I took my summer vacation in Long Beach Island, New Jersey last week and I was fortunate to have a chance to test the Fujifilm Finepix XP50 in an environment fitting for this new waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof and dustproof compact digital camera. While 4-way outdoor protection is it's most appealing feature, the Fuji Finepix XP50 comes equipped with other features that help it stand out among the others. The XP50 features a 14 megapixel CMOS sensor, a Fujinon 5x optical zoom 28mm wide-angle lens and a clear 2.7 inch LCD screen with anti-reflective coating which improves visibility even in bright sunlight or while shooting underwater. The Fujifilm Finepix XP50 is the newest edition to Fujifilm's Finepix outdoor point-and-shoot digital camera models and comes in 5 vibrant colors - orange, green, blue, silver and black.
The Fuji XP50 is waterproof up to 5m or 16.4 ft deep, shock proof to survive a 1.5m or 5ft fall, works in temperatures down to -10°C or 14°F and is tightly sealed against dust and sand. Other features for outdoor fun include:
Double Lock- The battery compartment is sealed with a double lock as an extra safeguard when using the camera underwater or in the field.
Water-repellent Coating Lens- The reinforced lens cover is treated with a water - repellant coating - just shake the water off the lens and go right on shooting.
Shockproof Bumper Design- A shockproof bumper protects the LCD in the midst of all the fun.
Anti-slip Rubber Grip- The shaped anti-slip rubber grip lets you keep a firm hold on the camera with bare or gloved hands.
The ocean was a tad too cold for me to take any sample shots with the XP50 underwater, but I did hold it underwater for several minutes and not to my surprise but of course to my relief I can attest to the XP50 being waterproof. I can also say that the XP50 is indeed dust/sand proof and held up very well while shooting on the beach. The anti-reflective coating on the LCD screen also proved to be helpful and allowed me to take shots even with the clear sky and blazing sun overhead.
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| On the Left - "Conventional" Camera | On the Right - Fujifilm Finepix XP50 Camera |
As I mentioned earlier, the XP50 also comes with a high quality Fujinon 5x zoom 28mm wide-angle lens. The lens isn't really the highlight of this camera but it does delivers really crisp and vibrant shots from wide-angle to close-ups.
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| On the Left - Wide-angle (28mm*) | On the Right - 5x Optical Zoom (140mm*) |
Sometimes camera shake or subject movement can blur and ruin your photos. Fortunately, the Finepix XP50 has additional features such as CMOS-shift and high ISO image stabilization that will improve your image quality even while taking long telephoto shots. Together these two features ensure clearer images even while using the XP50 at the full 5x zoom.
The Fuji XP50 comes with a variety of shooting modes to help you maximize your shots potential. These modes include:
6 scene SR AUTO shooting modes - Portrait, Landscape, Night, Macro, Night Portrait, and Backlit Portrait. Framed scenes are automatically detected and selected into the appropriate camera scene mode.
Pro Low-Light Mode is ideal for shooting non-moving subjects in low light. This mode automatically takes a series of four high-sensitivity & low-noise exposures and then combines them into an image with less noise than the single exposures.
Dynamic Range mode uses Multi Frame technology to capture three consecutive photos shot at high speed-under-exposed, normal exposure, and over-exposed. The three images are then layered to an optimum balance of detail in shadow and highlights, eliminating "blackout" or "washout" and producing pleasing, natural gradations.
Natural Light and with Flash mode allows you to capture the same scene twice: once with high sensitivity and natural light, and the second time with Intelligent Flash. So later on you can choose to keep one or both photos.
Face Detection optimizes people pictures by identifying faces and adjusting focus and exposure to ensure bright, clear results. Red-eye removal automatically detects and corrects flash reflection. The Face Detection can simultaneously recognize up to 6 faces in a photo. Share your group portraits using the zoom up function in playbacks, checking each detected face. Each expression can be cropped and saved in clear high resolution results.
The Face Detection Self-timer automatically sets off after the number and position of faces in a scene are detected, snapping the photo at the right moment, with the faces in focus and properly exposed.
Couple Timer mode waits until two faces are close together in the frame. Select “Near,” “Close Up” or “Super Close” depending on the level of intimacy you're aiming for...
Group Timer mode gives you time to get into position as it waits until the number of faces are detected in the frame. You can select up to 4 faces.
Motion Panorama 360 mode allows you to press the shutter button and sweep the camera to pan the scene. The FinePix XP50 produces a stunning 360° panorama shot, effortlessly and automatically.
Tracking Auto Focus keeps fast moving subjects in the frame and in focus, even at 5x zoom extended. Great for capturing dynamic close-ups.
Below are sample images taken in LBI and Atlantic City, NJ using the Fujifilm Finepix XP50:
Below are sample images taken in LBI and Atlantic City, NJ using the Fujifilm Finepix XP50:
In addition to a wide range of shooting modes, the Fuji FinePix XP50 offers a selection of versatile scene positions that ensure optimum results no matter what the scene.
SR AUTO- Frame your shot and SR AUTO intelligently recognizes the scene and selects the ideal settings.
AUTO- The easiest mode for taking pictures. Use this for ordinary photography.
Program AE- An automatic mode to set the white balance and exposure.
Pro Low-light- Choose for shooting a subject under low light or a still subject by using the telephoto zoom.
HDR (Dynamic Range)- Each time the shutter button is pressed, the camera takes a series of shots, each with different exposure. These are combined into a single image, pre-serving detail in highlights and shadows.
Natural Light & with Flash- Shoots 2 images continuously, without flash and with flash. Comes in great handy during marginal shooting situations.
Natural Light- Produces beautiful images that retain the natural ambience when shots are taken in low-light conditions.
Portrait- Set for shooting portraits. Skin tones are softened as it enhances the overall natural look.
Portrait Enhancer- Enables automatic enhancements of skin tone.
Landscape- Best for shooting scenery in daylight capturing clear and sharp shots of buildings and mountains effectively.
Motion Panorama 360- Sweep the camera right or left to create panoramic image.
Sport- A quick recognition of persons in motion or objects for a faster shutter speed to help you catch the perfect moment.
Night- Mode for shooting evening and night scenes. A picture is taken with a slow shutter.
Night (Tripod)- Clear shots of twilight scenes using tripod.
Sunset- Capture sunset scenes vivid in color.
Snow- Most adaptable to snow scenes without unnatural darkened images or where the whole screen appears white.
Beach- Clear shots of people without darkened images under strong sunlight.
Underwater- Best for shooting underwater capturing clear images of the ocean blue.
Underwater (Wide)- Clear underwater picture in wide view capturing the dynamism of the wondrous water world.
Underwater (Macro)- Capture the underwater subjects up close with clarity and in eloquent colors.
Party- Best for shooting indoor weddings or parties. Retains the natural ambiance in low-light conditions.
Flower- Capture a clear close-up shots of blooming flowers rich in color.
Text- Clear shots of letters on a document or white board.
Not only does the Fujifilm Finepix XP50 ensure excellent still image quality but also offers full high definition 1080p video recording as well. You can capture both photos and movies in high-definition 16 : 9 format for full screen HDTV image display. A handy Micro HDMI connection allows you to plug the camera directly into your TV or entertainment system. Additionally, actually recording movies is simple as well. There is a red one-touch movie record button on the back of the camera right next to the LCD screen. This proved to be especially useful when I wanted to catch my mother on stage at some free act in Atlantic City one evening. It was dark in the audience so I would have never been able to capture the moment if I had to fuss around the camera menu to find the video record feature!
The Fuji XP50 also features in-camera editing functions. For still images the XP50 offers:
Aspect Ratio - Images are trimmed to fit the ratio aspects.
Sepia - Adds tone effects of sepia that can be adjusted at 5 different levels.
Contrast - 10 contrast levels can be selected from softening to sharpening controls.
Cropping - Images can be cropped to fit your blog.
Color - Adds miniature effect to image.
Brightness - 10 brightness levels can be adjusted to image.
Face Mosaic - Mosaic to faces can be applied.
For movie and video in-camera editing the XP50 offers:
Movie Trimming - After you take a clip, just set the IN and OUT points to crop and save only the part you want. It's that easy.
Movie Join - Select any previously recorded movie file and “resume” shooting to create a movie up to 2GB size.
If you want to share your photos and movies with the world, you can organize and then automatically upload your photos and videos for Facebook or Youtube using the MyFinePix Studio software which is included with the XP50. The Fujifilm XP50 comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and battery life was very efficient. I charged the battery once for only about 20 minutes (the battery was almost fully dead to start) and it lasted me the entire week. I used a Kingston 16GB SDHC Class 10 memory card to store my images and videos. However, you can use your Fujifilm Finepix XP50 with any high-capacity Secure Digital (SDHC/SDXC) memory card.
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