Fujifilm S9100 Performance

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Fujifilm FinePix S9100 Performance

Performance and Timing

Good to average speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	1.1 seconds	Time it takes for camera to power up and capture first shot
Shutdown	0.5 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens
Buffer clearing time	11 seconds (6 seconds buffer clearing in LF JPEG)	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared
Mode switching
Play to Record, first shot	0.8 seconds	Time until first shot is captured
Record to play	4.7 seconds	Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture
Display recorded image	2.1 second	Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.
Shutter response (Lag Time):
Full Autofocus Wide	0.60 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.64 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Prefocused	0.010 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Continuous AF	0.62 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects
Manual focus	0.32 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused"
Cycle time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	1.21 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots
Single Shot mode 640x480 JPEG	1.17 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots
Single Shot mode RAW	6.88 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots
Early shutter penalty?	YES	Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer
Continuous "Top 4" mode Large Fine JPEG	0.62 second (1.60 frames per second); 4 frames total; 11 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first
Continuous "Top 4"mode 640x480 JPEG	0.62 second (1.60 frames per second); 4 frames total; 7 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	0.91 second (1.10 frames per second); 5 frames total; 10 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first
Continuous mode 640x480 JPEG	1.18 second (0.85 frames per second); 2 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first
Flash recycling	7.75 seconds	Flash at maximum output
Download speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	3,810 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-770=USB 2.0 Low; More than 770=USB 2.0 High

The Fujifilm S9100's performance ranges from moderately fast to just average, depending on what you're trying to do. It starts up fairly quickly, and has a reasonably quick shutter response when the lens is set to either wide-angle, or telephoto. If you "pre-focus" the S9100 by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure, it's blazingly fast, with a shutter lag of only 0.010 second, among the fastest on the market. With full autofocus, it's also above average for Prosumer digicams, coming in at 0.62 when set to wide angle, and 0.64 second when set to telephoto. The telephoto numbers were a little tougher to get, getting quite a bit slower at 300mm due to camera shake even on a sturdy tripod.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are a little better than average at about 1.21 seconds for large/fine JPEGs. It can capture as many as seven shots on a CF card this quickly before it has to slow down (only five with our fastest xD card), and wait for the memory card to catch up.

Continuous-mode speed is somewhat slow for this class of camera, at a bit over one frame/second, for up to five shots in succession, but its "Top 4" pre-capture mode is faster, at 1.6 fps. The flash takes about eight seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, longer than average for this class of camera. Connected to a computer, download speeds are exceptionally fast.

Bottom line, the S9100 is responsive enough to handle most normal photo opportunities without significant shutter lag, though sports photographers may want a more responsive camera in terms of continuous shooting.

Battery, and Storage Capacity

Battery
Good battery life with either the LCD, or EVF viewfinders.

Operating Mode	Battery Life
Still-image capture mode LCD on	320 shots

The Fujifilm S9100 uses four AA-type batteries for power. The table above shows maximum run times based on the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) standard procedure for measuring digicam power consumption, and using 2500 mAh NiMH batteries writing to an xD Picture card. These are excellent battery-life numbers, but our standard recommendation of buying a couple of sets of high-capacity NiMH cells, and a good-quality charger still stand.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
No memory card is included with the Fujifilm FinePix S9100, which accepts either xD Picture Cards, or CompactFlash cards.

Image Capacity with 256MB Memory Card		Fine	Normal
3,488 x 2,616	Images	56	113
3,488 x 2,616	File Size	4.5MB	2.2MB
2,592 x 1,944	Images	204
2,592 x 1,944	File Size	1.2MB
2,048 x 1,536	Images	325
2,048 x 1,536	File Size	780 KB
1,600 x 1,200	Images	409
1,600 x 1,200	File Size	630 KB
640 x 480	Images	1,997
640 x 480	File Size	130 KB

The Fujifilm S9100 stores its photos on either xD-Picture Cards, or CompactFlash memory cards, but no card is included with the camera. We strongly recommend buying a large capacity xD-Picture card or a CompactFlash card of at least a 1 - 2GB, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and videos. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)