Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR Review
Introduction
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR is a new bridge super-zoom digital compact camera. Looking and handling like a DSLR, the Fujifilm HS50EXR boasts a 42x zoom lens which covers a 35mm equivalent focal range of 24-1000mm and features mechanical image stabilisation and twist-barrel manual zoom and focusing controls. Other highlights of the HS50 EXR include a 16 megapixel ½-inch EXR Back Side Illuminated CMOS sensor, a 3-inch vari-angle 920k-dot LCD monitor, 920k-dot electronic viewfinder with eye-sensor for automatic switching, and full 1080p HD movie recording at up to 60fps with stereo sound. The biggest difference over the previous HS30EXR model is the inclusion of Phase Detection pixels on the sensor to achieve an incredibly short autofocus lag of just 0.05 second in ideal conditions. In addition there's an ISO range of 100-12800, High Speed movie capture at 480 fps, continuous shooting at 11fps, Focus Peak Highlight function, 500 shot battery life, a customisable Function button, full manual controls and support for the RAW file format. The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR is available now for £469.99 / $549.95 in the UK / US respectively.
Ease of Use
In terms of its external design the new Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR looks almost identical to the HS30EXR model that it replaces. Therefore a lot of the comments that we made about that model apply equally to the HS50, 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 HS50EXR 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 new rubberized 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.
At the heart of the HS50EXR is a new, incredible non-interchangeable 42x zoom lens, up from 30x on the HS30EXR, 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 1000mm, 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 1000mm telephoto, and it's clear that the HS50EXR 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 12,800 at full resolution (Small 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 sensor-shift part of the system is used.
The full 42x zoom range also be accessed in the Motion JPEG format movie mode, with the HS50EXR offering full 1920x1080 pixel footage at up to 60 frames per second with constantly adjusting auto exposure and auto-focus with stereo sound. You can also manually focus during movie shooting. 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 or Advanced Filter 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.
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| Front | Rear |
In addition to these "normal" movie modes, the HS50EXR also offers several high-speed modes. There are three different speeds on offer - 480, 240 and 120fps, with the file size varying from 320x112 to 640x480 pixels. 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 HS50EXR looks like a serious bit of kit. The large optically stabilised zoom lens dominates proceedings, with a push-on lens cap, retaining strap and petal-shaped lens hood 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 a 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 HS50EXR 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.
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 HS50EXR more beginner friendly, instantly recognising 10 basic scenes and then applying one of the three other EXR modes too.
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| Side | Tilting LCD Screen |
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 four options that are well suited to all experience levels. The first shooting mode is the new Advanced Filter, which as the name suggests houses six artistic filters that can be applied to your photos as you take them. The options are Toy Camera, Miniature, Pop Color, High-Key, Dynamic Tone and Partial Color, so nothing that we haven't seen before on other competing models.
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 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. In the Multiple Exposure advanced mode the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR can combine two seperate images into one. You can see examples of all four Advanced shooting modes on the Image Quality page.
The final shooting mode on the top dial 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.
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.
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| Front | Top |
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 HS50'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 HS50EXR's mouth-watering features. Pressing this button brings up six options - Still, Continuous, Best Frame Capture and three different kinds of bracketing (exposure, film simulation mode and dynamic range). Choosing Continuous accesses four further options - SH/16fps, H/11fps, M/6fps and L/fps. The SH option shoots at 16fps for 13 frames, but only at the Medium image size. The H option shoots at 11fps at full resolution, but only for 5 frames, while the M and L options shoot at 6fps and 3fps, again only for a maximum of 5 full resolution frames. Choosing one of the Best Frame Capture modes shoots at 16/11/6/3fps at full resolution from the moment that you focus and then saves up to 7 images including pre-recorded frames. Once the burst is completed, it takes just over two seconds for the camera to clear the buffer, during which you cannot take another picture.
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 half a second, as good as most DSLRs and a big improvement on the HS30EXR. The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR is even quicker to determine focus and exposure with a half press of the shutter button than it's already quick predecessor, taking a mere 0.05 seconds to lock onto the subject in ideal lighting conditions thanks to its ultra-fast hybrid AF system which has both a conventional contrast-detection system and built-in Phase Detection pixels. If you mostly use auto-focus rather than manual then this one improvement alone is reason to upgrade to (or indeed buy) the HS50EXR. Both JPEGs and RAW files are quickly committed to SD / SDHC / SDXC memory in single-shot mode with only the briefest pause between each one, another big speed improvement, although there's no card supplied out of the box, with just the 25MB internal capacity to fall back on.
Manual focusing is activated by setting the new focusing switch on the side of the camera to Manual and using the focusing ring to set the distance, with the LCD display automatically zooming in on the subject to help you judge the sharpness. There's a handy distance scale along the bottom of the LCD screen with a white bar indicating the the focusing distance. The HS50EXR also offers a Focus Peak Highlight function, which displays a white line around the subject when it's in focus. This addition makes manual focusing on the HS50 much more of a pleasure than a chore.
Moving to the rear of the HS50EXR, your attention is immediately drawn to the large 3-inch monitor, which offers 100% scene coverage and a higher resolution of 920K dots. The HS50EXR's LCD screen is now a vari-angle model that can be flipped-out to the side and tilted through 270 degrees, giving you a lot of flexibility in composing your shots, a big improvement on the more limited movement offered by the HS30EXR's screen.
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| Memory Card Slot | Battery Compartment |
New to the HS50EXR is the Q button. This calls up the very handy Quick View screen, a feature borrowed from the X-E1 and X-Pro1 mirrorless cameras, and also newly incorporated on the X100S and X20. This provides quick access to lots of frequently used shooting settings including the ISO speed, White Balance, File Size and File Quality, with the 4-way controller and command dial used to quickly change them. An unfortunate consequence of the new flip-out LCD screen is the removal of the handy vertical column of five small buttons on the HS30EXR, which have essentially been replaced by the Quick menu.
Alos above the LCD is a small button for swapping the display between monitor and the 920k-dot resolution electronic viewfinder with 100% 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.
Above the screen again is the previously mentioned one-touch movie record button, and to the left a self-explanatory AE/AF lock button. Below that 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, the customisable Function button which can be set to one of 10 key options (also 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 HS50EXR is a self-explanatory playback button for quickly viewing captured images.
The right hand flank of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR features a flip-open compartment for the SD / SDHC / SDXC card slot, again usefully mimicking a DSLR, while the left has a rubber flap hiding the HS50EXR's mini-HDMI port and the regular USB / AV out sockets. New to the HS50EXR is a socket for an external microphone, again protected by a rubber flap, a handy switch for setting the focus mode (Manual, Continuous, Single), and the built-in microphone.
The base of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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 Lithium-ion battery. At around 500 shots battery life is very respectable thanks to the adoption of a Lithium-ion rechargeable battery. There are metal eyelets on either side of the body for attaching the provided shoulder 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 6Mb.
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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 400 and then becoming progressively worse at the faster setting of ISO 800. The fastest full-resolution settings of ISO 1600 and 3200 suffer from a loss of fine detail and colour saturation, while the headline-grabbing settings of ISO 6400 and 12800 are both actually shot at a reduced resolution (medium and small respectively) and they're very 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. The new Advanced Filters provide some creative control over your JPEGs.
Noise
There are 8 ISO settings available on the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
| JPEG | RAW |
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ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 6400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 12800 (100% Crop) |
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Focal Range
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR's 42x zoom lens provides a focal length of 24-1000mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.
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24mm |
1000mm |
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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.
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Original (100% Crop) |
Sharpened (100% Crop) |
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File Quality
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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 (5.18Mb) (100% Crop) | 16M Normal (3.23Mb) (100% Crop) |
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| 16M RAW (24.5Mb) (100% Crop) | |
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Chromatic Aberrations
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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.
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Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop) |
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Macro
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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.
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Macro |
Macro (100% Crop) |
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Flash
The flash settings on the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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.
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Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm) |
Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm) |
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Flash Off - Telephoto (1000mm) |
Flash On - Telephoto (1000mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots. Neither the Auto or Red-eye reduction mode caused any amount of red-eye.
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Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Red Eye Reduction |
Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR'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.
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Night |
Night (100% Crop) |
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Anti Shake
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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.
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Shutter Speed / Focal Length |
Anti Shake Off (100% Crop) |
Anti Shake On (100% Crop) |
| 1/15th / 24mm | |
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| 1/13th / 1000mm | |
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Intelligent Digital Zoom
The Intelligent Digital Zoom function can digitally boost the optical 50x zoom up to 100x, the equivalent of a 2000mm focal length.
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42x |
42x (100% Crop) |
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59x |
59x (100% Crop) |
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84x |
84x (100% Crop) |
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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.
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Resolution Priority |
Resolution Priority (100% Crop) |
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D-Range Priority - 100% |
D-Range Priority - 200% |
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D-Range Priority - 1600% |
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Pro Focus 2 |
Pro Focus 2 (100% Crop) |
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Pro Focus 3 |
Pro Focus 3 (100% Crop) |
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Multiple Exposure
In the Multiple Exposure advanced mode the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR can combine two seperate images into one, as shown in the example below.
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Film Simulation Modes
The Fujifilm Finepix HS50EXR offers 5 different film simulation modes to help replicate the look of your favourite film stock from the past.
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Provia / Standard |
Velvia / Vivid |
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Astia / Soft |
Black & White |
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Sepia |
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Panorama Mode
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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 |
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| 180 Degrees |
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| 360 Degrees |
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Sample Images
This is a selection of sample images from the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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.
1/40s · f/2.8 · ISO 100
4.4mm
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1/75s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
4.4mm
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1/150s · f/2.8 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/300s · f/2.8 · ISO 800
4.4mm
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1/600s · f/2.8 · ISO 1600
4.4mm
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1/1200s · f/2.8 · ISO 3200
4.4mm
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1/1200s · f/4 · ISO 6400
4.4mm
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1/2400s · f/4 · ISO 12800
4.4mm
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1/150s · f/5.6 · ISO 800
185mm
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1/900s · f/3.6 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/500s · f/3.6 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/120s · f/3.6 · ISO 100
9.7mm
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1/280s · f/4 · ISO 200
12.9mm
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1/58s · f/5 · ISO 100
38.1mm
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1/320s · f/4.5 · ISO 200
24.2mm
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1/85s · f/5 · ISO 100
39.3mm
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1/105s · f/5 · ISO 100
85.5mm
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1/400s · f/5 · ISO 200
40.8mm
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1/210s · f/4.5 · ISO 200
20.1mm
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1/105s · f/5 · ISO 200
73.7mm
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1/180s · f/4 · ISO 100
15.5mm
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1/320s · f/4.5 · ISO 100
19mm
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1/160s · f/5.6 · ISO 200
71mm
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1/1500s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
4.4mm
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1/75s · f/2.8 · ISO 100
4.4mm
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1/110s · f/8 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/420s · f/5 · ISO 400
45.6mm
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1/100s · f/8 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/180s · f/8 · ISO 100
50.9mm
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1/120s · f/8 · ISO 800
30.3mm
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1/52s · f/8 · ISO 200
28mm
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1/20s · f/5 · ISO 400
31.5mm
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1/1400s · f/4.5 · ISO 200
20.1mm
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1/350s · f/4.5 · ISO 200
29.2mm
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1/220s · f/5.6 · ISO 100
55mm
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1/800s · f/4 · ISO 100
13.3mm
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1/250s · f/5.6 · ISO 100
148mm
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1/250s · f/5.6 · ISO 100
10.7mm
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1/340s · f/5.6 · ISO 100
4.4mm
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1/240s · f/5.6 · ISO 100
45.6mm
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1/200s · f/5.6 · ISO 100
45.6mm
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1/210s · f/5.6 · ISO 100
20.1mm
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1/2500s · f/5.6 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/1600s · f/5.6 · ISO 400
24.2mm
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1/30s · f/2.8 · ISO 160
4.4mm
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1/15s · f/2.8 · ISO 2500
4.4mm
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1/15s · f/2.8 · ISO 500
4.4mm
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1/30s · f/2.8 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/34s · f/2.8 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/200s · f/5 · ISO 400
39.3mm
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1/350s · f/3.6 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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Sample RAW Images
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 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).
1/40s · f/2.8 · ISO 100
4.4mm
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1/75s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
4.4mm
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1/150s · f/2.8 · ISO 400
4.4mm
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1/300s · f/2.8 · ISO 800
4.4mm
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1/600s · f/2.8 · ISO 1600
4.4mm
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1/1200s · f/2.8 · ISO 3200
4.4mm
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Sample Movie & Video
This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1280 pixels at 60 frames per second. Please note that this 30 second movie is 137Mb in size.
Product Images
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Front of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Front of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR / Pop-up Flash |
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Side of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR / Lens Hood Fitted |
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Side of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Side of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Side of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Side of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR / Image Displayed |
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Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR / Turned On |
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Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR / Main Menu |
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Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR / Function Menu |
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Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR / Tilting LCD Screen |
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Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR / Tilting LCD Screen |
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Top of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Bottom of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Side of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Side of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Front of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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Front of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR |
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| Memory Card Slot |
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| Battery Compartment |
Conclusion
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR improves on its already very capable predecessor in a number of key ways, principally incorporating even faster auto-focusing, continuous shooting and processing times, a more adaptable and higher-resolution vari-angle LCD screen, improved video, external microphone socket and an even longer 42x, 1000mm lens, making it one of the best super-zooms currently available. There's no built-in GPS, wi-fi connectivity or a touchscreen LCD though, and the price has gone up too, so it's also now one the more expensive models in its category.
As Fujifilm make a big play of in their marketing, the HS50EXR really is an all-in-one camera that will cope with virtually everything that you can throw at it, from macro photography to extreme close-ups of sports and nature. It also successfully mimicks the handling of a typical DSLR camera, with the obvious advantage of not having to carry several big, heavy and expensive lenses to achieve anywhere near the focal range that the HS50EXR offers out-of-the-box.
Obviously the relatively tiny 1/2 inch CMOS sensor can't rival an APS-C DSLR, but for many users it will provide more than good enough image quality, helped by RAW format support. The manual zoom and focus rings further reinforce that DSLR feeling, as do the external flash hotshoe, command dials, tilting LCD screen, complete range of manual shooting modes and full 1080p movie recording with stereo sound, making the HS50EXR a viable replacement for your video camera too.
£469 / $549 is undoubtedly a lot of money to pay for a compact camera with such a small image sensor, but if the image quality meets your requirements then the HS50EXR makes a compelling argument to be the only camera that you need. Super-zooms remain one of the few growth areas in the compact camera world, and its easy to see why when cameras as good as the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR are being released. Highly recommended!
| Ratings (out of 5) | |
|---|---|
| Design | 5 |
| Features | 4.5 |
| Ease-of-use | 4.5 |
| Image quality | 4 |
| Value for money | 4 |
Main Rivals
Listed below are some of the rivals of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR.
Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS super-zoom camera has an astonishing 50x lens with a massive focal range of 24-1200mm. The Canon SX50 HS also offers a 12 megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor, 2.8 inch vari-angle LCD screen, electronic viewfinder, full manual controls, RAW format support, 10fps burst shooting and full 1080p HD movies. Read our detailed Canon PowerShot SX50 HS review complete with full-size JPEG, RAW and video samples to discover if it's the only camera you'll ever need...
Nikon Coolpix P520
The Nikon Coolpix P520 is a brand new super-zoom camera with an incredible 42x zoom lens. The 18 megapixel Nikon P520 has a back illuminated 18 megapixel CMOS sensor, 3.2-inch 921K-dot vari-angle LCD screen, full 1080p high-definition movies with stereo sound, built-in GPS, an electronic viewfinder and 7fps burst shooting. Priced at £399.99 / $449.95, read our Nikon Coolpix P520 review to find out if that zoom lens is too big for its own good...
Olympus SP-820UZ
The Olympus SP-820UZ is a bridge compact camera that boasts a 40x zoom lens with an incredible focal range of 22.4-896mm. The 14 megapixel Olympus SP-820UZ also offers a 3 inch LCD screen, 1080p movie recording and a Backlight HDR mode. Read our in-depth Olympus SP-820UZ review to find out if this super-zoom is worth the £280 / $330 asking price...
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200
The Lumix DMC-FZ200 is Panasonic's premium super-zoom compact camera. Stand-out features of the FZ200 include a 24x zoom lens with a constant aperture of f/2.8 throughout the 25-600mm range, 1080p HD movies, a high-resolution LCD and EVF, fast auto-focusing, 12fps burst shooting and a 12 megapixel MOS image sensor. Read our expert Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 review now...
Pentax Optio X90
The Pentax Optio X90 is a brand new super-zoom compact camera featuring a 26x image-stabilized zoom lens with a focal range of 26-676mm. Successor to the X70 model, the X90 has a 12 megapixel sensor, 2.7 inch screen, full range of creative shooting modes and can record 720p HD movies. Retailing for £329.99 / $399.95, does the Pentax Optio X90 offer enough to match its super-zoom rivals? Gavin Stoker finds out in our Pentax Optio X90 review.
Samsung WB5000
The WB5000 / HZ25W is Samsung's first entry into the big boy world of all-in-one super-zoom cameras. Offering a 24x zoom lens with 26mm wide-angle setting, the WB5000 literally has most photographic subjects covered, for both 12 megapixel stills and 720p movies. Throw in a range of hand-holding smart modes for beginners and RAW format and Manual mode for advanced users, and Samsung could be onto a winner at their very first attempt. Read our expert Samsung WB5000 / HZ25W review to find out if Panasonic, Olympus et al have anything to fear...
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V is a new premium super-zoom compact camera. A 30x, 27-810mm lens, built-in GPS tracking, 1920x1080 50p Full HD video with stereo sound, an 18.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, high-resolution tilting 3-inch screen, manual shooting mode, 10fps continuous shooting, 3D photos, and SD memory card support are all present and correct. Read our expert Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V review to find out if it's the right super-zoom bridge camera for you.
Review Roundup
Reviews of the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR from around the web.
ephotozine.com »
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR features a 42x optical zoom lens equivalent to 24mm wide-angle zooming all the way to 1000mm at the telephoto end. A 16 megapixel EXR CMOS II sensor features hybrid auto focus, and optical image stabilisation is built in, as well as a 3inch vari-angle tilting screen.
Read the full review »
pcmag.com »
The Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR ($549.95 list)$489.00 at 42nd Street Photo is a big camera with an impressive zoom lens. It's styled like a D-SLR, complete with manual control over the zoom, and covers a staggering 24-1,000mm range. Additional features like a sharp EVF, vari-angle rear display, and a very sensible control layout make the 16-megapixel shooter an appealing choice for photographers in search of a camera that can capture wide landscapes and distant objects.
Read the full review »
pocket-lint.com »
Big zoom cameras are on a headstrong charge to cram as versatile a zoom range as possible into the latest models, as the Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR's 24-1000mm equivalent zoom is more than testament to. This 42x optical zoom may be the first time we've seen such a lens from Fujifilm, but it's not the first time we've seen such an extensive range in a bridge camera - the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS's 24-1200mm equivalent has already smashed that figure.
Read the full review »
Specifications
| Model | FinePix HS50EXR |
|---|---|
| Effective Pixels | 16.0 million pixels |
| Sensor type | 1/2-inch EXR CMOS II with primary colour filter |
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| Digital zoom | Intelligent digital zoom approx. 2.0x (up to approx. 84x, with 42x optical zoom) |
| Aperture | F2.8-F11 (Wide) F5.6-F11(Telephoto) 1/3EV step |
| Focus distance (from lens surface) |
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| Sensitivity | Auto, Equivalent to ISO 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 / 6400* / 12800* (Standard Output Sensitivity)
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| Exposure control | TTL 256-zone metering, Multi / Spot / Average |
| Exposure mode | Programmed AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual |
| Shooting modes |
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| Image stabilisation | Lens shift type |
| Exposure compensation | -2.0EV - +2.0EV 1/3EV step |
| Shutter speed | (Auto mode) 1/4sec. to 1/4000sec., (All other modes) 30sec. to 1/4000sec. (combined mechanical and electronic shutter) |
| Continuous shooting |
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| Auto bracketing | AE Bracketing : ±1/3EV, ±2/3EV, ±1EV Film Simulation Bracketing : PROVIA / STD, Velvia / VIVID, ASTIA / SOFT Dynamic Range Bracketing : 100% / 200% / 400% |
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| White balance | Automatic scene recognition
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| Self timer | Approx. 10sec. / 2sec. delay / Auto release |
| Flash | Auto flash (super i-flash) Effective range : (ISO AUTO)
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| Hot shoe | YES |
| Electronic viewfinder | 0.26-inch., approx. 920,000 dots, colour LCD viewfinder approx. 100% coverage |
| LCD monitor | 3.0-inch, approx. 920,000 dots, TFT colour LCD monitor, Vari-Angle, approx. 100% coverage |
| Movie recording | 1920 x 1080 pixels / 1280 x 720 pixels (60 frames/sec.) / 640 x 480 pixels (30 frames/sec.) with stereo sound
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| Photography functions | EXR mode, High Speed Movie (120 / 240 / 480 frames/sec.), Face Detection, Auto Red-eye removal, Advanced mode (Pro focus, Pro low light, Multiple exposure), Motion Panorama 360, Film simulation, Electronic level, Histogram display, Focus check, Focus peaking in Manual focus mode, Framing guideline, Frame No. memory, Best frame capture, Advanced Anti Blur, Date stamp, Scene recognition on movie recording (Auto / Macro / LAandscape / Night / Portrait / Backlit Portrait / Night Portrait), Advanced filter (Toy Camera / Miniature / Pop Colour / High-Key / Low-Key / Dynamic Tone / Partial Colour / Soft Focus), Microphone-level adjustment |
| Playback functions | Face Detection, Auto Red-eye removal, Multi-frame playback (with micro thumbnail), Protect, Crop, Resize, Slide show, Image rotate, histogram display, exposure warning, Photobook assist, image search, Favorites, Mark for upload, Panorama, Erase selected frames |
| Other functions | PictBridge, Exif Print, 35 Languages selection, Time difference, Silent mode |
| Terminal |
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| Power supply | Li-ion battery NP-W126 (included) |
| Dimensions | 134.9(W) x 101.3(H) x 145.9(D) mm / 5.3(W) x 4.0(H) x 5.7(D) in. |
| Weight | Approx. 808g / 28.5oz. (including battery and memory card) Approx. 758g / 26.7oz. (excluding battery and memory card) |
| Operating temperature | 0°C - 40°C |
| Operating humidity | 10% - 80% (no condensation) |
| Battery life | Approx. 500 frames (AUTO mode)
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| Accessories included | Li-ion battery NP-W126 Battery charger BC-W126 Shoulder strap USB cable Lens hood Lens cap and Lens cap cord CD-ROM Owner's manual |
| Optional accessories | Li-ion battery NP-W126 Battery charger BC-W126 Remote Release RR-80A Shoe Mount Flash EF-42 / EF-20 / EF-X20 Protector Filter PRF-58 Stereo microphone MIC-ST1 |
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