FujiFilm FinePix HS10 (FinePix HS11)

Opinion: I wanted to use the Fujifilm HS10 to upgrade my Sony HX1. Whereas I liked many
aspects of this camera, I eventually returned the unit. Here is what I encountered
and my main impressions, not a feature-for-feature shoot out.

Lens. The Fuji has a better lens than the HX1 in terms of acuity, with clearly sharper
details, more obvious in the longer end of the zoom than in macro shots. However,
edge-to-edge comparisons are less impressive, with the Fuji being a little softer than
the HX1. If one planned a daylight shot with cropping in mind, one could easily
compensate for the Fuji's edge softness, and the result would beat the HX1 in
detail, all things being equal (zoom factor, amount of shakiness going on, nature of
lighting and exposure values).

Body. The FS10 is well-built with a solid feel and good touch. The texturized
surface seems just about right to me for handling. I really liked the look and feel of
the camera a lot. However, this camera in terms of body almost could be considered
an altogether different beast than the HX1, being much larger, heavier, and more
obvious in the hand. If svelte is your swing, the HS10 will not dance spright of feet
like the HX1. Add four AA alkalines to the Fuji mix, and you have a two-handed
operation for most shots.

Mechanics. This consideration became a deal-breaker for me personally. I have
owned previous cameras with rings for both zoom and focus, so I have built-in
expectations about the feel of these operations. On the positive side, the Fuji zoom
ring is large and deeply grooved and gives a good grip. However, the action is
deplorably stiff and gummy, producing a jerky motion as you apply more pressure
to overcome the initial inertia to get the ring motion started, and then the ring
suddenly releases with enough muscle, almost always resulting in more increase or
decrease than intended. Further, once in zoom range, fine tuning seemed ever to
elude me, given this unusual mechanical opposition to delicate motion. I was really
frustrated by the HS10 zoom ring.

Low-light. The Fuji HS10 in low-light was disappointing to me, to be sure. As a
disclaimer, I am biased toward more noise if significantly greater detail is retained.
Using the HS10's "Pro low-light" mode, which incorporates the same layering
technique as the HX1 (but only four, not six images), the HS10 images always had
less noise but significantly softer and darker images than the HX1. The HX1 had
much more noise, but also much more detail and always brighter images. (Note:
The HX1 "Twilight" layering mode almost always defaults to 3200 ISO in low light.)
Another low-light problem in implementation for the HS10 is no manual white
balance. The HX1 has manual white balance in its low-light Twilight mode, and
white balance almost always is off in low-light shots. In fact, the HS10 restricts
manual white balance to the A, S, P, and M modes. In contrast to the HX1, no
HS10 scene mode allows manual setting of white balance--for such a feature rich
camera, a true oversight of implementation.

Movies. Another deal-breaker. I want my bridge cams to have well-implemented
movie modes. I simply do not want to carry both a camcorder and a camera all the
time and cannot always predict when a movie moment will arise. With the
exceptions of the dedicated movie button next to the LCD on the body of the
camera to initiate a movie and the HD quality, the FS10 movie implementation is a
dog. For one, the noise of the focus and aperture mechanisms in quieter movie
moments was surprisingly high and constantly chattering. For two, the stiffness of
the zoom ring already mentioned made any decent zooming impossible to achieve.
Whereas good video technique prefers to minimize zoom actions, certain occasions
require zooming, and other subjects just get too boring without some motion after
a minute or two ( the "Ken Burns" effect). Thus, I could not abide a bridge cam
that could not do movies decently for my purposes, with way too much mechanical
noise in the audio track and a fundamental inability to zoom adequately.

Many other features of the HS10 I liked. I enjoyed using the camera, despite its
significantly larger size and weight than the HX1, but this reaction might be because
I derive from the old SLR days, so remember what "real" camera weight used to be
about.

I have no desire to trash the cam just because I wound up unexpectedly returning
the unit. I think anyone considering a bridge cam would do well to consider the
Fuji HS10 as their future investment, within your own expectations and intended
use. You should give the HS10 a close look. However, you might have your own
issues with the cam after having the unit in your hands that are not even the issues
I encountered.

Nothing substitutes for personal hands-on in the final analysis.

Opinion: Overall it really is the queen of versatility but needs some corrections to score a real difference.

We are always learning and this is a review from an amateur who loves photography and want always learn more.

Opinion: Stepped up to this one from point-and-shoot (although every single one I owned had P/A/S/M). What I was looking for was big zoom and full manual control with many advanced options.

FujiFilm FinePix HS10

Pros:
- fantastic solid build and feeling, not a single flimsy part anywhere
- amazing 24mm-720mm range; I really like the 720mm
- manual non-motorized zoom (!!!)
- EL (exposure lock) for AE, AF, AE+AF
- image stabilization not bad at all
- EVF
- numerous advanced shooting options
- dedicated buttons for ISO, AE, AF, WB, exposure compensation, burst, AE/AF lock, video recording
- easy access to the SD card via a side door instead of at the bottom in battery compartment
- no pointless digital zoom (that's right!)
- powered by 4 AA's (personal preference)
- fast, logical, plain but semi-pro looking and easy to use menu

Cons:
- shutter lag and slow shot-to-shot speed - not a good choice for fast action photos, sadly even with manual focus and AE/AF lock
- no live (pre)view exposure simulation - meaning you need to depend solely on light metering to know what the shot will look like; not easy for novice photographers like me
- no focus to infinity in manual focus (would be nice to have this as a menu option accessible using the macro button); MF only lets you fine tune focus (when zooming, the camera automatically prefocuses)
- EVF dim and has a warm reddish hue compared to the quite crisp LCD
- inconvenient to zoom by hand in a "C" position because of the flash extending much over the lens barrel; need to grab from underneath
- burst shot mode not memorized after use
- shutter speed limited to 4" in S mode (restricted even more at higher ISO)
- F9-F11 only available in M mode
- ISO, WB, etc. buttons need to be held down to change settings requiring two-hand operation; also somewhat annoying in M mode where +- needs to be used at the same time with the command dial to change the aperture
- video recording button could be located elsewhere (when using EVF, I tend to press this one instead of the intended AE/AF lock)
- zooming not as quiet as I wished causing the built-in microphones to pick up the lens barrel noise during movie recording
- weird manual focus meter that changes very dynamically
- no battery charge indicator, only low battery warning
- some overlapping menu items in certain conditions: manual focus meter overlaps "(>) SET-UP" in burst mode, lower left corner of low battery indicator gets cut out in movie playback
- no printed manual

Comments:
I was hit by a buyer's remorse for a day or two after buying the HS10 but then got it replaced with the same model and decided to give it another try.
I couldn't stand the HS10 slow shot-to-shot times (compared to my Canon SX120IS in M mode with MF - really!) so I bought the Nikon COOLPIX P100 just to test if its performance is equally bad. It wasn't much better. This quick comparison actually made me appreciate how much more solid and way more advanced the HS10 is. It just feels more like a professional camera than a plastic toy. I'm keeping this one.

Opinion: Oustanding camera ONCE you get to know it's settings and how to get the most out of it. Check the forums for very valuable tips & tricks to getting the right settings for the desired results. MUST do the firmware update!!!

-Very good build quality, fast and responsive with very good overall picture quality to sometimes excellent.
-Virtually no barrel distortion which is amazing.
-Outstanding low light performance.