Introduction

Ease of Use

The Fujifilm FinePix XP200 continues the lineage of tough, waterproof cameras from Fujifilm. It looks very much the same as its predecessors. It has a fat, bulky body with a lens sat in the top right corner. An array of lights and microphones surround it. The 5x optical zoom is internal, to ensure waterproofing. It's likely that it uses a sideways lens element that consists of a periscope type mirror directly behind the outer element. The sensor will either be to the side of the periscope mirror or at the bottom of the camera. A zoom lens element will then slide backwards and forwards (or up and down, depending on the location of the sensor) to operate the zoom.

Of course, for serious photographers, this can open up a proverbial can of worms leading to questions about the quality of the glass that makes up the mirror and whether it distorts or disperses light. Then there's the water tight glass protecting the front element. Does it use ED technology? Is it as good quality as the front element? The end should justify the means, of course and – to coin another analogy – the proof will most certainly be in the pudding.

Front	Rear

So the rest of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200's body looks to be exposed to the (not lens) elements with open buttons and LCD screen, not protected by sheets of plastic, like in the olden days. On the back, the screen covers most of the area with buttons squished to the right side. Interestingly, Fujifilm have opted not to use overly large buttons which means if you're using gloves in the cold or underwater, this could make changing modes or simply activating the flash more difficult.

For the XP200, Fujifilm have decided to go with a CMOS sensor over the traditional CCD. It's a type of sensor that's fuel efficient and also good with video. While the XP200 records in FullHD, it's only 1080i. There are two types of video interlaced (i) and progressive (p). Interlaced works by flashing alternate layers of pixels on to the screen twice every frame. It's this style of projection you can see if you film a computer screen and it flickers. The progressive style refreshes each pixel simultaneously. There's been arguments that progressive is smoother than interlaced but a lot of televisions still work by interlacing. That means that you have immediate compatibility. However, movement in the frame while interlacing is working causes a mismatch of lines and can ruin sharp video images. There's ways of editing this, but it takes a lot of patience, the right equipment and a lot of processing power.

Let's face it, you're unlikely to see the problem unless you're magnifying the video quality after running it through an editing suite and breaking it down frame by frame. So, to give you some good news, the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 runs video at 60fps (frames per second). Video normally runs at around 30fps (29.97 to be precise) and because you're doubling the amount of frames you want to squeeze into a second of filming, it takes twice as long to show it. Ergo, you have slow motion video in a camera that can go almost anywhere.

Front	Top

A lot of cameras are coming fitted with wi-fi at the moment. While it's being labelled as the newest gimmick, it can't really be a bad thing, can it? You have the opportunity to transmit your photographs online, via an app on your smart phone (reduces resolution to 3 megapixels), to your email account or to social media sites such as Facebook, Picasa or Flickr. You can also wirelessly transfer them to your computer using the PC Autosave software. That's pretty cool, because it means the memory of your camera is only limited to the amount of space you have on your computer. You can also upload images to your smart phone or tablet as well as view pictures that are on the camera by using your smart device.

As with all waterproof cameras, the Fujifilm FinePix XP200's build is very good. It's a sturdy camera and has a beefiness to it that comes with the extra padding. Selected areas are covered in rubber which not only looks and feels novel on a camera, but will also help if you drop it as well as gripping it underwater. To access the battery or memory card, you have to open the entire right side of the camera. It's operated via a wheel that has to be twisted while simultaneously pressing the button in the middle. Rubber seals lining the join prevent moisture seeping through. The twisting action prevents accidental opening and ruining the camera and battery in the wet. Although, the memory card would still be ok.

There's only the Main menu on the XP200. It has two tabs for Shooting and Set-up. The Shooting tab has options for the mode you want to take pictures in, ISO, white-balance as well as the resolution and compression. On top of that, you can also adjust the focusing modes and video resolution. The set-up menu accesses more core features such as language options, date & time, geotagging set-up and volume. The Set-up menu is also where you input the wireless settings. It's a nice, easy to use menu system, but then Fujifilm always have been. It's critical on a waterproof camera to have the icons easy to understand and clear enough to see through goggles. After all, you can't open the manual when scuba diving.

Memory Card Slot	Battery Compartment

Start up time from cold is pretty neat. We managed to get the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 on, focused and a picture recorded in just over 2 seconds. It normally takes an extra half a second. There are four continuous shooting modes (Low, Medium, High and Super High) along with three Final shot options. These are set in the Main menu, but to activate the continuous shooting mode, you have to press the button on the back next to the direct video record. Super high runs in small size and records 60fps. High runs at 9fps and will be ready for recording again after six seconds has passed. Using the High, Medium and Low settings will record at full resolution and the lower you go, the slower the frame rate is, but it records for a longer period of time.

Playback can be operated regardless of whether you have the camera switched on or not. Generally this can be an issue with having the lens stuck out, but not with the XP200. Images will be displayed full size with generic shooting information scattered around the frame. You can turn this information off if you wish. You can zoom in and check sharpness of the image by using the zoom button on the back. Press the menu button and you enter the Playback menu. Options to erase, edit, transfer wirelessly and search for pictures based on date, face, favourites, data or upload marker are all here. You can also create a photo book or slide-show if you want. Access to the Set-up menu is still provided, should you need it.

Alongside the camera, you get the charger which uses the USB cable to connect to the camera and charge inside the battery compartment. You also get the battery and wrist strap. The enclosed CD contains the full user's manual and MyFinePix Studio ver. 4.2.

Image Quality

All photographs on the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 were shot at full resolution on the Fine setting. The camera records images around 6Mb at this setting and around half that on the Normal setting.

Noise

Noise seems non-existent at low ISO although in some dark areas at ISO 100, the detail looks smudged as though noise reduction software is still at work. Things stay pretty good at ISO 200, but trouble begins to brew after that. ISO 400 sees a shift in image degradation with noise starting to appear in low key areas. Edge definition starts top look shaky, too. By ISO 800, detail is lost in dark areas, such as shadows, due to noise reduction trying to smooth out the damage. Blue and green blobs of colour still show through.

The problems with noise slowly gets worse through the later stages of the sensitivity ratings, but on the plus side, you can still see detail and although colours are desaturated to try and reduce colour noise, they're still noticeable. Frankly, if you're going to have to use the ISO at this stage, knock it back down and turn the flash on.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Fujifilm FinePix XP200 has a 5x otpical zoom range. This equates to around 28-140mm in 35mm terms. The zoom is fast enough for an underwater camera. It operates in 15 steps. There's a little barrel distortion at the wide-angle setting, but no pincushion at full zoom.

28mm	140mm

Sharpening

At low ISO, using a simple sharpen tool with a mild increase in sharpness will benefit pictures taken with the Fujifilm FinePix XP200. If you go too high, the noise will simply sharpen instead and look worse than it really is.

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

File quality

At full resolution on the fine setting, a typical image from the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 is around 6Mb while simply knocking it down to the normal setting drops the file size down to less than 4Mb.

16M Fine (5.77Mb) (100% Crop)	16M Normal (3.43Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

We certainly found evidence of chromatic aberration on the pictures taken with the Fujifilm FinePix XP200. Generally at the edge of the frame and in high contrast areas. We touched on whether this could be down to the glass covering the lens or even the mirror behind the lens that redirects the light onto the zoom system.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)
Chromatic Aberrations 3 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 4 (100% Crop)

Macro

The closest that the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 can focus is only 9cm but it image results are great quality. There's little image degradation towards the edges and no sign of barrel distortion. Bear in mind that if you're scuba diving with this, you're unlikely to get ultra close to any animals, so a super-macro focus really isn't necessary.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

Images are slightly brighter towards the centre spot which gives us a bit of vignetting at the corners. It's only faint, but definitely there. The flash is intelligent, so works with the ambient light to simply stabilise it and not take over. Using flash will ensure that whatever light you have is complimented and not bleached out.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (28mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (140mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (140mm)

There's no sign of red-eye on the test shots from the Fujifilm FinePix XP200. There's a red-eye removal option in the Set-up menu if you require it. It will use software to locate and eliminate red-eye completely. This is different to red-eye reduction which only reduces it to the pupil area.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red Eye Reduction	Red Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Night scene mode has charged up the ISO to ISO 1250 and it shows in the image quality. Although there's a slight difference in exposure with the Program mode opting for a slower 1/20sec, they both look similarly exposed.

Night Scene	Night Scene (100% Crop)
Night Program	Night Program (100% Crop)

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 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 Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 / Turned On

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 / Shooting Mode Menu

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 / Shooting Menu

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 / Playback Menu

Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 / Set-Up Menu

Top of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Bottom of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Front of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Fujifilm FinePix XP200 is a nice camera to use. It's not delicate, by all means, and needs a little bit more oomph to get it working, but that's the waterproof seals under the buttons that are to blame. We like the design of the camera and the bright colours are attractive and easy to see in the gloomy depths of the Manchester Ship Canal if you drop it while scuba diving. We're unsure that the size of the buttons will be easy to use if you're wearing diving gloves, so putting the camera into one setting in advance then just using the large textured shutter release button would be the best compromise. But then, why should you have to compromise? If you buy a camera to do a job, should it be able to allow you to perform that job easily?

As land-lubbers, we're not sure as to how easy or difficult it would be in reality, so we'd have to get feedback from a user to make an educated opinion on it. In the dry, the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 is competent in picture quality. The colours are realistic and the edges are sharp. Noise is an issue relatively early, but no more so than we'd expect. It's certainly not the worst we've seen from a rugged camera.

The Fujifilm FinePix XP200's price is a little on the high side these days, we were expecting around the £200 / $250 mark. Still that will fall in time and you do get wi-fi fitted in to make travelling with the camera a lot easier. The resistance has been increased as well with a 2m drop tolerance and 15m waterproofing. That's 0.5m higher than others can be dropped and a minimum of 5m deeper that you can swim. There's also the new wi-fi PC Auto Save feature that's exclusive to this camera in the Outdoor range.

As far as tough cameras go, the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 is up there with the best. It offers new tech, high tolerances and a good picture quality. Lens quality could be improved upon, but only on the mitigating factors (periscope mirror and external lens pane). This would be a great camera for travelling around with. You can use a wi-fi signal to transfer your pictures as you go. No need to plug into an internet cafe. You can update friends and family as you go just by using your phone's wi-fi signal.

Why not just use your phone? There are waterproof ones after all. Well, it all boils down to image quality. If you're going on a journey of a lifetime, a camera phone won't give you the image quality you need in all photographic situations. The flash won't be as intelligent and the dynamic range will be much more limited. For those reasons alone, you should look at a camera like the Fujifilm FinePix XP200.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4
Value for money	3.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Fujifilm FinePix XP200 from around the web.

Specifications

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