Fujifilm FinePix 6900 Zoom

A competent product with some useful features for the knowledgeable photographer.

The Finepix 6900 Zoom is Fujifilm's latest high-end digital camera for the consumer market and uses a combination of Fujinon optics and a 3.3Megapixel Super CCD. Aesthetically interesting, it offers powerful manual control and thoughtful features, but with some design oversights that should be considered before you decide to buy one.

The octagonal photodiodes of Fujifilm's Super CCD claim to be more efficient at capturing light, providing a higher signal-to-noise ratio and more effective interpolation compared to photodiodes. This allows the FinePix to produce images at a resolution of 2,832 by 2,128 pixels (6Megapixel), although you can capture at the camera's native 3.3Megapixel setting of 2,048 by 1,536 pixels.

Unfortunately, the supplied 16MB SmartMedia card is incapable of storing a single image at the highest setting (uncompressed TIFF), so you'll need to purchase one with at least 32MB of storage.

Most of the camera's size is taken up by the barrel of its 7.8 to 46.8mm lens with 6X optical zoom, which is equivalent to a 35 to 210mm zoom on a 35mm camera. The side-mounted telephoto/wide rocker switch promotes a traditional two-handed grip, with the left hand supporting the lens.

Regrettably, this leaves little room for your right hand, so it can be tricky to find a comfortable grip, especially if you use the internal viewfinder. Despite being small and recessed, the majority of the controls are accessible, except for the poorly positioned Shift button.

The FinePix 6900 Zoom is more of a camera for the experienced photographer, who'll appreciate the manual control. Two modes are dedicated to aperture and shutter priority, allowing you to select and hold apertures between f/2.8 and f/11 or shutter speeds between three seconds and 1/1000th (1/2000th is supported in Automatic mode). The camera adjusts the remainder based on its light metering.

A choice of spot, multi-zone (64-point) or average light metering and ISO ratings of 100, 200 and 400 can be chosen from the menu.

Fujifilm has also added a number of thoughtful features, including a two-stage shutter control, which allows you to hold exposure and autofocus settings while you pan the camera to another view. It also features an exposure lock button, so you can hold the exposure setting but still use autofocus as you reframe the picture.

If you're shooting in macro mode and want to use the manual focus ring, a focus check option enlarges the centre of the frame to improve your chances of accurately focusing with an LCD viewfinder. Burst and 160-second movie modes are also available. Auto bracketing uses the burst mode to capture three stills with differing exposures to ensure that the final image is correct.

Capture quality is reasonable, compression artefacts are minimal, but colour balance is a little saturated and image sharpness isn't as good as you might expect in either interpolated or native resolutions. That said, it's a competent product with some useful features for the knowledgeable photographer.

Contact

Fujifilm: Unit 10a St Martins Way, St Martins Business Centre, Bedford, Bedfordshire MK42 0LF
Tel 020 7586 5900, Fax 020 7722 4259
www.fujifilm.co.uk/fujidc/product/index.html