This revision of the Fujifilm
S9000 is called the FinePix S9100, and the FinePix
S9600 in Europe. Differences between the S9100/9600
and the S9000/9500 are few, particularly externally, where
these changes can be summarized as a larger LCD monitor, up
from 1.8-inch to 2 inches.
The two-stage shutter release
combined with the power switch top the grip, and are
placed at a angle towards the front of the camera to make
them more readily accessible. The shutter release includes
a release socket that is designed to receive a screw-in cable
release, a feature that avoids the expense of a wired remote
release, an excellent idea that should be more widespread.
The power switch simultaneously acts as a mode selector with
two positions: Playback
and Capture.
A cluster of three buttons separate the shutter release and
power switch from the Mode and Command Dials,
which are closer to the back of the S9100:
Controls Exposure
Compensation over a range of ±2 EV in 1/3
EV increments when the camera is set to P, S
or A modes. As is the case with the other two
buttons, a display appears on either the monitor or
in the viewfinder, that shows an exposure scale. Adjusting
the Command Dial to one side or the other varies the
amount of exposure compensation.
Serves to select the Flash
Modes. The Fujifilm S9100 is equipped with a pop-up
flash (see further down) that has to be opened
manually in all modes, and the display shown at
right only appears when the flash has been opened before
the button is pressed.The flash modes available
are: Auto, Auto with redeye reduction, Forced on, Slow
Synchro and Slow Synchro with redeye reduction.
Selects the Continuous
Shooting modes:
Top 4-frame continuous shooting: the camera
captures up to 4 frames at 1.5 frames per second.
Auto bracketing: (P, A, S
or M only) this function serves to capture
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: 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: allows capturing
up to 40 shots at 1.1 frames per second.
The Command Dial is positioned so that it is easily
rotated with the thumb. The dial allows setting the aperture
or shutter speed or, as noted above, the exposure compensation,
selecting the flash modes, or any of the continuous modes.
To its left is the Mode Dial, which has 11 positions.
When it is turned to switch from one mode to another, a dial
graphic appears on-screen and switches to the new mode simultaneously.
The modes available with the dial are separated into two groups
by the Auto and Movie modes:
With the Auto mode,
the S9100/S9600 is completely in charge of the exposure
parameters. Nevertheless, the resolution and image size,
the continuous mode (but not bracketing), the macro mode
and the self-timer can be selected.
Program mode lets
the camera set aperture and shutter speed, but allows
the user to modify all other parameters (white balance,
sensitivity,etc.). The user can also shift the
program (Program Shift) and select other combinations
of aperture and shutter speed, varying the way movement
is captured, or the depth of field in the image.
Shutter Priority
provides control over the shutter speed while the camera
adjusts the aperture. With this mode the S9000 offers
a shutter speed range of 1/4000 second to 4 seconds at
the widest setting of the zoom, and 1/2000 second to 4
seconds at the maximum telephoto.
Aperture Priority
provides control over the aperture selection, from f2.8
to f8 at the widest angle and from f4.9 to f8 at the telephoto
end while the camera adjusts the shutter speed.
Manual mode provides
full control over both aperture and shutter speed. Moreover,
apertures in the Manual mode extend to f11 while the shutter
speeds cover from 1/4000 second — even when the
zoom is a the maximum telephoto — to 30 seconds.
In addition, the Manual mode offers a Bulb mode
(30 seconds maximum) that can be used with a cable release.
The other still image modes are Scene modes. Five
are available:
Night prioritizes a
slow shutter speed — with a maximum of 4 seconds
— and presets sensitivity to 80 ISO, but allows
it to be modified if necessary. If the flash is opened
the only modes available are Slow Synchro or Redeye Reduction.
Landscape presets sensitivity
to 80 ISO, and the camera uses the smallest aperture available
to maximize the depth of field. The flash is preset to
Forced off, even if opened, but the mode can be changed
if desired.
Portrait softens
skin tones and the contrast. Sensitivity is preset to
80 ISO but can be modified.
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 1600 ISO if necessary,
and Forces off the flash, even if it is opened.
Picture Stabilization
gives priority to the shutter speed so as to freeze movement.
The mode sets the sensitivity to Auto ISO, and
increases sensitivity as necessary. If the flash
is opened, it can only be used with Redeye Reduction mode,
Forced On, or Auto mode.
Finally, the Movie provides two movie sizes:
640×480 pixels at 30 frames per second,
320×240 pixels at 30 frames per second.
During the recording, the focus, white balance and
exposure are constantly adjusted. Recording lasts as
long as there is space on the memory card.
Below the Mode Dial, on the back of the S9100/S9600, a small
dial called the Photometry Dial provides three choices
for the the Metering mode:
Multi-Pattern: meters
256 segments in the frame and applies automatic scene
recognition to analyze the subject and provide optimum
exposure in a wide range of shooting conditions.
Spot: useful for subjects
with strongly contrasting light and dark areas, metering
a precise point in the frame.
Evaluative: calculates
an average value for the entire scene, operating much
like a Centre-Weighted pattern.
At the centre of the Photometry
dial a small button serves to lock the metered exposure:
AE-L (Auto Exposure
Lock), by default, maintains the metered exposure while
being pressed. However, this behaviour can be changed
by an option in the Setup menu so that when pressed
once, the button locks the exposure, and releases it when
pressed again. (See the Interface and Software
section of the review for more information about the Setup
menu.)
An LED is embedded to the right
of the thumb rest. It glows steadily green when the camera is
ready to shoot, and flashes from green to orange when an image
is being saved to a memory card. The LED also flashes orange
when the flash is charging. Regrettably, its position causes
it to be often covered by the users thumb.
Moving down the back of the
S9100, the next button decides whether the EVF (Electronic
Viewfinder) or the monitor is active.
As noted at the outset, the FinePix S9100/S9600 is equipped
with a 2-inch hinged LCD monitor that can be pulled
away from the body and inclined up 90° or down 45°.
The monitor is composed of 235,000 pixels and shows
100% of the frame.
Similarly, the EVF is also composed of 235,000 pixels and
also shows 100% of the frame.
Directly beneath the EVF/LCD
button, the Focus Check button
serves to magnify the centre portion of the image while the
image is being manually focused.
Three other external controls
are grouped further down on the S9100/S9600's back, and the
biggest of these is the 4-direction button that serves to
navigate the menu. At the centre of the 4-direction control,
the MENU/OK button not only displays the menu, but
it also serves to confirm some choices. (See the Characteristics
section of the review for more details about the menu.)
The UP and DOWN arrows of the 4-direction control also support
an additional function. In the capture modes, the arrows control
the 2X digital zoom that gets added to the 10.7X optical
zoom. In the Playback mode, the arrows allow zooming into
an image (5.5X with a full size image), or out of it.
The Photo Mode button,
identified by ,
displays a short 3-option menu that is superimposed on the
image coming from the lens
Quality serves to select the image quality when
the camera is at the highest resolution, or the image size
(see the Characteristics section of the review
for more information about image sizes and formats offered
on the FinePix S9100/S9600).
Sensitivity: 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 ISO,
or Auto when the camera is set to Auto shooting mode, or
one of the Scene modes.
FinePix Colour: serves to set the colours captured:
Standard: is the default setting. Images are
captured with natural -looking colours without any particular
saturation.
-Chrome:
mimics the colours of slide films such as Fujifilm's
Velvia, subtly boosting saturation.
-B&W:
captures a black and white image.
With the FinePix S9100/S9600 set to the Movie mode, the Photo
Mode menu only contains one option, a selection of
the movie frame size, either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels.
In playback the button serves to assign DPOF
tags to images that will be printed and how many prints will
be made of each. The FinePix S9100/S9600 is PictBridge
compatible, and can be connected directly to a similarly compatible
printer via USB to make prints.
The last external button on the S9100/S9600's back is the DISP/BACK
button:
Controls the type of information
that is superimposed on the monitor:
In the capture mode the default setting presents
basic camera settings on the periphery of the frame,
as well as the selected AF point, the aperture, and
the shutter speed once the shutter release has been
pressed halfway.
Pressing the button once
adds a composition grid to the monitor.
Pressing the button a second time clears the screen
of all information with the exception of the AF point,
the shutter speed and aperture once the shutter release
is half-pressed.
Pressing the button a third time presents the image
being framed on the right of the monitor, while thumbnails
of the last three captured images are shown on the left,
a presentation referred to as "Post Shot".
Set to the Playback
mode, by default the camera presents the last captured
image with, superimposed on it, its file name at the
top, and the data and time at which it was captured
on the lower part of the screen.
Pressing the DISP button once removes everything
overlaid on the image.
Pressing the button twice presents the nearest 8
image plus the current one as thumbnails, the current
image being magnified slightly.
Last, pressing the button a third time displays
12 thumbnails of the images on the card organized
by date, with the capture dates appearing in a column
on the left of the screen.
More information about how
the image was captured is available by pressing the INFO
button, on the left side of the camera.
In all capture modes
the button displays a real-time histogram on the lower
left side of the screen, showing the distribution of
brightness throughout the image.
In addition, a second press of the button when the
camera is set to P, A, S or M
modes adds a column above the histogram that indicates
current settings for saturation, contrast, white balance,
sharpness, and flash exposure compensation.
When the camera is set
to the Playback mode, the button displays the
image as a thumbnail at the top right of the monitor,
with the shooting parameters on the right side of the
screen, and a histogram of the image below the thumbnail,
and potentially overexposed areas of the image flash
from black to white.
The INFO button is part of a small group of controls
placed near the lens barrel, on the left side of the body.
Of this group, the Focus Mode Selector is the biggest.
The selector has three positions:
Continuous AF: lets
the auto focus work continuously, so that it adjusts as
the subject moves.
Single AF: makes the
auto focus focus and lock when the shutter release is
pressed halfway.
Manual Focus: allows
focusing the camera using the focus ring, the ring around
the lens barrel that is the closest to the body. In addition,
to help in focusing, the S9100/S9600 is equipped with
a button
on the back of the camera that allows the centre portion
of the frame to be magnified when the focus ring is turned.
(See above.)
At the centre of the Focus Mode
Selector is a small button, labelled with
that makes it possible to get the assistance of the camera
to autofocus instantly while the camera is set to Manual focus.
The last button there controls the Macro modes:
The S9100/S9600 is equipped
with two distinct Macro mode, selected by pressing
the button either once or twice:
Standard Macro mode allows the camera to
focus on a subject that is 10 cm (3.9 inches) from
the front of the lens at the wide angle end, and 90
cm (3 feet) at the maximum telephoto setting.
Super Macro mode allows the camera focus
on a subject positioned from 1 cm to 1 m (0.4 inch
to 3.3 ft) from the front element of the lens.
The S9100/S9600 is equipped
with a pop-up flash that is manually released by pressing
a button on the top left side of the camera. The flash extends
relatively far above the camera body so as to avoid the possibility,
as long as the subject is a reasonable distance from the camera,
that the lens will cast a shadow on the subject.
If the press
release is to be taken seriously, one of the improvements
touted for the FinePix S9100/S9600 over the S9000/S9500 is
something called iFlash (Intelligent Flash Function)
which is supposed to achieve even foreground illumination
with a blur-free background. The manual, however, makes no
particular mention of this feature.
Indeed, based on tests with the
camera, iFlash seems to be only distantly connected to the flash.
It seems to operate when the camera is used in Auto or with
one of the scene modes, boosting the sensitivity to brighten
the image captured by the flash. (See the Image Quality
section of the review for our opinion on this feature).
The S9100/S9600 is also
equipped with a hotshoe that can be activated in the menu
available when the camera is set to P, A, S
or M modes. A wide variety of external flash units
can be used manually, and the synchronization speed can be
as high as 1/1000 second. In addition, the output of the flash
can be compensated in the capture menu over a range of ±
2/3 EV.
Additional flexibility is provided by having a synchronizing
terminal on the camera located on the lower left side of the
lens.
Calling the Fujifilm FinePix
S9100/S9600 a new camera is, in our opinion, an exaggeration.
Minor modifications, internal and mostly invisible to the
user, have been made to the S9000/S9500 design with one external
change, also minor: the LCD is 0.2 inch bigger diagonally
than it was on the S9000. Aside from that, the ergonomic design
of this model is identical to its predecessor.
Compare Prices for Fuji S20/S9000/S9100 SERIES PRO USB SHUTTER RELEASE CABLE
Ergonomics
and Capture 
.
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.
serves to magnify the centre portion of the image while the
image is being manually focused.
,
displays a short 3-option menu that is superimposed on the
image coming from the lens
that makes it possible to get the assistance of the camera
to autofocus instantly while the camera is set to Manual focus.
