Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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73 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fuji s6500fd camera, 29 Mar 2007
I was looking for a camera that was a stepping stone between my older fuji compact and a digital slr. This camera seemed to tick all the right boxes. Point and shoot capability whilst having manual features and critically, a manual focus and zoom.
When I finally purchased it, it did not dissapoint. The 10.7x optical zoom is fantastic, as is the 2x digital zoom to get right close to far away objects. At high zoom levels, a steady hand is required as this camera doesnt incorporate a true image stabilisation feature. However a tripod or resting arms on a surface with a firm grip on the camera gives great results.
The face detection feature is a bit of a novelty, however it works great. It can be turned off if you dont wish to use it. I dont beleive this camera should be compared to a digital slr as some people are doing, and it should have a category of its own in between compacts and digital slrs as 'bridge cameras'. I didnt want to have to lug around a bag of heavy lenses with me, so the zoom on this camera covers such a good range it is just awesome.
If I had to critisise the camera, I would say the battery compartment flap could be more rigid/sturdy, however it gets the job done and doesnt look like its going to break.
XD cards make the camera very speedy especially if you get the h type as they are faster. I got myself a 1gb and it can fit 361 6M fine quality pictures which is great for me. No case is included so I invested in a soft fuji leather case to protect it. Lens cap and hood are great, and the hood can be screwed on backwards over the lens for storage.
The lcd screen is awesome, really big and crisp. The evf doesnt have an overly high resolution, but i find my self using it maybe more often than the lcd to preserve battery life. It is more than adequate resolution and has good colour rendition. Battery life seems great, no power hungry electronic zooms on this camera!!
The flash seems great for the conditions in which I have used it, and as I am no professional, i do not require the hot-shoe for external flashes. If you do need this however, you could upgrade to slightly bulkier s9600.
Picture quality seems fantastic for a 6.3M pixel camera. The camera performs well in dark conditions as well as light. The camera is a nice size to hold, with a sturdy rubberised grip, and a nice strong shoulder/neck strap.
All in all I have spent 265 quid on the camera, a proper fuji leather case, a 1gb XD card and a decent set of aa rechargables with a charger. In my opinion this is value for money for such a high spec, quality camera. I look forward to getting some cracking photos with it, and hopefully will improve my photography skills in the process!
5 stars without a doubt. :D
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49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great! Just what I wanted, 18 Mar 2007
I have a Kodak V570 for snaps and wide angle. Purists with big budgets read no further. I wanted a camera that was better in low light without using flash (the V570 falls down here). The main use was to take photos of my children when they are playing in their orchestras and stage productions. This required a sensitive camera so that flash could be avoided and a decent zoom. The Fuji F31d looked promising for a compact but when I saw what you could get for about £35 more there was no contest. Excellent sensitivity and a 28-300 equiv zoom lens with the advantage of it being a manual zoom, no zzz...zzz...zzz when operating it. Turning off the beeps and shutter sounds, turning the AF illuminator off and switching to viewfinder you can hardly hear/see the camera. I tried it out on the last night of the school production (I asked first, photos were mainly for school use). I was on the front row of the audience using a monopod and set the camera to P and ISO 800. I took 487 shots no flash. Very pleased with the results, got shots that would not have been possible with a compact. For under £200 this is excellent value. I found the controls easy to find and to hand, it was comfortable to use. Battery life seems very good. I changed the batteries during the intermission for a fresh set of NiMh AAs but only as a precaution. Fast power up and shutter operation. Niggles, can get very close with the macro but flash only any use down to 30cm. Picture stabilisation mode is really just higher shutter speed coupled with high ISO. It is possible to knock the mode switch with your thumb in operation and put it to a mode you do not want such as P to Auto. Overall with manual focus capability, manual zoom, all the modes, wide zoom range you have a very capable camera without breaking the bank.
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This camera has amazed me, 8 Oct 2007
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I shall keep it short and sweet, I have used loads of digicams, and I currently own (and love) a Sony A100 DSLR and several lenses, I bought this camera on a whim, and it is way way better than I expected
In most daytime situations, this camera will match the image quality of my A100 !!...obviously it cant compete when it comes to burst speed and RAW write times etc, and the Sony has on body image stabilisation, although many DSLR do not.... but the images are just great
What I really like is the Fuji CHROME colour setting (you get a choice of standard, chrome or B&W), the chrome setting increases the saturation and contrast (and maybe even the sharpness ??), to give really vibrant punchy shots with great colour that require no post processing
The lens is suprisingly sharp with a nice nice wide angle of 28mm equiv (very unusual) with little distortion and the lack of image stabilisation is not an issue in most daytime situations...dont even worry about that, I have regularly managed great long zoom shots that are pin sharp...you just need to be careful, seriously, its great.
To give you an idea of what fantastic value this camera is...my 18-200 lens (27-300 equiv-virtually identical coverage) for my Sony A100 was £400...Just for the LENS...and it is as heavy as this entire camera, and at the wide end....this lens is actually a bit sharper !!
OK...its not a DSLR in terms of speed...but its near enough for most situations, and I shall use it alot....highly recommended
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