For most photographers, finding a digital camera that resembles an SLR/traditional 35mm film model hasn't been overly difficult. However, finding one that fits within your budget can be a serious challenge, especially if you're a beginner or intermediate photographer.

Fujifilm is working to change that problem with its S9500 digital camera. The FinePix S9500 has at least a few of the features you'd find in a top-end SLR digital camera, but you can purchase the S9500 for less than $600. You may encounter some additional expenses with this model, as it can make great use of add-on lenses and flash units. The S9500's included equipment, however, is good enough that you probably can avoid making purchases of lenses and flashes for a while. It also comes with a memory card, albeit the size is only 16MB.

The S9500's included lens is a good unit that offers a 10.7X optical zoom along with some limited wide-angle capabilities. As with a 35mm film camera lens, you can control the S9500's zoom by turning a ring on the lens. The lens included with the S9500 also can shoot images at extremely close range (less than 1 inch). Regardless of the lighting conditions, you'll be able to shoot outstanding photos at extremely high resolutions, up to 9.0 megapixels, which is good for prints up to 20x25 inches. The S9500 also has a good built-in flash for low-light photos.

Response times for the S9500 are mixed, which is a bit of a surprise for a high-end digital camera like this. You can shoot your first photo in less than a second after pressing the power button. Shutter lag is up to one-half second when using the auto-focus feature. Our tests showed shot-to-shot delays to be disappointing, ranging from three to ten seconds, depending on the distance from the subject. The most basic continuous-shot mode allows for four photos in about two seconds, which isn't a great performance level for a digital camera in this price range. The S9500 does offer a few more advanced continuous-shot modes, but all have a few disappointing limitations.

The S9500's 1.8-inch LCD is sharp and bright in all lighting conditions, and it can tilt and swivel away from the digital camera's body, allowing for odd-angle photographs.

Obviously, the S9500 isn't going to fit into the category of thin digital camera models; it has the look and feel of a 35mm camera, including a large handgrip.


Pros: Good value for SLR-type camera, LCD can rotate, large resolution for high-quality prints, very good included lens
Cons: Shot-to-shot delays could be much better, large camera body may limit the appeal for some users, LCD could be bigger

Warranty
1 year