Monday April 13, 2009
Snap away
Whether you are a beginner or an expert, the Fujifilm FinePix F200 lets you shoot great pictures without fumbling with the camera settings.
By CHONG JINN XIUNG
IT was not too long ago that we reviewed Fujifilm’s Finepix F100d, a solid mid-range compact camera with great ISO performance.
Recently the company launched a new flagship model to replace the F100d — the FinePix F200 EXR.
The camera is one of first to utilise Fujifilm’s Super CCD EXR sensor technology that has greater dynamic range and low noise levels.
Design
Available in either black or silver, the F200 is a mid-size camera that hasn’t gone through a revamp in the looks department as it pretty much looks like the F100d.
The camera has a versatile 5x optical zoom lens that retains the same 28mm to 140mm range of the F100d.
This isn’t bad as you can use it in a variety of situations be it shooting in cramped places while indoors or zooming into a distant subject while outdoors.
The lens’ overall performance is commendable, as it’s capable of taking pretty sharp photos with very little chromatic aberration.
However, there’s a noticeable barrel distortion effect when shooting at the widest angle.
The F200 has a large 3in LCD screen and a bright and vibrant display that’s still fairly visible under direct sunlight. The mode dial makes it easy to switch between the shooting modes while the four-way directional pad allows easy navigation of the various menus and settings.
Next to the Playback button is the standard F button which brings up additional options to set the ISO level, image resolution, dynamic range, white balance and film simulation mode.
The F200’s film simulation mode attempts to mimic different film types such as Provia (standard), Velvia (vivid) and Astia (soft). The modes work rather well in capturing pictures with colours that almost jump out at you.
Also, there is an option to capture pictures in black and white or sepia.
For the most part, I found Provia to be pretty neutral in terms of colour but it also produces a more muted look. Velvia pushes the contrast colours up substantially though the colour saturation was too strong in some situations.
Astia, on the other hand, manages to maintain a higher colour contrast ratio while maintaining natural colour tones.
The Film simulation mode works well in capturing photos with stronger and vibrant colours. It is a pity that you are limited to just using Provia and the two monotone modes while in EXR mode.
Features
Possibly the most important feature is the EXR Auto mode which intelligently analyses a scene and applies the correct camera settings.
For example, it will automatically turn on Macro mode when you place it close to an object and boost ISO levels when taking pictures in low light conditions.
The EXR mode also allows you to switch between three specialised sensor modes.
The High Resolution (HR) mode utilises 12 megapixels to capture image at the maximum resolution available.
Take note that with both SN (high ISO and low noise priority) and DR (dynamic range priority) modes, the image resolution is reduced to six megapixels because EXR mode prioritises the sensor to capture a wider dynamic range and boosts sensitivity in low light conditions.
SN mode combines adjacent pixels, a process called pixel binning, to decrease noise levels in darker pictures. DR mode takes two image exposures and combines them to create a single image with a higher dynamic range. All in all, the EXR mode functioned as advertised, as pictures taken in SN mode showed less chroma noise in dark areas and looked less grainy and brighter than those captured in regular Program mode.
DR mode is also great for shooting challenging scenes with dark and bright areas — the camera managed to preserve details that would otherwise have been lost.
If you want a more hands on approach, the F200 let’s you get creative with Program and Manual modes, both of which were left out in the F100d.
The Manual mode lets you adjust both the shutter speed and aperture using the directional pads.
Strangely, you are limited to just to two stops in Aperture Priority mode — either at the widest at f3.3 or the narrowest at f9.
It’s disappointing that there’s no middle ground to work with, so you will have to be content to work around the existing parameters of the camera.
More detail: The shot on the left, taken in Program mode, washes out the details on the lorry. A similar shot using the F200’s EXR Dynamic Range allows the camera to capture extra detail and evens out the exposure of the picture. Note that both photos shown are zoomed in at 100% and cropped. Performance
The F200 has a relatively fast startup time of no more than two seconds, so you can whip it out and start taking pictures in less than five seconds.
Also, the auto focusing speed is pretty fast for a compact camera — in most situations we could get a focus lock in just under a second. This is great if you are shooting moving subjects.
The camera’s battery performance is decent though it may not be enough if you are hoping to go for a full day of heavy shooting. We managed to squeeze about 200 shots before having to recharge it.
Fujifilm has a reputation for taking great pictures even under low light conditions and the F200 proves that it still has the touch.
Just like the F100d before it, the F200 has great ISO performance and produces noise-free images at ISO 100 to 200.
Even at ISO 400, there is very minimal noise present and pictures are still usable for print.
Noise begins to creep in at ISO 800, and is very noticeable in dark areas and there is some loss in detail.
Needless to say, pictures captured at ISO 1600 and above look incredibly noisy and definitely won’t look good on print.
To check out the ISO and dynamic range comparison shots, visit tinyurl.com/cdanon.
Getting up close to subjects proved to be no problem for the F200. I was quite impressed by the superb quality of its macro shots as it captures images that are sharp with high levels of detail.
Like the F100d before it, the F200 handles chromatic aberration splendidly — it shows little purple fringing when shooting subjects standing in front of a strong light source. And the camera’s built-in flash provides adequate lighting for most situations without overexposing the picture.
Video capture certainly isn’t the F200’s forte — we were quite disappointed that it lacks any HD video recording feature.
Instead we had to make do with VGA quality videos and the videos looked smooth at 30fps (frames per second).
Conclusion
The Fujifilm Finepix F200 is an excellent camera to have for casual photographing and works great under most circumstances.
It sports the same versatile lens and design as its predecessor, the F100d, and includes additional features such as face detection and image stablisation, which makes it a more attractive option.
Also, the F200 has shooting modes like Program and Aperture Priority that will appeal to photographers who want more control. Though it lacks 720p HD video recording, the F200 more than makes up for this with its revolutionary automatic EXR mode.
The mode works great for capturing high-resolution pictures with little noise and great dynamic range without having to fumble with the camera settings.
The film simulation mode is another great addition that really brings out the colour in pictures. The only downside to the camera is its battery life, which has not improved from its predecessor. Needless to say, you should always have it fully charged.
Overall, the FinePix F200 is a terrific mid-range camera that offers you good bang for the buck.
Pros: Great picture quality; excellent low noise performance; easy to use EXR mode.
Cons: Aperture Priority mode only has two stops; lacks HD video recording; short battery life.
Fujifilm F200 EXR
(Fujifilm)
Compact digital camera
Sensor: 12 megapixels
Viewfinder: 3in LCD
Lens: 28-140mm f/3.5 - 5.1 (35mm equivalent)
Shutter speed: 8sec - 1/1500sec
ISO Range: 100 to 3200, 6400 (6 megapixels), 12,800 (3 megapixels)
Exposure modes: Scene, Program, Aperture Priority, Manual, Movie
Video mode: 640 x 480 pixles (30fps)
Battery: Lithium-ion
Storage: xD-Picture Card, SD , 48MB internal memory
Interface: USB 2.0, AV output
Other features: Image stabilisation, face detection 3.0, EXR mode
Dimensions (w x h x d): 9.77 x 5.89 x 2.34cm
Weight: 175g
Price: RM1,399
Website: www.fujifilm.com.my
Review unit courtesy of Fujifilm (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, (03) 5569-8388
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