July 28, 2005 - Fujifilm is adding a 9 megapixel model to its E-series compact line. The E900 (spec sheet) will be available in October, at a suggested retail price of $499.95. Fujifilm is marketing the camera as the highest resolution consumer-level digital camera yet.
At 4.0 x 2.5 x 1.4 inches, the E900 is a compact camera, slightly smaller than its predecessor, the E550. Like the earlier camera, the E900 has a 4x zoom lens and requires two AA batteries, while also providing a 2.0-inch LCD screen; however, the modified screen only contains 115,000 pixels - down from 154,000. The E900 accepts xD media, a format Fujifilm developed in collaboration with Olympus.
Fujifilm touts the E900's Real Photo Technology image processing, which Fujifilm says yields lower noise and faster operation. With an ISO range from 80 to 800 and a maximum aperture of f/2.8, Fujifilm promises better low-light performance from the consumer-level imager.
Like other E-series cameras, the E900 features both highly automated exposure modes for snapshots, and advanced features including manual exposure control and a RAW file format option. The RAW files are large – a single RAW image is too big to fit on the 16MB xD-Picture Card Fujifilm includes with the camera.
