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Fuji FinePix HS10 First Impressions Review (1 Viewer)

Its interesting in that this camera is not using Fuji's own sensor, and looking at it I am now less inclined towards it.
I do oftenwonder whether a better option might be for one of the manufacturers to produce a camrera with a smaller sensor that takes interchangeable lenses from an existing 35mm/aps range with a kit lens covering from around 5mm to 50mm but which would be able to another lens of say 50mm to 200mm, perhaps Sony could do something like this that is able to take lenses from the Alpha range.
 
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For those that can't wait, and are unaware of this, here are some sample pictures at ISO 100/800/6400. It appears that someone sneaked a data card in and out of the camera to get some image samples; not illegal, but I doubt Fuji will be pleased.

Oh, and the site is in Polish, but Exif data under each pic is in English.

Obviously these pictures are from a pre-production model, but it seems on a par with the Nikon P100, which is using the same Sony BSI CMOS sensor.
 
Looks like Fuji will sell this camera in Japan from mid April. I got to play with a production model for about 20min at the Camera & Photo Imaging Expo today. Good news is it was smaller/lighter than I thought it would be and it seems to focus very fast. And the fold-down LCD seems really nice too. Bad news is I am not sure this will be a good camera for birding.

First thing that disappointed me was the tiny/dim EVF. Very clausterphobic, but if you get on with the Panny FZ35/38 it is similar. And though the camera could burst off 10fps, the viewfinder went dark once the shutter is depressed and it took a good 4sec to write a 6 frame burst to the built-in memory. But none of the demo cameras had memory cards installed so perhaps my experience would not be typical. I did ask the rep about write speed and he thought it might even slower writing to an SD card. I despise cameras that make me wait between shots! Also, maybe my imagination but while the lens barrel is similar sized the actually lens glass looked to be several mm smaller in diameter than the one on my Canon SX1.

Anyway, it is hard to properly evaluate an unfamiliar camera during a show on a schedule. I'll wait for the reviews and look into it more once they make it into stores here.

Rick
 

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RJM said:
Looks like Fuji will sell this camera in Japan from mid April. I got to play with a production model for about 20min at the Camera & Photo Imaging Expo today. Good news is it was smaller/lighter than I thought it would be and it seems to focus very fast. And the fold-down LCD seems really nice too. Bad news is I am not sure this will be a good camera for birding.

First thing that disappointed me was the tiny/dim EVF. Very clausterphobic, but if you get on with the Panny FZ35/38 it is similar. And though the camera could burst off 10fps, the viewfinder went dark once the shutter is depressed and it took a good 4sec to write a 6 frame burst to the built-in memory. But none of the demo cameras had memory cards installed so perhaps my experience would not be typical. I did ask the rep about write speed and he thought it might even slower writing to an SD card. I despise cameras that make me wait between shots! Also, maybe my imagination but while the lens barrel is similar sized the actually lens glass looked to be several mm smaller in diameter than the one on my Canon SX1.

Anyway, it is hard to properly evaluate an unfamiliar camera during a show on a schedule. I'll wait for the reviews and look into it more once they make it into stores here.

Rick
Click to expand...

Too bad ...

Niels
 
Have to say after playing around with the high res, this camera looks very good.

As with any DSLR or compact, you have to keep within the cameras limits. Once you have sussed out these limitations you can start to produce acceptable results. These look more than acceptable.

I quickly corrected colours of the 400 iso in channels, the high res image does look impressive, I resampled down to 72dpi to give an indication. The images did produce a colour cast but that's common with every camera.

The camera does have a few annoying features, and I can only guess what it's like to hold.
 

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kristoffer said:
Here is a fresh review:
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/fujifilm_finepix_hs10_review/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. The following excerpt from the conclusion is dampening my enthusiasim for this camera:
There are a couple of areas where the Fujifilm HS10 just can't compete with a DSLR, though, most notably the pedestrian processing speeds for RAW files and the poorer image quality once you get above ISO 400. Having to wait a couple of seconds between every RAW image quickly becomes annoying, despite the headline-grabbing 10fps burst mode, and noise quickly rears its ugly head at ISO 800, becoming progressively worse throughout the rest of the ISO range. The average quality electronic viewfinder is also no match for even the cheapest optical viewfinder. The HS10 admittedly fares better in these areas when compared to other super-zoom compacts - just don't expect it to offer DSLR-like quality and performance and you won't be disappointed.

The price-tag of £439.99 / $499.95 again makes less or more sense depending upon what you're comparing it to. Taken as a super-zoom, it's easily the most expensive model on the market, but also the most capable in terms of features.

​
Doesn't sound that much better for bird photography than a Panny with a teleconverter attached. Perhaps a good choice if you don't have a superzoom now and want one, but not convinced yet that it's worth upgrading if you've already got a decent superzoom.

Best,
Jim
 
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Dunno about this "review". Seems they did alot of cut/past from older reviews. The HS10 lens is definitely better than any other superzooms by a considerable margin. And I am not talkin just about maginification range either. I also think the sensor noise performance is at least one full stop better than last years models too. What I did not like when I played with it was the TINY Panny-like EVF and the Nikon-like long delay while it writes to memory. I don't think the price is excessive and is a little cheaper than what I paid for the Canon SX1 a year ago.

Rick
 
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RJM said:
Dunno about this "review". Seems they did alot of cut/past from older reviews. The HS10 lens is definitely better than any other superzooms by a considerable margin. And I am not talkin just about maginification range either. I also think the sensor noise performance is at least one full stop better than last years models too. What I did not like when I played with it was the TINY Panny-like EVF and the Nikon-like long delay while it writes to memory. I don't think the price is excessive and is a little cheaper than what I paid for the Canon SX1 a year ago.

Rick
Click to expand...

OK thanks. I'll note though that the Panny FZ18, which I and several other posters here have, has a much better EVF than subsequent Panasonic models (at least that's what I've been told), so "tiny Panny-like EVF" is not an accurate characterization of the brand as a whole.

Best,
Jim
 
The high iso performance seems to be far better compared to what other superzooms can produce so i wonder why the test think the hs10 is so poor over 400.
 
Well I'm 99% sure that I won't change from the FZ28 to the Fuji. I've looked at many full size sample images, and read every comment that I could find. Maybe it'll be easier if I list my reasons; it may help others to decide.

  • It's still just a small sensor Superzoom, with IQ that you get from a small sensor. You can see signs of noise even at the lowest ISO, just like the FZ28.
  • From reading the manual that I downloaded, I can find no option to turn noise reduction off, or even reduce it.
  • The 2nd generation Sony BSI CMOS sensor it has is expected to be superseded by the 3rd generation this year.
  • Most of the gimmicks, are just that, gimmicks. What good is fast continuous shooting if the EVF/LCD goes black after pressing the shutter (how can you record the action if you can't see it?)
  • It costs more than some entry-level DSLRs.

Basically I can't think of any good reason to take this camera and leave the FZ28 at home. The extra zoom is obviously useful, but I have the TCON17 for when birds are distant (826mm equivalent zoom). I'm pretty sure that if I bought this camera, that I'd be back using the FZ28 before too long.

Oh, and one more reason; I'm wondering what the next Panasonic Superzoom be like with a 3rd generation Sony sensor.

I'll gladly stand corrected if any of the above is inaccurate.
 
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