The camera has a responsive auto-focus or you can select manual focus.  There are a number of focusing modes which include single autofocus, continuous autofocus, and a one touch autofocus when you’re in manual mode.   When using manual focus the viewfinder displays a magnified central portion of the picture and an indication as to which way to turn the focusing ring.  In practice, this didn’t always produce a sharp result and tended to be cumbersome. 

Focus is spot on (yellow half circles)	Turn focus to the right - central magnified view

The autofocus itself delivered sharp pictures most of the time, but on several occasions it failed to hit the spot.  This was particularly noticeable when shooting at infinity and at wider apertures.

Auto Focus didn't always find the right spot

Flare is well under control - click on picture to download original file

The camera offers a variety of shooting modes from manual to fully automatic, including shutter and aperture priority.  There are also a number of pre-set shooting modes which include landscapes, sport, portraits, fireworks, sunset, snow, beach and a few oddities like party, museum and text. There is a large photography mode selector.  It’s nice to be able to select the various shooting modes by mechanical means rather than just using drop down menus – there’s a slight feeling of nostalgia here! Having said that, the drop down menus are very clear and colours can be customised to your own taste.

Top plate controls for shooting modes	Or rear LCD menu for some odd choices

The S6500 uses a super CCD HR sensor which captures a 6.3 million pixels file.  This means that you are going to get super-sharp A4 prints.  The camera can also shoot movie clips at 30 frames a second.  You can select either 640 x 480 pixels which is near DV - quality ideal for playing on your TV screen, or 320 x 240 which is an convenient size for web use or e-mailing clips to Your Tube.  The duration of movie clips will depend on the memory card size and your choice of resolution.

Movie file shot at 640 x480 VGA mode

Click on picture to play movie - Quick Time player required. The quality of video is very good and you have access to zoom controls whilst filming - I won't say you could produce a feature length production with this camera, but it is ideal for those spontaneous moments.