Fujifilm FinePix S9400W Review

April 15, 2014 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W is a new wi-fi enabled bridge camera. Looking and handling very much like a DSLR, the Fujifilm S9400W boasts a 50x zoom lens which covers a 35mm equivalent focal range of 24-1200mm and features 3-stop lens-shift image stabilisation. Other highlights of the Fujifilm S9400W include a 1/2.3-inch 16.4 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor, a 3-inch 460k-dot LCD monitor, 201k-dot electronic viewfinder, and full 1080p HD movie recording at up to 60fps with stereo sound and 5-Axial image stabilisation. In addition there's an ISO range of 100-12,800, continuous shooting at 10fps, High Speed movie capture at 480fps, a customisable Function button, and full manual controls. The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W is available now for £269.99 / $349.99 in the UK / US respectively.

Ease of Use

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W looks and handles very much like a DSLR camera, measuring 122.6 (W) x 86.9 (H) x 116.2(D) mm and weighing 670g with the battery and memory card fitted. Designed as a do-it-all camera for both beginners and more experienced users, the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W is more than weighty and well built enough to withstand a few knocks. The moulded curves of the body and shiny black finish deliver a purposeful look that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is practical, with nice chunky controls, an ergonomic control layout that allows both quick and easy access to functions, and a very deep hand-grip with a well-thought-out indentation into which a fore-finger slots comfortably.

At the heart of the S9400W is a non-interchangeable 50x zoom lens. This incredibly versatile lens offers a focal range starting at an ultra-wide 24mm and finishing at an ultra-telephoto 1200mm, which, as Fujifilm cannily point out, would take at least two super-zoom DSLR lenses to offer similar reach. Throw in the 1cm Super Macro Mode and impressive maximum apertures of a bright f/2.9 at 24mm wide-angle to a slightly slower f/6.5 at 1200mm telephoto, and it's clear that the S9400W is perfectly suited for any subject that you can think of, near or far.

To help avoid blur resulting from camera shake when shooting in low light or hand-holding the camera at the telephoto extremity of the zoom, Fujifilm have added a 'belt and braces' solution of high ISO sensitivity, stretching up to ISO 12,800 at full resolution, a built-in mechanical stabilizer with Continuous or Shooting Only modes, and digital image stabilisation too if required. Activated via the IS Mode menu option, you can set the system to Continuous, Shooting Only, either mode with the addition of digital stabilisation, or Off. Note that the camera will only automatically adjust the ISO speed when using the Auto shooting mode - in the other modes the ISO speed that you select will always be used, so only the mechanical sensor-shift part of the system is used.

Fujifilm FinePix S9400W Fujifilm FinePix S9400W
Front Rear

From the front of the Fujifilm S9400W the large optically stabilised zoom lens dominates proceedings, with a push-on lens cap and retaining strap provided in the box. Above the lens and extending out across the lens barrel, which boasts a textured surround allowing you to get a good firm grip, is a sloping ridge that conceals the pop-up flash (when not in use), which is activated via a dedicated button positioned on the right. Still viewing the S9400W from the front, the stereo sound speakers are positioned just behind the pop-up flash. There's a familiar dual purpose AF-assist illuminator and self-timer lamp to the left of the lens, and located on the right is a clever control that make zooming with the massive 50x lens more intuitive. The S9400W has a a side lever that allows you to smoothly operate the zoom with your left hand, leaving your right hand free to operate the shutter button. You can also assign one of two levels of zoom speed to this lever, with the fastest zooming in/out in just two seconds.

Looking down on top of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W when viewed from the rear, there's a clearly labeled and logically laid out control set. Slide the On/Off switch to turn the Fujifilm FinePix on, and the rear LCD or electronic viewfinder – depending on which one you previously had selected – blinks into life, a process taking only around a second. The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W is quick to determine focus and exposure with a half press of the shutter button, only taking 0.3 seconds to lock onto the subject in ideal lighting conditions. Both JPEGs and RAW files are quickly committed to SD / SDHC / SDXC memory in single-shot mode with only 0.5 second pause between each one.

The S9400W has a chunky, ridged shooting mode dial which is reminiscent of those found on, yes you've guessed it, DSLR cameras. Ranged around the dial, which turns with just the right amount of resistance for it to lock firmly into place at each setting, are the expected shooting options, such as full auto, program, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual modes, along with a customizable mode via which favoured shooting settings can be saved for rapid access, plus a scene position mode that's pre-optimised for common subjects.

Fujifilm FinePix S9400W Fujifilm FinePix S9400W
Front Side

In addition, there are several more shooting modes that are particularly noteworthy. First up is the SR Auto mode, which is an 'auto everything' scene recognition mode. Although far from infallible - if you're not paying close attention and it's presented with a busy scene it will call up landscape when macro is needed and vice versa – it instantly makes the S9400W more beginner friendly, automatically recognising 10 basic scenes and applying the right mode.

Next is the rather misleadingly named Advanced mode, which actually has five options that are well suited to all experience levels. The first shooting mode is the Advanced Filter, which as the name suggests houses a range of artistic filters that can be applied to your photos as you take them. The Pro Low-light mode uses multi-bracketing technology, taking a series of four high sensitivity/low-noise shots in quick succession and combining them into an image with less noise than the single exposures. In the HDR advanced mode the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W can combine three seperate images into one with greater dynamic range. The Natural Flash mode takes one shot with flash and one without at the same time, while the Zoom Bracketing mode takes three shots with a single press of the shutter button, at varying degrees of magnification (original, 1.4x and 2.0x).

The final shooting mode on the top dial is the Panorama option, clearly inspired by Sony's popular Sweep Panorama function. This lets you capture a 120, 180 or 360 degree panoramic image very easily without the use of a tripod. All you need to decide is whether you would like to start from left or right, top or bottom, then press and hold down the shutter release while doing a "sweep" with the camera in hand. Exposure compensation is available before you start the sweep, with the exposure fixed once you depress the shutter button. After you are done with the sweeping, the camera does all the processing required, and presents you with a finished panoramic image.

Although undoubtedly fun, there are a few catches. The final panorama is of relatively low resolution, and if you do the sweeping too slowly, or you let go of the shutter release button too early, the panorama will be truncated. If the exposure varies throughout the scene, then some areas will be over or under exposed, depending upon the exposure value that was chosen as the panorama was started. Finally, people and indeed anything that moves in the frame are recorded as several ghost outlines, which means that you can really only record static, empty scenes, something that Sony have solved in the latest iteration of their Sweep Panorama feature.

Fujifilm FinePix S9400W Fujifilm FinePix S9400W
Top Pop-up Flash

Next to the Exposure Compensation button is the rather innocent-looking Continuous Shooting button. Pressing this button brings up six options - Off, Continuous H, Continuous M, Continuous L, Best Frame Capture, SuperHigh 1 and SuperHigh 2. The Continuous H option shoots at 10fps for 10 frames at full resolution, the Continuous M option at 5fps for 10 frames, and the Continuous L option at 3fps for 10 frames. The SH1 option takes 60fps for 60 frames (1080 x 960 pixels) while SH2 shoots at 120fps for 60 frames (640x480 pixels). Forward of these two controls is the main shutter release button encircled by a responsive, protruding zoom lever.

Moving to the rear of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W, your attention is immediately drawn to the large 3-inch monitor, which curiously only offers 97% scene coverage, not 100% as you'd expect, and a reasonable resolution of 460K dots. Above the LCD screen is a small button for swapping the display between monitor and the 201k-dot resolution electronic viewfinder, again complete with 97% scene coverage, and asurrounding eyecup. The EVF also has its own dioptric correction wheel to its immediate left, which is far less stiff and physically larger than found on competing models, meaning that for the myopic adjustment can be made in a fraction of a second. The viewfinder display is rather small and dim, making the temptation to predominantly utilise the LCD screen below almost overwhelming.

To the right of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W's LCD screen is the one-touch movie record button. The S9400W's full 50x zoom range can be accessed in the Motion JPEG format movie mode, with the S9400W offering full 1920x1080 pixel footage at up to 60 frames per second with constantly adjusting auto exposure and auto-focus with stereo sound. You can also manually focus during movie shooting. It can record video clips up to 29 minutes long for the 1920x1080 and 1280x720 pixel formats, with longer times available for VGA and SVGA modes. The dedicated Movie button on the rear makes it quick and easy to shoot a movie without missing the start of the action, and there's a mini-HDMI port for connection to a HDTV (cable not supplied). You can select one of the Film Simulation or Advanced Filter modes to give your footage a more creative look, and there's the option to take a still photo at any time during movie recording.

In addition to these "normal" movie modes, the S9400W also offers several high-speed modes. There are three different speeds on offer - 480, 240 and 120fps, with the file size varying from 320x120 to 640x480 pixels. This slow-motion effect is initially very appealing and sure to impress your friends, but there are some drawbacks to be aware of. Sound isn't recorded at all, horizontal bands can appear as the lighting fluctuates, and the actual sizes of the recorded movies are pretty small.

Fujifilm FinePix S9400W Fujifilm FinePix S9400W
Front Memory Card Slot

Underneath that is a self-explanatory playback button for quickly viewing captured images. Below that again is a familiar four-way controller with a dual-purpose menu/OK button at its centre. Ranged at north, south, east and west around this control are variously, the customisable Function button which can be set to one of 10 key options (also doubling up as a file deletion button when in playback mode), the various flash modes, the self timer options, and shifting focus from infinity to either macro or super macro. The rather thin scroll wheel is used to set the aperture/shutter speed in the advanced shooting modes.

Press the Menu button in the shooting mode and you get a comprehensive choice of options from two main folders, Shooting and Set-Up, with up to 6 screens containing 6 icons per screen. Most of the options are the "set once and forget" kind, so you won't have to dip into the menu system too often. Below the navigation pad is a dual-purpose control marked Display/Back that switches between the various LCD modes and also allows you to retrace your steps at any point.

The S9400W features built-in wi-fi, although there's no dedicated wi-fi button to access it. Install the FUJIFILM Camera Remote App and you can transfer your pictures immediately to a smartphone or tablet PC and then edit and share them as you wish, transfer stills and video onto the camera, and embed GPS information in your shots from your smartphone. You can also control the camera remotely, with the list of available functions including the shutter release for stills and movies and operating the zoom lens. The built-in wi-fi also provides a simple means to backup your photos to your home PC.

The right hand flank of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W features a chunky rubber flap hiding the mini-HDMI port and the regular USB / AV out sockets. The base of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W features a screw thread for a tripod, sadly made of plastic and not in line with the lens barrel, and a sliding door hiding the compartment for the batteries and the SD / SDHC / SDXC card slot. The S9400W use AA-type batteries, with battery life ranging from 300-700 shots depending upon which type you use. There are recessed metal eyelets on either side of the body for attaching the provided shoulder strap.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W produced images of above average quality during the review period. It handled noise fairly well, with some noise already appearing at the relatively slow speed of ISO 200 and then becoming progressively worse at ISO 400 and ISO 800. The fastest full-resolution settings of ISO 1600 and 3200 suffer from a loss of fine detail and colour saturation, while the headline-grabbing settings of ISO 6400 and 12800 are very noisy indeed. Chromatic aberrations were well controlled, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 16 megapixel images were just a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting.

Macro performance is excellent, allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject when the lens is set to wide-angle. Commendably barrel distortion is well controlled even at the 24mm focal length. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure, although there is noticeable vignetting at 24mm. The anti-shake system works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. The maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds allows the cameras to capture enough light for most after-dark situations.

The Pro Low-Light scene mode produces better image clarity at high ISO levels at the expense of a loss of fine detail, while the HDR mode effectively produces images with greater dynamic range. The Sweep Panorama mode works largely as advertised, making it simple to take hand-held low-light and wide-vista shots, although there is a clear ghosting effect around any moving subjects. The range of Advanced Filters provide some creative control over your JPEGs.

 

Noise

There are 8 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

iso100.jpg iso200.jpg
   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

iso400.jpg iso800.jpg
   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

iso1600.jpg iso3200.jpg
   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

iso6400.jpg iso12800.jpg

Focal Range

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W's 50x zoom lens provides an astonishing focal range of 24-1200mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm

1200mm

focal_range1.jpg focal_range2.jpg

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little bit soft at the default sharpening setting, but don't really benefit from further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

sharpen1.jpg sharpen1a.jpg
   

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

sharpen2.jpg sharpen2a.jpg

File Quality

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W has 2 different JPEG image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option, and it supports the RAW format too. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

Fine

Normal

quality_fine.jpg quality_normal.jpg

Chromatic Aberrations

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W handled chromatic aberrations well during the review. A little purple fringing was present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

chromatic1.jpg chromatic2.jpg

Macro

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W has two macro modes. The standard macro can focus as close as 7cm at wide-angle and 1.3m at full zoom. Go into super-macro and you can close into 1cm. However, the zoom is disabled in this mode.

Macro

Macro (100% Crop)

macro1.jpg macro1a.jpg

Flash

The flash settings on the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W are Auto, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, and any of those modes combined with Red-eye Reduction. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Wide Angle (1200mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (1200mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. Neither the Auto or Red-eye reduction mode caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
flash_on.jpg flash_on1.jpg
   

Red Eye Reduction

Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

flash_redeye.jpg flash_redeye1.jpg

Night

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 100.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

night_scene.jpg night_scene_crop.jpg

Anti Shake

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, we took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)

1/50th / 24mm antishake1.jpg antishake1a.jpg
     
1/10th / 1200mm antishake2.jpg antishake2a.jpg

Intelligent Digital Zoom

The Intelligent Digital Zoom function can digitally boost the optical 50x zoom up to 100x, the equivalent of a 2400mm focal length!

50x

50x (100% Crop)
digital_zoom1.jpg digital_zoom1a.jpg
   

100x

100x (100% Crop)

digital_zoom2.jpg digital_zoom2a.jpg

Advanced Filter

The Advanced Filter mode on the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W offers 10 artistic special effects to help customise the look of your images as you take them.

Toy Camera

Miniature

advanced_filter_01.jpg advanced_filter_02.jpg
   

Pop Color

High-Key

advanced_filter_03.jpg advanced_filter_04.jpg
   

Low-Key

Dynamic Tone

advanced_filter_05.jpg advanced_filter_06.jpg
   

Fish-Eye

Soft Focus

advanced_filter_07.jpg advanced_filter_08.jpg
   

Cross Screen

Partial Color (Red)

advanced_filter_09.jpg advanced_filter_10.jpg

Pro Low-Light

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W's Pro Low-Light advanced mode produces better image clarity at high ISO levels, with the camera automatically taking a series of four high sensitivity/low-noise shots in quick succession which are then combined together using in-camera processing into an image with less noise than the single exposures. The main drawback is a noticeable softening of fine detail.

Pro Low-Light Off

Pro Low-Light On

hdr1.jpg hdr1a.jpg

Film Simulation Modes

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W offers three different film simulation modes to help replicate the look of your favourite film stock from the past.

Standard

Chrome

film_simulation1.jpg film_simulation2.jpg
   

Black & White

 
film_simulation3.jpg  

Panorama Mode

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W allows you to take panoramic images very easily by 'sweeping' with the camera while keeping the shutter release depressed. The camera does all the processing and stitching, and there are three views available. The main problems are that the resulting image is of fairly low resolution - 1080 pixels high and 5760 pixels wide for the 360 degree image - and moving objects are recorded as "ghost" images.

120 Degrees
panorama1.jpg
 
180 Degrees
panorama2.jpg
 
360 Degrees
panorama3.jpg

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 60 frames per second. Please note that this 24 second movie is 52.2Mb in size.

Product Images

Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Front of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Front of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W / Lens Extended

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Front of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W / Pop-up Flash

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W / Image Displayed

 

Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W / Turned On

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W / Main Menu

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W / Function Menu

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Top of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Bottom of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Front of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Front of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

 
Fujifilm FinePix S9400W

Memory Card Slot / Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W is an affordable do-it-all camera that caters for everyone from beginners to enthusiasts, although more discerning photographers will be disappointed by the so-so image quality.

The S9400W largely mimicks the handling of a typical DSLR camera, with the obvious advantage of not having to carry several big, heavy and expensive lenses to achieve anywhere near the focal range that the S9400W offers out-of-the-box, although we did miss the manual zoom and focus rings of the slightly range-topping H50EXR.

The main drawback for the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W is unfortunately image quality - it's simply too noisy at ISO 800 and above, with even ISO 400 suffering from unwanted noise. The low resolution LCD screen and electronic viewfinder also let the side down a little. That's a shame, as in most other respects the S9400W delivers the goods for both stills and movies, especially when you consider that it's accommodating such a huge focal range. On the plus side, the built-in wi-fi, manual shooting modes, fast start-up, shutter-release and continuous shooting times, and full 1080p movie recording with stereo sound help to make the S9400W a viable alternative to both a DSLR and video camera too.

Key to the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W's success will be its aggressive asking price - £269.99 / $349.99 is excellent value for such a well-specified camera, and partly makes up for the disappointing image quality. Just about recommended then, especially if you tend to shoot mostly in good light...

4 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 3.5
Features 4
Ease-of-use 4
Image quality 3.5
Value for money 4

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W.

Canon PowerShot SX510 HS

The Canon PowerShot SX510 HS is a small super-zoom camera with a 30x zoom lens. The Canon SX510 also offers 12 megapixels, a 3-inch LCD screen, wi-fi and GPS connectivity, full manual controls and 1080p HD movies. Read our in-depth Canon PowerShot SX510 HS review now...

Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR

The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR is a bridge compact camera with a massive 42x, 24-1000mm zoom lens. The HS50 also offers an autofocus lag of just 0.05 seconds, full 1080p movies at 60fps with stereo sound, a 3 inch vari-angle LCD screen, 11ps burst shooting and a 16 megapixel back-illuminated EXR sensor with RAW support. Is this the only camera you'll ever need? Read our Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR review to find out...

Fujifilm FinePix S1

The Fujifilm FinePix S1 is a new weather-proof bridge camera with a massive 50x, 24-1200mm zoom lens. The Fujifilm S1 also offers built-in wi-fi, full 1080p movies at 60fps with stereo sound, a 3 inch vari-angle LCD screen, 10ps burst shooting and a 16 megapixel back-illuminated EXR sensor with RAW support. Read our Fujifilm FinePix S1 review to find out if this is this the only camera you'll ever need...

Kodak PixPro AZ521

The new Kodak PixPro AZ521 super-zoom camera features a massive 52x zoom lens with a focal range of 24-1248mm. Other highlights of the affordable Kodak AZ521 include a 3 inch LCD screen, full 1080p HD movies, and a 16 megapixel CMOS sensor. Read our in-depth Kodak PixPro AZ521 review now...

Nikon Coolpix P600

The Nikon Coolpix P600 is a new super-zoom bridge camera with an incredible 60x zoom lens. The Nikon P600 also has a back illuminated 16 megapixel CMOS sensor, 3-inch 921K-dot vari-angle LCD screen, full 1080p high-definition movies with stereo sound, built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, an electronic viewfinder and 7fps burst shooting. Read our Nikon Coolpix P600 review to find out just what a 60x zoom lens is capable of...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72

The brand new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72 super-zoom camera (also known as the DMC-FZ70) features a massive 60x zoom lens with a focal range of 20-1200mm, the biggest of any camera on the market. Other highlights of the FZ72 / FZ70 include a 3 inch LCD screen, full 1080i HD movies, 9fps burst shooting, P/A/S/M modes, RAW support, a flash hotshoe and a 16.1 megapixel MOS sensor. Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72 review now...

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 is a new superzoom compact camera with a incredible 63x zoom lens. The Sony H400 also features a 20 megapixel CCD sensor, 720p HD video with stereo sound, 3-inch screen, electronic viewfinder and a range of manual shooting modes. Read our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H400 review to find out if it's the right super-zoom camera for you...

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Fujifilm FinePix S9400W from around the web.

ephotozine.com »

The Fujifilm FinePix S9400W was announced in January 2014 and is a bridge camera with a 50x optical zoom lens, full manual controls and Wi-Fi. The S9400W was released alongside the S9200, which is exactly the same apart from it doesn't include Wi-Fi. The S9400W is available for £280.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Model FinePix S9400W
Effective Pixels 16.2 million pixels
Sensor type 1/2.3-inch CMOS with primary colour filter
Total number of pixels: 16.79 million pixels
Storage media Internal memory (approx. 38MB)
SD / SDHC / SDXC (UHS-I) memory card*1
File format
still image
JPEG (Exif Ver 2.3)*2 /
(Design rule for Camera File system compliant / DPOF-compatible)
movie
Movie File Format : MOV
Movie Video Compression : H.264
Audio : Linear PCM Stereo
Number of recorded pixels L : (4:3) 4608 x 3456 / (3:2) 4608 x 3072 / (16:9) 4608 x 2592 / (1:1) 3456 x 3456
M : (4:3) 3264 x 2448 / (3:2) 3264 x 2176 / (16:9) 3264 x 1840 / (1:1) 2432 x 2432
S : (4:3) 2304 x 1728 / (3:2) 2304 x 1536 / (16:9) 1920 x 1080 / (1:1) 1728 x 1728

<Motion Panorama>
360° Vertical : 11520 x 1624 Horizontal : 11520 x 1080
180° Vertical : 5760 x 1624 Horizontal : 5760 x 1080
120° Vertical : 3840 x 1624 Horizontal : 3840 x 1080
 
name
Fujinon 50x optical zoom lens
focal length
f=4.3mm - 215mm, equivalent to 24 - 1200mm on a 35mm format
full-aperture
F2.9 (Wide) - F6.5 (Telephoto)
constitution
17 elements in 12 groups
(includes 3 aspherical and 2 extra low dispersion elements)
Digital zoom Intelligent digital zoom approx. 2.0x (up to approx. 100x, with 50x optical zoom)
Aperture F2.9 / F8.4 (Wide)
F6.5 / F7.8 / F19.0 (Telephoto) with ND filter
Focus distance (from lens surface)
Normal
  • Wide : approx. 40cm to infinity / 1.3 ft. to infinity
  • Telephoto : approx. 3.5m to infinity / 11.4 ft. to infinity
Macro
  • Wide : approx. 7cm - 3.0m / 2.7 in. - 9.8 ft.
  • Telephoto: approx. 3.5m - 5.0m / 11.8 ft. - 16.4 ft.
Super Macro
  • Wide : approx. 1cm - 1.0m / 0.3 in. - 3.2 ft.
Sensitivity AUTO / AUTO (400) / AUTO (800) / AUTO (1600) / AUTO (3200),
Equivalent to ISO 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 / 6400 / 12800 (Standard Output Sensitivity)
Exposure control TTL 256-zone metering, Spot, Multi, Average
Exposure mode Programmed AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual exposure
Shooting modes
SP
Portrait, Baby, Smile & Shoot, Landscape, Sport, Night, Night (Tripod), Fireworks, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Party, Flower, Text
MODE DIAL
SR AUTO, AUTO, Adv., SP, Panorama, P, S, A, M, Custom
Image stabilisation Lens shift type
Exposure compensation -2.0EV - +2.0EV 1/3EV step
Shutter speed (Auto mode) 1/4 sec. to 1/1700 sec., (All other modes) 8 sec. to 1/1700 sec. with mechanical shutter
Continuous shooting
TOP
H : approx. 10 fps max. 10 frames
M : approx. 5.0 fps max. 10 frames
L : approx. 3.0 fps max. 10 frames
SH1 : approx. 60 fps max. 60 frames (Max. number of recorded pixels : 1080 x 960)
SH2 : approx. 120 fps max. 60 frames (Max. number of recorded pixels : 640 x 480)
LAST
-
Best Frame capture
approx. 10 fps 10 frames (Size L, M, S) / 20 frames (Size S)
  • * Use a card with SD Speed Class with or higher.
  • * The frame rate and the recorded number of frames varies with shooting conditions.
Auto bracketing AE Bracketing (±1/3EV, ±2/3EV, ±1EV)
Focus
mode
Single AF / Continuous AF
type
TTL contrast AF, AF assist illuminator available
AF frame selection
Center, Multi, Area, Tracking
White balance Automatic scene recognition
Preset
Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light (Warm White), Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light, Custom
Self timer 10 sec. / 2 sec. Delay
Flash Manual pop-up flash (i-Flash)
Effective range : (ISO AUTO)
Normal
  • Wide : approx. 40cm - 7.0m / 1.3 ft. - 22.9 ft.
  • Telephoto : approx. 2.5m - 3.6m / 8.2 ft. - 11.8 ft.
Macro
  • Wide : approx. 30cm - 3.0m / 0.9 ft. - 9.8 ft.
  • Telephoto : approx. 2.0m - 3.0m / 6.5 ft. - 9.8 ft.
Flash modes
Red-eye removal OFF
Auto, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro.
Red-eye removal ON
Red-eye Reduction Auto, Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Red-eye Reduction & Slow Synchro.
Hot shoe -
Electronic viewfinder 0.2-inch, approx. 201K-dot, colour LCD viewfinder approx. 97% coverage for shooting, 100% for playing back
LCD monitor  3.0-inch, approx. 460K-dot, TFT colour LCD monitor, approx. 97% coverage
Movie recording Full HD 1920 x 1080 60i (max. 29 min)
HD 1280 x 720 60p
640 x 480 30p
with stereo sound. Wind filter
Optical or digital zoom function can be used.
  • * Use a card with SD Speed Class with or higher.
Photography functions SR AUTO, High Speed Movie (120 / 240 / 480  frames/sec), Adv. mode (Advanced Filter for still image : Toy camera / Miniature / Pop colour / High-key / Low-key / Dynamic tone / Soft Focus / Cross  Screen / Fish-eye / Partial colour, Advanced filter for movie : Toy camera / Pop colour / High-key / Low-key / Fish-eye / Partial colour, Pro Low-Light, HDR, Natural Light &amp; with Flash, Zoom Bracketing), Instant zoom, Framing guideline, Frame No. memory, Histogram display, Date stamp
Playback functions Multi-frame playback (with micro thumbnail), Protect, Crop, Resize, Slide show, Image rotate, Histogram display, exposure warning, Photobook assist, image search, Favorites, Mark for upload, Panorama, Erase selected frames, Movie edit
Other functions
Video output
-
Digital interface
USB2.0 (High-Speed) Multi USB terminal
HDMI output
HDMI Mini connector (Type C)
Wireless transmitter
standard
IEEE 802.11b / g / n (standard wireless protocol)
access mode
Infrastructure
Wireless functions Geotagging / Wireless communication (Image transfer) / View & Obtain Images / PC Autosave
Terminal Video output
-
Digital interface
USB 2.0 High-Speed
HDMI output
HDMI mini connector
Power supply 4xAA type alkaline batteries (included) / 4xAA type Ni-MH rechargeable batteries (sold separately) / 4xAA type lithium batteries (sold separately)
Dimensions 122.6 (W) x 86.9 (H) x 116.2(D) mm / 4.8 (W) x 3.4 (H) x 4.6 (D) in.
Weight Approx. 670g / 23.6 oz. (including batteries and memory card)
Approx. 577g / 20.3 oz. (excluding batteries and memory card)
Operating temperature 0°C - 40°C
Operating humidity 10% - 80% (no condensation)
Battery life Alkaline batteries : approx. 300 frames (AUTO mode)
Ni-MH rechargeable batteries : approx. 500 frames (AUTO mode)
Lithium batteries : approx. 700 frames (AUTO mode)
  • * Fujifilm research based on CIPA standards
Accessories included 4xAA type alkaline batteries
Shoulder strap
USB cable
Lens cap and Lens cap cord
CD-ROM*3
Owner's manual
Optional accessories AC Power Adapter AC-5VX
DC coupler CP-04

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