much like the Snow mode, boosting the exposure to
avoid underexposure. The mode uses the same shutter
speed range as the Snow mode, but limits the maximum
sensitivity setting to 200 ISO. |
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Museum silences
the camera sounds, suppresses the flash completely
(the user cannot change it), has a shutter speed
range of 1/2000 second to 4 seconds, and allows
the sensitivity to increase up to 3200 ISO if necessary. |
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Party is intended
to photograph people in an indoor environment. The
flash is automatically controlled, and if used operates
only with red-eye reduction. Sensitivity can be
as high as 1600 ISO, while the shutter speed range
covers from 1/4000 second down to a minimum of 1/45
second as the flash is automatically used. |
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Flower mode,
sets the camera to macro mode, making it possible
to focus on a subject that is 1 cm to 2 m (0.4 inch
to 6.6 ft) from the front of the lens when the zoom
is at the wide angle end, and from 90 cm to 2 m
93 to 6.6 ft) at the maximum telephoto. Sensitivity
is automatically controlled and can range as high
as 1600 ISO, while the shutter speed available to
the camera covers from 1/4 to 1/4000 second. The
flash is suppressed, and cannot be used. |
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Text is designed
to photograph documents or a white board. Sharpness
is increased to make letters more readable, sensitivity
is automatically set and can increase up to 1600
ISO if the flash is suppressed. The Macro mode is
automatically set as well (see focus distances
above), and cannot be cancelled. |
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Anti-Blur gives priority
to as fast a shutter speed as possible so the camera can
freeze action. To achieve this, the mode increases sensitivity
as required up to 3200 ISO. |
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Natural Light mode
uses some of the properties of the Super CCD HR to capture
a natural-looking image that retains the atmosphere of
the scene, preferably without using the flash. Sensitivity,
under the control of the camera, can increase up to 3200
ISO if necessary. Two modes are offered, Natural Light,
which forces the flash off, and Natural Light + Flash,
which captures the image with a lesser ISO setting, and
with the flash in slow synch mode. |
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The Portrait mode
favours skin tones and softens the contrast. Sensitivity
is automatically controlled, and can range up to 800
ISO. All flash modes are available. |
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The Landscape mode
also sets the sensitivity to 100 ISO, but it can be user-
controlled. The mode uses as small an aperture as possible
to maximize the depth of field, and the flash is forced
off and cannot be used. |
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More controls are arranged
on the right side of the monitor, starting with, at the top,
the Intelligent Face Detection button, the reason for the
fd attached to the camera's model number:
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The button acts like
a toggle, pressed once Intelligent Face Detection is
activated, pressed again it is turned off.
Intelligent Face Detection recognizes a human
face, or more, but will track the one closest to the
camera as long as it remains in the frame. When the
camera recognizes one or more faces, it places a green
frame around it, and the frame will move as the subject
does. |
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The next two buttons are grouped
together by their shape:
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The FinePix S6000fd
provides both a 2.5-inch LCD monitor with 235,000
pixels, and a 115,000 pixel LCD viewfinder
(EVF). The EVF/LCD button serves to select whether
the EVF or the LCD monitor is active, be it in the capture
or playback modes. |
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The other button is the Digital
Zoom button. The button also acts like a toggle switch,
pressed once it activates the 2X digital zoom,
which is added to the optical zoom seamlessly when the
manual zoom ring is used. Pressed again, it turns off
the digital zoom. Although the digital zoom button interpolates
the image to the selected image size, creating some artefacts
that can be observed when the image is inspected at 100%
scale, the resulting image is noticeably better than most
other interpolating digital zooms. |
The 4-direction control comes next. It is used to
navigate the camera's menus and make some settings, such as
aperture and shutter speed, when the camera is set to modes
that allow it, or when the appropriate button is held down.
It is also used to select the Continuous mode, or to adjust
the exposure compensation. Moreover, the right and left arrows
each have a function when shooting:
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The right arrow selects
the Flash mode: Auto, Auto with Red-eye Reduction,
Forced On, Slow Synch, and Slow Synch with Red-Eye Reduction,
or Suppressed Flash, which prevents the camera from automatically
opening the pop-up flash. |
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With the camera set to the Playback
mode, the 4-direction button also serves to review images,
using the right and left arrows, while the up arrow allows
zooming into an image — up to 4.7X with 3:2 format images
and 4.5X otherwise — and the down arrow serves to zoom
out.
Two other buttons, below the 4-direction control, complete
the external controls of the camera:
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Controls the information
superimposed on the monitor:
In the capture modes, the default presentation
on the display includes basic information positioned
around the periphery of the frame, and when the shutter
release is pressed halfway, the selected AF point ,
the aperture, and the shutter speed are presented. The
date and time are briefly displayed as well. |
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Pressing the button once
clears all information from the screen. Nevertheless,
when the shutter release is pressed halfway, the AF
point is shown, as are the shutter speed and aperture.
Pressing the DISP/BACK button a second time
returns to the default information display, and adds
a composition grid.
A third press of the button displays the Post Shot
Assist Window, which consists of the last three
captured images in a column on the left of the screen,
and the image coming from the lens on the right. |
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Set to the Playback
mode, the camera presents the image with the file
name, as well as the date and time of capture, superimposed
on the lower part of the monitor.
A first press of the DISP/BACK button clears
all superimposed information off the screen.
Pressing the button a second time presents the images
in memory as thumbnails, 9 per screen, with the currently
selected image magnified slightly.
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A third press of the button
displays thumbnails of the images grouped by capture
date (12 per screen), while the capture dates are listed
in yellow on the left side of the screen.
In addition, the other use of this button is to BACK
out of a sub-option, or a selection made in the menu. |
The final button on the back of the S6000fd is the
Mode button, adorned by the FinePix logo:
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With the camera set to
a capture mode, the button displays the F-Mode
menu. The menu is composed of three options, but
access to the first one, ISO, is dependent on
the mode in use:
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- ISO allows selecting the CCD sensitivity:
100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 ISO.
- Quality serves to select the image size and
quality (see the Characteristics section
of the review).
- FinePix Colour serves to choose the colour
mode: Standard is the default colour setting;
F-Chrome mimics the saturation of Fuji slide
films, such as Velvia; and F-B&W captures
a black and white image.
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With the S6000fd
in the Playback mode, the button calls up a menu that
offers choices for a slide show, and to choose the images
that will be printed either on a DPOF compatible printer
or service or a PictBridge compatible printer.
(See the Characteristics section of the review.)
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One last control is available on the S6000fd, the
Focus Mode Selector Switch, which is positioned on
the left side of the lens barrel. The switch controls the
focus modes, and has three positions in addition to a button
at the centre:
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Continuous Auto Focus
adjusts the focus constantly so as to keep a subject in
focus. This mode consumes more power. |
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Single Auto Focus
only focuses the lens when the shutter release is pressed
to the halfway point.
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Manual Focus allows
focusing using the focus ring — the ring closest
to the base of the lens barrel — while the camera
magnifies the centre of the frame to help focus, and
indicates whether the focus ring should be turned left
or right to focus. |
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One-Touch AF allows
auto-focusing instantly while using manual focus. |
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The FinePix S6000fd
is equipped with a built-in pop-up flash that opens automatically
in all modes when the camera determines that it is necessary.
To prevent the flash from opening, the Suppressed Flash
option must be selected from the flash modes.
Set to Auto ISO, which lets the camera adjust the sensitivity
to increase the effectiveness of the flash (up to 1600 ISO
when the S6000fd is set to the Auto Shooting mode),
it has an effective range of approximately 60 cm to 8.3 m
(2 to 27.2 ft) when the zoom is set to the wide angle end,
and from 2 to 4.6 m (6.6 to 15.1 ft) at the maximum telephoto
end. |
The FinePix S6000fd
is a well-designed camera that offers the well-established
ergonomic design of the SLR shape. Both the EVF and the LCD
monitor are comfortable to use, although the monitor's resolution
is noticeably crisper.
Nevertheless, this new model would have benefited from the
addition of a dial control — as is commonly used with
many other SLR-shaped bridge cameras — which would have
been more practical to change settings such as exposure compensation.
As it is, the position of the 4-direction control, low on
the back of the camera, is difficult to control with one hand
while pressing and holding either of the buttons positioned
behind the shutter release. |
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Introduction
