Fujifilm FinePix XP10 Review

4.0

June 25, 2010 | Mark Goldstein |

Buy a FinePix XP10 12.2 Megapixel Compact Camera - Silver (2.7" LCD - 5x Optical Zoom - 4000 x 3000 Image - 1280 x 720 Video - HD Movie Mode)

Lowest Price: £399.99

Buy a FinePix XP10 12.2 Megapixel Compact Camera - Silver (6.9 cm 2.7" LCD - 5x Optical Zoom - 4000 x 3000 Image - 1280 x 720 Video - HD Movie Mode)

Lowest Price: N/A

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 12 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.75Mb.

The Fujifilm FinePix XP10 produced images of average quality during the review period. This camera handled noise quite well, not becoming obvious until ISO 400 and then becoming progressively worse at the faster settings of ISO 800 and 1600. Chromatic aberrations were quite well controlled, with purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 12 megapixel images were slightly soft out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and ideally require further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop. Macro performance is below average, only allowing you to focus as close as 9cms away from the subject when the lens is set to wide-angle. Barrel distortion is clearly evident at the 36mm focal length, and the built-in flash is rather under-powered, although at least there was no sign of red-eye. The maximum shutter speed of 4 seconds is disappointing, as it doesn't allow the camera to capture enough light for many after-dark situations.

Noise

There are 5 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm FinePix XP10. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)


ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)


ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Fujifilm FinePix XP10's 5x zoom lens provides a focal length of 36-180mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

36mm	180mm

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 images are a little bit soft at the default sharpening setting, and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop.

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

Chromatic Aberrations

The Fujifilm FinePix XP10 handled chromatic aberrations fairly well during the review. Some purple fringing was 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 XP10 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 9cms away from the camera. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject in Macro mode (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 XP10 are Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, Red-eye Reduction & Slow Synchro. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (36mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (36mm)


Flash Off - Telephoto (180mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (180mm)

And here are some portrait shots. Neither the Auto or Red-eye reduction mode caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)


Red Eye Reduction	Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Fujifilm FinePix XP10's maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds, which is not great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 4 seconds at ISO 200.