New Fuji Advanced Travel-Zooms

2011.01.05

The new Fuji Finepix F550 EXR and its near-twin the F500 EXR incorporate Fuji's new EXR BSI CMOS sensor. This 16 megapixels sensor promises to bring high-speed performance to Fuji's legendary EXR technology which produces exceptional image quality.

These two digital cameras share everything other than the built-in GPS which is found on the F550 EXR. This means a 16 megapixels sensor and 15X ultra-wide optical zoom lens. This is the same double-sliding design used in the Fuji Finepix F300 EXR reviewed last year. This lens starts at an ultra-wide 24mm and reaches out to 360mm in 35mm-equivalent terms.

Like their predecessor, the F550 EXR and F500 EXR are advanced models with full manual exposure modes, choice of metering patterns, 360-degree motion panorama and HD video features. New this time are ultra-high-speed video up to 320 FPS at unspecified reduced resolutions and continuous drive modes between 3 and 12 FPS, depending on the resolution. One more stop of expanded dynamic-range is added, now reaching 1600% more than normal sensors.

• Digital Camera