Performance

Fujifilm FinePix F600EXR review – Performance

We’re impressed by the F600EXR’s autofocus system. AF is fast and precise and comes in four different AF Area varieties: Center, Multi, Continuous and Tracking.

However powering up the camera does require a short wait as even when the rear screen is on and appears ready to go we found the lens would remain inoperable for a couple of seconds more. A similar slowness occurs when the camera is reassessing exposure after zooming or reframing – it’s not uncommon for the scene to appear very overexposed and then gently fade to a normal exposure level. These small blips slow the camera down a little though they’re far from significant issues.

The FinePix F600’s inclusion of an 8fps continuous shooting mode at full resolution also means action shots should be well within reach. However Fuji opts to deliver this under the guise of ‘Top 4′, ‘Best Frame Capture’ and a variety of bracketing (AE/Film Simulation/Dynamic Range) options. The images you shoot will be ‘stacked’ together so that only one shows on screen while an almost ‘animated’ selection of the other shots is displayed in the bottom corner. All the files are still accessible as full size originals from a computer.

However processing can take a while: the eight shots took some 13 seconds to clear the buffer, while Raw files take a sluggish five seconds each before the camera’s ready for round two. We’d have hoped that the F600 would have scrubbed up in the areas where the F550EXR didn’t quite deliver – but it seems this isn’t the case as far as Raw processing is concerned.

A Fujifilm compact wouldn’t be complete without a range of film simulation modes to choose from – Provia/Standard, Velvia/Vivid, Astia/Soft, B&W and Sepia are all under the F600’s belt. These are accessed via the F mode button, which also features ISO, Image Size, Continuous shooting and GPS options.

Although the F600EXR’s rear screen is a decent 3inches in size and 460k-dots in resolution we found it to be very contrasty in preview and playback. Even in neutral, flat light subjects look darker than they will in the final shot – making it tricky to ascertain how well-exposed a shot is.

The 1080p HD movie mode allows for zoom adjustment and the continuous autofocus is reasonable – though don’t expect accurate focusing while moving through the zoom range.