Introduction

Ease of Use

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, seems to be the mantra behind the external design of the new Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR, which looks almost identical to the HS10 model that it replaces. Therefore a lot of the comments that we made about that model apply equally to the HS20, which looks, feels and handles very much like a mid-range DSLR. Designed as a do-it-all, all-in-one solution for the serious photo enthusiast, the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR is more than weighty and well built enough to withstand a few glancing knocks in the heat of the action. The moulded curves of the body and matt black finish deliver a purposeful look that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is practical, with nice chunky controls, an ergonomic control layout that allows both quick and easy access to functions, and a deep hand-grip with a well-thought-out indentation into which a middle finger slots comfortably. This is a camera for which you will very much need to use both hands at once.

At the heart of the HS20 EXR is the same frankly incredible non-interchangeable 30x zoom lens as on the HS10, complete with manual zoom and focus rings, just like on a DSLR lens. This incredibly versatile lens offers a focal range starting at an ultra-wide 24mm and finishing at an ultra-telephoto 720mm, which, as Fujifilm cannily point out, would take at least two super-zoom DSLR lenses to offer similar reach. Throw in the 1cm Super Macro Mode and impressive maximum apertures of a bright f/2.8 at 24mm wide-angle to a slightly brighter f5.6 at 720mm telephoto, and it's clear that the HS20 EXR is perfectly suited for any subject that you can think of, near or far.

To help avoid blur resulting from camera shake when shooting in low light or hand-holding the camera at the telephoto extremity of the zoom, Fujifilm have added a 'belt and braces' solution of high ISO sensitivity, stretching up to ISO 12800 at full resolution (JPEG only), a built-in mechanical stabilizer with Continuous or Shooting Only modes, and digital image stabilisation too if required. Activated via the IS Mode menu option, you can set the system to Continuous, Shooting Only, either mode with the addition of digital stabilisation, or Off. Note that the camera will only automatically adjust the ISO speed when using the Auto shooting mode - in the other modes the ISO speed that you select will always be used, so only the mechanical CCD-shift part of the system is used.

Front	Rear

Unlike some rivals, the full 30x zoom range also be accessed in the Motion JPEG format movie mode, with the HS20 EXR offering full 1920x1080 pixel footage at 30 frames per second with constantly adjusting auto exposure and focus with stereo sound. There are still few digital compacts that offer 1080p video recording, so the HS20 EXR is a definite camera to consider if movies are your thing. It can record video clips up to 29 minutes long for the 1920x1080 and 1280x720 pixel formats, with longer times available for VGA and SVGA modes. The dedicated Movie button on the rear makes it quick and easy to shoot a movie without missing the start of the action, and there's a mini-HDMI port for connection to a HDTV (cable not supplied). You can select one of the Film Simulation modes to give your footage a more creative look, and there's the option to take a still photo at any time during movie recording.

In addition to these "normal" movie modes, the HS20 EXR also offers several high-speed modes, a feature that was first pioneered by Casio. There are three different speeds on offer - 320, 160 and 80fps, with the file size varying from 320x112 to 640x400 pixels respectively. This slow-motion effect is initially very appealing and sure to impress your friends, but there are some drawbacks to be aware of. Sound isn't recorded at all, horizontal bands can appear as the lighting fluctuates, and the actual sizes of the recorded movies are pretty small.

From the front the Fujifilm HS20 EXR looks like a serious bit of kit. The large optically stabilised zoom lens dominates proceedings, with a push-on lens cap and retaining strap provided in the box. Above the lens and extending out across the lens barrel, which boasts a textured surround allowing you to get a good firm grip and achieve a smooth, steady zooming action, is an attractively sloping ridge that conceals the pop up flash (when not in use), which is activated via a dedicated button positioned on the right. Still viewing the HS20 EXR from the front, the stereo sound speakers are positioned one on either side of the lens barrel, with a familiar dual purpose AF-assist illuminator and self-timer lamp to the left. Above the pop-up flash is another DSLR-like touch - a hotshoe for additional illumination via an optional external flashgun (EF-42 and EF-20 models).

Looking down on top of the camera, viewed from the rear, there's a clearly labeled and logically laid out control set, with a chunky, ridged shooting mode dial which is reminiscent of those found on, yes you've guessed it, DSLR cameras. Ranged around the dial, which turns with just the right amount of resistance for it to lock firmly into place at each setting, are the expected shooting options, such as full auto, program, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual modes, along with a customizable mode via which favoured shooting settings can be saved for rapid access, plus two scene position modes (SP1 and SP2) pre-optimised for common subjects.

Pop-up Flash	Top

In addition, there are several more shooting modes that are particularly noteworthy. First up is the EXR Auto mode (one of the four EXR modes), which is an 'auto everything' scene recognition mode that's the equivalent of Panasonic's Intelligent Auto mode. Although far from infallible - if you're not paying close attention and it's presented with a busy scene it will call up landscape when macro is needed and vice versa – it instantly makes the HS20 EXR more beginner friendly, instantly recognising 10 basic scenes and then applying one of the three other EXR modes too.

Fujifilm's EXR sensor can be utilized in one of three ways by the photographer. There's a choice between shooting at full 16 megapixel resolution in High Resolution (HR) mode, or an 8 megapixel image in the Low Noise (SN) mode for shooting without flash in low light conditions, or the Dynamic Range (DR) mode to achieve an optimal balance between shadows and highlights. The latter offers five strengths ranging from 100-1600%. If you can't decide which is best for a chosen scene or subject, then just leave the camera on the scene-detecting EXR Automatic Mode and let it choose for itself.

Next is the rather misleadingly named Advanced mode, which actually has two options that are well suited to all experience levels. The Pro Low-light mode uses multi-bracketing technology, taking a series of four high sensitivity/low-noise shots in quick succession and combining them into an image with less noise than the single exposures. You can see examples of this shooting mode on the Image Quality page. The Pro Focus mode makes it easier to achieve a blurred background, perfect for portraits where compact digicams traditionally struggle, with three strengths of blurring on offer.

The final shooting mode is the Panorama option, clearly inspired by Sony's popular Sweep Panorama function. This lets you capture a 120, 180 or 360 degree panoramic image very easily without the use of a tripod. All you need to decide is whether you would like to start from left or right, top or bottom, then press and hold down the shutter release while doing a "sweep" with the camera in hand. Exposure compensation is available before you start the sweep, with the exposure fixed once you depress the shutter button. After you are done with the sweeping, the camera does all the processing required, and presents you with a finished panoramic image.

Front	Tilting LCD Screen

Although undoubtedly fun, there are a few catches. The final panorama is of relatively low resolution, and if you do the sweeping too slowly, or you let go of the shutter release button too early, the panorama will be truncated. If the exposure varies throughout the scene, then some areas will be over or under exposed, depending upon the exposure value that was chosen as the panorama was started. Finally, people and indeed anything that moves in the frame are recorded as several ghost outlines, which means that you can really only record static, empty scenes, something that Sony have solved in the latest iteration of their Sweep Panorama feature.

To the right of the shooting mode dial is a smaller command dial with a positive clicking action which is used for scrolling through features and captured images, and will feel immediately intuitive to anyone who has handled a DSLR before. The same dial is also used to change the aperture and shutter speed when using the more advanced shooting modes. In the Manual mode, you hold the Exposure Compensation button down with your forefinger and give the dial a flick with your thumb to change the aperture, not as intuitive as having two separate command dials but perhaps understandable given the HS20's target audience. Otherwise the exposure compensation button works largely as you'd expect, with a visual slider graph on screen accompanied by a live histogram.

Next to the EV button is the rather innocent-looking Continuous Shooting button, which accesses another of the HS20 EXR's mouth-watering features. Pressing this button brings up four options - Off, Top 4, Best Frame Capture and three different kinds of bracketing (exposure, film simulation mode and dynamic range). Choosing Top 4 allows you to take 8 full-resolution photos at 8 frames per second, which is faster than most compact cameras and indeed most DSLRs too. The only fly in the ointment are that only 4 out of the 8 are actually saved to the memory card. Choosing Best Frame Capture shoots at 11fps at 8 megapixel resolution from the moment that you focus and then saves up to 16 images including pre-recorded frames. Once the burst is completed, it takes over fifteen seconds for the camera to clear the buffer, during which you cannot take another picture. There is also another continuous shooting speeds where the Fujifilm HS20 EXR shoots at a faster speed 11fps at at 4 megapixel resolution for up to 32 frames.

Forward of these two controls is the main shutter release button encircled by the on/off power switch. Flick this to On, and the rear LCD or electronic viewfinder – depending on which one you previously had selected – blinks into life, a process taking around two seconds, which for once is not quite as good as most DSLRs. Still, the Fujifilm FinePix S100FS is very fast to determine focus and exposure with a half press of the shutter button, taking less than 0.20 seconds to lock onto the subject. Although JPEGs are quickly committed to memory in single-shot mode with only the briefest pause between each one, unfortunately there's a very noticeable 5 second delay between the capture of one RAW file and the next during which you can't take another picture, which rather slows down the shooting experience unless you stick to the JPEG format. JPEG or RAW images are committed to SD / SDHC / SDXC cards, although there's no card supplied out of the box, with just the 25MB internal capacity to fall back on.

Moving to the rear of the HS20 EXR, your attention is immediately drawn to the large 3-inch monitor, which offers an improved 100% scene coverage and a better resolution of 460K dots. The HS20 EXR's LCD screen can be moved 90° upwards and 45° downwards to get your shot or aid visibility, but unlike some other cameras it can't be pivoted left nor right, or indeed turned so the screen is protected face-into the body when not in use. While some may debate whether an adjustable LCD is an essential feature or a sales gimmick, once you get used to using one it's something you find yourself missing when it's not there, proving particularly useful when holding the camera above your head or as a waist-level finder for more candid shots.

Memory Card Slot	Battery Compartment

To the right of the LCD is a small button for swapping the display between monitor and the 200k-dot resolution electronic viewfinder with 97% scene coverage and surrounding eyecup. The EVF also has its own dioptric correction wheel to its immediate left, which is far less stiff and physically larger than found on competing models, meaning that for the myopic adjustment can be made in a faction of a second. The viewfinder display is itself large, bright and clear, though the temptation to predominantly utilise the more flexible LCD below is almost overwhelming. A welcome addition comes in the form of a sensor which automatically switches between the EVF and viewfinder when you hold the camera up to eye-level, speeding up the transfer from using the LCD to taking a shot through the EVF. Note that his feature can be turned off if you find it annoying.

To the left of the LCD screen is a vertical column of five small buttons which provide direct access to most of the HS20 EXR's key controls, once again mimicking the control layout of several entry-level DSLR cameras. Starting from the top, there are buttons for choosing the ISO speed, metering (multi pattern, spot or average), AF mode (center, multi, area or tracking), AF type (continuous, single shot or manual), and the White Balance. All five buttons also perform actions during image playback, denoted by the blue symbols, resulting in a logical system that provides quick and easy access to most of the camera's key functions.

To the right of the screen is the previously mentioned one-touch movie record button and a self-explanatory AE/AF lock button. Below is a familiar four-way controller with a dual-purpose menu/OK button at its centre. Ranged at north, south, east and west around this control are variously, a means of toggling RAW mode on and off (doubling up as a file deletion button when in playback mode), the various flash modes, the self timer options, and shifting focus from infinity to either macro or super macro.

Press the Menu button in shooting mode and you get a comprehensive choice of options from two main folders., Shooting and Set-Up, with up to 6 screens containing 6 icons per screen. Most of the options are the "set once and forget" kind, so you won't have to dip into the menu system too often. Below the navigation pad is a dual-purpose control marked Display/Back that switches between the various LCD modes and also allows you to retrace your steps at any point. Completing the rear of the HS20 EXR is a self-explanatory playback button for quickly viewing captured images.

The right hand flank of the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR features a flip-open compartment for the SD / SDHC / SDXC card slot, while the left has a rubber flap hiding the HS20 EXR's mini-HDMI port and the regular USB / AV out sockets, plus the camera's built-in speaker. The base of the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR features a screw thread for a tripod, sadly made of plastic and not in line with the lens barrel, and a sliding door hiding the compartment for the four AA batteries stored within the handgrip. Battery life varies from poor with the supplied alkaline batteries to very good with a decent set of Ni-Mh rechargeables, obtaining over 350 shots on one charge (down from 500 on the HS10). There are metal loops either side of the body for attaching the provided strap.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 16 megapixel JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.5Mb.

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR produced images of good quality during the review period. It handled noise fairly well, with a little noise appearing at the relatively slow speed of ISO 200 and then becoming progressively worse at the faster settings of ISO 400 and 800, along with a smearing of fine detail. The fastest full-resolution settings of ISO 1600 and 3200 suffer from an even greater loss of detail and colour saturation. The headling-grabbing settings of ISO 6400 and 12800 are both actually shot at a reduced resolution (medium and small respectively) and they're noisy too. Chromatic aberrations were well controlled, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 16 megapixel images were just a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera sharpening level.

Macro performance is excellent, allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject when the lens is set to wide-angle. Commendably barrel distortion is well controlled even at the 24mm focal length. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure, although there is noticeable vignetting at 24mm. The anti-shake system works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. The maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds allows the cameras to capture enough light for most after-dark situations.

The Pro Low-Light scene mode produces better image clarity at high ISO levels at the expense of a loss of fine detail, while the Pro Focus mode effectively throws the background out of focus for portraits. The Sweep Panorama mode works largely as advertised, making it simple to take hand-held low-light and wide-vista shots, although there is a clear ghosting effect around any moving subjects. The EXR modes offer a choice between shooting at full 16 megapixel resolution in High Resolution (HR) mode, or an 8 megapixel image in the Low Noise (SN) mode for shooting without flash in low light conditions, or the Dynamic Range (DR) mode to achieve an optimal balance between shadows and highlights.

Noise

There are 8 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

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)

Focal Range

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR's 30x zoom lens provides a focal length of 24-720mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

24mm	720mm

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)

File Quality

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR 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.

16M Fine (5.30Mb) (100% Crop)	16M Normal (3.81Mb) (100% Crop)
16M RAW (24.2Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review. Just a little purple fringing was present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR 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 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 HS20 EXR are Auto, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, and any of those modes combined with Red-eye Reduction. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (720mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (720mm)

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 HS20 EXR's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds, which is great 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)

Anti Shake

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. 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. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/6th / 24mm
1/8th / 720mm

Panorama Mode

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR allows you to take panoramic images very easily by 'sweeping' with the camera while keeping the shutter release depressed. The camera does all the processing and stitching, and there are three views available. The main problems are that the resulting image is of fairly low resolution - 1080 pixels high and 5760 pixels wide for the 360 degree image - moving objects are recorded as "ghost" images, and different lighting sources cause obvious vertical streaks to appear.

120 Degrees

Full-size Image

180 Degrees

Full-size Image

360 Degrees

Full-size Image

EXR Modes

Fujifilm's EXR sensor can be utilized in one of three ways by the photographer. There's a choice between shooting at full 16 megapixel resolution in High Resolution (HR) mode, or an 8 megapixel image in the Low Noise (SN) mode for shooting without flash in low light conditions, or the Dynamic Range (DR) mode to achieve an optimal balance between shadows and highlights. The latter offers five strengths ranging from 100-1600%. If you can't decide which is best for a chosen scene or subject, then just leave the camera on the scene-detecting EXR Automatic Mode and let it choose for itself.

Resolution Priority	Resolution Priority (100% Crop)
High ISO & Low Noise	High ISO & Low Noise (100% Crop)
D-Range Priority - 100%	D-Range Priority - 200%
D-Range Priority - 400%	D-Range Priority - 800%
D-Range Priority - 1600%

Pro Focus

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR's Pro Focus mode makes it easier to achieve a blurred background, perfect for portraits where compact digicams traditionally struggle, with three strengths of blurring on offer.

Pro Focus 1	Pro Focus 1 (100% Crop)
Pro Focus 2	Pro Focus 2 (100% Crop)
Pro Focus 3	Pro Focus 3 (100% Crop)

Pro Low-Light

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR's Pro Low-Light scene mode produces better image clarity at high ISO levels, with the camera automatically 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. The main drawback is a noticeable softening of fine detail.

Pro Low-Light Off	Pro Low-Light On
Pro Low-Light Off	Pro Low-Light On

Film Simulation Modes

The Fujifilm Finepix HS20 EXR offers 5 different film simulation modes to help repliatce the look of your favourite film stock from the past.

Provia / Standard	Velvia / Vivid
Astia / Soft	Black & White
Sepia

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Fujifilm RAW (RAF) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Pop-up Flash

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / EXR Mode

Rear of the Camera / Advanced Mode

Rear of the Camera / Panorama Mode

Rear of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR builds on the success of the original HS10 predominantly by using a new 16 megapixel EXR sensor, which expands the ISO range up to 12,800, maintains a fast continuous shooting speed and slow-motion movies, and adds the useful EXR modes which improve your images in certain situations. It's not all good news, however, as the 16 megapixel sensor also results in more noise and loss of fine detail than on the 10 megapixel HS10, first appearing at the slow speed of ISO 200 and becoming all too obvious at ISO 400. The HS20 EXR also suffers from the same slow RAW processing speeds and high price tag that adversely affected its predecessor.

As the HS20 is so similar to last year's HS10, it offers the same main benefit of being a real all-in-one alternative to a DSLR. with no need to buy or change lenses thanks to the 30x lens, which is remarkably distortion-free and admirably fast at either end. There's no need to buy or change lenses thanks to the 30x lens, which is remarkably distortion-free and admirably fast at either end. The manual zoom and focus rings further reinforce that DSLR feeling, as do the external flash hotshoe, command dials, tilting LCD screen, full range of manual shooting modes and even RAW format support. Full 1080p movie recording with stereo sound is the icing on the cake, making the HS20 a viable replacement for your video camera too.

There are a couple of areas where the Fujifilm HS20 just can't compete with a DSLR, though, most notably the pedestrian processing speeds for RAW files and the poorer image quality once you get above ISO 200. Having to wait more than 5 seconds between every RAW image quickly becomes annoying, despite the headline-grabbing 8fps burst mode, and noise quickly rears its ugly head at ISO 400, becoming progressively worse throughout the rest of the ISO range. The average quality electronic viewfinder is also no match for even the cheapest optical viewfinder on a DSLR. To be fair most other super-zoom compacts don't do well in these areas, so as long as you don't expect the HS20 to offer DSLR-like quality and performance, you won't be disappointed.

The final bugbear is price. Although slightly cheaper in the UK than the HS10 on launch, £399 / $499 still feels like a lot to pay for a compact camera. Again it makes less or more sense depending upon what you're comparing it to. Taken as a super-zoom, the HS20 is one of the most expensive models on the market, but also one of the most capable in terms of features. As a DSLR alternative, it clearly makes a lot of economic sense if you want a similar handling experience but don't mind a significant drop in image quality or responsiveness.

We really liked last year's HS10, but can't shake off the feeling that this year's upgrade represents a step backwards rather than forwards, principally because of the 16 megapixel sensor and the resulting drop in image quality. The Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR is still a good camera, with a long list of stand-out features and a logical, well-thought-out interface, but ultimately the photos that it produces just aren't as good as the model that it has replaced.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	3.5
Value for money	3.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR from around the web.

Specifications

Your Comments