The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR updates the current HS10 model and is an eagerly-anticipated and much-hyped release. Superzoom cameras have always done a good job of delivering a significant zoom range in an affordable package – far more focal range for far less money than a DSLR purchase using the same wad of cash would ever muster. And the market’s been delivering some stormers of late:
Last year we were impressed by the Fujifilm FinePix HS10‘s unique 24-720mm manual zoom lens. Since then there’s been the Canon SX30 IS and announcement of the Sony HX100V. It’s fair to say the competition’s more than hotting up nicely. But is the Fuji HS20 a step in the right direction; a new dawn for superzooms that can keep the hot-on-the-heels competition at bay? The What Digital Camera Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR review takes a look…

Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR review – Features

The Fuji HS20’s 30x optical zoom lens (24-720mm equivalent) is, without doubt, the foremost and best feature on offer. What makes it special is that, like the HS10, the lens has a manual zoom that’s far quicker and more accurate to use than the  fiddly zoom toggle methods used by the competition. An f/2.8-5.6 aperture is also impressive when considering just how substantial the zoom’s top-end reach is too.

Behind the scenes and the Fuji HS20 utilises a 16-megapixel, back-side illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor with EXR processing technology and sensor-shift image stabilisation technology. While the pixels are rotated by 45∞ degrees for more effective capture of light, it’s the processing that mimics the EXR pixel array (as found in older Fuji ‘EXR’ models) for improved image quality.

Images can be captured from ISO 100-3200 at any given resolution, at 8MP for ISO 6400 or 4MP for ISO 12,800. In addition there’s a 1080p HD movie capture mode that use the H.264 compression codec for best possible quality.

 

Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR review – HS10 vs HS20 EXR