If you're on the lookout for a new compact camera, the new Fuji Finepix F200EXR might well be worth a look. Full reviews on the top photo sites have yet to appear, but the talk from Fuji, the first impressions it's made on techies and the first test photos to hit the net all seem to suggest that this could be the new standard bearer of image quality in the compact class.




It's looks swish and well built, although the design is hardly groundbreaking. The 12 megapixels are nothing to write home about. But then those in the know would point out that more megapixels can often produce worse image quality, not better. A 5x zoom is nice, but far from class leading. It has a 28mm wideangle lens, but then Panasonic's Lumix range is moving into 25mm lens now. But it does have a nice 3" screen.






So basically, it's all a nice package, but far from ground breaking. Except for one thing. The sensor. It's Fuji's latest and greatest, the 1/1.6-inch Super CCD EXR sensor. What's it do? It uses funky technology to produce images with a wide dynamic range and high sensitivity but little to no noise or distortion. Noise is a big factor for pretty much every compact on the market, and the claims being made around this camera are nothing short of revolutionary. Although it has to be said Fuji has done more to advance technology regards minimising noise, and has a couple of now old models which are still held up as class leaders.




It's available for pre-order on Amazon now, so it should be released for sale very shortly. The price? $399, which is a lot for a compact. Although it does undercut Canon's popular G10 by quite some margin, which itself shows there is a market for quality compacts. It could go head to head with the new Lumix TZ7 I recently posted about, which will also shortly hit the market at $399. What would you go for? The Lumix' big 12x zoom and 25mm wideangle lens? Ot the better (so we assume) image quality and manual settings of the Fuji? It's a tough one.
