CES 2011: Cameras at CES 2011 Fujifilm HS20 EXR superzoom
Fujifilm's FinePix HS20 EXR has a 16Mp resolution and 30x optical zoom
At CES 2011 Fujifilm announced the Finepix HS20 EXR superzoom bridge camera - a follow-up to 2010's HS10 model which retains its predecessor's 30x optical zoom.
One of the most interesting features on the HS20 EXR is its manually-zoomed lens. With most superzoom bridge cameras, you control the zoom electronically with a small lever or switch. The zoom on the HS20 EXR, however, behaves more like a DSLR zoom lens, as you manually adjust the zoom range by hand. This allows for great precision and intuitive use, and it should also save on battery life. The 30x zoom begins from a tremendous wide angle of 24mm, allowing you to fit in wide landscape shots or indoor photos without having to stand too far back.
The other notable feature on the HS20 EXR is the camera's 16Mp image resolution. This is the highest resolution we've ever seen on a non-DSLR camera, and it seems that 2011 is the year that 14Mp becomes an obsolete ceiling for compact camera sensors.
The new HS20 also takes advantage of Fujifilm's EXR sensor technology. This allows for neat tricks like dynamic range priority, where the sensor uses half of its pixels to capture the light parts of the image and the other half to capture the dark parts. The two are then instantly combined to form a final image which, in theory, retains superior detail across the entire shot.
To date, we haven't found Fujifilm's EXR technology to be as effective as the manufacturer tends to boast with its example images, but we'll wait and see how the HS20 EXR performs in our test lab. The Fujifilm HS20 EXR will be available in spring 2011, with a launch price of £399
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