Fuji Finepix HS10 review (1 Viewer)

[Tanager]

Hi all,

Aplogies if this has already been posted elsewhere but I've just come across this:

http://www.pbase.com/middlehill/fujifilm_finepix_hs10_review

Takes a while to go through, but looks to be a fairly comprehensive review.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[michael23]

thanks for posting this, will read it with great interest.
B

 

[earleybird]

wow that is simply amazing at that price. I can't believe some of the features. I'm going to have to buy that :t:

 

[Epsomsalt]

A couple of sample pictures

These were taken this weekend at Dungeness with the HS10. The wren was taken this afternoon at Earlswood Lakes in Surrey. All images were taken at the 30X end of the zoom.

 

[michael23]

Looking quite acceptable, what iso were these, and how do you find the camera overall?

 

[u1978]

Hi,

Looks good, came acoss this review which covers the features and usage of the camera,

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/fujifilm_finepix_hs10_review/

 

[Epsomsalt]

Looking quite acceptable, what iso were these, and how do you find the camera overall?

All the images were taken on 'full auto'. EXIF of original file says ISO 100, 1/400th second F6.2

I struggle to use the screen to focus (I am used to a DSLR) but my wife, who will be using this camera has no such issues.

Biggest advantage is the whole thing weighs very little (compared to my DSLR, Telephoto lens etc.) and I am sure with practice we will achieve some quite reasonable images. Focus is quick and pretty accurate. Main negatives, for me, are small (read useless) viewfinder and the write time, even for jpeg files. We have not yet tried to shoot in RAW. No point in having 10 fps if you can't see what you are shooting!

If you take it for what it is, it is a useful piece of kit. It it not a DSLR and cannot produce DSLR quality images (not at the 'long end' in my hands anyway). We have not yet tried to take non birding images so it may perform better at shorter focal lengths.

We are looking forward to honing our skills to produce better results and have no regrets over the purchase. We bought it last Friday from Park Cameras in Burgess Hill. The price was £399, or around half of what it would cost for a secondhand 400mm prime lens....with nearly twice the reach.

Hope this helps.
Chris

 

[RJM]

Yes, having the EVF go dark once you press the shutter button is quite disconcerting, especially since the camera doesn't seem give an audible noise that anything has happened. But 10fps is superfast with the cycle probably completed before the screen blacks out anyway.

My Canon SX1 briefly freezes the EVF and gives an audible "clunk, clunk, clunk" as it captures pics at 4fps. But I think I read somewhere if you change continous shooting on the HS10 to 3fps the EVF will not go dark and write speed improves dramatically.

 

[michael23]

Hi, many thanks for the reply, very helpful, it is a camera i want to work towards getting, its a while since i had a compact with a decent zoom, my minolta dimage 7i stopped working a long while ago and i really want a decent camera for walk around, this could be it...

All the images were taken on 'full auto'. EXIF of original file says ISO 100, 1/400th second F6.2

I struggle to use the screen to focus (I am used to a DSLR) but my wife, who will be using this camera has no such issues.

Biggest advantage is the whole thing weighs very little (compared to my DSLR, Telephoto lens etc.) and I am sure with practice we will achieve some quite reasonable images. Focus is quick and pretty accurate. Main negatives, for me, are small (read useless) viewfinder and the write time, even for jpeg files. We have not yet tried to shoot in RAW. No point in having 10 fps if you can't see what you are shooting!

If you take it for what it is, it is a useful piece of kit. It it not a DSLR and cannot produce DSLR quality images (not at the 'long end' in my hands anyway). We have not yet tried to take non birding images so it may perform better at shorter focal lengths.

We are looking forward to honing our skills to produce better results and have no regrets over the purchase. We bought it last Friday from Park Cameras in Burgess Hill. The price was £399, or around half of what it would cost for a secondhand 400mm prime lens....with nearly twice the reach.

Hope this helps.
Chris

 

[earleybird]

what a fantastic camera ! the more I read about it the more features I see I'd previously missed . I have never been so certain about anything before but I'm determined to save up and buy one of these. Even the video features are incredable.:eek!:
Ok there is a 3 second delay between shots in raw which could be frustrating to say the least and a 15 second delay in burst mode but given the quality and number of images taken its still pretty amazing ..crikey .. 1000fps in video ?:eek!: how on earth do they achieve that.

I can't wait to get my hands on one :t:

 

[pe'rigin]

I think Chris is right, its not a DSLR with a 600mm lens on the front.

It is a compact.

Its never going to get the Wood Warbler in dull conditions from 100Ft away.

It looks ideal for carrying around when you don't want to lug a couple of stone of photographic equipment on your back.

I've been playing around with the RAW and High res images.

Yes, they do need a bit of work on them, but colour wise they're not bad, every day I see worse images done on expensive DSLR by 'professionals'!

It has disadvantages, but all cameras do.

 

[Jim M.]

These were taken this weekend at Dungeness with the HS10. The wren was taken this afternoon at Earlswood Lakes in Surrey. All images were taken at the 30X end of the zoom.

Looks like there is a fair amount of noise reduction going on in these, with some loss of feather detail. Do you know if there's any way to turn noise reduction off? Another thread suggested there may be no option for that in this camera, unlike other super zooms.

Best,
Jim

 

[ChrisKten]

Well someone has to say it:

If those pictures were taken in bright conditions at ISO 100, then I think that I made the right choice in not buying it.

Sorry if I sound a bit harsh, but the IQ is nowhere near what you can get a on number of older cameras (FZ18/28/38) with the TCON17 attached (826mm zoom equivalent). The HS10 may well have a number of advantages over older cameras, but image quality (in particular, detail) doesn't seem to be one of them.

 

[njlarsen]

That is one of two major questions I have been sitting with: can noise reduction be controlled without going to RAW? ( a major pain in the but if raw was needed).

and: how good is this camera at focusing at a bird among twigs and branches? Most of the birds I see on a regular basis behave like that ...

Niels

 

[ChrisKten]

Niels: Here's a link to the User Manual that I downloaded before the camera was even released; I can find no mention of Noise Reduction, let alone how to disable it.

http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/manuals/pdf/index/s/finepix_hs10_manual_01.pdf

 

[njlarsen]

using the reader search function definitely does not find any mention of it :C

Niels

 

[etudiant]

The manual on P 106 shows the choices are RAW, RAW + JPEG or JPEG.
No other mention of noise reduction .
What processing the RAW files receive is not given.

 

[Epsomsalt]

That is one of two major questions I have been sitting with: can noise reduction be controlled without going to RAW? ( a major pain in the but if raw was needed).

and: how good is this camera at focusing at a bird among twigs and branches? Most of the birds I see on a regular basis behave like that ...

Niels

I think the only way to short-cut the noise control built in is to shoot in RAW - I plan to try this next weekend. I will also have a go at focussing on LBJ's amongst the twigs. I will let you know how I get on.

Before anyone starts being over critical of the camera, I think it should be born in mind that the three images I posted were taken first time out by someone not used to framing an image in the viewfinder (i.e. me!). I am pretty sure the quality output can be improved upon, not least by attaching it to my monopod, and as I said in my previous post I did not buy this to compete with my DSLR - it is a competent point and shoot with an unrivalled zoom (30X) which allows my wife to take half decent photos of Birds and carry her Nikon ED50 scope. It is far more convenient than digiscoping and we seem to have achieved a better result with the HS10 in one weekend than we ever managed wit hour digiscoping effirts!

If you are primarily a birdwatcher who likes to take a reasonable photo for a record shot, the HS10 could be for you. If you are a photographer who likes to go birdwatching go for a DSLR.

As for the Panasonic comparisons, I did look closely at the Panny 18X model but did not want the 'aggro' of having to mess about adding Teleconverters to get the extra focal length. I had also read that the panasonic suffered from 'noise'.

At the end of the day I wanted a lightweight superzoom camera that had the ability to shoot in RAW. The HS 10 was the only one that ticked all the boxes for me. Of course, your boxes may well be different!

Chris

 

[RJM]

I can say if already didn't have a Canon SX1 (also with no noise control settings) and an investment in accessories I would be very keen on this Fuji. Some insist on micromanaging their camera output but I think the folks at FUJI know how to do this better I could ever hope to. Sensor noise control is generally a GOOD THING as long as the camera is smart about it.

I find the feature set quite compelling as a travel camera, not just for bird portraits. The manual zoom lens is AWESOME and should not be underestimated for perfectly framing the shot. The only deal-killing quirk in my tests seems to be the screen/EVF going dark as it writes (quite slowly) to memory. If these can be mitigated by proper menu settings without sacrificing functionality then it will be on my short list. Heck I still might get it as the price in Japan has already dropped under US$400!

Rick

 

[Baron Birder]

There is a great deal of user info on this camera on

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1012 - the Fuji discussion forum. Highlighting a number of issue not least buffering speeds, battery isssues etc.

Worth a read. I was thinking of replacing my FZ30 plus Oly TCon 1.7 but not sure at all having read those comments