For good or bad, Fujifilm's FP-Z6000 looks like no other projector on the market. With a fold-out, periscopic lens that can be rotated and swiveled to just about any direction, the FP-Z6000 provides a surprising amount of setup flexibility and makes conventional projectors look, well, square.

Powered by a laser light engine, the ultra-short throw (UST) design is maintenance-free and rated to put out 6,000 ANSI lumens; Fujifilm also sells an 8,000 lumen FP-Z8000 version we previously reviewed that adds warping and edge blending. The FP-Z6000 sampled here is an update to the Fujifilm's first projector, the FP-Z5000 introduced and reviewed in 2020. Both current models use a single DLP imaging system to project 1920x1200 WUXGA images, adding up to a unique projector that offers a lot of color control and can be used in a wide variety of locations.

The price to pay for all this flexibility is that the Fujifilm FP-Z6000 is expensive compared to any traditional laser UST with a fixed lens in a similar brightness class, coming in with an MSRP of $14,000. Still, the extra flexibility can make it just the right fit for challenging installations within its key target markets of themed entertainment, simulation and visualization, and house of worship—or any environment where high value is placed on the ability to make an ultra-short throw projector disappear into the space.

Features

Available in white or black, one thing you can't say about the Fujifilm FP-Z6000 family is that it's small and light. Although it is among the brightest USTs on the market at 6,000 lumens, its substantial lens makes it larger and heavier than any of the more typical USTs in the 5,000-6,000 lumen range. With its pop-up lens folded flat, the FP-Z6000 looks conventional and occupies 18.1 x 20.1 x 6.4 inches (WDH); it rises to 7.1 inches with its four feet. It weighs 38.6 pounds. For perspective, that's nearly 18 pounds heavier than the 5,200-lumen Panasonic CMZ50 ultra-short throw.

So it's a good idea to have a couple of people on hand to get the FP-Z6000 into place, particularly if it's being hung from a ceiling mount. For that purpose, there are four attachment points underneath and the FP-Z6000 requires 16-inches of open space on its three sides that have air vents.

Like so many commercial projectors these days, Fujifilm built the FP-Z6000's illumination engine around a high-output blue diode laser. Rated to last for up to 20,000 hours, it'll never need a lamp or dust filter replacement. Its light path includes a phosphor wheel and a four-segment color wheel, which bounces light off of a 0.67-inch Digital Light Processing micromirror chip to create the 1920x1200 native image.

Notably, Fujifilm adds a twist, literally, to its optics that others can't match. Using a folded lens design with two prisms, the output lens can be set up in a wide variety of orientations to suit different rooms and conditions. The lens can be rotated between a flat and upright snorkel orientation as well as turned 360 degrees horizontally when extended. The lens pod adds six inches to the height of the projector when extended and the heavily convex output lens comes with a cap for when it's not in use.

This innovative optical set up offers exceptional freedom of setup choice that conventional designs can't match. The image can be projected at any angle and in addition to conventional setup positions, the FP-Z6000's body can even be mounted above a dropped ceiling with only the lens pod exposed or with the lens pointed straight down while the FP-Z6000's large case remains horizontal for rooms with low ceilings. There's also a portrait mode. Its design can lead to a variety of creative and immersive uses at art installations and museums that other projectors can't accomplish.

The FP-Z6000's lens has a modest 1.1x optical zoom with a throw ratio of 0.34:1 in its wide position to 0.37:1 in its longest telephoto position. As an example, it can throw a 100-inch diagonal 16:10 image with about 28 inches clearance from the screen. The zero offset design can work from roughly 20 inches to 8-feet from the screen to project images from 70-inches to 25-feet. If you don't need a zero offset arrangement, the projector has a large extended range of vertical image shifting of 70 percent; side-to-side horizontal shifting is a still generous 35 percent. As an example, to find out the throw distance for your screen size, try our FujiFilm FP-Z6000 throw calculator.

The complex lens is a primary driver of the FP-Z6000's relatively high cost, and in particular is the large, wide-diameter aspheric front element used to minimize chromatic and focal aberrations. To that end, the lens also features an innovative pair of focus adjustments. In addition to being able to focus the image for the lens input, there's also one within the lens. Together these allow full-frame and corner focusing of the image. If you take the time to minutely adjust the two controls, it results in an incredibly sharp image.

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For off-center setups, Fujifilm's Corner Fit routine works well to square off the image. There's also traditional horizontal and vertical keystone correction for up to ±5 degrees, for which Fujifilm guarantees retention of image quality. As with most projectors, though, you lose brightness when extreme keystone is employed.

The projector's menu structure is easy to figure out and provides three color temperature choices (3,200-, 7,100- and 9,300K) as well as gain controls for the expected red, blue and green signals. There's also a color tuning feature that allows adjustment of red, blue, green, cyan, magenta, yellow and white light components. But while it accepts 4K signals up to UHD resolution (3840x2160) on some inputs, the FP-Z6000 has no processing for enhancing HDR-encoded material.

The FP-Z6000 has a front-mounted control panel that comprises a four-way pad for using the menu and buttons for its inputs and adjusting the lens's parameters. The projector's On/Off key is complemented by an AC power cord that can be locked in place, so there're no embarrassing moments of darkness resulting from the plug being accidentally pulled out. On the down side, while working the FP-Z6000's control panel, I discovered it was just too easy to accidentally look into the projector's beam.

I consequently found the small remote control to be the best way to interact with the projector. It has what's expected, like controls for the inputs, adjusting the lens and turning the projector on and off but adds luxuries, like the ability to call up 13 test patterns to tweak the image and a Shutter key for blanking the image and turning off the audio.

The FP-Z6000's assortment of ports is excellent, starting with digital video inputs via a single HDMI 2.0 (HDCP 2.2), DisplayPort (HDCP 1.3) or 3G SDI. There's also a dedicated RJ-45 HDBaseT connection for video-in plus control. The HDMI, DisplayPort, and HDBaseT inputs all accept up to 3840x2160/60 Hz sources though the unit projects the video at its native 1920x1200 resolution. It's easy to live without a VGA input for old-school computers, but some will be disappointed that there's no video output for sending the stream to another display on a podium or in an overflow room.

Additional control options besides HDBaseT include a second RJ-45 port for a local network connection, as well as and RS232-C serial port. On the downside, the FP-Z6000 lacks a Wi-Fi option as well as an internal IP-based Web interface for monitoring and controlling the projector via a browser. Fujifilm does have a free software download for this and the FP-Z8000 that allows IP-based projector control. And the FPZ-6000 does work with Crestron, AMX and PJ-Link control systems.

The USB Type-A plug is strictly for maintenance purposes and won't play content loaded on a flash drive. While the FP-Z6000's audio is handled sufficiently by a 10-watt amp driving a single internal speaker, larger rooms will require an external sound system that can connect via the projector's 3.5 millimeter jacks for analog stereo input and output. There's no separate microphone input, however.

The three year warranty included with the FP-Z6000 in North America includes expedited replacement and free loaners. Fujifilm says it is exploring the option of offering an extended warranty through a third-party.

Performance

Color Modes. Unlike competitors that may offer six or seven different color modes for different material, the FP-6000 has just four color presets to choose from. This allows a modicum of flexibility to suit what's on-screen. In addition to the Bright mode, there are modes for Standard and sRBG. The Dicom Sim is for projecting medical scans.

On the downside, there's nothing specifically for movies or a Rec. 709 setup although the sRBG mode is a good overall stand-in. The operational picture mode can be changed with the remote control or the projector's control panel, but there's no dedicated key in either place. This means that to go from Bright to Standard, for instance, requires diving two levels below the Menu's surface.

Presentation Viewing. The Bright mode values all-out illumination over color balance for when brilliance is paramount, such as running a slide show in a brightly lit room. It delivered the projector's peak output of 6,303 ANSI lumens, about five percent over its 6,000 lumen spec.

With all-out brightness, this mode worked well for a sales presentation dominated by spreadsheets or a math lesson with numbers on a white background. On the downside, its output takes on a slight green cast that makes images of people look ghostly.

Standard mode did better on color balance with a warmer look that didn't do too badly projecting naturalistic photos, artwork or digital scenery. Its brightness reading dropped to 5,128 ANSI lumens, about 18% less light than the Bright mode. The Standard mode should be fine for anything from previewing a company's Web ad campaign at work to digital scenery at a school play or art show.

The projector's Dicom Sim mode makes it appropriate for a hospital's conference room or small auditorium to project medical scans, like CAT images; it put out 4,998 ANSI lumens.

Video Viewing. The sRGB mode was the best for color balance with neutral and somewhat muted colors. It delivered reasonable looking flesh tones, particularly for this class of projector. Using sRGB could work for showing student movies, an accompanying video for a museum exhibit or an art gallery's show opening.

The projector's brightness level in sRGB mode was 4,528 ANSI lumens, 28% percent less than in Bright mode. Still, it was still bright enough to use without getting overwhelmed in a lit room.

It did surprisingly well, for example, on the opening beachfront scene from Crimes of the Future, with the little boy's skin appearing lifelike without looking overly pink. The contrast between the neutral sand, waves and bright blue sky was well rendered with a natural look absent in many of its competitors.

The FP-Z6000 did an excellent job of showing the University of Colorado's pHET math and science simulation animations using a tethered notebook. The action was smooth with no discernable delay between making changes and them showing up on screen. The projector had a measured latency of 33.1 milliseconds, half the level of some competitors.

There's an Eco mode that reduced power use and the fan's noise but at the cost of reduced output. It lowered the measured brightness to 4,850 ANSI lumens for the Bright mode and 3,550 for Standard mode. The sRGB and Dicom Sim presets were lowered to 3,070 and 3,670 ANSI Lumens, respectively. This represents about a 30 percent drop in brightness.

The payoff for the loss of output is lowered noise levels and power use. For instance, power consumption was lowered by 36% percent in Bright mode while the measured noise fell from 47.9 to 45.1dBA. Fujifilm rates the FP-Z6000 at 41dB.

Conclusion

With its unique pop-up projector head, Fujifilm's FP-Z6000 makes it simple to aim the projector's beam in just about any direction. This can not only ease setup in challenging rooms but opens a range of projection possibilities from the mundane at work or school to the creative at a museum or art gallery. On the downside, you pay for this flexibility with a projector that is much larger and heavier than some designs in its brightness class.

With a single DLP imaging target and laser lighting components, the FP-Z60000 is virtually maintenance free and puts out 6,303 lumens in its brightest mode. It includes minute color adjustments but misses by not including Wi-Fi networking and the ability to monitor the projector's operations and make changes via a Web browser.

Whether it's a sales meeting, a classroom lesson or a museum exhibit video, the Fujifilm FP-Z6000 can deliver a sharp, bright image that can stand up to the well-lit room. Given its high price tag, it will be reserved for situations where a traditional UST projector with a fixed lens can't be easily or quickly placed, such as an immersive exhibit where the projector body must be hidden, or in a facility like a school, university, or business where a single projector gets used frequently in multiple environments where quick and easy set-up is paramount. In those cases, if you can deal with its bulk, heft and price, the FP-Z6000 can do the trick in rooms where a conventional projector just won't fill the bill.

Measurements

Brightness. The FP-Z6000 has four color modes that range from Bright (6,303 ANSI lumens) and Standard (5,128 ANSI lumens) to sRGB (4,528 ANSI Lumens) and Dicom Sim (4,998 ANSI lumens).

There's an Eco mode that reduces light output by about 30%. It reduced the Bright and Standard modes to 4,850 and 3,550 ANSI Lumens, while the sRGB and Dicom Sim modes to 3,070 and 3,670 ANSI Lumens.

Fujifilm FP-Z6000 ANSI Lumens

Mode	Normal	Eco
Bright	6,303	4,850
Standard	5,182	3,550
sRGB	4,528	3,070
Dicom Sim	4,998	3,670

Zoom Lens. With its modest 1.1x optical zoom lens—unusual for any UST projector—the FP-Z6000 made it easy to frame a screen. From full-out to full-in zoom, the projector lost 15% of its light output.

Brightness Uniformity. While its dual-focusing mechanism made for a pinpoint sharp image, plan on spending some time to get it exactly right. Measured brightness uniformity with a 60-inch image was 83% percent and no hotspotting for obvious variation was visible with content.

Fan Noise. Fujifilm rates the FP-Z6000 at 41dB using the industry-standard multi-point averaged measurement in a soundproof booth. With my sound meter set up 36-inches from the FP-Z6000's exhaust vent for a casual in-room measurement, I registered a peak noise level of 47.9dBA in Bright mode. That's significantly higher than projectors with similar brightness I've tested. The fan noise dropped slightly to between 47.5 and 47.7dBA in the other modes. The room had a background noise level of 37.1dBA.

If you want a quieter projector, the Eco mode is the ticket. It lowered the noise to between 44.9 and 45.1dBA, depending on color mode. The price for the lowered fan noise is brightness of between 3,070 ANSI lumens (sRBG mode) and 4,850 ANSI lumens (Bright mode).

Input Lag. The FP-Z6000 has no gaming or low input-lag mode to reduce latency, but still had very respectable performance in this area. Using a Bodnar Signal Input Lag Tester and a 1920x1080/60Hz video stream, I measured latency of 33.1 milliseconds, about half the level of some other conference room projectors.

Power Use. There are two power modes: Normal and Eco. At full blast, the projector used 565 watts of power in Bright mode and 543 watts (give or take a watt or two) in Standard, sRGB and Dicom Sim modes. If you pay the national average of 16 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity, it should cost about $136 a year to use the FP-Z6000 for eight hours every weekday.

The Eco mode lowered power use to 359 watts in Bright mode and 340 watts for Standard, sRGB and Dicom Sim modes.

Temperature. The FP-Z6000 never got close to overheating during two weeks of daily use. It hit a peak of 112 degrees Fahrenheit at its exhaust vent.

Connections

• HDMI Version 2.0 (HDCP 2.2)
• SDI (BNC connector, 3G/HD/SD)
• DisplayPort Version 1.2 (HDCP 1.3)
• HDBaseT (RJ-45)
• Wired Network (RJ-45)
• Serial Port (RS-232)
• Audio-in (3.5mm headphone jack)
• Audio-out (3.5mm headphone jack)
• USB for Maintenance (Type-A)

For more detailed specifications and connections, check out our Fujifilm FP-Z6000-W projector page.

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