Fuji S9000 - Is this top of the line point and shoot?

[Gilligan]

The Fuji S9000 is a 9 MP point and shoot camera, 10X optical zoom, 4 AA Batteries, JPEG and RAW modes, ISO from 80 to 1600, XD Picture Card and/or Compact Flash, anti-blur feature, etc.

Is this as good as it gets for a point and shoot at this time and for around $500.

I don't see a housing yet but Ike has one for $300. for the Fuji E900 which is also a 9 MP camera but with less features and close to the same price. That housing has an adapter that allows you to use the 67mm wide angle lens. Hopefully he will soon have one for the S9000.

Any opinions on the S9000?

 

[Law5Guy]

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/s9000.html

 

[stu_in_fl]

yeah, I'm thinking of one in the new year - waiting to see what is happening with housings first though. I like this bit of the review though: "S9000's start-up time is only 0.8 seconds with a shutter lag of just 1/100 second". One of those camera mags is doing a comparison review in their next issue where the Nikon 8800 and S9000 are going to be reviewed (with a couple of other similar almost-SLR cameras) - I'll try and find out details when it comes out.....either one of those two or the D50 for the new year.....

 

[ssra30]

The only problem I could see is that it may have similar problem as the C5060, C8080 when using third party wetmount wide angle lens as the lens is 28mm so it will vignette.
If you zoom in to 35mm to where the wetmount lens is designed for, the lens position may not be ideal.
May be Inon/Epoque/Oly should start making wetmount lens that is designed to be used with 28mm rather than 35mm.

 

[Jamdiver]

The Fuji S9000 is a 9 MP point and shoot camera, 10X optical zoom, 4 AA Batteries, JPEG and RAW modes, ISO from 80 to 1600, XD Picture Card and/or Compact Flash, anti-blur feature, etc.

Is this as good as it gets for a point and shoot at this time and for around $500.

I don't see a housing yet but Ike has one for $300. for the Fuji E900 which is also a 9 MP camera but with less features and close to the same price. That housing has an adapter that allows you to use the 67mm wide angle lens. Hopefully he will soon have one for the S9000.

Any opinions on the S9000?

Ikelite housing for $300 :11::11:!
Interesting...

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

I don't think Ike is making a housing for the s9000. I would say the E900 is one of the best P&S for underwater out right now though and it has an ike housing coming.

 

[Gilligan]

I don't think Ike is making a housing for the s9000. I would say the E900 is one of the best P&S for underwater out right now though and it has an ike housing coming.

I agree with you on the E900 at this point in time. Only thing I don't like about it is it uses the XD Card and not Compact Flash.

The highest MP available is the way to go for underwater use because of cropping photos. I am a "cropper".

 

[Gilligan]

Apparently the S9000 uses a focus ring instead of a lever.

A quote from "Otarala" on digitaldiver.net re the Fuji S9000

I have one and quite like it but it wouldnt be a good underwater camera because of that manual zoom issue, which is however great above water, and the main reason I got it. The controls would also be a hassle to convert, some of them are pretty fiddly. And it would be shoe only because the flash is a popup.

It also has a fairly long minimum focus so youd probably have to use macro mode almost exclusively, and they have fairly restricted zoom level.

I think the E900 would be the obvious choice for underwater given it uses the same sensor and most of the differences are really more useful for above water ie the zoom and will often be a drawback under.

 

[zf2nt]

I don't think Ike is making a housing for the s9000. I would say the E900 is one of the best P&S for underwater out right now though and it has an ike housing coming.

Thanks for the recommendations, Chris! Knowing how serious you are about this stuff, I did some legwork this afternoon and now have the very last Ikelite housing for the E900 on its way to me. Now I just need to find the camera...

I haven't ordered the tray/handle ($50) or the DS-50 setup ($500) yet. Honestly, do you think I can survive for a few months in crystal-clear Caribbean waters (Little Cayman) without it? I know the strobe is not an option here in CA, but I see plenty of people shooting without them on Little Cayman. Backscatter isn't normally a problem there.

Bruce

 

[Monkey Knife-fight]

I shot without a strobe in Monterey waters for months. You can get by within a foot or so where the internal flash can hit the subject. In clear tropical waters you'll be fine without a strobe shooting macro and available light pics.

You should be able to get great results with the E900. I use the F810 which is similar but the E900 should be superior.