Well folks,

In my personal opinion, I think the Finepix S6000fd is perhaps one of the best superzoom/bridge/prosumer cameras EVER made to date. Its 28mm-300mm zoom range is easily large and versatile enough to give many SLR kit lenses a run for their money, and the high ISO performance of this camera is absolutely unparalleled for this class. It may not be quite as good as an SLR, but its still the best I've ever seen out there for a compact sensor, and I have generally found it to be more than satisfactory enough for most of my uses.

Probably the two BIGGEST things about the S6000fd that really made it stand out to me were:

1) The high ISO performance
2) The manual zoom ring--I absolutely LOVE this. I never originally even considered this, but now that I've experienced it, I NEVER want to go back to a motorized zoom. I find the manual zoom on the S6000fd to be SOOOOOO much faster and more precise than the motor-driven system found on most other cameras in this class.

This is NOT to say that the S6000fd is perfect--it definitely has its limitations and shortcomings, as do ALL digital cameras, of course... But my point here is simply that the S6000fd was really a winner for me, and I don't think the models that Fuji has come up with SINCE the S6000fd (like the S9100 and the S8000fd) have been quite as good.

The only other cameras currently on the market that come anywhere close to the S6000fd might be the Panasonic Lumix FZ-30 and FZ-50. The main thing that swayed me in favor of the S6000fd instead of Panasonic was the SuperCCD sensor. I think it's such a shame that Panasonic has kept pairing up those exquisite Leica lenses with such horrendously noisy sensors, and then applying all that overzealous sledgehammer noise reduction, robbing it of all fine detail. Can you imagine what a KILLER camera they'd have if they were to pair up the FZ-50's Leica lens with a Fuji SuperCCD sensor???

I really do think that the S6000fd, along with perhaps the F30/F31fd, may become a classic one day, if Fuji is truly unable to follow them up with anything better.

Anyway, my biggest problem now is what to do when it comes time to upgrade this camera. The main things I find myself wishing for in an upgrade are:
1) An even better quality lens with better edge-to-edge sharpness (like Leica).
2) Image Stabilization (Can you IMAGINE the possibilities of a good IS system coupled with the high ISO performance of the S6000fd???)
3) An external flash hot-shoe
4) A brighter, higher resolution EVF
5) Real RAW buffering, so I don't have to wait 5 seconds between RAW shots (That's how long it takes with my 2GB Type H memory cards.)
6) The ability to use faster, more readily available SD memory cards instead of xD memory cards.

I think it's just such a shame that Fuji has decided to concentrate on things I never asked for, like more resolution (at the expense of high ISO performance), and providing a ridiculously huge zoom range up to 18x (necessitating the use of an even smaller sensor, again at the expense of high ISO performance).

I for one am now VERY curious to know what this new Casio 300fps camera is likely to be like. I have not been terribly impressed with Casio cameras so far, but the specs on this new one sure do look promising! Personally, I'd much rather have greater flexibility at high ISO settings than more resolution.

Anyone else out there care to comment?