Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom
(Fujifilm Finepix S9000 Zoom in the USA)
Review Date: November 28th 2005
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using
the 9M Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around
4.5Mb - 5Mb.
Noise
There are 6 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm Finepix
S9500 Zoom which you can select at any time if the camera
is in any exposure mode. Here are some 100% crops which show
the noise levels for each ISO setting:
There is virtually no discernible noise at the slowest settings
of ISO 80 and 100, and ISO 200 also looks very clean. Noise
can be seen at ISO 400, but it isn't too bad at all. By ISO
800 the images from the Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom are showing
objectionable noise, and I would only use ISO 1600 as a last
resort.
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 perhaps
a little soft at the default sharpening setting of Standard
and benefit only slightly from some further sharpening in
a program like Adobe Photoshop. Alternatively you can increase
the in-camera sharpening by choosing the Hard option.
File Quality
The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom has 6 different file quality
settings available, with 9M 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 S9500 Zoom handled chromatic aberrations
extremely well during the review, with only very limited purple
fringing present around the edges of objects in very high-contrast
situations.
Macro
The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom offers a Super-Macro setting
that allows you to focus on a subject that is just 1 cm away
from the camera. The first image shows how close you can get
to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second
image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom 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 shots of yours truly. As you can see, neither
the Flash On setting or 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 S9500 Zoom maximum shutter speed is
30 seconds, plus there's a Bulb setting for even longer exposures,
which is great news if you're seriously interested in night
photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed
of 30 seconds, aperture of f/11 at ISO 80. I've included a
100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.
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100% Crop |
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Overall Image Quality
The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom produced images of excellent
quality during the review period. The 9 megapixel images were
sharp straight out of the camera and don't really require
any further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop.
The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom dealt extremely well with
chromatic aberrations, which only appeared in a few of the
test shots - very limited purple fringing effects could only
be seen in very high contrast situations. Macro performance
is about as good as it gets, allowing you to focus just 1
cm 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, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds
plus a Bulb option offering lots of scope for creative night
photography. The Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom's handled noise
very well too, with ISO 50-200 showing hardly any signs of
noise. The faster speeds of ISO 800 and 1600 are noisy though
and are not on a par with the majority of digital SLR cameras
that the Fujifilm Finepix S9500 Zoom is trying to compete
with. A great performance from what is after all a compact
digital camera with a relatively small sensor.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Fujifilm Finepix S9500
Zoom 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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