Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5Mb.

The Fujifilm FinePix X10 produces images of very good quality. It recorded noise-free JPEG images at ISO 100 up to 800, with a little noise and slight colour desaturation at ISO 1600 and more visible noise at the fastest setting of ISO 3200 at full resolution, an excellent performance for a camera with such a small sensor. Even the reduced resolution setting of ISO 6400 is worth using, although the same can't be said about the range-topping ISO 12800. The RAW files were also excellent, with usable images throughout the entire range of ISO 100-3200, although they are noticeably soft.

The Fujifilm FinePix X10's 4x zoom lens handled chromatic aberrations very well, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations and at the edges of the frame. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds being long enough for most after-dark shots.

Macro performance is outstandinga, allowing you to focus as close as just 1cm away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the Fujifilm FinePix X10 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting.

The Dynamic Range settings subtly improve detail in the shadows and highlights, while the Film Simulation modes hark back to a bygone era. Motion panoramas are the icing on the proverbial cake, although they didn't work very well in mixed lighting conditions or with moving subjects in the frame.

Noise

There are 8 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm FinePix X10 for JPEGs, and 6 for RAW files. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting for both JPEG and RAW files.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera JPEG images are a little soft and ideally benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Fujifilm Finepix X10's 4x zoom lens provides a focal length of 28-112mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

28mm	112mm

File Quality

The Fujifilm Finepix X10 has 2 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

12M Fine (4.5Mb) (100% Crop)	12M Normal (2.95Mb) (100% Crop)
12M RAW (18.8Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Fujifilm FinePix X10 handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with llittle evidence of purple fringing that was only present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)	Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Fujifilm FinePix X10 offers a Super Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 1cm away from the camera. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Fujifilm FinePix X10 are Auto, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, Red-eye Reduction Auto, Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash and Red-eye Reduction & Slow Synchro. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (28mm)	Forced Flash - Wide Angle (28mm)
Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (112mm)	Forced Flash - Wide Angle (112mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Forced Flash setting or the Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash option caused any red-eye.

Forced Flash	Forced Flash (100% Crop)
Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash	Red-eye Reduction & Forced Flash (100% Crop)

Night Shot

The Fujifilm FinePix X10's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds in the Manual, Shutter-priority and Aperture-priority modes, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Image Stabilisation

Image Stabilisation is Fujifilm's name for anti-shake, which in the X10 works via a sensor-shift mechanism. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/6th / 28mm
1/8th sec / 112mm

EXR Mode

The Fujifilm FinePix X10 offers three EXR options. Resolution Priority (HR) mode uses all 12 megapixels to capture the highest resolution image. High ISO & Low Noise (SN) mode combines adjacent pixels to create larger photodiodes and improve low-light quality in the resulting 6 megapixel image. D-Range Priority (DR) mode simultaneously takes two images and then combines them to produce a 6 megapixel image with increased dynamic range. Here is an example which was shot using each EXR mode.

Resolution Priority (HR)	100% Crop
High ISO & Low Noise (SN)	100% Crop
D-Range Priority (DR)	100% Crop

Dynamic Range

The Fujifilm Finepix X10 has three dynamic range settings - 100% (on by default), 200%, and 400% - and an Auto setting if you want to let the camera take control. These settings gradually increase the amount of detail visible in the shadow and highlight areas, with the side-effect of more noise appearing in the image. Note that you can't actually turn this feature off.

100%	200%
400%

Pro Focus

The Fujifilm FinePix X10's Pro Focus scene mode creates images with a shallow depth of field, with the camera taking a rapid series of exposures at different focal points and aligning them to produce a single frame showing a sharply focused subject against a soft, out-of-focus background.

100%	200%

Pro Low-Light

The Fujifilm FinePix X10's Pro Low-Light scene mode produces better image clarity at high ISO levels, with the camera taking a series of four high sensitivity/low-noise shots in quick succession which are then combined together using in-camera processing into an image with less noise than the single exposures.

Pro Low-Light	Pro Low-Light (100% Crop)

Film Simulation

The Fujifilm Finepix X10 offers 8 different film simulation modes to help replicate the look of your favourite film stock from the past.

Provia / Standard	Velvia / Vivid
Astia / Soft	Monochrome
Monochrome + Yellow Filter	Monochrome + Red Filter
Monochrome + Green Filter	Sepia

Motion Panoramas

Just like Sony's Cybershot range, the Fujifilm Finepix X10 can create motion panoramas up to 360 degrees in length. Exposure is set on the first frame, which caused real problems for our indoor shot where different light sources caused large areas of vertical banding. The X10 performed much better outdoors, although watch out for moving subjects in the frame as the X10 won't compensate for this.

360 Degrees

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compact, 1080p, 12 megapixel, camera, 28mm, 4x zoom, zoom, f2.8, 7fps, 2.8 inch LCD, retro, 4x, digital, f2, EXR, x10, Fujifilm FinePix X10 Review, fujifilm x10 review, fujifilm x10, x10 review, Fujifilm FinePix X10