Rob Gordon
Member
I've been looking for a small, waterproof camera to slip into the pocket of my cycling jersey, not to swim with, so I was excited to pick up the new Fuji X33 last weekend for $199 at Best Buy.
In a nutshell: love the size and design, but not the images. However, under the right circumstances, it performs well enough and is worth keeping.
I don't think I'm judging this camera unfairly against, say, my Panasonic LX3, which produces gorgeous images in a variety of conditions. I've had small point and shoot cameras since 1999, and at this point I would expect Fuji capable of a waterproof camera that could take better pictures.
I have posted nine sample images here at http://gallery.me.com/rgordon6#100119/
The first one which shows that this little guy is about the length of a Honda key - that's really small. I don't show the back, but Fuji went with these little raised rubber buttons - a nice touch.
But, my goodness, low light pictures are noisy (see the picture of the flowers in the mirror and the one with my little dog Wally - these were the better ones.)
And I have to object to Fuji's misleading marketing trick - this camera does not have Image Stabilization, it has "Picture Stabilisation," which simply means in low light the ISO is pushed up, with unacceptable noise levels. What's insidious is that IS should allow you to AVOID higher ISO settings, the opposite of what happens in the Z33.
A solution is to select 100 or 200 ISO and leave it there, but it would help if the camera had an ISO setting that would allow you to select "Auto" with a limit of 200. If you try using Fuji's Auto setting, you're going to get a lot of unusable pictures at 800 ISO, trust me, unless the sun is shining bright. And, of course, at ISO 100, you're going to have trouble holding this tiny camera steady at slow shutter speeds.
But, if you intend to use this camera almost exclusively out of doors and you like the spiffy, compact design and you calibrate your expectations, perhaps you should get yourself one.
In a nutshell: love the size and design, but not the images. However, under the right circumstances, it performs well enough and is worth keeping.
I don't think I'm judging this camera unfairly against, say, my Panasonic LX3, which produces gorgeous images in a variety of conditions. I've had small point and shoot cameras since 1999, and at this point I would expect Fuji capable of a waterproof camera that could take better pictures.
I have posted nine sample images here at http://gallery.me.com/rgordon6#100119/
The first one which shows that this little guy is about the length of a Honda key - that's really small. I don't show the back, but Fuji went with these little raised rubber buttons - a nice touch.
But, my goodness, low light pictures are noisy (see the picture of the flowers in the mirror and the one with my little dog Wally - these were the better ones.)
And I have to object to Fuji's misleading marketing trick - this camera does not have Image Stabilization, it has "Picture Stabilisation," which simply means in low light the ISO is pushed up, with unacceptable noise levels. What's insidious is that IS should allow you to AVOID higher ISO settings, the opposite of what happens in the Z33.
A solution is to select 100 or 200 ISO and leave it there, but it would help if the camera had an ISO setting that would allow you to select "Auto" with a limit of 200. If you try using Fuji's Auto setting, you're going to get a lot of unusable pictures at 800 ISO, trust me, unless the sun is shining bright. And, of course, at ISO 100, you're going to have trouble holding this tiny camera steady at slow shutter speeds.
But, if you intend to use this camera almost exclusively out of doors and you like the spiffy, compact design and you calibrate your expectations, perhaps you should get yourself one.