Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 16 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)

This camera has a number of good features. In no particular order, they are: o The lens is long and fast o The viewfinder and LED screen (920kPixels) are EXCELLENT. o The sensor is larger than that of many of its competitors. This sensor has 8 times as many pixels as a full HD display. If you're going to put your photo on your computer, you will have a lot of pan and zoom available to you. o CMOS sensors like this are better at low light. o The artificial horizon is a helpful tool o The focussing aids work well - as long as you know they are going to come on o The hybrid autofocus is indeed faster, often seeming almost instantaneous o Both in spot and average, the focus is very good at bringing into focus what I want in focus o The manual zoom is a wonderful thing to have (for all stills and low dynamic video) o The manual zoom saves an enormous amount of battery life o The manual focus is actually usable - using a lens ring is a wonder o The manual exposure controls are the easiest I have seen in a non-SLR o The camera has an unmarked knob to which almost ANY function may be assigned. Majorly COOL. o Saturation and color accuracy are the best I have seen from Fuji and easily rival a Canon HS we also own. o The camera is easy to handle (though it certainly won't fit in your pocket) o Battery life is more than satisfactory, though from 1st Low Battery warning to DEAD can be very short indeed o The solidity and build of the camera are substantial and pleasing o The number of features available in the UI is impressive and most are quite usable o Under Advanced, the camera has a mode in which it will rapidly take 2-4 pictures with a very high ISO setting and then combine them into a single frame to eliminate the usual high-ISO noise. The results are ASTOUNDING. You can take shots by candlelight that look like 25 ASA Kodachrome (if you're old enough to know what that even means). NO NOISE. o I found the complaints about the ON/OFF switch to be unfounded. This is the third or fourth camera I have owned with a power switch of this design and it has never been an issue with me. o Motion panorama needs a tripod if you have any zoom on at all, but does produce excellent images. o Movies are crispy and well exposed. Focus and exposure are both dynamic and accurate. Manual zoom's a litte rough for video o The ability to vary the camera's dynamic range is useful and enables some creative tricks you never saw outside of Photoshop o This camera supports both sides of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance": an expert can use it and a complete novice can use it (as long as the novice doesn't start messing with the knobby bits). It has a truly brainless AUTO mode that will take care of everything and in almost all cases, take excellent pictures. The only drawbacks are, as I have already noted, that the manual zoom makes long, slow zooms in videos very difficult to accomplish, particularly if you are not on a tripod. TIP: always use a tripod when shooting video. TIP: Viewers get rapidly tired of long zooms and pans; shoot primarily static shots; allow your subjects to do the moving. You will need to spend some time really learning how to use this camera. Like any new, upper end camera, it has a LOT of features and if you just pick it up and try to start shooting, you are going to get confused and/or frustrated. Have the camera in front of you as you go through the full manual. Operate every feature and setting till you at least know what it is doing - whether or not you think you will ever use it. The reward will be feeling much more comfortable and being able to get the camera to do what you want it to, which is a LOT. As pointed out by several other reviewers, replacing the capability of this lens with interchangeables would cost a fortune and you will, of course, have to stop what you are doing to dig out the next lens, switch them and put the old one away by which time your Pileated Woodpecker has flown the coop. I keep telling myself I'm going to get a DSLR, but if they keep producing point-and-shoots like this, I believe I never will. Genug.

The camera is everything I expected it to be. The phase detect is really fast and I like the ability to manipulate/tweak the auto focus settings for different shooting situations. The macro/super macro works well. The optical zoom is great. The intelligent digital zoom is ok. The stabilization is very good. Although my personal preference, for long range shooting, is to use a tripod whenever possible. The 'filters', although not necessary, do add a layer of simplistic fun to the camera. Being able to shoot in RAW is definately a big plus! My personal opinion is that this camera is not for novices. If you have never changed a setting to take a picture on any camera you have ever used then this camera is not for you! If you are a beginner and have lots of patience and are willing to spend the time to learn, then this camera will serve you well. If you are an experienced user and value the importance of being able to customise your settings 'on the fly' you should be quite satisfied with this camera. The main reasons I love this camera are portability, versatility and RAW! It is much easier to walk around with this camera for casual shooting than a DSLR with kit. Once you master this camera's settings you will be able to manipulate it very quickly to suit any occasion. In terms of picture quality, I'd consider it quite suitable for non-commercial purposes.

Review of Fujifilm HS50EXR This review is based on my experience with the Fujifilm HS series cameras (HS10,20,30 and 50) and represents my opinion and not necessarily scientifically tested fact. One should visit the Fujifilm forum (use a search engine because Amazon will not allow me to list the URL) to develop a better understanding of all of the features. Just be sure to ignore all of the trolls. Conclusion: The new Fujifilm HS50EXR is a very nice upgrade of the HS30EXR. I would give it 4 ½ stars if Amazon would allow. The best feature of this camera is the 42x (1000 mm eq.) F2.8-5.6 zoom lens. It is very sharp throughout its range. The next best feature is the very fast and accurate focusing. Fuji uses a new ½ inch sensor with phase detection pixels and contrast detection to quickly AND accurately focus the lens. All in all, a very nice wildlife, birding and general camera for a good price. The Good: - Whopping 42x (1000mm eq.) F2.8-5.6 zoom lens. Edge sharpness is good and purple fringing is all but eliminated by the EBC lens coating and the software. - Fast and accurate automatic focusing within the optical zoom range. Focusing accuracy is average to poor while in digital zoom. - Lens shift optical image stabilization is excellent and allows you to hand hold to 84x(42x optical, 42x digital). - The new processing system is much, much faster than the HS30EXR. Frame freeze is eliminated (so far). - Image quality is good and comparable to the HS30EXR but is still limited by the ½ inch sensor. - Space for your fingers above the lens has been provided to manually focus the camera. - The macro mode is outstanding and allows you to focus as close as one centimeter. Produces amazing insect photos. - Fuji's color has always been outstanding and is so with this camera. - The EVF (Electronic View Finder) is very usable with 920 K dots and is my preferred method. - Excellent 920,000 dot articulated LCD display. - Very useful "Q" button that gathers all of your most changed settings in one place. - Three way switch on the side of the camera that allows you to change from Continuous, Single and Manual focus is very useful. The Average: - Manual focus is better, especially using focus peak highlight to strengthen high contrast outlines but I still yearn for my split screen as on my Nikkormat and no focus hunting. - I find that I only use EXR mode when the conditions are poor. In looking at my photos, I find I have good photos of poor conditions and usually do not use them. - Focusing accuracy is average to poor while in digital zoom. - The menu system needs to be better organized with like settings grouped together. - The manual needs to be expanded and organized, with actual explanations of the myriad of features and a usable index. It is not enough to just list the feature. - You should not have to go through menus to access RAW file mode. It should be one touch as on the earlier HS cameras. -As a Photoshop user, I find the SilkyPix included program to be very un-intuitive and almost useless. The Poor: - The battery door is an accident waiting to happen. It is poorly constructed of cheap, flimsy plastic, is difficult to open, and sure to break. What happened to the old HS battery door that was well constructed with a steel back? - This year's lens cap is also a disaster. In the name of style, Fuji has eliminated any chance of gripping the cap and releasing it from the lens. Maybe I can buy last years model that was designed with function over form. *** Addendum 4-13-2013 *** I purchased the HS30EXR lens cap from Fujifilm USA to replace the crappy one on the HS50EXR. Problem solved. Cost was $6.50 plus S & H.

First digital camera - I bought this specifically for the large zoom capability for use on a European tour. Pros: performed as I had hoped, although I spent the tour with the camera in AUTO mode. This allowed me to shoot while on the move, in and out of buildings. There are a large number of available settings I did not fully explore that might have helped me with subjects in the foreground that were darker than the background (a person with the sky to their back, for example). Good combination of zoom and low light capability, this allowed me to take pictures of frescoes and paintings found in historical buildings and churches where the lighting is subdued. Picture storage. This defaults to the add on memory card (not included) if one is present. This is handy, since it means that all your pictures will be on the removable card to transfer to a computer for uploading, posting or editing. Pictures are stored under the DCIM folder on the memory card, in a folder that stores each photo with a sequence number, and date and time. The camera's stored file structure (FAT32) is compatible with Windows (serialized file number, date and time) and was readable by my smartphone so I could send a couple of shots by e-mail while on the road. Cons: No GPS on this device, but this was not an issue for me. One nit - if you silence the "beeps" the camera makes when powering on or pressing buttons, a side effect is that it also suppresses the flash. This is observed by a crossed out icon on the display. Settings to correct this noted below. Workarounds: Took me a moment to search the Internet and discover how to get the flash operating again (to highlight the dark subjects in front of a light background). You re-enable sounds, just turn the sound volume down so the camera operates quietly. The full operator's manual is on the supplied CD and is also downloadable, but it is over 100 pages long. Rather than haul a book around I kept the full copy on my smartphone and the abbreviated Basic Manual in my camera bag for the trip. Recommendations: Removable memory cards. Amazon will recommend buying an extra memory card, and will offer the SD series of cards. I bought the smaller micro SD that came with an adapter to fit the SD slot in the camera. This allowed me to use the removable card in both the camera and my smartphone while traveling (the smartphone only takes the smaller micro card). Individual photos with this camera are about 5 MB a shot. You may find yourself posting photos rather than e-mailing them (transfer to computer or

I am a Canon loyalist, but went with this Fuji because it had everything I wanted, including the ability to add filters (58mm), -without- buying or adding an adapter, it has a shoe for external flash (Canon flash does work), RAW format, and ergonomic zoom/focus rings. Where this camera comes up short is picture quality, much to my dismay. : ( Even with excellent lighting and a tripod, the pictures pixilate into oblivion as the ISO creeps past 200. I didn't get the Canon XS50 because of all the bad reviews about it's electric view finder. I figured what good is a super zoom camera if you can't compose a decent photo because of a lousy view finder? The Fuji has an excellent EVF, but takes sub-par photos. The only thing that saves this camera is the ability to come back and tweak the photos in RAW format, but this is time consuming.

During this review I will cover a few main areas that really blew my mind with this Camera. I am mostly a black and white and still frame/freeze motion (color) photographer but still enjoy all types of photography including macro/landscape. First off, The IQ (image quality) on this unit is amazing, especially when using the new EXR technology. Although black and white photos dont truly take advantige of the color aspect/range that this camera is capable of, I primarly was looking for Sharpness and contrast ability. This unit has scored a 10/10 in my book and i have used DSRL cameras in the past so i do have something to compare it to. Although the image sensor is the biggest thing that i have found DSRL only users complain about, I have had no complants as far as that aspect goes (I'm not trying to print things the size on a poster board) lol. The Manual Zoom and manual Focus ability has also risen the bar for me on this unit. The 42x Zoom is outstanding while upholding the quality of the image. The manual focus ring is also very helpfull when your taking pictures of Items/objects that tends to drive autofocus up a wall (i.e photography of moving water/ Freeze frame, macro ect ect). The autofocus system is also a 10 out of 10 on the HS50. I have a good friend that is a professional photographer that only uses Canon and he was amazed at the speed this camera deliveres while upholding the picture quality, especially when shooting continuous at 11 photos per second. When Fujifilm advertised a .05 auto focus capability, i will admit I had my doubts, but I was would have been wrong. The .05 auto focus response system is true and accurite. I have even found in low lighting that it holds it's own compared to mid range DSRL's. The other shooting options on the HS50EXR including, Manual, Apeture priority, shutter priority, advance, Program mode ect are also excellent features to have and I will say all work with exeptional precision. All in all fujifilm has raised the Bar with this camera, taking in the price and all the options avaliable i would recommend this digital camera to anyone ranging form amatuer to professional that does want to change lenses everythime a photo opportunity comes up or spend thousands of dollars on camera lenses. Although it is only a bridge camera, it's giving mid range DSLR's a run for there money. I look forward to the other advances Fujifilm makes with the new EXR CMOS technology in the future. Excellent Job Fuji :)

Update 3-16-2015: I have downgraded my rating from 4 to 1 for two reasons. Reason 1: the camera in movie mode does not work as advertised. When using MOVIE mode the MANUAL FOCUS it still goes in and out of focus sometimes never re-focusing. So considering the camera has two basic modes, still and movie, and one of the two doesn't work as advertised in the user manual this camera is a failure. Reason 2: I emailed FUJIFILM customer service on 5/23/2014, 12/30/2014, 01/17/1015 and 03/02/2015. Each time I received and automated reply but NEVER a reply from a person. There is no phone number to call for customer service. I have been a Fuji camera user for 15 years. and this is my third camera. Given the above NON response it will be my last. Update 6-10-2017. Got a replacement from Fujifilm but the problem is still happening. ================================================================================================ I've scanned the manual twice. Played with as many settings as my mind could absorb. How long does it take to figure it all out? Ran a test the day I got it to see if I could use it for a dance recital. I was concerned about quality and whether it could run continuously for 2 + hours. It ran for more than that. I noticed in the manual there is an over-heating indicator, and it got warm but not hot in a 74degree room. During the test I used two Halcyon 1800 mAH batteries and the Fuji battery. One of the Halcyon 1800 mAH batteries lasted 35 min the other 50 min, and the Fuji 2hr 10 min. I also tested a Komputerbay 64GB SDXC class 10 SDXC card to see how many minutes of continuous HD 1080 video I could get. If you read the manual very closely the camera records in 14 min increments. I did get 2 hr and 10 min on the card with no glitches. It looked great in playback on my computer. I recorded TV shows and they played back a little brighter than the TV and liked to put a bluish tint to everything. I'm not surprised. I have reviewed sample videos from other reviewers with no blue tint. CON!: The playback sound on the computer was fine, full and clear. I could not hear the zoom lens movement over the TV sound. While playing back the video on the camera with the sound at volume 10 I could barely hear any sound with the camera held to my ear. Any comments about camera volume would be greatly appreciated. I would hate to have to send back for replacement. Update 5/19/2014 I did zoom during the above test. There was no sound from the zoom at least not louder the recording subject. If the zoom was much looser it would move around when the camera was pointed up or down. Part of the test was to run continuously on HD video in 14 min (see manual) increments , using the Fuji battery and a 64Gb SDx card. The card and the battery ran for 2hr 10 min. Very pleasantly surprised! As I said I bought the camera for a Dance recital. I tested it during practice to verify continuous focus for a staged event with stage lighting, a dark back curtain, in a dark auditorium. Auto-focus was a disaster. Sometimes the auto-focus would get lost and never come back. What to do?? So, of all things, I read and reread the manual. It offered little help but presented some parts of the puzzle. One of parts was that some of the settings in camera mode carry over into movie mode. Of course one of the items was to use the manual focus mode switch on the side of the camera, but with any camera screen size it's difficult to see when the camera is truly in focus. On page 85 there is a setting called "Focus Peak Highlight". You set the focus using this setting in camera mode then press the movie button and the camera stays focused. The other automatic functions such as WB and aperture seemed OK. So even though this camera does not have all the features of a Cam-corder it does the same beautiful job in video as with stills. PS> When outdoors in daytime the auto-focus in movie mode doesn't seem to have this problem. Of course the auto-focusing problem is the same in still mode in dark settings. June 15 2014 I videoed my granddaughters at a track meet. I was sitting at the starting line near corner one. I did a video of them making the turn in corner three, hand held by the way. This is full auto. There was NO zooming search, zoomed about halfway out and you could even see the chain link fence behind them. There wasn't even any motion blur. I was most impressed. It looked terrific on my 55" Samsung tv.

Except for changing lenses, this camera allows to do everything, you normally need a DSLR for. One can go from the complete "auto" modes, that are very much like high-end point'n'shoot, to complete "manual". And when I say "manual", I mean it. There are no zoom buttons, the zoom is manual. When in manual focus mode, there is a focus "ring" to turn - no buttons. It has all the modes - shutter-priority, aperture-priority and full manual control over both. Interestingly, the half-auto modes only support f/8. You have to go full manual to use f/11. I don't mind that, but someone preferring the half-auto (priority) modes might care. The manual zoom is a blessing! You control the speed, at any rate you want, and it never drains the battery. The lens has another feature that is rather unusual for bridge cameras. A standard 58mm threading for filter lenses. No ugly adapter ring needed. Not that digital cameras need many of them, but a circular polarizer is always good to have in your camera bag. Other than that, the lens is outstanding. For a 42x optical zoom, sporting an aperture of f/2.8 at a 24mm equivalent is excellent. Since this is NOT a DSLR, the viewfinder is of course electronic. However, Fuji packed the same 920K-dot resolution, you find on the 3'' rear screen, into the EVF. The EVF is a 1:1 copy of the LCD screen. There is a button that lets you switch between LCD, EVF and an auto-mode, where a sensor next to the EVF switches back and forth as you hold the camera to your eye or move it away. The LCD screen can be folded backwards for protection. I prefer looking through the viewfinder ... but I'm an old f*rt, as you can probably tell by now. Speaking of buttons, They are right where I think they should be. Not too many and none missing. I especially like the dedicated "focus mode" switch on the left side. One can easily select between manual focus and two different auto-focus modes. A button in the center of that switch activates a digital zoom for fine tuning the manual focus. Or if pressed long, toggles between different modes of manual focus assist, there black and white pixels highlight high contrast areas in the picture. Other buttons, that are easily available "blind" (in other words while looking through the EVF), are the EV and burst-mode buttons. The EV button has different functions in different modes. In programmed auto mode, it just enables control of the Exposure Value via a dial, easily used with the right thumb. But when shooting in the semi-auto modes (shutter or aperture priority) it toggles between the EV and the selected shutter speed or aperture value, again controlled with that thumb dial. And in full manual mode, it toggles between shutter and aperture. In that mode, you will see a kind of exposure meter displayed, where the EV setting used to be ... very useful. The sensor in this camera is rather average for this class. It is a CMOS sensor, so not surprisingly Fuji has packed 1080p 60fps video recording and even up to 480fps slow motion recording (with lower resolution depending on speed) into it. Being able to attach an external mic is a plus, and again above average for bridge cameras. A nice side effect of using a CMOS sensor are the burst modes. And the HS50 has plenty of those. Not only can you shoot 11fps at full resolution (assuming your memory chip can keep ... which it can't ... even a Class-10 SDXC will bog down to 3fps very soon). 3fps continuous at 16 megapixels still isn't bad. But there is a very interesting "best shot" mode. The moment you half-press the shutter release, the camera starts taking pictures at the selected frame rate (3/6/11/16fps). They all go into internal memory, none of them go onto SD. The moment you press the button all the way, it stores the last 3, this one, and the next 4. I definitely need to play more with this feature, because I did miss many shots in the past by not being fast enough on the trigger. So after all this praise, there are a few little things, Fuji should have done different. Making the USB connector not only an exotic type, but switching the wires around just to push sales on the remotes? That should be below Fuji's standards. I guess some marketing drone won that discussion. And like everyone else has complained, the battery door does feel flimsy to me too. Conclusion: I think this is an excellent "bridge" camera. Maybe even more than that ... an alternative to a DSLR. I love it!

La cámara Finepix HS50 me parece excelente, dispone de todo lo que necesito para salir al campo con ella: gran zoom manual, magnífico macro y supermacro, estabilizador increíble. También tengo una Canon 600D con objetivo Tamron 18-270 que se me quedaba "corto" para fotos de aves distantes, pero el zoom manual 24-1000 (hasta 2000 con el zoom digital) es perfecto. He leído que la calidad de las fotos de las compactas es menor que las réflex, seguramente será cierto, pero la calidad de las fotos de la HS50 me parece estupenda. Conservaré mi 600D para hacer microfotos con mi microscopio (al no poder quitar el objetivo la Finepix no puede conectarse al microscopio) pero no creo que salga más al campo con ella. También me gusta hacer macros y con esta HS50 salen estupendamente, y su enfoque manual funciona bien, y si quiero más acercamiento el objetivo tiene rosca de 58mm para acoplar directamente filtros o lentes de aproximación. Tuve una Powershot SX30i cuyo enfoque manual era una pesadilla, la vendí por ser muy pequeña para mis manos, esta Finepix HS50 tiene un tamaño y peso más grandes que la Powershot, pero más ligera que la 600D, lo que la hace más cómoda de manejar. En resumen, mi opinión personal es que la Finepix HS50 es una excelente cámara para aficionados a la foto de Naturaleza.

J'ai aussi le HS10 depuis sa soritie. Le HS50 est incomparablement meilleur. Evidemment le zoom (passé de x30 a x42) Sans aucun "prix" a payer en termes de vitesse ("F") de l'objectif !!! Le problème de mise au point parfois "délicate" voir impossible avec le HS10 a disparu. Presque jamais de difficultés. L'écran pivotant dans tous les senses est magnifique avec ses 4 fois plus de pixels que celui du HS10. Le batterie Li-Ion sont excellentes. Le problème de peu de temps d'avertissement avant la "panne seche" qui existait avec le HS10 existe toujours... L'indicateur passe de 3 barres (=plein) a 2 barres après des centaines de photos, mais la panne vient très vite après... Je l'ai choisi parmi le canon, nikon et Fuji a gros zoom a cause de sa meilleur luminosité, et son prix infèrieure. La bonne surprise est la qualité des photos. Incomparable avec le HS10, tellement les logiciels internes ont été amèliorés. très peu d'artefacts (impuretés electroniques) et des couleurs "à la Fuji". Le EXR n'est pas indispensable, et les scene, bien que fonctionnant correctement sont peu utiles. Le mode ADVanced offre quelques outils supplémentaires, mais tous ne sont pas encore aboutis. Conclusion: Un appareil extraordinaire pour le photographe (plus) avancé que débutant.

This is a really good camera. It comes with 2 year Canadian warranty. If you are looking for something better than just point & shoot but not wanting to invest into expensive SLR systems / lenses, this is the one. As far as I know this is the only camera that looks and feels as an SLR. Comparing to an actual SLR, this camera is really light and you could easily carry it for many hours at a time. I compared it to Nikon, Canon and Pentax models with similar features but this one stood out. For me it was the manual zoom lens that stood out above the competitors. Power zooms drain the battery quite a bit and can be rather noisy, (especially when recording videos the zoom noise can get recorded). The manual zoom on this camera is quite smooth even when recording videos. Being an owner of several film SLRs I wanted the flexibility of digital camera without investing into lenses again. This one has many features that SLR cameras have: Aperture as well as Speed priority, Automatic, Program, Fully manual exposure, & several more. Shoots RAW, JPEG files. But having said that this is not a professional camera, rather a bridge camera. Well designed, easy to operate. The swivelling LCD screen is a nice touch, excellent detail & contrast. The viewfinder is a little awkward since it’s not rubberized which is especially noticeable if you wear glasses. Also once you zoom in with 1000mm it has trouble focusing but this is easily solved if you select continuous tracking from the main menu, so not really a problem. Autofocus is pretty good. Shutter speed ranges from 30 seconds to 1/4000 which is pretty good. It does not have the Bulb feature so for very long exposures at night such as star trails (which could take several hours), this camera would not be able to do this. Even though the camera looks and feels as an SLR, it is not a digital SLR. So it really depends what your needs are. Instruction manual suggests the recommended cards are Fujifilm & Sandisk and they cannot guarantee operation with another brands. I bought the Sandisk Extreme Pro 16 gb (95mbs/s for about $54) which may seem as an overkill given the fact this is not a professional camera, but I think you should always buy the best media available, and so far it performs really good. Camera takes full HD videos but it will not replace your camcorder. The manual included is only a quick reference guide just over 20 pages. The full version is included on the CD-ROM which is close to 140 pages. Panorama 360 degree feature is really neat too. The quiet feature is very useful when you take photos in designated quiet areas since it renders the camera completely silent (no beeps or shutter sounds). Also once you install the software, the RAW file converter is not installed with it. You have to look through that CD manually and then install it separately (had I read the manual I would have saved myself a lot of frustration trying to figure out why RAW file converter did not install with main program.) I still haven’t tried all the features but just reading from the manual it is packed with tons of stuff. Battery life is not bad if you take photos but when you start taking videos, it can drain quickly. If you do a lot of photography / videos, buy a spare battery. The battery can be pricey but you can shop around. I would not recommend buying one of those no name replacement batteries as those could fall apart or may not even fit properly inside the camera. Why risk damaging your camera to save a few dollars. Buy the original battery. Before you decide to buy this camera, you can download the PDF instruction manual from Fujifilm website and really just go through it and decide for yourself if those features are really the ones you want. Also you can read reviews on other websites and watch demo videos. If you are looking for quality but don’t want to spend too much money or constantly change lenses, this is it. 24mm to 1000mm manual zoom lens is unheard of for this kind of price. I highly recommend it.

I bought this as part of an outfit with bag, card and spare battery which was (for me at least) an ideal option. I have used film and DSLR cameras for years but recent health problems have caused me to downsize a full outfit into one single camera. Having tried a bridge camera before and found it ok (my son also found it ok and "borrowed" it hence the need for a new one), I went for the HS50 and so far haven't been disappointed. OK, the image quality is not as good as that of a DSLR but in 99% of cases that isn't a huge issue, they are more than good enough to enlarge to A3 and project which is enough for most people who will consider a camera like this. Plus points are ease of use-it has the usual variety of modes found on most DSLR type cameras plus a few others such as "pop colour" where the image, save one colour eg red is recorded in black and white. Nice to play with, but I don't know if I will ever use it in anger, tending to stick to aperture priority or manual. Construction is good and solid but which numpty suggested a plastic tripod mount? Metal would have been much better. Metering is fine although it does have a tendency to slightly over expose by about 1/2 a stop which can either be corrected in post production or by dialing in compensation-my choice which so far seems to be working fine. Multi pattern works well with spot as an option when needed. The viewfinder image is a bit of a difference for anybody used to a DSLR, although the Fuji looks like an SLR the viewfinder image is a projection as opposed to a genuine view and looks a bit strange until you get used to it. The lens is range is HUGE and works well up to about 700mm when image quality tails off slightly and as with all very long lenses any hint of camera shake is greatly magnified so a monopod or fast shutter speed is essential. Noise is fine at low ISO ratings but does come in at about 800 and by 3200 is well apparent-a bonus or a curse depending on your point of view. Images are recorded as RAW, jpeg or both which is always useful although RAW files are stored in the RAF format which some software may not handle. I use PS Elements 10 which does not convert RAF files while Elements 11 and 12 do. I downloaded a converter from Adobe which does the conversion but does take time, especially if there are a couple of hundred images to convert. Next purchase Elements 12! Having made excuses for not hauling my bag out with me I am now back to enjoying my photography again.

First of all I'd mention it's limitations -it has less effective megapixels (16) compared to DSLRs of professional use. -Not much focus field depth (f/2.8-11) as compared to DSLR lenses -it's a bit heavier compared to DSLR cameras -it's focus ring is just a dial that can be rotated endlessly. The user needs to be use to with such manual focus system -fixed camera lens. No interchangeable lens system! -Not much clarity in 84x zoom. Now the benefits -although it's focus field depth is limitated but still enough. -It's weight doesn't Matter for a photographer. -It's focus ring system is still good. We just need to be practiced with it. Although we can't change it's lens still it's native lens is damn good! 24-1000mm of focal length is too good. It will be too costly if we buy DSLR lens of such focal length! -it is a very good camera in the name of professional photography. -it has a special mode-exr which is the best auto mode one can have. -It has a very fast processor and image sensor. -It records videos in full hd and has very good further video options. -when we go down in video resolution it gives high speed video upto 480fps frame rate that is incredibly good. -16 megapixels is still very good. -For ease of focus it makes the focused part sharp so we can easily focus but makes normal for capturing. -it has a very nice image stabilization system. -it has some advanced shooting modes that are very useful. -it has a multiple exposure system which is very useful and RARE feature! Huh. I'm tired of typing.! Further more features you find out of your own. You may download it's user manual. I tell you.. for 22000rs it gives features of 1200000rs. Don't miss it.