Fujifilm FinePix XP80 Review
Introduction
The XP80 is the latest “rugged” camera from Fujifilm, which boasts waterproofing down to 15 metres, shock proofing from 1.75m, freeze proofing down to -10 degrees Celsius as well as dust and sandproofing. It is designed as a family and adventure camera, perfect for those who like to take pictures in all kinds of different conditions. The Fujifilm FinePix XP80 also boasts a 16.4 million pixel 1/2.3 inch BSI-CMOS sensor and a 5x optical zoom, which is 28mm at the wide angle. Along with those specifications, there is also inbuilt Wi-Fi for remote shooting, 11 advanced digital filters, and a 2.7 inch LCD screen with anti-reflective coating. Full HD video recording is also available. The Fujifilm FinePix XP80 is available in black, blue, yellow and purple for around £200 / $230.
Ease of Use
Fujifilm has been using a very similar design for all of its rugged cameras for some time, and the XP80 is no different. The camera has rounded, curved edges and it’s available in a variety of different colours - including the vibrant purple which Fujifilm sent us for this review.
The lens itself, which is encased entirely within the camera so as to be waterproof, sticks out a little from the top of the camera in a rounded shape.
On the front of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 is a ridge for your finger to sit comfortably and to help you grip it. If you’re using the camera with gloves it may be less useful as it doesn’t protrude too far from the front of the camera.
The side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80is the only entry point for the camera, with the rest of it sealed and encased for watertightness. In the side of the camera you’ll find the memory card slot (for SD cards) and the socket for a power cable, as well as the battery. These are protected by a door which is sealed by a twisting mechanism which you need to turn to release. It’s reasonably unlikely that you would be able to do this by accident, as you need to push down a button in the middle of the lock in order to twist it.
Front of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Charging the battery is done via the body of the camera itself, and a separate charger is not provided. However, it doesn’t take too long for the battery to charge up - that said, if you think you’re going to be taking lots of shots before you are able to charge it again, it would be worth investing in a second battery.
There are quite a few buttons on the Fujifilm FinePix XP80, all of which can be reached very easily with your thumb when holding the camera in your right hand. This makes it very easy to use one handed. On top of the camera is the on/off button, video record button and the shutter release button. The shutter release button is textured and fairly large, which comes in handy when you’re using the camera either with gloves, or underwater.
You’ll find the rest of the camera’s buttons on the back right of the camera. Near the top of the camera are the zoom buttons, which are marked W (wide) and T (telephoto). These are raised from the body of the camera, again to make it easy to use when working underwater or with gloves. In normal conditions, the buttons can be a little stiff to use, but holding them down advances or retracts the zoom fairly smoothly and swiftly.
Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
A small playback button can be found just underneath the telephoto button, which is fine to use in normal circumstances, but a little more fiddly with gloves on. Just underneath this button you’ll find a standard four way navigational pad, which again is a little small and fiddly to use with gloves on. If you’re just using it underwater, it’s not too bad though.
The pad consists of a menu/OK button in the middle of the pad, surrounded by four directional keys which double up to other specific functions: left for macro/standard focusing, down for timer options, up for exposure compensation (and delete in playback) and right for flash options.
The final two buttons you’ll find are a direct access button for Wi-Fi functionality or continuous shooting and a display button which allows you to switch between different types of display in playback, or acts as the back button when scrolling through the menu.
Top of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Speaking of the menu, this is where you’ll need to make any key settings changes that aren’t already covered by the directional pad. In this menu is also where you’ll find the different exposure modes available to you. It’s likely that for the majority of the time that you’ll want to shoot in Scene Recognition Auto as this will mean that the camera will automatically pick a scene mode and apply the best settings. However, if you want to take a little more control it’s possible to switch to Program Mode. While this doesn’t give you quite the same flexibility of manual control, it means some settings, such as ISO sensitivity can be changed.
Other exposure modes include the advanced digital filters if you want to experiment with the way your images look, and different specific scene modes, such as underwater, landscape and panorama.
It’s a little laborious having to go through the menu system to make some of these changes, so it would have been nice if a quick access button could have been included on the Fujifilm FinePix XP80. That said, this camera is all about taking pictures and concentrating on composition etc, rather than worrying about changing settings very frequently.
The Fujifilm FinePix XP80 In-hand |
On the other hand, the menu system itself is fairly straightforward, and with relatively few options on offer, it doesn’t take too long to get acquainted with using it. There’s a shooting menu as well as settings menu, where you’ll find options including setting the date/time, silent mode, formatting the memory card and so on.
Using the Fujifilm FinePix XP80’s Wi-Fi functionality is very easy. You have a couple of options - you can either use your phone/tablet as a remote control for the camera - which is great for selfies, group portraits and just awkward angles, or you can send image(s) you’ve already taken across to your phone for sharing on social networks and the like. When you’re using the remote control app, you can’t change too many of the settings, aside from switching on the flash, the self-timer or extending or retracting the zoom. You can take both stills and video from within the app.
The LCD screen on the rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 is relatively small in comparison to most standard compact cameras, but never the less it provides a bright and clear view of the screen. If you’re shooting underwater, but you are not underwater yourself (say for instance you’ve plunged your hands into a rock pool), it can be a little difficult to see what’s on the screen from some angles, but that’s understandable.
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 7Mb.
Generally speaking, it’s often the case that rugged cameras tend to produce image quality which is slightly below the par of other compact cameras. It’s a trade off for the fact that it is rugged and you can take it underwater, throw it around, and so on.
In good light, the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 is capable of producing some bright and punchy images, but you can see some examples of image smoothing if you look closely at an image at 100%. The likelihood that you’ll want to do with a camera such as this is fairly low though, and at normal printing and web sizes, images have a good overall amount of detail.
As you move through the sensitivity range, there is more evidence of loss of detail and image smoothing, and right at the top end of ISO 1600, there’s a fair amount of detail lost if you look very carefully. However, again if you’re printing or displaying at normal or small sizes, the overall impression isn’t too bad.
Colours are bright and punchy too, producing natural images without too much vibrance. The Fujifilm FinePix XP80’s automatic metering mode does a decent job of producing accurate exposures, without the need for dialling in exposure compensation, save for in very high contrast situations.
The Fujifilm FinePix XP80 has a 5x optical zoom, which is enough for the majority of every day situations. Images taken at the far end of the zoom retain a good amount of detail. Meanwhile, you can also use macro focusing to get closer to your subject. There can be mixed results with this, especially when shooting underwater, in which case it’s helpful to switch to the dedicated underwater macro mode.
Noise
The XP80 has seven sensitivity settings available at full resolution, ranging between ISO100 and ISO6400. ISO6400 shots are only captured at an 8MP maximum resolution, whilst Auto ISO mode can be capped at ISO400, 800 or 1600.
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 6400 (100% Crop) |
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Focal Range
The camera’s 5x optical zoom lens gives you a focal range of 28-140mm (in 35mm-camera terms). It’s not the widest lens on the tough camera market, though Fuji’s optional ACL-XP80 wide-angle lens converter creates an 18mm-equivalent focal length.
28mm |
140mm |
Sharpening
The Fujifilm FinePix XP80 doesn't have any built-in sharpening tools so if you wish to sharpen the images, you need to use an external editing suite such as Adobe Photoshop. We used the standard sharpen setting in our test. We found that because of the lack of noise control to smooth out images, sharpening simply made the roughness of the noise that was present even worse. Images appear to be sharp enough anyway.
Original (100% Crop) |
Sharpened (100% Crop) |
File quality
Two JPEG compression options can be selected: Fine or Normal.
16M Fine (6.47Mb) (100% Crop) | 16M Normal (4.19Mb) (100% Crop) |
Chromatic Aberrations
Chroma is handled well on the Fujifilm FinePix XP80. We did find traces of it, but it's only mild and at the extreme edges of the frame. It's entirely possible that the noise present on the images could be also breaking up the chroma, in a way, as it breaks up any clean lines.
Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop) |
Macro
The XP80’s macro mode allows you to focus down to 9cm from your subject. It’s close enough to capture plenty of detail, but nowhere near as impressive as the 1cm macro modes offered by some tough cameras.
Macro |
Macro (100% Crop) |
Flash
The camera’s built-in flash includes four modes: Auto, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash and Slow Synchro. Red-eye removal can be switched on or off via the main menu.
Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm) |
Flash On - Wide Angle (28mm) |
Flash Off - Telephoto (140mm) |
Flash On - Telephoto (140mm) |
In our testing with the XP80 successfully avoided red-eye and the flash produced only minor wide-angle vignetting from a distance of 1.5m.
Flash Off |
Flash On |
Advanced Filters
Fifteen Advanced Filter effects are available and previewed live as you shoot. Choose from Toy Camera, Miniature, Pop Color, High-Key, Low-Key, Dynamic Tone, Fish-Eye, Soft Focus, Cross Screen and Partial Color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple).
Toy Camera |
Miniature |
Pop COlor |
High Key |
Low Key |
Dynamic Tone |
Fish-eye |
Soft Focus |
Cross Screen |
Partial Color |
Panorama
The camera’s Motion Panorama 360 mode will capture 120°, 180° or 360° pans automatically as you sweep the camera left or right. Results are typical of cameras with similar features and are downsized to around 1100 vertical pixels. Some signs of stitching are visible if you scrutinise, and you can’t pan for less than the minimum 120°. Even when panning smoothly, the system can struggle to capture successfully.
Sample Images
This is a selection of sample images from the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 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.
1/10s · f/3.9 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/18s · f/3.9 · ISO 200
5mm
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1/38s · f/3.9 · ISO 400
5mm
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1/80s · f/3.9 · ISO 800
5mm
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1/170s · f/3.9 · ISO 1600
5mm
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1/320s · f/3.9 · ISO 3200
5mm
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1/280s · f/6.2 · ISO 6400
5mm
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1/550s · f/6.2 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/750s · f/7.1 · ISO 100
6.9mm
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1/400s · f/6.2 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/480s · f/3.9 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/400s · f/6.2 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/250s · f/6.2 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/400s · f/3.9 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/75s · f/3.9 · ISO 100
5mm
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100/750s · f/3.9 · ISO 800
5mm
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1/120s · f/3.9 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/150s · f/3.9 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/60s · f/3.9 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/60s · f/3.9 · ISO 200
5mm
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1/45s · f/3.9 · ISO 100
5mm
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1/350s · f/8 · ISO 100
25mm
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1/550s · f/6.2 · ISO 100
5mm
Download Original
Sample Movie & Video
This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 18 second movie is 31.2Mb in size.
Product Images
Front of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 / Image Displayed |
Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 / Main Menu |
Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 / Scene Menu |
Rear of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 / Setup Menu |
Top of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
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Front of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Side of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Front of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Front of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 |
Memory Card Slot |
Battery Compartment |
Conclusion
The Fujifilm FinePix XP80 is a good all round compact camera, which is ideal if you’re the type of person who likes to go on adventure holidays - or, alternatively if you’re just looking for something which will be able to withstand average family life.
Although picture quality may not be quite as high as some cameras without such rugged credentials, for a holiday or family camera, it’s still pretty good and you should be pleased with what it can produce.
In low light, the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 is not the best performer, but again, it stands a good chance that this is the kind of camera which will mainly be used in bright, sunny conditions, such as on the beach, surfing or on the ski slopes, so it may not present too much of a problem.
Having the inbuilt Wi-Fi gives it an added layer of functionality, which makes it easy to shoot group shots and selfies - again something that the holidaying photographer will particularly enjoy. Being able to transfer your images across to your phone for sharing on social networks also appeals to those who like to make their friends jealous with holiday snaps on Instagram, of course.
Using the XP80 itself is also pretty easy, but a couple of the buttons could do with being a bit bigger for when you’re using the camera with gloves. If you’re looking for something to take on your skiing holiday, you may find it a little tricky to use - however, on the upside it’s easier to use underwater, so if beach and watersports are more your bag, then you should be fine.
Overall the Fujifilm FinePix XP80 is a pretty simple, but effective camera to use. There’s not too much in the way of customisation or the ability to change settings, but for a camera like this, it isn’t too important.
Ratings (out of 5) | |
---|---|
Design | 4 |
Features | 4 |
Ease-of-use | 4 |
Image quality | 3.5 |
Value for money | 4 |
Main Rivals
Listed below are some of the rivals of the Fujifilm FinePix XP80.
Canon PowerShot D30
The Canon PowerShot D30 is an action compact camera that's waterproof to an impressive 25m, as well as being dust, freeze and shock proof. The Canon D30 also offers12 megapixels, a 5x zoom, 1080p HD video, built-in GPS and a 3-inch screen. Read our in-depth Canon PowerShot D30 review now...
Nikon Coolpix AW120
The Coolpix AW120 is Nikon's latest all-action compact camera. The 16 megapixel Nikon AW120 has a 5x zoom lens (24-120mm), 3 inch OLED 921K-dot screen, built-in GPS and wi-fi, 8fps burst shooting and can record full 1080p video. Read our Nikon Coolpix AW120 review to find out if it's the right tough camera for you...
Olympus Tough TG-3
The Olympus Tough TG-3 is a new water, freeze, shock and dust proof compact camera for 2014. Boasting a fast f2.0 aperture high-speed lens, the 16 megapixel TG-3 also offers built-in wi-fi and GPS connectivity, 1080p HD movies, a 4x zoom lens and a 3 inch OLED screen. Read our Olympus Tough TG-3 review to find out what this all-action camera is capable of...
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 is a new freeze, shock, water and dust proof camera. The well-appointed Panasonic FT5 also features built-in GPS, wi-fi and NFC functionality, a compass, altimeter and barometer, 4.6x zoom, 1920x1080 full-HD movie recording and a 16 megapixel sensor. Read our Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 review to find out if this is the best do-it-all camera for your family....
Ricoh PX
The Ricoh PX is an unassuming compact camera that is a lot tougher than it looks, being waterproof to 3m and shockproof to 1.5m. Ricoh's first entry into the all-action market also offers a 16 megapixel sensor, 5x zoom lens and 720 p video. Can the Ricoh PX take on the likes of the Olympus Tough range? Find out in our detailed Ricoh PX review.
Samsung WP10
The WP10 / AQ100 is Samsung's first foray into the world of waterproof cameras. Sporting a 12 megapixel sensor and 5x zoom lens, the WP10 can be used at a depth of 3 meters / 10 feet. Available for less than £179.99 / $199.99, read our Samsung WP10 review find out if this budget shooter is all the camera you need.
Specifications
Model name | FinePix XP80 |
---|---|
Number of effective pixels | 16.4 million pixels |
Image sensor | 1/2.3-inch CMOS with primary color filter Total number of pixels: 16.76 million pixels |
Storage media | Internal memory (approx. 96MB) SD / SDHC / SDXC memory card *1 |
File format |
|
Number of recorded pixels | L : (4:3) 4608 x 3456 / (3:2) 4608 x 3072 / (16:9) 4608 x 2592 / (1:1) 3456 x 3456 M : (4:3) 3264 x 2448 / (3:2) 3264 x 2176 / (16:9) 3264 x 1840 / (1:1) 2432 x 2432 S : (4:3) 2048 x 1536 / (3:2) 2304 x 1536 / (16:9) 1920 x 1080 / (1:1) 1728 x 1728 <Motion Panorama> 360° Vertical : 11520 x 1632 Horizontal : 11520 x 1088 180° Vertical : 5760 x 1632 Horizontal : 5760 x 1088 120° Vertical : 3840 x 1632 Horizontal : 3840 x 1088 |
Lens |
|
Digital zoom | Intelligent digital zoom : approx. 2x (up to approx. 10x, with 5x optical zoom) |
Aperture | F3.9 / F6.2 (Wide) F4.9 / F8.0 (Telephoto) |
Focus distance (from lens surface) |
|
Sensitivity | AUTO / AUTO(400) / AUTO(800) / AUTO(1600) Equivalent to ISO 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 / 6400*(Standard Output Sensitivity)
|
Exposure control | TTL 256-zone metering |
Exposure mode | Programmed AE |
Shooting modes | Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Night (Tripod), Sunset, Snow, Beach, Under water, Under water (Macro), Party, Flower, Text |
Image stabilizer | CMOS shift type |
Face detection | Yes |
Exposure compensation | -2.0EV - +2.0EV 1/3EV step |
Shutter speed | (Auto mode) 1/4 sec. to 1/2000 sec., (All other modes) 4 sec. to 1/2000 sec. |
Continuous shooting |
|
Auto bracketing | - |
Focus |
|
White balance | Automatic scene recognition
|
Self-timer | 10 sec. / 2 sec. delay, Group Timer |
Interval shooting | Yes |
Flash | Auto flash (i-flash) Effective range : (ISO AUTO)
|
Flash modes |
|
Hot shoe | - |
LCD monitor | 2.7-inch, approx. 460K-dot, TFT color LCD monitor, approx. 97% coverage for shooting, 100% for playing back |
Movie recording | Full HD 1920 x 1080 60p / 30p (max 29 min) HD 1280 x 720 60p 640 x 480 30p with monaural sound, Wind filter. Zoom function can be used.
|
Photography functions | SR AUTO, Program AE, Action camera mode, Pro low-light, HDR, Natural Light & with Flash, High Speed movie(120 / 240 fps), Advanced Filter for still image : Toy camera / Miniature / Pop color / High-key / Low-key / Dynamic tone / Soft Focus / Cross Screen / Fish-eye / Partial color / Sketch, Advanced filter for movie : Toy camera / Pop color / High-key / Low-key / Fish-eye / Partial color / Sketch, Framing guide, Frame No. memory, Date stamp, Motion panorama360, Automatic LCD brightness adjustment |
Playback functions | Multi-frame playback (with microthumbnail), Protect, Resize, Crop, Slide show, Image rotate, Photobook assist, Mark for upload, Erase selected frames, Favorite, Image Search, Movie edit |
Other functions | PictBridge, Exif Print, 35 languages selection, Time difference, Silent mode Dustproof : IP6X Waterproof : IPX8 (up to 15.0m, within 120 min.) Anti-shock : Method;MIL-STD-810F-516.5 Fuji's standard;1.75m |
Wireless transmitter (standard) |
|
Wireless function | Geotagging / Wireless communication (Image transfer) / View & Obtain Images / Remote camera shooting / PC Autosave |
Terminal |
|
Power supply | Li-ion battery NP-45S (included) |
Dimensions | 104.1mm (W) x 66.5mm (H) x 25.9mm (D) / 4.0 in. (W) x 2.6 in. (H) x 1.0 in. (D)
|
Weight | Approx. 179g / 6.3 oz. (including battery and memory card) Approx. 162g / 5.7 oz. (excluding battery and memory card) |
Operating Temperature | -10°C - +40°C (+14°F - +104°F) |
Operating Humidity | 10% - 80% (no condensation) |
Guide to the number of available frames for battery operation*3 | Approx. 210 frames (AUTO mode) |
Accessories included | Li-ion battery NP-45S AC Power adapter AC-5VT USB cable Hand strap Owner's manual |
Optional accessories | Li-ion battery NP-45S Action camera lens ACL-XP70 |
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