BIOS: Technology Means Business

Little brother to the excellent FinePix F30 Zoom, the FinePix F20 Zoom (94x27x57mm, 150g) reinforces Fujifilm’s commitment to class-leading sensitivity. The new camera even carries the same 6.3-Megapixel SuperCCD chip found in the FinePix F30 Zoom, providing it with a stunning high sensitivity of up to ISO 2000 at full resolution.

The wholly-silver FinePix F20 Zoom (Best Current Price: £162/$156) is clearly based around the FinePix F30 Zoom’s body with a few design tweaks. The only noticeable specification differences are that the FinePix F20 Zoom is slightly slimmer and lighter, has different long exposure times, a lower resolution LCD monitor and a different battery. And like Canon’s stunning Digital IXUS 800 IS (around £244), the FinePix F20 Zoom doesn’t have aperture & shutter priority modes.

The pocketable camera is well built and strong enough to take everyday knocks and bumps. Having said that, without a protective carrying case (not provided) we imagine it wouldn’t take long to scratch the lush metal finish. But the real attraction of the FinePix F20 Zoom, like the FinePix F30 Zoom, is Fujifilm’s ‘Real Photo Technology’ which helps to ensure crisp, clear images even in low light without the use of flash. The FinePix F20’s sensitivity of ISO 100 to 2000 (FinePix F30 Zoom offers a jaw-dropping ISO 3200) makes it five times more effective at capturing detailed, natural looking images in low light than a conventional compact with ISO 400.

You probably take more pictures than you realise in low light. And low light is exactly what conventional digital compacts can’t cope with. They lack the sensitivity (a measure known in photography as ISO), and the consequence is a combination of the blur of slow shutter speeds and the rough-textured look of digital ‘noise’ (discoloured speckles appearing on the image). The FinePix F20 offers an impressive full-resolution performance of ISO 2000, meaning that you can shoot with confidence in any light. What’s more, the quality available at the lower sensitivities is commedable for such a small camera.

The camera also features Fujifilm’s ‘Intelligent Flash’ system. This helps avoid the messy background blur of ‘slow-sync’ flash as well as the starkness of conventional flash. Instead, the camera automatically sets the power output of the flash to produce balanced images that combine natural foreground illumination with optimum background exposure. In addition, a ‘Natural Light & Flash’ Dual Shot mode takes two shots in quick succession, one with flash and one without, before displaying them side by side for instant comparison. It’s like a photographic safety net and means you can be confident of getting a great image for every unexpected, spontaneous moment.

More pixels generally equals better image quality, especially when images are enlarged. However, most photography enthusiasts have agreed that 6 million pixels represent a sufficiently large file size to achieve large prints. What really counts in delivering a high quality image is the quality of the sensor and the processing. When all work together well, such as with the FinePix F20 Zoom, it is a well-known fact that you can get achieve better image quality than 7 or 8 million pixel compacts. With the previous model, the FinePix F30 Zoom, it is clear that the FinePix F20 Zoom is of formidable pedigree.

Some other key technical highlights of the camera include a Fujinon 3.0x optical zoom lens (F2.8 to F5.0), 8.0- to 24.0mm (36- to 108mm on a 35mm camera) focal length, 4 to 1/2000 second (depend on shooting mode) shutter speed, xD-Picture Card storage (10MB internal, 16MB card supplied), JPEG (Exif Ver 2.2) still image capture and AVI (up to 640x480 pixels, 30fps) movie capture (there’s a handy switch at the top of the camera to toggle shooting modes).

Exposure control comes in the form of 256-zone TTL metering (Multi/Spot/Average), White balance setting include Automatic, Preset (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light (Warm White), Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light) and Custom, as well as Black & White, Chrome and Standard colour modes.

The camera comes with software CDs, FinePix Viewer and ImageMixer VCD2 LE for FinePix. Also included are Lithium-ion battery NP-70, AC Power Adaptor AC-5VC, Hand Strap, and USB and A/V cables. There’s even a range of dedicated optional accessories, including a premium leather case, WP-FXF30 Underwater Housing and Underwater Strobe Kit. For users who want to travel with their camera, there’s a Fujifilm World Travel Adaptor, for charging abroad, and spare Lithium-ion battery, NP-70.

With a 300-shot battery life thanks to the NP-70 Lithium-ion battery, 14 scene positions including beach, snow and fireworks, the FinePix F20 Zoom is a versatile and dynamic companion that produces above-par pictures wherever you take it. It’s also one of few digital compact cameras to deliver ISO 2000 sensitivity at full resolution. This means that it can give sharp images, even at night-time, or with fast-moving subjects, allowing you to produce sharp images with minimal noise, no subject blurring and atmospheric lighting in dark conditions. [8]

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