Fuji FinePix 6800 ZoomA new SuperCCD sensor gives Fuji's latest ultra compact true 3.3 megapixel resolution and great color.<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 4/8/2001 |
Exposure
Exposure control is pretty uncomplicated on the 6800 Zoom. Basic exposure decisions such as shutter speed and aperture are always under automatic control, though there are several other exposure options to play with. Shutter speeds range from 1/2,000 to 3 seconds, giving the camera some low-light shooting capabilities. Both shutter speed and aperture are reported on the LCD monitor when the Shutter button is halfway pressed, giving you an idea of what the exposure will be. A Mode switch on the back panel controls whether the camera is in Record or Playback mode, and an Exposure Mode dial controls the exposure mode. Basic exposure modes are Manual, Automatic, and Scene Position. "Manual" mode on the 6800 Zoom isn't the full manual exposure mode that you might expect. Instead, Manual mode allows you to control all the available exposure settings with the exception of shutter speed and aperture. Alternatively, the Automatic mode puts the camera in charge of all exposure decisions, leaving you in control of the flash, self-timer, and the Voice Caption feature.
Under the Scene Position mode, you have four preset "scene" options to choose from: Portrait, Scene (Landscape), Night Scene, and Black & White. In Portrait mode, the camera employs a larger aperture setting to decrease the depth of field, capturing a sharply focused subject in front of a slightly blurred background. Alternatively, the Scene (Landscape) mode uses a smaller lens aperture and sets focus at infinity to capture broad vistas of scenery. Landscape shots typically have both the foreground and background in sharp focus, and the flash is unavailable. Night Scene uses slower shutter speeds for shooting at lower light levels, allowing more ambient light into the image. Night Scene is good for sunsets and city night shots (such as neon lights), as the increased amount of ambient light allowed into the image preserves color in darker shots. Finally, Black & White mode simply captures monochromatic images.
Three metering options are available on the 6800 Zoom (Average, Spot, and Multi). The Average metering system reads the entire scene and averages the exposure. Spot metering instead takes one exposure reading from the center of the subject, and works best with high contrast subjects. The third option, Multi, takes a series of exposure readings throughout the image to determine the best overall exposure. Multi is the default metering system in most exposure modes. Instead of offering an AE / AF lock button, the 6800 Zoom allows you to manually lock exposure and focus by framing a portion of the subject in the center of the frame, halfway pressing the Shutter button, and then recomposing the shot while keeping the Shutter button halfway pressed. You can also use this method to lock exposure only, after setting the manual focus. An exposure compensation adjustment is only available in Manual exposure mode, and "tweaks" the exposure from -1.5 to +1.5 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third step increments, through the Record menu. An Auto Bracketing option captures three consecutive shots at different exposure settings (one at the suggested meter reading, one underexposed, and one overexposed). Shots can vary by 1/3, 2/3, or 1 exposure equivalent (EV), depending on what you set in the Record menu. Auto Bracketing is available in the Continuous Shooting exposure mode only. A preview screen appears on the LCD monitor after the series is shot, allowing you to select an image to be recorded (you can also record all three images or delete them).
The camera's sensitivity is automatically controlled in all modes except for Manual, where it is adjustable to 100, 200, or 400 ISO equivalents. Likewise, the white balance setting is automatically controlled in all modes except for Manual. White balance options there include Auto, Sunny, Shade, Daylight Fluorescent, Warm White Fluorescent, Cool White Fluorescent, and Incandescent. When the self-timer is activated (through the Record mode), the camera counts down from five seconds by lighting a small LED on the front of the camera, and then flashing it for another five seconds. A numerical countdown also displays on the circular LCD status window on the back panel. There's also a sharpness adjustment that softens or sharpens the outlines in the image, with settings of Hard, Normal, and Soft.
Shutter speeds in the normal exposure modes extend only as far down as 1/4 of a second. Switching to "Night" mode extends the exposure range out to 3 seconds, but removes the ability to select ISO settings. In our testing, the FinePix 6800 Zoom did well down to about 1 foot-candle (11 lux) of illumination in Night mode. This is about equivalent to typical illumination levels for city night scenes, shot under normal streetlighting. The F6800 is thus a decent, but not spectacular low-light performer. (We'd very much like to see an option for variable ISO combined with the longer exposure times of Night mode.)
FlashFuji rates the 6800 Zoom's flash as effective from 0.6 to 11.5 feet (0.2 to 3.5 meters) at wide angle and from 0.6 to 6.6 feet (0.2 to 2.0 meters) at the telephoto lens setting. In our testing, we found the 6800 Zoom's flash brightest at eight feet from the target, with brightness falling off steadily after that distance. Since we were shooting at maximum telephoto for most of these images, our results were in line with Fuji's stated range ratings. Overall, the F6800's flash isn't terribly powerful, a trait it shares with other ultra-compact digicams we've tested.
A Flash Open button at the top of the back panel releases the flash from its compartment. Four flash modes are controlled by the right arrow key: Automatic, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced, and Slow Synchro. In Automatic mode, the camera fires the flash depending on the current light level. Red-Eye Reduction works in a similar manner, although the camera now fires a small pre-flash before the full flash, to reduce the occurrence of Red-Eye. Forced flash mode means that the flash fires with every exposure, regardless of light level. For night or twilight exposures, the Slow Synchro flash mode works with a slower shutter speed to allow more ambient light in to balance the flash exposure. A fifth flash mode, Suppressed, is accessed simply by returning the flash to its compartment, preventing the flash from firing at all. The 6800 Zoom also allows you to adjust the intensity of the flash from -0.6 to +0.6 exposure equivalents (EV) in one-third increments.
Continuous Shooting
The 6800 Zoom can capture as many as five continuous frames at intervals as fast as 0.2 seconds in the Continuous Shooting exposure mode. (At least, per Fuji's specs: In our own testing, the minimum interval in Continuous mode was 0.25 seconds.) After the series is captured, a preview screen displays all five images at thumbnail size, allowing you to review the series and pick the images to be recorded or deleted. The camera may capture less than five consecutive shots if the SmartMedia card is out of memory space. Interval times may vary as well, depending on the image size and quality settings, and the amount of image information to record. The camera apparently captures the raw CCD data to a buffer memory in continuous mode, meaning that lower resolution settings don't result in longer capture series.
Movie Mode
Indicated on the Exposure Mode dial by a tiny movie camera symbol, Movie mode captures movies with sound for as long as 160 seconds at a time (depending on available SmartMedia space, of course). Movies are recorded at the 320 x 240 pixel resolution size, at approximately 10 frames per second. The LCD monitor must be activated in Movie mode, and the flash is unavailable. The lens is automatically fixed at the wide angle setting upon entering the mode, but digital zoom is available to as much as 2x. Recording starts and stops with a full press of the Shutter button, and a timer appears in the upper right corner of the LCD monitor to count down the remaining seconds of recording time.
Audio Recording
In addition to the sound recorded with movie files, the 6800 Zoom allows you to record as much as one hour of sound per audio recording, depending on the amount of available SmartMedia space. This could be useful for recording lectures or presentations, but the sound quality leaves a fair bit to be desired: We found it rather muffled, with some background hiss. As with Movie mode, the available recording time appears on the LCD screen, and a full press of the Shutter button starts and stops recording. To prevent the lens from extending from the camera, turn the Mode dial to the Audio position (small microphone icon) before powering on the camera.
You can also record voice captions to accompany captured still images, though this time in Automatic exposure mode. To record captions, simply turn on the Voice Caption menu option in the Record menu. Once you capture an image, a "Rec Standby" message appears in the LCD monitor. Pressing the Menu/OK button begins the recording, which can last as long as 30 seconds. The amount of remaining recording time appears in the LCD monitor. Pressing the Menu button again records the sound clip.
For both types of audio recording, Fuji recommends placing the microphone (on the front panel) at least 7.8 inches (20 centimeters) away from the subject.
Multi-Exposure
Available in the Manual exposure mode only, the Multi-Exposure feature is accessible through the Record menu. Multi-Exposure works by overlaying one exposure on top of another, similar to exposing the same frame of film multiple times. A preview screen appears after each successive image is captured, giving you an idea of the effect. With the preview screen, you have the ability to continue recording images, stop with the current image, return to the previous image, or cancel the action altogether.
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