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Digital Camera Reviews > Fujifilm FinePix
E900 |
Fujifilm FinePix E900 Review
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Review
Date: Nov 3, 2005 |
Category:
Serious
Amateur
HANDLING & FEEL
The Fujifilm FinePix E900 feels nicely
warm to the touch thanks to its non-slip rubberized
handgrip with comfortable and gentle curves. The
looks are classic and fashionable at the same
time. Startup and shot to shot time are fast at
around 1 sec. Autofocus is fast and precise.
| STYLE |
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Colours: overall black with silver
accents and dark grey top plate |
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Looks: classic, fashionable |
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| FEEL |
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Comfortable to hold and operate |
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Non-slip rubber-coated handgrip |
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| DIMENSIONS &
WEIGHT |
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Compact: fits in a coat pocket, soft
bag hung from the belt or medium-sized
handbag |
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Dimensions: 102W x 63H x 34.4D mm
/ 4.0W x 2.5H x 1.4D in. |
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Weight: feels lightweight at 200g
/ 7.1oz. (excluding batteries and xD-Picture
Card) |
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Takes only 2 AA rechargeable NiMH
batteries or 2 AA type alkaline batteries |
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| SPEED OF OPERATION |
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Fast startup with lens extending about
3 cm (1.25 in.) and LCD turning on in
about less than 1 sec. |
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Shot to shot time in about 1 sec. |
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Included in the box are 2 rechargeable NiMH AA
Batteries, and a power outlet plug-in battery
charger. It takes approximately 5 hrs to recharge
a fully depleted battery.
Controls
Many of the most important functions are accessible
via dedicated control buttons. The Mode Dial has
the standard AUTO, PASM (Programmed Auto, Aperture-Priority,
Shutter-Priority, and Manual) modes, plus Movie
mode and 4 Scene Modes: Natural Light, Portrait,
Sports, Night.
The Mode Dial can be rotated with the thumb and
has a positive locking click to it.
You can record movies with sound at either 640
x 480 pixels 30fps (you'll be able to record about
14 min 54 sec on a 1GB card) or 320x240 30fps
(record about 29 min 20 sec on a 1GB card).
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| FUNCTIONS ACCESSIBLE
BY CONTROL BUTTONS (clockwise starting from
the Mode Dial) |
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Mode Dial (AUTO, PASM, Movie, Natural
Light, Portrait, Sports, Night) |
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Zoom |
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Playback |
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4 Way Arrows (Macro, Erase, Flash) |
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MENU/OK |
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DISP/Back (displays a Framing Guide
or turns off LCD monitor completely) |
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Photo (F) Mode (Image Quality, ISO,
Color) |
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Exposure Compensation |
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Continuous Shooting |
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Flash Pop-up |
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| PROGRAM SHIFT |
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Program Shift is ON by default (the
way we like it) |
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Use the UP and DOWN Arrow keys to
select different shutter speed/aperture
combinations without changing the exposure |
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| CONTINUOUS SHOOTING |
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Top 4-Frame: allows you to shoot up
to 4 frames at 1.5fps |
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Auto Bracketing: takes 3 shots of
the same image with different exposure
settings (correctly exposed, over-exposed,
under-exposed). The Auto bracketing
settings can be specified in the MENU
as ±1/3 EV, ±2/3 EV, or
±1 EV |
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Final 4-Frame: This is an incredibly
useful feature for increasing your chance
of catching action at just the right
moment. Press and hold the shutter release
button down as the action nears the
point where you want to take the shot.
The camera will take up to 40 shots
as you follow the action. When you let
go of the shutter release button at
the right moment (say, as the puck or
soccer ball goes into the goal), the
camera retains the last 4 shots. |
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You select a Continuous Shooting mode
by pressing and holding down the Continuous
Shooting button and using the LEFT and
RIGHT arrow keys |
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| EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
/ HISTOGRAM |
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To access the Histogram or exposure
compensation, you press and hold the
Exposure Compensation button down and
use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to
select a value. |
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The Histogram does not stay on screen
unless you keep the button pressed down.
It makes great sense to pair the Histogram
with the exposure compensation (since
you use the exposure compensation to
affect the histogram), though some would
probably prefer to have the option of
displaying the Histogram on screen all
the time. You can also display the Histogram
in Playback mode. |
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Once set, the Exposure Compensation
Indicator conveniently stays displayed
on screen until it is reset to "0" |
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Range: -2 EV to +2 EV (13 steps in
1/3 EV increments) |
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The screen brightness will increase
or decrease to reflect the value you
use |
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Note: the exposure compensation value
selected is retained even when mode
is changed or camera is turned off (so
remember to reset to "0" after
using it or the next time you turn the
camera on, your shots may be over- or
under-exposed.) |
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LCD & Menus
There is an optical viewfinder as well as a large
2 in. LCD monitor with a standard 115,000 pixels
resolution. The LCD has a fast refresh rate for
a smooth display. You can manually adjust the
LCD monitor's brightness in SETUP to display a
brighter image.
There is no AF-assist but I've found auto focusing
to be quite fast and precise in most low-light
situations, even better than some digital cameras
with AF-assist.
There are 2 MENU screens and 4 SETUP screens.
The user interface is straightforward and well
implemented.
Depending on your type of photography, some of
the functions that are often used in the MENU
screens are:
- Photometry (Multi, Spot, Average metering)
- White Balance
- AF mode (Center, Multi, Area, Continuous, Manual)
A great feature is the AF Area focusing mode
with (7 horizontal x 7 vertical =) 49 positions.
You can move the AF target point to any of these
49 positions and the camera will focus where the
AF target point has been moved. I find this very
helpful in macro photography and whenever the
subject is off-center.
Depending on your type of photography, some of
the functions that are often used in the SETUP
screens are:
- RAW
- Format
Advanced photographers will be glad to know that
it is possible to save images in the RAW file
format. It takes about 11 sec. to save an image
in RAW. Continuous Shooting is not available for
RAW.
The flash is the kind that requires you to manually
press a button to pop it up. That's the kind I
like, preferring to decide when to use flash and
when not to do so. For beginners, a Flash pop-up
reminder displays in yellow on screen to remind
them to manually pop-up the flash when it is needed.
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MENU 1 of 2
- Self-timer: 10 sec. or 2 sec.
- Photometry: Multi, Spot, Average
- White Balance: AUTO; Custom; Sunny; Shade;
Fluorescent 1, 2, 3, Incandescent
- AF: Center, Multi, Area, Continuous, Manual
- Sharpness: Hard, Standard, Soft
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MENU 2 of 2
- Flash Brightness Adjustment: -2/3 EV
to +2/3 EV
- Auto Bracketing Setting: ±1/3 EV,
±2/3 EV, ±1 EV
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SETUP 1 of 4
Image Display
Shutter Volume
Beep Volume
Playback Volume
Frame No.
LCD Brightness
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SETUP 2 of 4
- LCD ON/OFF
- Digital Zoom ON/OFF
- RAW
- Auto Power OFF
- LCD Power Save
- Format
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SETUP 3 of 4
- Date/Time
- Time Difference
- Language
- Background Color
- USB Mode (DSC/PictBridge)
- Video System (NTSC/PAL)
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SETUP 4 of 4
- [Ni-MH] Batteries Discharge
- Reset
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Photo (F) Mode - Image Quality
- Ships from factory set to 9M N
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Photo (F) Mode - ISO
- Ships from factory set to ISO 200
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PROGRAMMED AUTO MODE
Clockwise from Top Left:
- Multi AF
- Image Quality 9M F
- Available frames: 228
- ISO 80
- Camera Shake warning
- Flash pop-up reminder
- AF target point (in center)
- Shutter Speed and Aperture values (----
indicates outside range) with Program Shift
indicator
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NATURAL LIGHT MODE
Camera disables flash and selects a higher
ISO for correct exposure
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AF AREA
- Select AF Area in the MENU
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AF AREA
- You can move the AF target point to any
of (7 horizontal x 7 vertical =) 49 positions
on screen
- Very useful anytime your main subject
is off center, esp. in macro photography
- Framing Guide displayed
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The Fujifilm FinePix E900 is overall a
well-built, ergonomic and user-friendly digital
camera. The camera feels light and handles comfortably.
The rubberized handgrip gives it a nice "temperature
warm" feel when you pick it up. Operations
are fast, even though you might need to go into
the MENU to access a couple of functions. I like
that Program Shift is defaulted, and the availablility
of selecting the Natural Light scene mode right
on the Mode Dial is a plus. The Exposure Indicator
makes using Manual mode easy. Serious amateur
photographers should definitely try out this easy-to-use,
but versatile, 9MP digital camera.
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