Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd Review
(also called the Fujifilm Finepix S6000fd)
Review Date: January 6th 2007
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using
the 6M Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around
3Mb.
Noise
There are 6 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm Finepix
S6500fd which you can select at any time if the camera is
in the normal shooting mode. There is virtually no discernible
noise at the slowest settings of ISO 100 and 200, and ISO
400 also looks very clean. Noise is starting to appear at
ISO 800, bit it is still well controlled at ISO 1600. As you
might expect, quite a lot of detail is lost at the fastest
speed of ISO 3200, with the images having a "painted"
feel, but they are still perfectly useable for small print
sizes. A truly amazing performance by the Fujifilm Finepix
S6500fd. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels
for each ISO setting.
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 at the
Standard setting are just a little soft and benefit from some
further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Alternatively
you can change the in-camera sharpening levels to Hard or
Soft if you don't like the default results.
File Quality
The Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd has 2 different file quality
settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option.
Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various
options, with the file size shown in brackets.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd handled chromatic aberrations
quite well, with some limited purple fringing evident in areas
of high contrast, as shown in the examples below.
Macro
The Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd offers a Super Macro setting
that allows you to focus on a subject that is 1cm away from
the camera when the lens is set to 28mm wide-angle. The first
image shows how close you can get to the subject in Macro
mode (in this case a compact flash card). The second image
is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd are Auto,
Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro.
and Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro. These shots of a magnolia
coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto Flash - Telephoto (300mm) |
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And here are some self-portraits. As you can see, neither
the Flash On setting and the Red-Eye Reduction option caused
any red-eye.
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Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100%
Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd 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 4 seconds, aperture of f/8 at ISO 100. I've included
a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.
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Night Shot (100% Crop) |
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Overall Image Quality
The Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd produced images of excellent
quality during the review period. The 6 megapixel images are
a little soft straight out of the camera and ideally require
some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop.
You can also change the in-camera sharpening to one of three
different levels. The Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd handled chromatic
aberrations quite well, with limited purple fringing effects
appearing in very high contrast situations. Macro performance
is fantastic, with the Super Macro setting allowing you to
focus as close as 1cm away from the subject. The built-in
flash worked well indoors with no red-eye and good overall
exposure. The night photograph was very good too, with the
maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds offering lots of scope
for creative night photography. The Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd's
most impressive feature in terms of image quality is the extensive
and very usable ISO range of 100-3200. I have never reviewed
a compact digital camera before that has been able to match
the S6500fd's ISO performance (exlcuding two other Fujifilm
cameras, the F30 and F31fd, which use the same sensor). ISO
100-800 is virtually noise-free, whilst ISO 1600 and even
3200 produce acceptable results. This makes the S6500fd a
great camera for low-light photography without having to resort
to using the flash, which in turn can produce more natural
results.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd
have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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