Just Picture It Now: Camera Review

As travel agents with YTB Travel and Cruises, we have an opportunity to travel to some of the most beautiful destinations in the world. You may have heard a picture says a thousand words, and back around Christmas we made the choice to invest in a new digital camera for the increasing number of trips we are taking due to our business. Some of you had some great comments and we got a lot of positive feedback from the picture in last weeks entry “Weekend Getaway @ Sandestin Resort”.

Because my intent was to use the camera for our travel business, money really wasn’t an option since it was a tax write-off; however, I still wanted to find a good value for my dollar. I also had some key features I was looking for that I enjoyed from other cameras I’ve used in the past.

I wanted an SLR or “SLR Like” camera. I wanted to have manual control when I wanted, but also wanted good auto features when I wanted. Having a big camera like this type can be cumbersome at times, but it puts me in a more professional mindset and I find that I take better pictures.

I wanted Compaq Flash memory. Simply because I have several cards already and wanted to continue to use these cards. I also have the belief that this format is the most stable and durable, although I have no factual evidence to back that up. It just feels and looks more durable.

I wanted AA battery power. While I purchased rechargeable AA batteries, I always carry a few AA’s in my camera bag, just in case the rechargeable batteries die on me in the middle of some shore excursion we are on. AA’s are also easy to find in just about any convenience store so I am never out of power for long.

I began my search as most of us do when we are looking for a purchase of this nature. I started to surf and found various different digital camera reviews on the internet. After I found one that I liked, I made a trek to my local store to take a closer look at the camera. I found several from Cannon, and Nikon which I was intending on buying, but none had all the features I wanted.

I then ran into the Fuji FinePix S9000, which finally had all the features I wanted. Oddly enough, it was not a camera that I found easily at any local store so I could actually get a real life feel of what I thought I wanted. When I did find it finally at my local Micro Center, I found the camera very easy to hold, with a substantial right hand grip and plenty of room around the lens for my left hand for manual functionality. While it’s not a Digital SLR, because of the fixed lens, it still has an impressive 10.7X optical twist zoom lens. Most ultra zooms start at 36 or even 38 mm, the S9000's lens starts at 28 mm, so I get wide-angle capability without the need for conversion lenses. The exact focal range of the lens is 6.2 - 66.7 mm, which is equivalent to 28 - 300 mm. The lens is threaded for 58 mm filters, which I ended up purchasing UV filter, more for protecting the lens than anything else.

One of the best features of this camera for me was the 1.8" LCD that can be pulled away from the body and then tilted up to 90 degrees or down 45 degrees. My video camera’s LCD flips to the side, which I use to shoot over people in front of me, or take "ground level" shots of my kids and now I have the same versatility with my still camera. This was a big factor in my choice which I honestly wasn’t looking for at first.

What I am most impressed with is the image quality and color of some of the shots I’ve been able to capture. The pictures seem to pop out with incredible detail when first downloaded into the computer, thrown up on a television display or printed out on photo paper. Pictures compressed and then posted on the web really don’t do these shots justice. I’ve managed to get some real keepers even in the short two months of using the camera. I've created a hyper link of the picture to the right so you can get a better look at the detail.

It has taken some trial and error in capturing these shots with all the features this camera has. I’m a big manual buff, and its taken time to get use to using these controls again after years of using auto-everything. With two small children, the auto mode does come in handy. Start up time is very quick, 1.8 seconds, and comes in handy when I need to capture something cute quickly. But when I have the time to set things up properly in manual mode, I have yet to be disappointed in any of the shots taken.

I also really like the natural light feature of the camera, but have found that this feature is best used on a tripod. No matter how still you think you are, or the subject is, the slightest movement can blur whatever action happens during the shot. When needed a pop up flash will accommodate nicely and to my pleasant surprise there is far less red eye when using the flash than what I’ve seen on any other camera.

Battery life is also far better than I ever imagined. I enjoy using the optical viewfinder when I can, so that helps, but even when using the digital LCD and flash there is plenty of life still left for a full day of picture taking. I also like to review shots throughout the day and delete any shots that I don’t want to keep.

When it comes to the memory card, this camera has dual media slots for handling of xD-Picture Cards and Compact Flash/Microdrives, the S9000 lets you concentrate on shooting without worrying about storage space. You can even insert different types of media in each slot and then select which one you want to use to store each image as you shoot.

I recommend not only the biggest card you can get, but also a high speed card. This camera is a 9 mega pixel and can eat up a lot of space. A 512 card will capture about 104 pictures in “fine mode” which I have found to be the resolution of choice. I have the option of reducing the resolution and getting more pictures, but I never know when that next “keeper” will be taken. With this much information being written, the standard memory cards take a few seconds to be written or downloaded to the card. With a high speed card, I can not only use the video mode or take up to 4 frames per second continuous still frame. Keep in mind; this is a still camera, and not a video camera. While the video is adequate for streaming video over the internet, it is not something that will produce my next DVD family movie.

I found a great price from Butterfly Photo out of New York, and was very impressed with how they called to confirm my order and made sure I had everything I needed after my purchase. I did upgrade to the high speed card, and also bought a UV filter because of the call. I was forwarded an e-mail the next day complete with tracking information so I knew when the camera would arrive. I would highly recommend them as a vendor and will certainly consider them when it comes time to upgrade my digital video camera.

We are thrilled with the Fuji FinePix S9000 and am very impressed with both the manual, and auto features. I’ve already captured some incredible shots that I’ve already shared and am sure there will be more in the next few months as we travel down to Disneyland, Williamsburg, and our Royal Caribbean cruise on Freedom of The Seas later this year.

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812

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