 Maybe the best digital compact in the world |
| Review Date: September 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mr. R. D. Turner, Derby, UK |
Summary: If you want a small camera with a big zoom, that goes from wide angle to extreme telephoto, that can take pictures in poor light but also in the glaring light of midday then the Fuji F70 EXR is (as of 2009) the very best option available.
I have a history of Fuji cameras and I am a fan. I use a Nikon Digital SLR when I can but a Fuji compact is never far away, and much less conspicuous at the zoo - I don't always want to look like "camera guy"!
Back in 2005 I bought the legendary Fuji F10 the very month it came out. The F10 is the direct predecessor of the Fuji F70 and the design has remained similar: small camera, big LCD on the back, and the ability to take sharp pictures indoors without flash. In 2005 there was literally nothing else available that could do this. ISO 400, 800 and even 1600 yeilded sharp, well exposed pictures at a time that most digital compacts struggled with ISO 200. This mattered as it meant less flash photography. Flashes annoy people so you get less chances to get the shot. Since then, Fuji have evolved the formula into the F11 (an F10 with manual modes) F30 and F31fd (the first with face detection), the 8 megapixel F40 and F45 (Argos branded version of the F40) the F100 and more recently the flagship model, F200EXR. I personally have owned the F10, F45 and F200EXR.
But the F70 has something new - that 27 - 270mm lens. The usual problem with long lenses is that they magnify camera shake, so faster shutter speeds are required. This generally means a bigger heaver lens to let more light in, or a better sensor inside the camera that works with low light. Again, the Fuji wins here. Panasonic and Ricoh are the major players in the mini cameras with big zooms and both make excellent cameras but they do not have the Fuji Super CCD inside them. Telephoto pictures in the real world are easy on this camera. Even pictures taken indoors across a large room.
So what are the pictures like? They are well exposed, sharp and taken quickly. The camera is very responsive and this again matters. If you press the button you want the shot now, not in 2 seconds time. There are compromises to the lens, of course there are. It flares more than shorter lenses and there are halos on high contrast pictures, but no worse than the competition. The resolution of pictures at 100% on screen at ISO 100 are very good.
Basically if this is your only digital camera or even if you have a digital SLR and want something more portable I genuinely think this is the best available. If you want something small to take pictures at concerts or other places where you need a long zoom but not camera bulk this is probably your only option right now.
(Disclosure - I was sent this camera for review by Amazon, I think because I had already bought the F200EXR from them. I will be selling the F200 and keeping this one - because of the better zoom and otherwise very similar feature set) |
Image quality Champion
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| Review Date: February 1, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Sn Baines, st albans, hertfordshire United Kingdom |
I take photography pretty seriously and have a Nikon Dslr as well
My search for a compact that can capture what i want has been so far flawed which has included the Panasonic LX3.
The new EXR senser from Fuji has excelled any other manufacture attempt in compacts.
The Dynamic range is amazing and high ISO is fantastic, these are the biggest flaws in compacts.
The 10x zoom is brilliant and performs better then my Nikon 18-200VR lens ! ie sharper and much less distortion.
Getting amazing results out of the camera does take some learning but once you have you have too be happy.
Lastly normal operation speed blows away all the competition ie Zoom speed, Focusing and shutter lag.
Conclusion
Positives
Zoom Range and Lens Quality
Senser - High iso & Dynamic range
Operation speed
Exposure and Fuji Colours
Build quality and perfect size
Negatives
Needs more control over Flash
Shutter Priority needed |
Super compact, especially with x10 zoom.
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| Review Date: September 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: R. Gorman, Bangor, Northern Ireland |
Fujifilm Finepix F70EXR Digital Camera - Gun Metal (10MP, 10x Zoom) 2.7'' LCD
Truly an excellent compact camera with a wide range of options for the more experienced user but with straightforward options for the majority of us.
I've owned a wide variety of Fuji Finepix compact cameras over the years and certainly must praise this new release - it works exceptionally well, producing good quality and colourful results under pretty well any lighting condition.
When used at the full 10MP setting and on Fine quality, the resulting jpeg images stand up to scruitny against identically captured images taken with a Canon PowerShot SX10IS.
Most users will, I expect, make full use of the very clever EXR setting which automatically, and almost 100% accurately, selects the appropriate settings for the scene you are taking and gives consistently good results, but take note that this setting often uses a 5MP image, rather than the full 10MP 'Fine' image size. However if you are printing the normal 10x15 cm size colour prints you are very unlikely to notice any significant difference (I've printed off images from most image size and quality settings and unless you get down into the really small images, the results are very acceptable).
Would I recommend this camera ? Yes, without doubt. It's so easily pockatable (or purseable) and produces remarkable results for a compact camera. If you plan to create big, or very big prints then this camera isn't for you - you need an DSLR or similar, but just try and slip a DSLR into your pocket ! |
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