Fujifilm FinePix F300EXR

While compact long-zoom cameras were once dominated by Panasonic's TZ-series a few years ago, the same cannot be said now. These days, almost every imaging brand has a point-and-shoot with more than 10x optical zoom in its stable. For Fujifilm, compact long-zooms belong to the flagship F-series. The company first launched the 10x optical zoom F70EXR last year, and followed up with the F80EXR earlier in February.

Announced last week, Fujifilm's latest F-series shooter, the F300EXR has huge shoes to fill, and it attempts to do it by implementing a hybrid dual autofocus (AF) system, which the Japanese imaging firm claims to be a world's first. Also, it features an improved panorama function which lets users capture an all-round view of their surroundings. We take an in-depth look at this camera and see if it lives up to expectations.

Design

Previously, we lamented on the stagnant design that Fujifilm implemented on its F-series cameras. It seems the company has heard us, and redesigned the F300EXR on many levels.

At first glance, you'll notice the sleek, handsome chassis of the shooter which looks vastly different from its predecessors. It helps that the FinePix has a solid build, too, and that gave a reassuring feel when we held the shooter.

Switch on the camera and the blue light on the power key lights up. At the same time, the flash pops up from the body (and will remain so when the snapper is in shooting mode) while the lens extends from the matte shell.


The front of the F300EXR is kept simple, with the large lens barrel situated slightly off center and taking up most of the estate. A small rubber grip falls exactly where your fingers are when holding the camera, while the AF illuminator is placed strategically such that your digits won't block it.


The first thing you'll notice when you look at the top of the point-and-shoot is the mode dial, which is slanted toward the back of the camera. According to Fujifilm, the angled implementation provides a more intuitive operation for users. We did find it easier to access the ridged mode dial with our thumb compared with previous models such as the F200EXR where the mode dial is placed on the back of the camera.


The back of the snapper houses a 3-inch LCD and a four-way clickable scroll wheel. We noticed the scroll wheel spins a tad too freely and caused us to occasionally hit one stop past the desired menu option while using. There is also a dedicated movie-recording button on the right side, though it can be hard to feel it with your thumb because it is flush with the camera's body.


The flash at the top of the camera obstructs your natural finger position when holding a compact. To rectify this, the company placed some bumps on the left side of the shooter to tell you to shift your index finger from the top to the side for a better grip on the FinePix.

Operating the F300EXR is quite straightforward if you have been using Fujifilm cameras. The grip felt satisfactorily secure, and controls were all within reach of our thumb when shooting pictures. Though, as mentioned, we had some difficulties accessing the video recording button. However,once you are familiar with the button layout, operating the camera is intuitively simple.

Features

The key feature of the F300EXR is its hybrid AF system, which makes use the faster phase detection (typically used in dSLRs) and contrast-based AF. According to Fujifilm, the phase detection sensors are embedded within the Super CCD EXR chip. When shooting in bright daylight conditions, the point-and-shoot will utilize phase detection AF, and automatically switches to contrast-based AF when capturing in low-light environments. We'll take a look at its performance later.

There is also a new panorama mode, the Motion Panorama 360. Other cameras with such a function can only shoot up to 180 degrees, but the F300EXR allows users to sweep the snapper across the entire scene to capture a 360-degree view. It worked well in our tests, though you must maintain a consistent speed when panning the point-and-shoot. Otherwise, an error message will pop up. The resulting image is a long panoramic photo that is well-stitched. Just take a look at the sample below.


Click on image for larger view.
The FinePix's closest competitors are the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10 and Sony Cyber-shot DMC-HX5V. Here's a comparison chart of the trio's specifications.

Specifications/model	Fujifilm FinePix F300EXR	Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10	SonyCyber-shot DSC-HX5V
Image resolution	12 megapixels (1/2-inch Super CCD EXR)	12 megapixels (1/2.33-inch 14-megapixel multi-aspect ratio CCD sensor)	10.2 megapixels BSI CMOS sensor
Zoom range	15x optical (24-360mm)	12x (25-300mm)	10x (25-250mm)
LCD size	3 inches	3 inches	3 inches
Max video resolution	1,280 x 720 pixels	1,280 x 720 pixels	1,920 x 1,080 pixels
Shooting modes	Program, shutter/aperture priority, manual, auto, scene modes, EXR modes	Program, shutter/aperture priority, manual, auto, scene modes	Program, manual, auto, scene modes
Dimension/weight	103.5 x 59.2 x 32.6mm/ 195g	103.3 x 59.6 x 32.6mm/ 196g	102.9 x 57.7 x 28.9mm/ 170g
Related links	Review		Review

Fujifilm claimed it was able to squeeze a 15x optical zoom lens into the F300EXR's compact body because it employed the new "Double Sliding Structured Lens" system. This module allows the company to deploy 12 lens elements within the barrel.

A slight annoyance about the camera is that when you switch from PASM modes to the EXR option, the lens would automatically slide back to its widest setting. This caused us to miss some shots as we had to zoom the lens again to frame the photo. Also, it appears that each of the exposure modes retains memory of the last ISO setting used. So when you switch from manual to aperture priority, the ISO speed may change and you have to remember to adjust it to suit your current shooting conditions. We would have preferred if the camera remained at the same ISO sensitivity throughout different shooting modes.

Performance

According to Fujifilm's research, the company said that by using phase detection AF, the F300EXR is able to focus in as fast as 0.158 second. We tested this claim and noticed that the shooter was indeed able to focus just as fast, but only in ideal conditions where there is plenty of light to illuminate the subject. Even when we maxed out the zoom, the autofocus was zippy and accurate.

When in low-light environments, the camera switches to the slower contrast-based AF system. In our tests in a darkened room, there were incidences where the shooter may indicate that the scene is in focus, but when the shutter is pressed, the captured image turned out slightly blur. That said, this happened only occasionally, and most of the time the camera delivered tack-sharp photos. Then again, focusing in low-light situations has always been an issue for compacts.

The F300EXR took slightly under 3 seconds to power up, which is acceptable, considering it has to activate the lens and flash simultaneously. Shutterlag with prefocusing was negligible, and time-to-first shot measured around 3.5 seconds.

Image Quality

As with most compacts, the F300EXR delivered the best picture quality at ISO 400 and below, as illustrated in the comparison image below. The camera has an ISO range of ISO 100 to 12,800, but once you set it at ISO 3,200 and above, it shoots at a reduced resolution.


The FinePix performed on par with the TZ10 when comparing the ISO 400 samples taken by the two cameras. The sample below should give you a clearer idea, though we are certain the F300EXR doesn't hold up to the F200EXR because the latter has a larger image sensor which typically delivers better picture quality. Also, the new Fujifilm snapper churned out pictures with more natural colors compared with the Lumix's, but this is up to individual preferences.


Note that when you use EXR modes such as D-Range Priority and High ISO & Low Noise, the captured photo is only at 6 megapixels.


Macro shot with D-Range Priority.

Low-light shot with Handheld Twilight mode.

General shot with D-Range Priority mode.

Conclusion

With its lightning-fast focusing and unique panorama mode, the F300EXR gains a strong foothold in the compact long-zoom segment. It also has one of the longest zoom lenses on the market for such a category of shooters, though it lacks the GPS function the Lumix has. We'll have a hard time deciding between these two shooters if we had to choose one, but if you need more zoom and want to experiment with the EXR modes, go for the Fujifilm. Hopefully, a firmware fix in the future can resolve issues such as the lens returning to wide-angle position when changing modes and the ISO memory setting which can get quite irritating.