Fujifilm camera advice

[Steveturbocal]

I'm looking into buying a digital slr this will be my first slr camera so im looking for some advise really. I was talking to a mate who's got a Fujifilm FinePix S9500 9.0 MP that he said he may be selling what are people's opinions on these are they a good camera in terms of quality and are they good for an amateur? i know alot of it is down to the user and the camera is only as good as the person taking the picture. Any help, tips etc are gratefully received in the terms of good cameras for a newbie.

 

[squishy]

I used to own an S9600

It isn't actually a DSLR, it's effectively a large bodied compact.
The sensor is small like in a compact and the lens is fixed on and it has no mirror (which is what reflects the light up into a prism so it can be beamed out in the viewfinder in a DSLR, whereas the S9600 has an electronic viewfinder).

This means it doesn't have image quality as good as a DSLR with decent lens, especially in low light since the ISO performance (how much speckling is in the images in low light) isn't that good.

But I found it a great camera to learn on. The body is similar to an entry level DSLR with a fair bit of external controls and it has manual modes (M, A, S, P) like a DSLR.
It served me well as a cheap alternative until I was more experienced and made the informed choice to moved up to a DSLR set up that suits me.
I even won an award with it, the photo I won the British Wildlife Photography Awards young photographer category with was taken on my S9600 with a supplementary macro lens (a lens added to the front).

You might find an entry level DSLR and kitlens suits you better though, if you're looking for great image quality at higher ISO's


Here's a couple of my best shots from the fuji, I can achieve nice image quality at web size. Any larger size and they start to not look so great, but for web I was always pretty pleased with the quality. Bare in mind, I did have to do a fair bit of processing on these.


DSCF1841e2s by Adamhawtin, on Flickr


The Serene Loch by Adamhawtin, on Flickr

This last couple with a raynox DCR-250 supplementary macro lens on the front:

5-spot Burnet by Adamhawtin, on Flickr


British wildlife photography awards 2010 young awards winner by Adamhawtin, on Flickr

 

[Steveturbocal]

I did wonder as i've seen them on-line and some say dslr style. Thanks for the help

 

[Northstander]

I own the Fuji S6500fd which was the one down from the S9600, and it's a cracking camera. Well, they both are, although the S6500fd is starting to show it's age.

However, if you can pick them up cheap they are good cameras to learn on because as well as full auto modes it'll also give you Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program modes which is the same with what you would get with a DSLR.

But even an entry level DSLR will give you a better quality image, faster focusing and faster burst rate (in the case of the 6500 MUCH faster! LOL!), a better build quality and of course the ability to have a specific lens for specific shots/conditions.

I also have the raynox dcr250 and it's a great bit of kit for the price and gives you proper macro capabilities at a budget price. In fact, I'm hoping to still use my raynox when I get my first DSLR next month!