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From: Steve Carlson on 4 Feb 2010 04:21
On Wed, 3 Feb 2010 22:52:34 -0800, C J Campbell
<christophercampbellremovethis(a)hotmail.com> wrote:

>On 2010-02-03 21:29:42 -0800, "Neil Harrington" <never(a)home.com> said:
>
>>
>> "C J Campbell" <christophercampbellremovethis(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:2010020318452775249-christophercampbellremovethis(a)hotmailcom...
>>> On 2010-02-03 16:13:56 -0800, "Neil Harrington" <never(a)home.com> said:
>>>
>>>> Nothing about any D90 replacement.
>>>
>>> Nikon would probably not announce a DSLR the same day they announce new
>>> point & shoots.
>>>
>>> These particular point & shoots have some nice features, but not enough to
>>> make me give up my S90 just yet.
>>
>> I don't follow Canons much, but Googling it just now I'd agree the S90 looks
>> quite nifty.
>>
>> I still have (and like) an S60, and as I recall that series remained very
>> similar in general layout up to the S80. The S90 looks like a considerable
>> improvement. I'm not thrilled with the absence of an optical viewfinder, but
>> that seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird in all cameras of this
>> size.
>
>Well, that's the thing, isn't it? I would have loved an optical
>viewfinder. I like having a camera with pretty good specs and lots
>manual capability that fits in my pocket even more. So, if it means
>sacrificing the viewfinder, then so be it.
>
>I do have a few ideas on how I would improve it, such as making the
>lens ring behave in a consistent manner in all different picture-taking
>modes, but hey, how many of these pocket cameras even have a lens ring?

It will be interesting to see how this one pans out in tests.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1002/10020206fujifinepixhs10series.asp

Like one of my favorite super-zoom P&S cameras from the past, this one too
has both manual zoom and focus rings in a closed lens system for protection
from dust no matter how harsh the environment. My earlier Sony camera with
a similar lens design has been through many years of prairie dust-storms
and deserts, the sensor still clean as new.

Past P&S cameras from this company had noise-free ISO1600 due to their
previous sensor designs. Those particular models are even difficult to find
being sold as used today because they are so worth having. Nobody wants to
give them up.

If the tricks this new model are using work well, it might be a worthwhile
purchase. It's nice to see at least one company is trying new things in new
ways to achieve the best performance possible. And using a sensor-size that
is matched to optics which allow it to attain the zoom and aperture reach
it has. It looks promising, even if it goes against conventions--especially
because it goes against conventions. Back-illuminated CMOS sensor, and
multi-exposure melds, etc. Its low-light tricks it's using might even be
enough to not need shutter speeds slower than 1/4s, but it would be nice if
it had much more reach than that, at both ends of its shutter range. Maybe
those will happen in the HS20. There's too many times when I require
shutter speeds above 1/10,000 second to stop some insect's or other
animal's wing motion or other.

I also like that it has stereo audio recording for video modes, like my
present favorite P&S camera. I wouldn't buy a camera that has video without
stereo recording. When documenting sounds of nature there's some vibrancy
and fidelity that just seems to get lost in monaural sound recordings even
though the recording frequency is identical. The high frequencies that many
animals and insects make seem to become muted and just sound flat and
lifeless when not recorded in stereo. The added bonus of 1000 fps would be
a real treat for macro-videography of insects in flight and other nature
studies.

Its flip-out and tilting LCD is highly valuable for nature and
macro-photography too. I wouldn't buy a camera without that today.

It looks promising. They seem to have covered most of the bases that any
demanding photographer would require, except for longer and shorter shutter
speeds.

One caveat, I fail to understand why their specs state ~97% viewfinder
coverage for both LCD and EVF. If the image is coming directly from the
sensor, as does in all electronic viewfinders, it is then always 100%
coverage. Perhaps this is an oversight from the editor, not realizing that
a camera of this design doesn't have the typical DSLR optical viewfinder
drawbacks.

From: Rich on 4 Feb 2010 04:31
Plenty of these kitchen sink superzooms rotting on store shelves. This
will be just another one. Unless the backlit chip works miracles.
Which it won't.
From: David J Taylor on 4 Feb 2010 05:55
"Steve Carlson" <scarlson(a)notformail.net> wrote in message
news:062lm5dib556ld7mutas2uorbfa0fbga3c(a)4ax.com...
[]
> One caveat, I fail to understand why their specs state ~97% viewfinder
> coverage for both LCD and EVF. If the image is coming directly from the
> sensor, as does in all electronic viewfinders, it is then always 100%
> coverage.

It's by design, so that something at the edges isn't just cut off.

Your are right that it /could/ be 100%.

David

From: Peter Huebner on 4 Feb 2010 06:02
In article <062lm5dib556ld7mutas2uorbfa0fbga3c(a)4ax.com>,
scarlson(a)notformail.net says...
>
> It will be interesting to see how this one pans out in tests.
>
> http://www.dpreview.com/news/1002/10020206fujifinepixhs10series.asp
>

Certainly a lot of breathless enthusiasm in the release announcement,
and some of what they boast sounds wonderful.

O.t.o.h. I stayed well clear of Fuji when I bought my first digital
camera (an Oly 5050, for more than what you'd pay for an EOS 450 these
days) because at that time Fuji image quality was well to the rear of
the field. So has this really turned around? I don't know, frankly.

The 30x zoom seems .... well optimistic. I have a 20x zoom now, and on a
moderately windy day the very slight vibrations of the tripod can
stretch the IS envelope. Not going to get an old style Linhof-sized
wooden one! On the other hand, considering the claims they make for that
Fuji camera to be such a speed-demon, hmmm - it might work.

In any event, I think I'll take the announcement with a pinch of salt
for the time being.

f.w.i.w. -P.
From: Neil Harrington on 4 Feb 2010 11:07

"Rich" <rander3127(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4235fd2d-d049-42e6-b046-daf9aa5ba946(a)z26g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
> Plenty of these kitchen sink superzooms rotting on store shelves. This
> will be just another one. Unless the backlit chip works miracles.
> Which it won't.

I doubt they are "rotting on store shelves."

Next month I'm going down to Florida just for a few days; I'll be bringing
only a carry-on and personal item, and still haven't made up my mind as to
whether I'll bring my D80 and a couple of lenses or just my little FZ35. I'd
rather have the former with me except that I won't have my own
transportation when I'm down there, and the compact superzoom would be *so*
much more convenient in many ways I am really leaning toward that. It will
be the first time in over 40 years that I've made a trip without some sort
of SLR.


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