Summary: This is a strong candidate for the serious amature in need of a point and shoot for backups or vacation...It is also VERY easy to use, for the significant other of that serious amature.
I studied medium to high-end point&shoots and prosumers for the last 6 months prior to buying the Fuji E900. While the E900 didn't have everything I wanted, in the end, it was the clear choice. the CCD and the ergo were keys to my choice.
High resolution, moderatly high level of amature photgrapher type functions (read: manual settings, autobracketing, and RAW), fast focusing, decent flash, macro mode, good low light ability, a mem-card restricted movie mode, compact size, ergonomic shape, quality build, easy to use modes and ultimately, a real viewfinder.
The three finalists in my decision group were the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1, the Canon S80, and the Fujji E900.
I have to say, the Lumix, with that beautiful Leica lense took some fantastic shots..but my God! does it have a noisy, and I mean NOISY ccd!!!! if you are only shooting indoors with the flash, and you can look the iso to 80, then it will reward you with incredible images! but this is not my reality. I originally had settled on the Lumix but that noisy ccd and a LACK OF A REAL VIEWFINDER (Panasonic are you listening??) were deal killers in the end. The Lumix is just about useless when you are outside in bright light, and with the sun at your back...a viewfinder is really key hear.
Moving to the Canon S80, it has a great lense as well, and does MUCH better with slightly higher iso numbers, but man, that soap bar is bulky! Its dimensions are not at all condusive to actually holding the camera stolidly. I did like the 1024x768 movie mode, but at 15fps the output looks inferior to the regular old 640x480@30fps of the Fuji. The S80 does 640x480 as to, but the ergonomics and weight/mass of the S80 sunk it..but at least it has a REAL VIEWFINDER (Panasonic, are you listening??). The S80 just felt dated. I think its time for Canon to step up with something new in the Point&Shoot department.
The Fuji E900, with the Fujinon lense had the poorest lense quality (IMHO) relative to the extremely high quality of the Canon L series lense on the S80 and that magical Leica lense on the Pani. That said, it is a fine lense that can hold its head high, especially in combination with that great ccd, excellent ergonomics, and a very complete set of features...the Fuji was a better choice for me.
I really like the "Natural" program mode. With the 5th generation SuperHADD the colors are good and the low light capability is REALLY impressive. That mode (Natural)lets you get a lot of battery life out of the camera as it lets you preclude the flash A LOT.
The 800iso actually WORKS..sure its a little noisy at that level...but we ARE talking about a $300+ dollar point and shoot! Just amazing...It really is an amazing little camera. Kudos to Fuji for having the stones to stick the SuperHADD from the S9000 into a compact point & shoot!
I was worried about the majority-plastic construction, but it is solid yet light weight, and so far, no complaints...in fact if it had been made of metal it would have probably made it subtantially heavier.
The use of double-A (AA) batteries are great for the traveller.
It is important to point out that the gripes really are minor and amazingly fixable...if Fuji wanted to support this "fringe" camera a little more ( it IS so much more than the herd of 38mm-160mm eqiv cams out there). I think they could do a software and firmware update and fix 90% of my gripes. And I should also point out that my gripes are only there because the capabilities and performance of this camera just taunt you to want the whole amature-shooting match. I mean to say, this cam has all the right parts and it does a damned good job of providing a DSLR user with most of the goodies he or she is accustomed to...while allowing your wife or husband to use it as the point and shoot that most people will use it for.
GRIPES:
I agree with some other reviewers, digging thru the menu to get to the RAW mode is just plain stupid...It belongs above the 9M JPEG setting on the F button!!!
Why couldn't they make the RAW format a lIItle bIt friendlier?? I suspect they hid the RAW mode from ready use because at 18M per pic, you cannot take even a SINGLE shot with only the onboard memory (16M)...which also seems silly.
Also, while the screen power-up button on the back is really handy for reviewing images (the lense stays parked to conserve the batteries), and other housekeeping, but when you try to power the camera back down (in this mode) via the same button...it actually causes a full power up and lense deployment to occur...what were they thinking?
This camera really NEEDS a 2G or 4G memory card...1M was fine when you were shooting with 4M to 5M sensor sizes, but this baby had a fantastic 9M sensor...it just begs to be shot in RAW..if if if...
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