Review Date: June 28, 2010
Category: Beginner to Serious Amateur
HANDLING & FEEL
The Fujifilm FinePix F80EXR has the same build and looks as the F70EXR it is replacing. The body is about 6mm thicker (28.4 mm / 1.1 in. vs. 22.7 mm / 0.9 in.) but still pocketable.
The Fujifilm F80EXR does not have a handgrip (or even “finger grip”) but there’s enough space on the front of the camera for your fingers. The LCD size has increased from 2.7-in. to 3.0-in. though at the same 230k-dot resolution. While this larger LCD is good, it also means that the thumb rest area is now significantly reduced to a sliver and makes it arkward to know just where to place your thumb. It is quite easy to inadvertently press the Playback button.
The body is a shiny metallic and can be quite slippery, so the use of the wrist strap is a good idea. The included wrist strap is a nice one with an eyelet to fasten the strap tightly around your wrist.
There is an AF-assist Illuminator/Self-timer lamp above the lens. The microphone is a small hole near the bottom part of the lens.
The build and construction is excellent, but the finish is easily scratched, so be careful what you carry into the same pocket. The lens is flushed with the body when the camera is off, but powered on, the lens extends approx. 24mm (0.9 in.) at wide-angle and 37mm (1.4 in.) at full tele.
Startup is slightly above 2 sec. (from Power ON to LCD ready for capture, i.e. time-to-first-shot) and shot to shot times are about 1.7 sec. (@ 6 shots in 10 sec. in M mode, 1/125sec.).
In good lighting, there is no practical shutter lag and AF is fast and precise. In low lighting, AF takes about 1 sec. to lock. There is no RAW file format.
Included in the box is a rechargeable Li-ion battery NP-50 that can take about 230 shots with the LCD ON (CIPA standard) on a fresh charge. A battery charger BC-45W plugs directly into the wall electrical outlet and recharges a depleted battery in approx. 150 min.
The Fujifilm F80EXR uses the SD/SDHC memory card (it does not accept the SDXC card).
The top of the camera has, from right to left, the large Shutter Release Button with the Zoom lever around it, and the Power ON/OFF button. I like the large shutter release button which makes it easy to press the button gently and avoid camera shake. It takes about 1.5 sec. to zoom from wide to tele and I counted approx. 18 intermediate steps. You can also see part of the Mode Dial which can be rotated with your thumb.
The one improvement I would like to see is a more recessed Power button: I inadvertently turned the camera ON a number of times just by picking up the camera.
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There is no viewfinder but a large 3.0 in. LCD monitor with 230,000 dots resolution. The LCD has a fast enough refresh rate for a smooth display. The LCD monitor’s brightness can be adjusted in SETUP. The LCD gains up very well in low-light though the image is grainy.
The F80EXR has Sensor-shift image stabilization which is quite effective in helping to reduce camera shake at the long focal lengths and slow shutter speeds.
The Mode Dial is thankfully free rotating, i.e. you can rotate either way to select a mode. Besides AUTO, you can also select: EXR, P, M, Movie, SP, Natural, and Natural & Flash.
Most of you will probably leave the Mode Dial on EXR and select AUTO in the menu (3 other options are: Resolution Priority, High ISO & Low Noise, D-Range Priority). Natural scene mode uses a high ISO and disables flash. Natural & Flash scene mode takes 2 pictures: one without the flash and a second one with the flash.
A nod to more advanced photographers is the Aperture-Priority AE (turn Mode Dial to P and select Aperture-Priority AE as the shooting mode in Menu) and [full] Manual settings. There is no Shutter-Priority mode.
There are a number of Continuous Mode: Final 23, Top 23, Final 5, Top 5. Note that the High Speed Continuous Mode (Top 23, Final 23) uses ISO 400 and “Small” resolution. Top 23 and Top 5 allows you to take up to 23 and 5 images, respectively, as you depress and hold the shutter release button down. In Final 23 and Final 5, the camera takes up to 40 shots as soon as you press and hold the shutter release button — but retain only the final 23 and 5, respectively, as you let go of the shutter release button.
You can record HD movies at 1280 x 720 @ 30fps with sound until the memory card is full. You can zoom while filming videos, but you will also clearly record the zoom noise. You can set focus to Continuous in movie mode so the camera refocuses as you zoom; again you will record the auto focusing noise.
A couple of nice features: the hinged plastic Terminal door opens up wide to allow unimpeded access [don’t you hate fighting with a rubber flap?] to the USB and A/V socket (one socket used by both cables). There is a very nice Battery/Card door and the battery has a latch to keep it from accidentally falling. The tripod socket at the bottom is metal; you won’t be able to change battery when the camera is on a tripod.
The Fujifilm FinePix F80EXR is well-built but there’s not much space for your thumb at the rear. The controls are a bit on the small side but quite intuitive to use. Those with large fingers will want to try before they buy. Performance is good for an ultra zoom and makes the FinePix F80EXR a great take-anywhere digital camera for the point-and-shoot photographer in your family.
Next: Fujifilm F80EXR User’s Experience
