Anyone own a Finepix S9000Z?

[Zeca]

I would like to know from anyone who own a Fujifilm Finepix S9000Z if you recomend it. I would like to buy a camera to shot landscape, nature and animals, some macros, travel. I like quality.

What do you think about the Sony H5 comparing to your Finepix?

Do you have any experience printing good size photos with nice quality? (I mean sizes like used to exposition - 30cm x 40cm or 40cm x 50cm)
Thank you!
Zeca

[AlexMonro]

I have the Fuji S9500, which is what they call the S9000 in the UK.

I find it great for landscapes, architectural / cityscapes, macros of flowers and some wildlife. However, one type of shot I find difficult with it is birds in flight - though maybe I need to improve my technique. I was also considering the Panasonic FZ30, which I sometimes wonder if it would have been better for these action shots. I do sometimes miss a focus distance scale, though it seems that not many ultrazooms have that these days.

I particularly appreciate the 28mm equiv wide angle end of the zoom - many cameras seem to only go out to 35mm or so.

I find that the high sensitivity (ISO1600) low noise sensor does compensate for the lack of image stabilisation, ISO800 is reasonably usable giving noise comparable with some other cameras at ISO 200.

I haven't yet made any prints larger than 6x4.5", but I'm confident that when I get the right composition I'll be able to print at the sizes you're asking about.
The shots from the S9500 certainly look OK zoomed in to 1:1 on the monitor.

Other things I appreciate about the S9500 are the fact it takes AA batteries, so I could buy 2 sets fairly cheaply, the 2 memory card slots (XD & CF), so I can keep a spare card in the camera and it'll automatically switch when the first is full, and the cable release tread on the shutter button.

When I've sussed out how to resize my pictures I'll post some shots to the forum.

[Zeca]

[QUOTE=AlexMonro]I have the Fuji S9500, which is what they call the S9000 in the UK. Thank you for your answer!

I find it great for landscapes, architectural / cityscapes, macros of flowers and some wildlife. However, one type of shot I find difficult with it is birds in flight - though maybe I need to improve my technique. Could be the problem (I guess the only one problem) of the camera without a estabilizer? I was also considering the Panasonic FZ30, which I sometimes wonder if it would have been better for these action shots. I do sometimes miss a focus distance scale, though it seems that not many ultrazooms have that these days.I was also considering the FZ30, but I am afraid about the problem with the noise on prints. I would like to print some 30cm x 40cm occasionaly, and in the future I would like to print a book, so I´m afraid about its reviews. Did you heard about the noise problems of the FZ30?
Thank you!

[AlexMonro]

I don't think camera shake was the problem, more the focus speed when the seaguls were flying straight towards me.

I was concerned about the noise of the FZ30, one reason why I finally decided on the Fuji. However, I've seen some of the shots John Reed has posted (somewhere on the Panasonic forum IIRC) that show it can produce excellent results in good light.

For landscapes, I think the wider zoom range (to 28mm equiv at the wide end) is an advantage of the Fuji over the FZ30.

I still haven't made any large prints, but looking at some images at 100% on the computer makes me think that image quality won't be a problem when I've got a composition good enough to make it worthwhile! :)

I've posted a few shots on the gallery forum, in the birds and landscapes threads, downscaled to 640x480.