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September 24, 2009
[REVIEW—FUJIFILM FINEPIX F70EXR]
Price: $500
A little marvel
The low-down: This 10 megapixel camera has a 27–270mm (film equivalent) lens and is billed as the “world's smallest 10X zoom digital camera”. Image stabilisation is by sensor shift. This is the second Fujifilm EXR camera which tackles three of the problems plaguing compacts, poor dynamic range, image noise and too much depth of field. Depending on the EXR setting chosen the camera will take brackets of shots and combine them to reduce noise, decrease depth of field (to get nicely blurred backgrounds) or increase the retained detail in shadows and highlights. There is an auto EXR setting that assesses the subject matter and chooses what the camera thinks are the right parameters.
Like: We loved the F200EXR (12 mp, shorter zoom, better lens and $50 dearer) and we like the new version. When the camera combines multiple shots the effective pixel count is reduced, which is no bad thing. And in perfect lighting conditions the full resolution of the sensor can be used. Photos are consistently well exposed with good, punchy colour, a tad over saturated, but that can be controlled. Sharpness at all focal lengths is good.
Dislike: As with the F200EXR the LCD screen is abysmal – useless in bright light and pictures that look dull and underexposed on the LCD are perfect on the PC monitor. And there is no printed user manual, which for such a complex camera is inexcusable.
Verdict: We tested the camera in the mode that most users will choose (if they bother to choose any), Auto EXR. We wandered around town as a tourist, taking tourist type snaps. The 27mm wide angle is a boon and the pictures of all subjects were consistently good. At $500 this is the compact camera that sets standards for image quality. (See sample photos at tinyurl.com/labtck)
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Posted by terry at September 24, 2009 09:51 AM
Worth Checking Out
Digital Cameras SydneyComments
Fantastic camera, The picture quality is really awesome, with a good dynamic range. There is some problem in a aperture settings. But overall its very nice camera.
Posted by: r4 at September 24, 2009 03:28 PM