Fuji Finepix F200 EXR Review Summary

At the time of righting, it Fuji Finepix F200 EXR produces the highest quality images of any ultra-compact and even ultra-zoom, regardless of resolution. At 6 megapixels, the F200 furthers its lead in terms of noise by a factor (in low-noise mode) and by a big lead in terms of dynamic-range (in high-dynamic-range mode). This is quite an achievement, so congratulations Fuji!

There is a lot to like beside image quality here. The F200 is fast and responsive, has a nice 5X wide-angle lens, very effective image stabilization and manual controls. It does lack an aperture, so depth-of-field is fixed, unlike manual controls of larger cameras. Nevertheless, most ultra-compacts have no manual controls at all. The down sides include rather short battery-life, a rather complex interface and a rather complex set of feature interactions.

Options to weight against the F200 obviously include the Fuji Finepix F100fd which delivers second-best image quality, nearly the same low-noise performance without the high-dynamic-range performance or manual controls but a somewhat simpler interface. For a much easier ultra-compact to use, at the expense of image quality, a Canon SD-series model should be considered, either the wide-angle SD880 IS or the SD950 IS.

See our full-length review for an in-depth look and images samples at all ISO sensitivities.

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