[hugh]

Fujifilm Canada announced this week its spring 2011 line-up of eleven digital cameras ranging in price from $90 CDN to $500 CDN. The new cameras will be available in Canada beginning in February.

Features found in all of the new cameras include: High Definition (HD) video, Tracking Auto Focus, Scene Recognition, Panorama Shooting Modes, YouTube/Facebook easy web upload, and Face Detection.

The flagship of the new line-up is the FinePix HS20EXR, a 16 Megapixel DSLR alternative which features a 30x Wide Angle Manual Zoom Fujinon and the latest Fuji EXR sensing technology. The HS20EXR also allows users to record 1080p videos as well as high speed movies up to 320 fps for capturing subjects super slow motion. Another notable feature is an eye sensor that automatically switches between the large 3” tilting LCD and the electronic viewfinder when taking pictures.

 

[hugh]

The HS20EXR will sell for $500.

 

[rfielder]

Given the problems that both Panasonic (FX100) and Canon (SX30) are having getting good quality out of their latest 14 megapixel camers, it will be interesting to see how these tiny 16 megapixel sensor cameras fare.

At least Fuji is putting a bit faster (F2.8) lens on their top of the line camera.

 

[hoodlum]

Those familiar with Fuji's EXR will know to run this camera in 8mp from the sensor instead of the 16mp mode. The HS20 sensor for a change has actually increased in size to 1/2" instead of 1/2.3" from the previous HS10, FZ100 and SX30. The larger sensor, 8mp EXR and BSI CMOS should provide much better results than what is currently available. The press release also mentions dual CPUs so we should see significant performance improvement as well.

Here's a list of some of the improvements over the HS10:

- 1/2" 16mp EXR BSI CMOS sensor
- TTL flash control along with 2 new flashguns
- now supports H.264 video format
- Lens hood now included
- EXR SN mode now supported in Video for much better low light result
- 460k 3" LCD with New redesigned menu that employs flash, vector fonts and graphics
- dual CPU processor
- 0.16s AF speed
-

The new processor was designed for the new X100 and the HS20EXR and F550EXR are getting the trickle down benefit of this. It looks like they have completely replaced the guts of the HS10.

 

[rfielder]

Those familiar with Fuji's EXR will know to run this camera in 8mp from the sensor instead of the 16mp mode. The HS20 sensor for a change has actually increased in size to 1/2" instead of 1/2.3" from the previous HS10, FZ100 and SX30.

That means the magnification factor of the lenses will change, if the sensor is a different size.

Has there been anything on this? What 35mm equivilant range does the lens now cover?

On an unrelated note - smaller sensors do not provide as good a final image as larger sensors. However, cameras with smaller sensors are a lot cheaper. Has anyone tried linking cost per megapixel to resolution, dynamic range, etc?

This is a valid concern - I could buy an Lumix FZ100 for $500 (example only, not accurate), a Sony A55 with lens for $900, or a Nikon D7000 with lens for $1500. Is there a way of measuring the increase in final image quality in a way that relates to the increase in cost? I sometimes think that paying more for a D7000 or similar camera gets you more, but maybe not 3x more.

Of course, such a measure would be highly effected by each person's requirements, etc, but it might be useful to put things into perspective.

 

[hoodlum]

I have not seem what the change in lens range is. We will know more once it has been released but the difference should be less than 10% (ie. slightly wider and slightly shorter).