Fuji Finepix E900 Review

The Fuji Finepix E900 is a nine megapixel digital camera with a four times optical zoom lens. Although it has a relatively compact size and shape it also has a number of advanced features. This includes fully manual exposure. Therefore the Finepix E900 is likely to appeal to someone who sees photography as a hobby and is looking for a clear step up from a simple, point and shoot camera.

With a fully automatic mode this type of camera often appeals to couples and families.

Although nothing really reaches out and grabs me to lift the Finepix E900 out for the ordinary it still managed to produce a set of good quality photos.

The outdoor scenic shots are pleasing. There is a natural feel to the colours produced. On the whole the photos are sharp, but there is a tendency for the sharpness to slip away towards the very edge of a photo. As with many other digital cameras there is also a loss of detail in the lightest areas of each photograph. It is also worth noting that a small amount of purple fringing is visible when the zoom lens is fully extended. This is where a thin purple line appears on the edges of very light objects.

Looking at the outdoor portrait the colours are good, but I think the overall picture could have been a little better. The lighting gives a harsh feel to the shot and this detracts from the skin tones and texture.

Moving indoors there are mixed results. I am delighted with the sharpness and colour tones produced by the indoor portrait. This is someway above average when compared to other cameras. There is a small hint of red eye though. This is surprising as the camera has a pop up flash unit. This type of set up is normally enough to take the flash light away from the lens and to eliminate red eye.

The picture taken in more or less complete darkness of some beer bottles is not so good. Without an auto focus illuminator focusing sharply is beyond the camera and a blurred image results.

The test for colour is fine. I feel this camera produces a more natural set of colours than many digital cameras do. This though is not to everybody's taste.

If you are looking to buy a camera for close up work then there are better cameras out there. Although the end result is acceptable I feel the camera just loses sharpness as you move away from the centre. On a bright subject such as the watch I use it is noticeable that there is a small degree of purple fringing again.

For lowlight photography you may also wish to experiment with the ISO settings. As with other Fuji models the Finepix E900 handles higher ISO settings better than most cameras. There is still though the expected deterioration in picture quality at ISO 400 and above.

I managed to take a single shot in 0.31 seconds. This is an average time. It took 5.49 seconds to take five consecutive shots. This works out at a rate of one photo every 1.1 seconds. This is a fast time.

The Finepix E900 is neither the fastest camera around nor the slowest when it comes to taking a shot. It does perform quite well though when compared to other similar digital cameras.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 4x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 32 - 128mm in 35mm format. This gives it a slightly wider angle than the majority of digital cameras. For close up work there is a macro mode where the camera can focus from 7.5cms away. The maximum aperture of the lens is F2.8 - F5.6. The minimum aperture is F8. A 7.6x digital zoom feature is also available.

For composing images you can use either the LCD screen or an optical viewfinder. The screen is 2" in size and is made up of approximately 115,000 pixels.

The pop up flash unit has a maximum range of 3.7m. This falls to 1.9m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes available are Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro., Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro. The power of the flash can also be adjusted. This is a feature I like.

If you want to appear in the photo yourself there is a self timer. The delay can be set to either two or ten seconds.

To help you remember what was happening when the photo was taken you can add voice memos to pictures you have already taken. These are up to 30 seconds.

When you would like to apply a different effect to your photos you can shoot in black and white or chrome. You can also adjust the sharpness to be soft or hard.

There are a number of focusing options. These include centre, multi, area, continuous and manual.

For shooting movies the maximum resolution is 640 x 480. The top speed a movie can be recorded at is 30 frames per second. This should give you TV quality movies. Movies are recorded with sound up to the capacity of the memory card. Zoom is not available when shooting a movie.

The Finepix E900 really does allow you to take control over how the final shot will look. It offers fully manual exposure and both aperture and shutter priority. If you don't feel quite ready for that level of control there are a number of preset scene modes you can use. These help the camera to use the optimum setting for different types of photo and in different conditions. The scene modes available are: Natural Light, Portrait, Sports and Night Scene.

Other more advanced features are multi point, spot and average metering, shutter speeds between 15 seconds and 1/2000 seconds and sensitivity of ISO 80, 100, 200, 400 and 800. Exposure compensation and bracketing are also available. There are a number of white balance settings as well. These are automatic, Fine, Shade, Fluorescent (Daylight), Fluorescent (Warm White), Fluorescent (Cool White), Incandescent, Custom.

Images can be stored in RAW format as well as Jpeg.

Continuous shooting is available too. You can choose between top 4, final 4 and you can also shoot up to 40 photos at a maximum speed of 0.6 frames per second.

Fuji supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the Finepix E900 to a television set, computer and a PictBridge compatible printer.

To enhance the capabilities of the camera you can add telephoto (TL-FXE01) and wide angle (WL-FXE01) conversion lenses. In order to do this you also need to use a lens adapter (AR-FXE02).

With the range of features the Finepix E900 offers it is understandable that you will need top spend time getting to know this camera. To get started the camera can be used in fully automatic mode. This makes it easier to get to grips with. Then as you get to know the camera you can introduce more of the features it has.

Buttons and controls are kept to a minimum on the back of the camera. The menu system is jammed in a bit and in my view is not the easiest to read. Even so it is still relatively easy to find the options you are looking for.

You can pick up a Fuji Finepix E900 for around £265. This compares to around £210 for a Olympus SP-350, £320 for a Panasonic DMC LX1 and £200 for a Canon Powershot A620.

As you can see both the Canon Powershot A620 and the Olympus SP-350 are considerably cheaper than the Finepix E900. I like both of those cameras and I am not sure I can really say this camera is worth the extra money despite its additional megapixels.

The Finepix E900 has a pleasing design. A wide range of features are packed into a small and lightweight body. This makes the camera easy to carry around with you. The camera comes in a stylish, black finish. There is a good sized grip on the front of the camera to help you hold it steady while taking a photo.

It weighs in at 200g and has dimensions of 102 x 63 x 34.4mm.

Two AA batteries are supplied with the camera. Fuji do not provide any battery life statistics. I would suggest considering buying some rechargeable batteries to go with your camera.

A 16 megabyte xD card is supplied with the camera. I was able to take just six photos before the card became full. This is not surprising when you consider this is a nine megapixel camera. I think Fuji could have been far more generous in this area. You will therefore need to buy a high capacity card before you can take many pictures. Click here to save money on xD cards..

Design and style
Features

Very small memory card supplied
Indoors in very lowlight

If you are looking for a digital camera with advanced features then the Fuji Finepix E900 is worth considering. A high resolution of nine megapixels is likely to be attractive to anyone who is looking to produce large prints. Despite its range of features this camera manages to retain a compact shape and size.

Fuji Finepix E900 Front View

Fuji Finepix E900 Back View

Fuji Finepix E900 Top View

Sample Menus

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Fuji Finepix E900