I seriously don’t know how much time reviewers spend testing a camera in real life situations. I think that my first review of the fuji F70EXR camera was mainly built on my first impression of that fabulous camera (no pun intended lol). 24 days later after the purchase, I’ve taken many many many shots with it and can now give you some more details on it.
Shooting experience 
It feels amazingly great. The reactivity of the camera through zooming, focusing and shooting rival those of dSLR speeds as you can really get closer to the words of point and shoot while other competitor need to point, focus and shoot. The usage of all the built in elements of the camera from the super bright LED AF-Assist lamp to the flash is incredibly smart: everything there is used without overcompensation. For example, the AF-Assist light will flash only once during a very short moment for the lens to find focus. To think Canon ELPHs were fast or the Nikon Coolpix s640 to be reviewed as fastest working compact, none of the marketing bullshit each brand is vomiting out can save their cameras from even trying to match the speed of the F70EXR. There is nothing today that compares to the speed at what the F70EXR is running at.
One thing though: you must remember to FORMAT your SD card BEFORE using the camera. Failure to do so will reduce the speed of the camera by more than half.
Image quality
FULLY USEABLE ISO800!!! Do you read this? Most of today’s compact cameras lose big in image quality after ISO400. At ISO800 and above, some resort to heavy noise reduction to soften the image, some emulate film grain and some just look damm ugly! I remember my Lumix FX35 (which was the best compact of its time) producing really bad ISO400 pictures, so bad I have to stay below ISO200 and pray that the optical stabilizer helps taking ¼ second exposure shots… Now I don’t mind jamming the ISO up to 800 and still getting my shots right shaaaarp! ISO1600 is yet only useable for the Pro-LowLight mode though.
Statements we read on the net or elsewhere about the F70EXR:
Yes. The lens will occasionally produce corner softness at wide angle and I miss the wide-angle sharpness of the Leica lens of the FX35. Apart from that slight wide-angle shortcoming, the 10x Fujinon lens of the F70EXR is consistently sharp during the range.
Yes. There will be some or a lot of chromatic aberration, yet they don’t appear in such a big presence to distract the viewer from the big picture.
Yes. The video mode is shitty in quality, but you can zoom and autofocus in real time during the recording.
Yes. The colors won’t look the same as the Canon or Lumix renderings as they tend to be more on the magenta/blue side of things. In reaction, you can use a specific White Balance setting or just calibrate your own. I tend to just leave it be.
Yes. You will have to shoot at HALF RESOLUTION (5mp instead of 10mp) to achieve the image quality I rave about. Face it: this is a SuperCCD camera. Thus, it works by combining the captures of two sensors (5mp sensors in this case) into one image. Is there a compact camera that takes great ISO800 shots at full resolution? Yes! But you’d have to pay more than 2 times more to get the Lumix LX3, Canon G11 or Canon S90.
Yes. It’s 210$CAN at le Centre Japonais de la Photo in Eaton Centre.
No. You can’t shoot RAW, but you get an already absurdly good image quality that beats the shit out of any compact produced RAW shot except the G11’s.
No. There isn’t a Manual Mode on the F70EXR. It feels more like Shutter Priority. When you set the camera to Manual Mode, you are given many shutter speeds and 2 aperture values. Because changing the aperture value (in Manual Mode) on the F70EXR doesn’t influence the depth of field (DOF), I can attest that the aperture is emulated. The DOF is only influenced by the aperture value you get at each focal length of the Fujinon Lens.
Best settings for the camera
Having read some of this information of someone else’s website, I’ve decided to try it on the field and have remade my own version of it.
For ANYTIME shooting: These are the settings for pure point and shoot bliss. When you feel like using the flash, just put the flash into “Slow Synchro Mode”
- Mode: P
- ISO: Auto(800)
- Size: M 4:3 – 5 megapixels
- Quality: Fine
- Dynamic Range: 400
- Simulation Film: Velvia
For day shooting: this is to shoot during the day only. Flash doesn’t work here. Note that putting the DR to 800 makes the camera shoot at ISO200 constantly.
- EXR Mode: DR Priority
- ISO: Auto(800)
- Size: M 4:3 – 5 megapixels
- Quality: Fine
- Dynamic Range: 800
- Simulation Film: Provia
Comparisons with competitors
Canon SX200is: This is the superzoom that has ALL the priority/manual modes of dSLR.
Lumix ZS3: HD video has become a big trend, I’d consider this camera to be interesting for those who look for an HD video oriented performer. (mainly because this one can zoom and focus during recording while the SX200 can’t)
Notice that none of these cameras can produce great ISO800 shots. If image quality is most important to you, get the F70EXR.
F200EXR: I tried that camera. I must say that image quality wise, you might get a slight edge because of the bigger sensor in that camera. But the features of the F70EXR like the Pro-Lowlight make up for it.
Now that the article is finished, here are some more of the shots I took with the F70EXR!!! Press PLAY and ENJOY!
3 comments:
It's really amazing what the Fuji F70EXR can do. :)
thanks mate, i've just waiting for my f70exr to arrive, and i will test it with your suggestions of settings. thanks!
thank you, would you be so kind to write your settings for use in low-light situations such as clubs, bars etc.?? I would also like to know which setting do you use to shoot indoors, for example in the flat, when you shoot people? Thank you very much!
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