Home > Consumer Reviews > Fujifilm FinePix S9600 Digital Camera - Black (9.0MP, 10.7x Optical Zoom) 2.0 inch LCD

All of the reviews are correct to some extent. I've had this camera for a month now, and I'm overall pleased with it. But you have to work for it. I'm coming from a Minolta Dimage F200 that was absolutely excellent for auto use. It gave clear shots in dim and night situations with no hassle. This one doesn't, the auto mode is only good in situations with plenty of light. If you're using it for dim situations, which I am a lot, you have to use the shutter priority and keep the ISO down to prevent the speckles. It's not hard to do though, as if you use the 2 second self-timer, you can hold yourself steady if not using a tripod. The main difference with the auto mode with this and my Minolta, is it seems the auto mode for this camera, in dim situations, mainly uses higher ISO, hence the speckling. My Dimage used slower shutter speeds to predominantly compensate in dim light, and was a better auto for it.
But this is an easy camera to learn to use properly really. the manual is not confusing in terminology and clear in presentation.

I personally don't think the case seems cheap for being plastic, as it's not thin and flimsy. I find the shape perfect to grab out of my camera bag (I bought the large multi-purpose one they sell here, and it's great as it's roomy for other things, and isn't shaped like a typical camera bag, making it more subtle when you maybe don't want to walk around looking like you're carrying an expensive camera. Just looks like a travel bag really.)

Battery usage seems fine with the rechargables I use and the swivel view screen in the back is super handy and a feature I really love. My main gripe is, for the money, I think the flash should be one of those nifty ones that pop up on it's own, not manual pop up!

For someone like me, (who wants to master photography with the focus of doing more with it than a hobby at some point or such), without the super expense and extra hassle of DSLR's, I think it's a great buy for the price. I think it has nearly all the attributes of the pro cameras you need to start out. I only give 4 stars because I do think the auto mode should be better for something that's supposed to be a bridge camera. It's more like a DSLR than a regular digital in handling. But at least you still don't have to deal with all the lens problems with having a DSLR still.
And I wish there were more accessories!

Don't know what to say about this camera but fabulous.It has everything,crystal clear shots,manual zoom 28-300 and produces incredible pictures.It's not really a point and shoot,although it can be used for that but the results are crisper using the different and many features it has.Downside is the manual.I just had a quick look at it and then started using the camera and wow am I impressed.It is slightly heavier than some others but it is beautifully balanced so it doesn't feel heavy when taking a photo.The upside is you don't have to carry different lenses.I give it a 5 star.I use it in conjunction with the new Kodak 5300 printer and get the best prints ever.

I am not going to get too technical ( can't anyway )but this camera does all and more what I need.For the buying price you can't go wrong.Beats hands down the "point and shoot" pocket camera's.Like it a lot.A must however is a set of rechargable batteries,standard Alkaline are eaten up.

I have owned SLR cameras since 1981 and have been taking photographs since I first owned a camera in 1953.
I class myself as a semi professional wildlife photographer. In 2006 I purchased a Sigma SD9 DSLR and had reasonable results but it did not come to the standards of a former SA7 and before that Olympus OM10/2 especially with macro photography.
This FinePix S9600 I thought of as a joke when I first read the review, one fixed lens 28 to 300 and without changing it to take macro down to 1cm.

Well I'm glad I bought it and you have probably read many other reviews putting it down. Anyone who took film photographs in the 80's / 90's will remember rolling off a spool sending it off to be developed and two weeks later examining the images and throwing away at least 30% - 50% of the slides as they were not good enough for presentations.
My advice is as all the professionals say, play with the camera but most of all, turn off the Auto settings and go Manual it doesn't cost anything like film did, all you have to do is delete the images on the computer. You will quickly understand how really good this camera can be.

And the reason I gave it four stars - I am still learning and have some way to go before I master every equation this camera has to offer.

I'm not going to tell you how great this camera is - plenty of people already have.

I'm just going to echo what a couple of other reviews say, which is :

This camera does not come with any storage media, so you can't use it out of the box.
If you're buying it, make sure you also get yourself an XD card at the same time (unless you already have one).