Fujifilm Canada Announces DSLR-Like S200EXR

FUJIFILM ANNOUNCES THE FINEPIX S200EXR DIGITAL CAMERA: LONG ZOOM BRIDGE CAMERA WITH AWARD-WINNING EXR SENSOR TECHNOLOGY

The FinePix S200EXR – EXR Sensor Pushes Bridge Quality to New Levels

July 22, 2009, Mississauga, ON – Fujifilm is pleased to announce the FinePix S200EXR, a worthy successor to the award-winning FinePix S100FS. Aimed at advanced photo enthusiasts looking for excellent picture quality without the expense or bulk of a DSLR system, the FinePix S200EXR combines the pin-sharp 14.3x manual optical zoom Fujinon lens (30.5-436mm equivalent), popular in the FinePix S100FS, with the same award-winning 12 megapixel Super CCD EXR sensor launched in the FinePix F200EXR.

Compact, lightweight bridge cameras offering long zoom and high image quality have proved very popular with those looking for an alternative to bulky interchangeable DSLR lens systems. The key improvements of the FinePix S200EXR over the FinePix S100FS are:

1. 1/1.6” 12 megapixel Super CCD EXR sensor
2. EXR Priority modes and EXR Auto
3. Pro Focus Mode and Pro Lowlight Mode
4. 5 Film Simulation Modes (Black & White mode and Sepia mode added)
5. A new 2.7” high contrast 230k dot LCD
6. New ‘Super Intelligent Flash’
7. Improved battery life – almost a 50% increase on the FinePix S100FS
8. Combined CCD-RAW (EXR) / JPEG simultaneous shooting
9. 9. Reduced Colour Aberration (purple fringing)

Super CCD EXR
The EXR sensor on the FinePix S200EXR was built to match perfectly the optical qualities of the 14.3x Fujinon lens. The goal was to produce a sensor/lens combination that works as closely to the human eye as possible. The EXR sensor is essentially a switchable sensor; changing its complex electronic behavior to suit the subject, changing its characteristics as the photographer demands and producing the very best picture without making compromises.

This sensor has already won great acclaim with the FinePix F200EXR. Combined with the much bigger, more powerful 14.3x Fujinon lens, it delivers outstanding results. The FinePix S200EXR offers 3 switchable modes in one sensor:

High Resolution (HR) mode, which deploys all 12 million pixels, and is designed to offer the finest detail of intricate subjects when light is full and even;

Wide Dynamic Range (DR) mode (up to 800%), which captures different exposures with two sets of 6 million pixels, which, when combined, gives an excellent level of detail in highlights that would otherwise be lost.

High Sensitivity and Low Noise (SN) mode, which caps two adjacent pixels together to produce 6 million large photodiodes, which are big enough to absorb light in the darkest of conditions, to produce low-light shots of extraordinary quality with minimal noise and grain.

Advanced Intelligence
The FinePix S200EXR offers EXR Priority Mode to quickly optimize the camera’s settings to allow the photographer to concentrate on capturing the perfect shot. 　The photographer can decide which sensor setting is preferable by choosing High Resolution Priority (HR) to maximize resolution, High ISO and Low Noise Priority (SN) for high quality low-light work or D-Range Priority (DR) for the best detail with high contrast subjects.

Also, the S200EXR features the EXR Auto Mode, offering 6 modes: Portrait, Night, Macro, Landscape, Night Portrait and Backlit Portrait. The camera will recognize the scene and not only optimize focus, colour balance, exposure, flash and sensitivity, but will also automatically switch the sensor to HR, SN or DR mode depending on the lighting conditions of the scene.

Super Sharp Lens
The wide angle manual 14.3x zoom Fujinon lens is truly a delight to use in such a compact, lightweight design. The ultra-high precision Fujinon lens achieves maximum resolution at all focal lengths of 30.5mm-436mm equivalent with maximum aperture of a bright F2.8 (wide angle) to F5.3 (telephoto). Because of the composite body and lens structure, there is no need to worry about dirt or dust on the Super CCD EXR sensor, and they are perfectly aligned for the very best results. The manual zoom offers image framing with fingertip precision as well as offering a user experience that closely matches the use of a high-end DSLR.

Pro Focus Mode / Pro Low-light Mode
Typically, one of the ways to distinguish ‘DSLR’ photography from ‘compact’ photography has been the use of ‘wide aperture’ to create mood and depth in a picture. These ‘professional’ shots are now possible on the FinePix S200EXR, which uses Pro Focus Mode to combine 2 or 3 burst shots together. Through complex digital imaging technology, a crisp shot of the subject is created against a defocused background and foreground. Ideal for portraiture, nature photography or any subject which needs ‘lifting’ from its background, the FinePix S200EXR Pro Focus Mode provides professional looking results not typically found in a compact, non-DSLR camera, at the touch of a button.

Meanwhile, Pro Low-light Mode is applied to solving the problems of noisy low light shots when using the full 14x optical zoom. With current cameras, it is possible to achieve relatively blur-free low light shots using high ISO and CCD shift (or optical image) stabilization. But this comes at a cost, as the ISO 1600 setting will invariably produce distracting and ugly noise and this is very hard to achieve when shooting at the maximum focal length (i.e. full zoom).

Once switched to Pro Low-light Mode, the camera will shoot multiple high sensitivity images using Pixel Fusion Technology *1 in quick succession. All of the images are then overlapped to create one image with extremely low noise.

Combined CCD RAW (EXR) / JPEG shooting
New to the FinePix S200EXR is the ability to shoot both a RAW and JPEG shot simultaneously *2. RAW is for ultimate quality shots via post processing: JPEG is for great quality with no need for further work.

Film Simulation
One of the more popular features on the FinePix S100FS is repeated and extended on the FinePix S200EXR. The FinePix S200EXR offers five film modes as follows:

• Velvia/Vivid mode for rich and luscious landscapes.
• PROVIA/Standard mode for excellent, sharp, standard photography.
• ASTIA/Soft mode for soft, fine, smooth tonality.
• Black & White mode captures the dramatic honesty of your image in black and white.
• Sepia mode creates a sense of nostalgia with the warm brown “antique” tones of Sepia.

In Velvia and ASTIA modes, the dynamic range can be now be set to 800% to improve highlight detail further.

Only Fujifilm has developed its camera technology from its photographic heritage in film, which allows the FinePix S200EXR to capture subtle changes in tone and color reproduction and provide the photographer the widest latitude for the ultimate creative expression.

New High Contrast 2.7” LCD
The FinePix S200EXR is fitted with an improved high contrast 230k dot 2.7” LCD. The high contrast LCD offers a considerable benefit in bright light. The High Contrast LCD means that the camera can be used at various shooting angles to enable framing of awkward shots. Viewable 160 degrees in both vertically and horizontally, the LCD is bright and clear for beautiful rendition of shots in playback.

Super Intelligent Flash
Super Intelligent Flash is a flash control technology that lets you take flash-assisted shots without the danger of flash wash-out. Integrated into the AUTO mode, this next-generation flash system makes it easy to capture both subjects and background in bright, clear and natural detail over the full flash range. For those needing much better flash control – from macro photography to taking subject brightly and background clearly in night scenes – the FinePix S200EXR is the perfect choice.

Dual Image Stabilization
The FinePix S200EXR features Fujifilm’s Optical Image Stabilization technology to ensure clean, sharp and blur-free images, even in low-light conditions. This combines (1) Optical Image Stabilization to reduce blur from the photographer’s hand-shake, and (2) Fujifilm High ISO, to reduce blur caused by subject movement (by automatically increasing ISO), for the ultimate in stabilization technology.

Manual Settings
You can set shutter speeds between 1/4,000 second and 30 seconds. It is also possible to take photos of diverse expression with combinations of ISO sensitivity, which has a broad range of setting choices, and multiple apertures of between F2.8 – F11 at 1/3EV steps. The color, noise reduction control, tone and the sharpness can also be individually set.

Multi Bracketing
The FinePix S200EXR has 3 bracketing functions useful for high level photography: Film Simulation Bracketing (which automatically sets Film Simulation to PROVIA, Velvia and ASTIA for simultaneous capture of 3 frames), Dynamic Range Bracketing (which automatically sets dynamic range to 100%, 200% and 400% for simultaneous capture of 3 frames) and AE Bracketing (which automatically sets exposure range to even, under and over for simultaneous capture of 3 frames).

Other features:

• Battery life extended
  With improved power management, the FinePix S200EXR can now shoot up to 370 shots per charge of the included NP-140 Lithium Ion battery, so there is no need to worry about power running out half way through a photo shoot.
• Movie Mode
  The FinePix S200EXR can record movies in 640 x 480 at 30 frames per second and the manual optical zoom can also be used during movie recording.
• Electronic View Finder
  The camera is fitted with a 0.2” 200k dot EVF, for sharp and clear images via the viewfinder.

The FinePix S200EXR is expected to be available to Canadian consumers in September 2009 at a suggested retail price of CAD $599.99. The camera will be offered in Black with a 2 Year Canadian Manufacturer’s Warranty.

The FinePix S200EXR in summary:

• Super CCD EXR 1/1.6” 12 Megapixel switchable sensor
• EXR Priority Modes and EXR Auto Mode
• Fujinon Manual 14.3x optical zoom lens (30.5mm- 436mm)
• Up to 800% Wide Dynamic Range improvement
• Ultra High Sensitivity (Up to 12800 at 3MP resolution)
• Pro Focus Mode / Pro Low-light Mode
• Captures in both JPEG and CCD RAW (EXR) format
• High Contrast LCD monitor 2.7” 230K dots
• Electronic View Finder (EVF), 0.2”, 200k dots
• Dual Image Stabilization (ISO and Optical Image Stabilization)
• 5 Film Simulation Modes
• Face Detection 3.0 with Automatic Red-eye removal
• 3 Bracketing functions (Dynamic Range, Film Simulation and Auto Exposure)
• Super Intelligent Flash
• Movie Mode with sound (640 x 480, 30 fps and Optical zoom)
• Custom scene modes
• Li-ion Rechargeable Battery
• Accepts SD/SDHC Memory Cards
• 2 Year Canadian Manufacturer’s warranty

About FUJIFILM Canada Inc.
FUJIFILM Canada Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation of Tokyo, one of the world’s leading imaging and information companies. FUJIFILM Canada is based in Mississauga, Ontario, with regional offices in Montreal and Vancouver. A leader in the development of technologies that provide the back bone for state-of-the-art Imaging, Graphic Arts, Photofinishing and Recording Media products, FUJIFILM Canada stands proud as a proven solutions-provider. For more information, visit www.fujifilm.ca.

[*1] Pixel Fusion Technology: Technology of Fujifilm changing the color filter arrangement. Two side-by-side, same-colored pixels are taken together as a single pixel. The area of imaging elements is doubled, the sensitivity is twice the normal level, and “dark noise” is extremely small. Therefore it is possible to create a high sensitivity image with little noise, instead of increasing the gain from a single pixel and increasing the noise.
[*2] CCD RAW files captured by S200EXR cannot be converted with FinePixViewer included in the CD-ROM. Updater of FinePixViewer for conversion of CCD RAW files will be available from Nov, 2009.

Related Link:
– Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR QuickFact Sheet