Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"The Fuji FinePix HS10 ($499) is an SLR-style super zoom camera with a whopping 30X lens, a back-illuminated, high speed CMOS sensor, large articulating LCD display, full manual controls, and Full HD video recording -- to name but a few features. As of this writing, it's tied with the Olympus SP-800UZ for the "biggest lens" award (though the Olympus has a more telephoto-slanted 28 - 840 mm zoom range), but knowing camera manufacturers, that's bound to change soon."

Fujifilm, as one of the few camera manufacturers who do not have their own DSLR (their last attempt, the S5 Pro, use the D200 as its base), is one of the few who still makes a full featured bridge camera; large cameras (this is almost the size of a small DSLR) with full manual controls and the tactile controls to go with it; in this case, a rear command dial and a mechanical zoom ring. With DSLRs becoming cheaper and cheaper, bridge cameras are disappearing. The HS10 makes quite a few concessions to keep the price down: Its body is plastic, and lacks the solidness of the previous generations; the AF is not as fast, and startup times are slow. That said, there are some pretty good images to be had out of its 10 megapixel sensor if you choose to shoot RAW: Read the review to find out!

"It's now more than a year since we published our last superzoom group test and despite the hype surrounding mirrorless system cameras such as Micro Four Thirds or the Sony NEX, and the fact that entry level DSLRs are becoming more and more affordable, superzoom cameras are as popular with consumers as ever. It is easy to see why. The combination of a large zoom range from wideangle to super telephoto, DSLR-like ergonomics and an attractive price point guarantee that these cameras appeal to a very broad audience."

Following up on their travel zoom roundup, Digital Photography Review has released one on the travel zoom's big brothers; the super zoom cameras. As mentioned, despite mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras being the new must-have for manufacturers, the appeal of such "bridge" cameras still lies in their versatility at a low cost. This time round, the winners are not so surprising. Still, I can't imagine going back to using thumbnail-sized sensors in my cameras!