Manual Control Options
The FinePix E900 has an extensive implementation of manual controls. Its manual exposure modes include full manual, shutter priority (the user chooses the shutter speed), aperture priority (the user sets the aperture) and program (the camera sets both aperture and shutter speed.) The E900 allows the user to set ISO and white balance, including custom white balance. An exposure compensation feature works in Aperture, Shutter and Program modes. A live histogram helps set manual exposure or exposure compensation; the exposure compensation button activates it.
Focus
Auto Focus (7.0)
We found that the autofocus mechanism on the FinePix E900 could produce very accurate focus. The E900 offers three autofocus modes: Center, Multi, and Area. Center mode focuses on the center of the frame. In Multi mode, the E900 identifies a high-contrast subject around the center of the frame, and focuses on that. In Area mode, the user can choose the focus area with the four-way controller. These modes all seemed to perform equally well.
The E900's autofocus performance won't set any speed records, and it can delay shots enough to be annoying. That's typical of a compact camera – other cameras in this price range and zoom range don't do better, and compacts with longer zooms usually focus more slowly than the E900.
Manual Focus (1.5)
The manual focus option on the Fujifilm FinePix E900 is atrocious. As manual focus options on compact cameras often do, it requires pressing two buttons at once; in this case the exposure compensation button and the zoom rocker. The problem is that there is very poor feedback about how sharp the image is. The LCD display is not nearly good enough to show a sharp image and there is no distance scale on the display. Two yellow triangles sometimes appear on the screen as the focus gets close – one if the focus is too near, one if it's too far, and two yellow brackets when it's just right – but they aren't nearly as accurate as the autofocus mechanism. Even if they worked, they're beside the point: the whole idea of manual focus is that the user judges the focus.
Exposure (8.0)
The FinePix E900 has four exposure modes that accept manual intervention: Full Manual mode, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program mode. The user chooses everything in Manual mode, the aperture setting in Aperture Priority and the shutter speed in Shutter Priority. The E900 chooses both aperture and shutter in Program mode. In Program mode and the priority modes, the E900 exposure compensation control allows the user to increase or decrease exposure up to 2 stops in 1/3-stop increments.
Metering (7.5)
The E900 can measure exposure in 256 zones. With this system, it offers three modes: Multi, Spot and Average. In Multi mode, the E900 takes many measurements across the image, and sets an exposure based on a comparison of the data. In Spot mode, it takes a single measurement at the center of the image, and in Average mode, it takes a single measurement of the whole image. Multi mode produces good results without user intervention, and both Spot and Average can be useful when users shoot manually.
White Balance (7.0)
The FinePix E900 offers six white balance presets: Sunny, Shade, Daylight fluorescent, Warm White fluorescent, Cool White fluorescent and Incandescent. It also has an automatic white balance setting, and controls for setting a custom white balance. Those E900 owners who really want to take control of their images will probably opt to set custom white balances, which significantly improve the camera's performance in mixed lighting.
ISO (8.0)
The FinePix E900 offers ISO settings from 80 to 800 in addition to Auto. ISO 800 is a relatively high ISO for a compact camera, particularly for one with such high resolution. But other Fuji cameras, including last year's F10 (one of digitalcamerainfo.com's Selects), have included an additional ISO 1600 setting. This would have been a nice inclusion on the E900, though perhaps limiting noise on a 9-megapixel chip was impossible for Fujifilm at ISO 1600.
Shutter Speed (7.5)
The FinePix E900 offers a wide range of shutter speeds, which is common on cameras with full manual controls. The range varies, depending on the exposure mode. In Manual, the range runs from 15 seconds to 1/2000. In Auto, most scenes and Program, the longest exposures are eliminated, as is the top speed, for a range of 1/4 to 1/1000 seconds. In Night and Shutter Priority, the range runs from 3 seconds to 1/1000.
Aperture (7.0)
The FinePix E900's zoom lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 at its wide angle setting, but only an f/5.6 maximum at its narrowest telephoto setting. Its minimum aperture is f/8 across the zoom range. The aperture can be adjusted in 1/3-stop increments.
