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Fujifilm HS-30 EXR,
PREFACE: This review is primarily intended for Point & Shoot types. I do not delve into MANUAL adjustments, nor do I have any interest in that. I want something that will take good pics without undue hassle and is convenient to take on travel.
Well, after a fairly long wait for Fujifilm to release the HS-30, mine arrived this afternoon. I charged the li-on battery (no more four AAs) and took it outside to take around ten test shots. They turned out perfectly. I had the HS-10 … then HS-20 before this latest incarnation, and really liked both cameras. I’ve no doubts I’ll like this one at least, if not more, than the previous HS-20. You can read all the specs, etc., so I won’t get into that. Physically, the electronic viewfinder and LCD are sharp, clear, and bright – and I do detect that slight shortening of the flash unit, which protruded a bit annoyingly on the HS-20. Thus, no problem at all focusing with the manual lens (which I love). I also did not detect the lag one experienced between shots with the HS-20. Now, again, I just received the thing and only took some ten shots … but I was very happy with the shots. Since mine is the first review, it remains to be seen if problems, such as the overheating warning with the past early editions of the HS-20 produced, will come along as others get their cameras and put them to use. I hope to get out there tomorrow and run this thing through its paces. If anything untoward happens, I will certainly advise. The HS-30, like the HS-20, sure beats the heck out of having to stop to change cumbersome lenses for differing shots/scenes! Additionally, it all fits into a nice/compact Case Logic case, no more lugging around all that other “stuff” in backpacks, etc. 🙂 In closing, my background is strictly amateur photography. I’ve no aspirations in becoming a pro. The pics I take are for my own enjoyment, and it ends there. Speaking only for myself, I do believe photography should be fun, not a hassle. I’ve had the Canon 7D and the 60D, with all the “L” lenses, so I do “know my way around the block” a bit. This is not to say I think this bridge camera takes the place of DSLRs for professional use, certainly not. Enjoy your HS-30, and please do post your experiences so we can all benefit. 🙂
ADDED: March 15, 2012: Took the camera out to my favorite park and ran it through its paces. There was a slight … slight … delay between some shots at the park, but no delay when taking pics indoors and other environments. Not a problem for me. I took 52 pictures, and except for two, they were absolutely perfect, and those two were probably my fault. The zoom works fine, no problems. The LCD is also excellent, though I prefer taking my shots via the viewfinder. Lastly: I am a huge fan of POST PROCESSING any pictures I take, be it with a DSLR or the HS-30. I have a MAC and use APERTURE 3, and Aperture 3 makes a notable difference in getting pictures to look the way I want them (that “finishing touch”). If you’re using a Windows machine, you might want to look into software packages designed to work with digital pictures.
SUMMATION: Realizing this camera is NOT a DSLR, I would buy it again in a heartbeat. It felt so nice to walk around the park this morning without lugging along a bag filled with heavy lenses. And the resulting pictures more than satisfy me.
ADDED: 3-20: Having had this camera since last week, and having taken a lot of shots with it, I can say I take nothing back: it was worth buying. I am speaking strictly from a Point & Shoot perspective here. If one is looking for all the bells and whistles of a DSLR, then get a DSLR, or you’re probably gonna be frustrated. Reiterating: though quite advanced for a P&S, this camera, in the end, is NOT a DSLR.
ADDED/CONCLUSION: 5-2-12: I’ve now had the HS-30 for about 1.5 months and have used it extensively. I even took it on the annual trek to Las Vegas a bit over a week ago, and it performed flawlessly. If anything, I would draw the prospective buyer’s attention to ACTION photography. I would NOT expect this to behave like a DSLR in this respect, OK? You CAN get a sequence using CONTINUOUS MODE, but I found using a DSLR in this respect (action shots of moving subjects) much more satisfying. Taking shots of static objects however, this camera has worked excellently. I note the price keeps dropping on what they were asking initially for the camera. I think it’s a great bargain if you’re in the market for a great Point and Shoot camera.
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|It didn’t work for me, but it might work very well for others.,
With high expectations the Fujifilm HS30 arrived yesterday on it’s first day of release. I tested it out yesterday afternoon. Today it went back to Amazon. To be specific, the actual performance of the camera did not match everything the official spec sheet said it would do. And there were a few other problems with it, too.
Part 1 – THERE IS A LIMIT ON THE ISO / SHUTTER SPEED.
Those of you who may have seen my Amazon post on the Canon SX40 will know that over the last five months and 22 pages of Comments and replies I have criticized Canon heavily for putting an unnecessary restriction on its ISO (The old-fashioned term for this was “film speed”). If you want to do low-light photography you have to be able to use a higher ISO and a slower shutter speed. That is the way it has always been for all types of cameras.
Canon had placed a new, arbitrary limit of ISO 100 on the camera (which was not on its previous model, the SX30) together with maintaining its maximum 15-second shutter speed limit. This stopped me, briefly, from doing my long-standing, nighttime photography of Monterey Bay Harbor, which sometimes required an ISO 400 with a 15-second shutter speed. There was no way for the user to bypass this limit even in Full Manual Mode.
The new Fujifilm HS30 has a similar limit, though it is not nearly as severe. To be fair, this limit on the HS30 is so slight that most people will probably never notice it at all. But for those of you who may be effected by this ISO and Shutter speed limit, here it is.
The Website makes no mention of it. Download the .pdf file for the full User Manual for the HS30, and you will see only this small notation repeated both on pages 33 and 34.
“The shutter speed is restricted depending on the ISO setting.”
How much is it restricted? The user manual does not say. I called Fujifilm tech support, and they didn’t even know for sure. So I tested the camera myself, and here is the ISO / shutter speed limit, exactly:
ISO….100 = 30 second shutter speed limit
ISO….200 = 15 second shutter speed limit
ISO….400 = 8 second shutter speed limit
ISO….800 = 4 second shutter speed limit
ISO..1600 = 2 second shutter speed limit
ISO..3200 = 1 second shutter speed limit
Although all of the publicity says that you can use shutter speeds “from 30 seconds through 1 / 3200 of a second,” that is not quite literally true. You can only do that at ISO 100. If you try to do that at ISO 200, then the shutter speed limit is cut in half to 15 seconds. At ISO 400 it is cut in half again to 8 seconds, and so on.
Those of you who want a graphic example of what a limit on ISO means may wish to view my video I posted for the Canon SX40 here on Amazon. At ISO 400 with a 15-second shutter speed there are some beautiful nighttime colors reflected from the light of Monterey Bay Harbor. At ISO 100 with a 15-second shutter speed limit the picture is almost entirely dark. The limit on the Fujifilm HS30 at ISO 400 is only 8 seconds, very close, but not quite enough for what I personally need. If that effects you, fine, now you are aware of it. If not, then that’s fine too. In which case please simply just ignore this whole part of my post as completely irrelevant to you personally.
But be aware that in some modes on the HS30 you cannot use a shutter speed of longer than one quarter of a second. That really isn’t very much to work with if you are trying to do any time-exposure photography with this camera, especially nighttime long-exposures. So at least now you know.
Part 2 – THERE ARE A FEW OTHER PROBLEMS WITH IT, TOO.
Shooting in low light at dim targets in the distance is like shooting blind in the dark if you cannot see what you are shooting at. While the Fujifilm HS30 does have “live view” on the LCD, it does not have an “exposure” live view.* Live view means you see on the LCD exactly what the camera sees. “Exposure” live view means you see on the LCD what the final picture will look like (how light or dark it will be) before you actually take the shot. The LCD lightens and darkens as you adjust the dial. Canon cameras do that. Fujifilm and Nikon cameras apparently do not. (If I am wrong about this, however, then someone please correct this information for the benefit of everyone else reading this post. Thank you.)
* Technically called “exposure simulation live preview” or “exposure priority display.”
Trying to line up on a distant target in low light is fairly easy with an exposure live view LCD, since it lightens as the exposure setting increases. If you want high definition in the shadows you simply raise the exposure. If you want high definition in clouds, then you lower the exposure. Combine the two images in Photoshop and you get an HDR photo (High Dynamic Range) with well defined clouds…
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|A winner for me!,
First, I want to compliment Amazon on the free shipping. I ordered the HS30 on April 9th and received it on April 14th. Two to five days before the estimated time it was supposed to arrive. ( between 16th and 19th ) Very pleased with that Amazon.
So far I think the HS30 is great! The IQ is not bad at all. I have a Nikon d3100 which takes great pictures but sometimes I would miss a great shot because I didn’t have the right lens on at the time. I took a closeup pic of a Finch on my porch railing yesterday that I never would have gotten with my Nikon, I’m sure, because I would have had to change lenses. The pic came out excellent! Crisp, sharp and detailed. Took a great pic of a quarter-moon this morning. Again, crisp, sharp, and closeup. Now, is every pic like that? No. But, neither is every pic taken with a $5,000 camera.
Take time to go through the menus and learn the camera, and you should be fine. I mainly wanted the long lens and the panorama feature. So far so good. What persuaded me to buy this camera was I had previously owned the HS10 but had to return it for financial reasons, not because I didn’t like it. When looking back at some of the pictures I had taken with it, which were pretty good, (not my photography skills but the camera IQ) and now being a little more experienced with shutter speed and aperture settings and such, I figured this time around I could really work some magic with it.
Also, a nice surprise was that from the back it looks almost exactly like the D3100. So far, all of my macro shots have been really good too. Really good! Some hand-held telephoto ( at full zoom ) shots were a bit shaky but if you can use a tripod with remote or self-timer you should be good to go. The low-light shooting modes work pretty good too. IS works good.
If you want a camera that you can take a picture, “now” without fumbling with a bunch of lenses and stuff and still get nice images, this should do the trick. Plus, there are a lot of different settings and so forth to play with. The 360 panorama works great. ( might need to practice a little ) The software has a 360 viewer which is pretty cool.
Recommend as a nice carry around, all purpose, trip taking camera.
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