Fujifilm Finepix F70EXR 10MP Super CCD Digital Camera with 10x Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD

by Fuji

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.9 x 0.9 x 2.3 inches ; 6.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002HEWA28
• Item model number: FinePix F70EXR
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #903 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 21, 2009

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Encased in a beautifully sculpted metal shell with a double coated lacquer finish and measuring only 22.7mm thick, the FinePix F70EXR offers several enhancements over its predecessor, the FinePix F60, and boasts marked improvements over competing long-zoom digital cameras, particularly in the areas of design, image quality and capture technology.

FinePix F70EXR Highlights

Super CCD EXR
Long zoom compact cameras, as opposed to standard compact digital cameras, typically use a smaller sensor that is vulnerable to difficult lighting conditions since light has a harder time reaching the CCD sensor. To mitigate this vulnerability, Fujifilm has introduced its award-winning EXR technology into the FinePix F70EXR, allowing for significant improvement in image quality against the competition.

Introduced earlier this year with the FinePix F200EXR, Fujifilm's EXR technology uses the human eye as the basis for the perfect camera sensor, creating a Super CCD sensor capable of registering excellent levels of detail when switched to its HR (High Resolution) mode. The FinePix F70EXR is also capable of offering excellent quality in low light and superb highlight detail in contrast light when switched to its SN (High Sensitivity and Low Noise) mode and DR (Wide Dynamic Range) modes respectively.

EXR Modes
An advanced feature on the FinePix F70EXR, 'EXR Auto' helps take the guesswork out of setting the camera by doing it for you. EXR Auto is a sophisticated set of program modes that can automatically detect six different types of scenes - Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Backlit Portrait, Night, and Night Portrait. The camera will recognize the scene and optimize focus, color balance, exposure, flash and sensitivity and will automatically switch the sensor to HR, SN or DR mode depending on the lighting conditions of the scene. By using EXR Auto, users can let the camera do all the hard work and concentrate more on getting the best shot possible.

Multi Frame Technology: Pro Focus Mode / Pro Low-light Mode
New Fujifilm EXR digital cameras, including the FinePix F70EXR will offer several new shooting modes that combine the power of Super CCD EXR with Multi Frame Technology to enable users to capture exceptional images that rival the most expensive professional D-SLR cameras.

Typically, one of the ways to distinguish 'D-SLR' photography from 'compact' photography has been the use of 'wide aperture' to create mood and depth in a picture. These 'professional' shots are now possible on the FinePix F70EXR, which uses Pro Focus Mode to combine two or three burst shots together. Through complex digital imaging technology, a crisp shot of the subject is synthesized against a defocused background and foreground. Ideal for portraiture, nature photography or any subject that needs 'lifting' from its background, the FinePix F70EXR Pro Focus Mode provides satisfying professional results at the touch of a button.

Meanwhile, Pro Low-light Mode is applied to solving the problems of noisy low light shots. With current cameras, it is possible to achieve relatively blur-free low light shots using high ISO and CCD shift mechanical image stabilization. However, high ISO settings typically come at a cost, as the ISO 1600 setting will invariably produce distracting and ugly noise. In Pro Low-light Mode, the camera will take bursts of four high sensitivity images using Pixel Fusion Technology[*1] in quick succession. With Multi Frame Technology, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th images are overlapped to create one image with extremely low noise.

Super Slim 10x Zoom Lens
In conjunction with the Super CCD EXR sensor, the FinePix F70EXR features a Fujinon 10x optical zoom lens that produces crisp high resolution results throughout the focal range, from 27mm wide-angle to 270mm telephoto. The lens of the FinePix F70EXR features Super EBC Coating that keeps ghosting and flare to minimum to allow for optimal picture quality.

1x, 5x, 10x optical zoom

Film Simulation Modes
Similar to other high-end FinePix models, the FinePix F70EXR offers five different film 'modes' to allow the photographer full creative expression to explore a variety of pre-set color and contrast modes designed around Fujifilm's most famous film emulsions. The modes are:

• Velvia/Vivid mode for rich and luscious landscapes
• PROVIA/Standard mode for excellent, sharp, standard photography
• ASTIA/Soft mode for soft, fine, smooth tonality
• Black & White mode captures the dramatic honesty of your image in black and white
• Sepia mode creates a sense of nostalgia with the warm brown "antique" tones of Sepia

In the Provia, Velvia and Astia modes, the dynamic range can now be set to 800% to improve and highlight details further.

1) FinePix F70EXR LCD, 2) Conventional LCD

New 'Super Intelligent' Flash
The FinePix F70EXR offers a radically improved flash control system which efficiently controls the level of flash for a given exposure to produce beautifully balanced flash illumination across the foreground and background. Gone are the ugly washout shots where the subject is blasted with light and the background dark and unexposed. Super Intelligent Flash is most useful in macro photography where the contrast between subject and background can be especially challenging, but is also effective for night and backlit photography.

New High Contrast LCD
The FinePix F70EXR is fitted with an improved high contrast 230K-pixel 2.7-inch LCD. The high contrast LCD is a considerable benefit in bright light, and means that the camera can be pitched at various shooting angles to enable framing of awkward shots. Viewable at 160 degrees both vertically and horizontally, the LCD is bright and clear for beautiful rendition of shots in playback.

Dual Stabilization
Long zoom cameras need stabilization more than any other compact, with handshake and subject movement a particular problem in low light at telephoto range. The FinePix F70EXR reduces blur to a minimum by deploying Picture Stabilization to automatically increase shutter speeds to freeze action, and CCD Image Stabilization to counteract the problems of handshake. By cleverly combining these two, blur is reduced to an absolute minimum.

Face detection with instant red-eye correction

Face Detection 3.0 and Automatic Red-eye Removal
To provide perfectly exposed and focused portrait shots, the FinePix F70EXR is fitted with Fujifilm's latest Face Detection technology which is able to track up to 10 faces simultaneously, at almost any angle to the camera. The system instantly corrects red-eye and then saves both the original and the corrected image file automatically.

What's in the Box
Li-ion battery NP-50, Battery charger BC-45W, Hand strap, USB cable for the FinePix F70EXR, AV cable for the FinePix F70EXR, CD-ROM, Owner's manual.

Product Description

FUJIFILM has introduced its award-winning EXR technology into the FinePix F70EXR, giving a significant improvement in image quality against other models. The F70EXR sports a neat compact design, at only 22.7mm thick. The chassis is crafted into a beautiful sculpted shell with a double -coated lacquer finish. A Fujinon 10x Zoom lens, developed in conjunction with the Super CCD EXR sensor, produces crisp high resolution results throughout the focal range, from 27mm wide-angle to 270mm telephoto.

Super CCD EXR
Modeling the EXR sensor on the human eye, for the first time the user can 'flex' the behavior of the sensor according to the scene being photographed. When the light is strong and even, the camera can be switched to HR (High Resolution) mode to ensure every small detail is recorded. When ample light is present but strong contrast exists, the sensor can switch to DR (Dynamic Range) mode to get the optimal balance between highlight and shadows. Lastly, in low light the sensor will switch to SN (High Sensitivity and Low Noise) mode, to ensure clean noise-free pictures even in the darkest conditions.

EXR Modes
A fantastic addition to the FinePix F70EXR, EXR Auto takes the guesswork out of setting the camera by doing everything for you. EXR Auto is essentially a very sophisticated set of program modes. The camera can automatically detect 6 different types of scenes - Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Backlit Portrait, Night, and Night Portrait. The camera will recognize the scene and not only will optimise focus, color balance, exposure, flash and sensitivity, but will also automatically switch the sensor to HR, SN or DR mode depending on the lighting conditions of the scene. Users of the FinePix F70EXR will rely heavily on EXR Auto for their general photography, letting the camera 'do all the hard work' leaving the photographer free to concentrate on getting the best shot possible. And a camera like the FinePix F70EXR, tak

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

182 of 195 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Advanced Camera! Highly Recommended!, August 26, 2009

By 

C. F. Hill "CFH" (Blue Ridge Summit, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix F70EXR 10MP Super CCD Digital Camera with 10x Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

(What's this?)

Length:: 7:35 Mins

The FujiFilm F70EXR follows in the footsteps of the fantastic Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR 12MP Super CCD Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Dual Image Stabilized Optical Zoom as a very compact camera that packs a lot of advanced features into a "Point & Shoot" format camera body. The F70EXR is somewhat less expensive than the F200EXR, having a slightly lower resolution (10MP vs 12MP), a smaller LCD (2.7" vs 3"), and a few less shooting mode options. That being said, the F70EXR also has several improvements over the F200EXR, including double the optical Zoom (10x vs 5x), an improved Auto ERX mode and two new shooting modes (see below), and the ability to zoom while shooting video.

This is somewhat of a lengthy review, so I will summarize my findings here:

The F70EXR is a very powerful and feature rich "Point & Shoot" style camera that can be made to perform well for almost any application. The Auto Modes are very accurate and will almost always produce a good picture. In the manual Modes the user has more control over the settings, but the results are almost always impressive. This camera has a lot of advanced features and often takes better pictures than our much more expensive dSLR camera. The only weak area is in the Movie Mode, which is only VGA quality but does at least allow for zooming while filming (see video and review below).

Now for my overview and full review:

The F70EXR has many advanced features, including -
* 10 Megapixel Super CCD EXR Sensor
* 2.7" LCD Screen
* Wide Angle (27 mm) through 10x Optical Zoom (270 mm)
* Image Stabilization
* Wide Range of Preconfigured Modes (see below)
* Face Recognition with automatic in camera Red Eye Removal
* Support for SD and SDHC cards
* Includes 47 meg of internal memory, which is about 30 pictures in the highest resolution mode
* Long lasting Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery (NP-50)

What's in the Box -
* F70EXR Camera
* Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery (initial charge took just under 2 hours)
* Home Battery Charger
* Wrist Strap
* Proprietary USB Cable
* Video Cable (standard video/audio only)
* Printed Basic Manual Booklet (in several languages)
* CD with Owner's Manual (Full) in PDF
* CD with FinePixViewer Software (not bad image management, basic editing, and linking to Fuji web content)
* Plastic Sleeve for Battery Storage
* Miscellaneous Warrantee and Warning Pages

The Controls on the small camera body are generally well placed and easy to use, with a "rose" type interface for selecting and navigating the many menu options, selecting Flash, Macro, Self Timer, Delete, and Exposure Compensation settings. In addition to the Power Button, there are also four small buttons for selecting Play Back, Photo Mode (F), Face Recognition and Red Eye Removal, and Display.

The Photo Mode (F) sets several options that will affect your pictures, like ISO, Image Size, Image Quality (jpeg compression, I turned mine from the default "Normal" to "Fine") , and Film Simulation.

The numerous shooting modes are accessed through the Dial and include:
* "Auto" (Red Camera Icon) mode allows the F70EXR to be used as a "Point & Shoot" and usually produces truly outstanding quality pictures
* EXR Mode (EXR Icon, White Letters with Red Background)
- HR Mode (Resolution Priority), produces very crisp detail of intricate subjects and is useful in product photography - The Camera will display HR when in this mode.
- SN Mode (High Sensitivity & Low Noise), produces low-light shots with minimal noise - The Camera will display SN when in this mode.
- DR Mode (D-Range Priority), takes two pictures and merges them in-camera to provide great detail in highlights and low lights. - The camera will display DR when in this mode.
* Auto EXR Mode, tries to select between several presets (many found in the SP Mode, see below). This is a big improvement over the same mode on the F200EXR and is a good default for the camera. You can still use the regular "Auto" mode or manually set the SP mode when you have time to set up the camera.
* Program (P) and Manual (M) modes are standard modes enabling the user to set Shutter/Aperture priority or to take full control of settings, respectively
* Natural (N) is an interesting option for capturing images with the natural scene lighting
* Natural + Flash (N+ Lightning Bolt Icon) option takes two pictures, one as the "Natural" mode and another with the flash, to ensure a good picture is captured.
* Movie Mode (Movie Camera Icon) is a really useful video (with audio) clip capture mode that allows for 320 or 640 resolution at 30 Frames/Second. The clips are saved in standard AVI format and are decent enough for YouTube. Fuji listened to the consumers so now you can use Zoom while filming, but it does re-auto focus and the motor sound is picked up when changing.
* Scene Position (SP) Mode allows you to select between 15 presets, including:
- Pro Focus, Pro Low-Light, Portrait, Portrait Enhancer, Landscape, Sport, Night, Night (Tripod), Fireworks, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Party, Flower, and Text
- The Pro Focus and Pro Low-Light Modes are new features that allows for soft background portraits and low noise, high detail pictures in low light, respectively. While these will work free hand, I recommend using a tripod and turning off Image Stabilization since the camera take multiple pictures and combines them in camera to make these effects.

There are far too many options and combinations to cover much more deeply, so I'll wrap this up with my major likes and dislikes:

Likes -
+ Great Point & Shoot "Auto" Mode takes impressive 10 MP pictures
+ Very low "Shutter Lag", even when not pre-focused
+ Impressive Wide Angle and 10x Optical Zoom Lens, but controls can be a little "spongy"
+ Clear description of Shooting Modes displayed on LCD when changing dial settings
+ Fantastic EXR Modes allow for capturing outstanding pictures that would have been unusable with lesser cameras
+ Outstanding "Super Intelligent Flash" produces great illuminated scenes without washing out the subject, a feature that is very useful in Macro Mode which we use heavily for our business product photography needs
+ Accurate Face Recognition with automatic in-camera Red Eye Reduction - This feature assures people are in focus, helps with in-camera Slide Show playback, and can automatically remove Red Eye. It is also very cool to watch it work!
+ Ability to Zoom while filming in Movie Mode, but motor noise can be heard on video
+ Large ISO range of 100 to 12800 - I manually limit mine to 800 or lower most of the time
+ Lots of user selectable options - Spending a little time reading the Owner's Manual is a good investment to learn about all of the features packed into this camera.

Dislikes -
- Steep Learning Curve (reading the Owner's Manual is absolutely required to take full advantage of all the features this camera offers)
- No Remote Control - this is important to us since we take product pictures, our workaround is to use the Self Timer
- Movie Mode Zoom - a nice feature but the camera can be slow to refocus and the motor noise is recorded
- No HD video - not too important for me since we have HD camcorders

Like the more expensive F200EXR, this is a very powerful camera that can be made to outperform almost any other consumer grade camera currently on the market if you spend a little time reading the Owner's Manual and do a little experimenting with the extensive options. We have been able to take absolutely beautiful pictures in the standard "Auto" mode and have produced some photos that we would not have been able capture, because of tricky lighting, by using the EXR modes.

The F70EXR is "Highly Recommended"! This is an easy choice for those in need of the advanced features and functionality this camera delivers in a very compact Point & Shoot form factor, 5 out of 5 Stars!

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely usable camera, however be aware of the limitations, October 31, 2009

By 

GM (Wheeling, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix F70EXR 10MP Super CCD Digital Camera with 10x Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

It's a small well built camera, all metal including the tripod mount. Overall pictures are nice but a little on the cool side when put in Auto White balance. I will upload samples on this (compared to canon which is a little on the warmer side on Auto). Auto mode is probably fine for bright outdoors.

The EXR mode which is advertised the most has 4 sub-modes. EXR Auto, EXR High ISO Low Noise (S/N), EXR High Dynamic Range (D/N) and High Resolution (H/R). I haven't yet figured out the difference between EXR H/R and normal large size Auto. Try to avoid the EXR Auto mode since you cannot limit the max ISO.

The firmware can definitely use some updates. It tends to pick too high an ISO in all Auto modes. On some modes you can control how high it will go. Try to set it at Auto(400) wherever possible. In full EXR Auto I have a number of shots full wide angle at 1/80 and ISO 800 where 1/40 and ISO 400 (or even 1/20 ISO 200) would have been fine. The direct SUNLIGHT white balance is for some reason called FINE white balance. The Manual seems to talk about a "if AUTO Image size is selected" (page 34 of the full PDF), but there is no AUTO image size option. You select the image size you want, the camera overrides it as needed. The EXR D/N mode is the most useful of all EXR modes since it gives a 800% Dynamic range boost and you can limit the max ISO.

There is also a Pro Light Mode which does a hash of 4 pictures and it seems to do a better job at reducing noise then EXR S/N. Considering that it takes 4 frames, you need a Tripod and a still subject (if you have a Tripod and still subject why do you need pro-light?). It is limited in use in scenarios where you really need to use this - dark days, shady areas or indoors - because it will pick ISO 1600.

The ISO 1600 which all Auto mode prefers by default should be avoided. The camera also has perfectly unusable ISO 3200, 6400 and 12800. The reason for the existence of these speeds escapes me. An analog TV tuning to a non-existing station would have less noise. Fuji should really limit the max ISO to 800.

I have a old Canon A610 (5MP with a larger sensor 1/1.8, Fuji has 1/2). The Fuji is better in many ways; its smaller, compact, more zoom. But purely from an image quality point of view, there is not much observed difference. There is no quality difference between this 5 year old Canon and the Fuji EXR S/N Mode at upto 400 ISO (The Fuji EXR SN mode results in 5MP) at comparable focal lengths. The ISO 800 in Fuji is actually usable which is unusual for p&s. Chromatic Aberrations are more visible in Fuji than in Canon at comparable focal lengths. Either the Canon lens is better or its firmware is removing this.

While I do not have a modern p&s to compare the image quality (e.g. all the newer Canons use a much smaller 1/2.3 sensor), the addition of all the new technologies is not necessarily able to overcome the sensor size reduction.


PROS:

1. All metal well built
2. Extremely usable zoom range
3. Very useful EXR D/N range
4. Very usable Auto mode if you limit the ISO to 400.

CONS:

1. Fuji - Please remove ISO 1600 and higher, reprogram the firmware to select smallest usable ISO in the Auto modes.
2. Like lots of newer p&s, there is only 1 aperture size + a simulated aperture using neutral density filter. So much for changing depth of field.
3. Some learning needed with all the modes,scenes and film options.
4. Lens chromatic aberrations are visible, this can be removed in software.

OVERALL:

Extremely usable camera, however be aware of the limitation. Try to work around Auto modes to select small ISO if needed, use custom white balance for really critical shots.

78 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Disappointing, October 18, 2009

By 

A reader/user (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix F70EXR 10MP Super CCD Digital Camera with 10x Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

The science of the Super CCD sounds really good. Choosing a sensor arrangement that allows the camera to bin adjacent pixels to increase the effective size of a photosite (at half the number of pixels, of course) is a good idea for reducing both chroma and luminance noise while maintaining a decent shutter speed. The lower noise level should permit raising the effective ISO.

In fact, the Super CCD works pretty well, but not for reducing noise. It is excellent at extending the dynamic range of the sensor (with one half of the photosites capturing bright and one half capturing dim areas). The camera has advanced firmware that allows it to do a number of tricks such as shooting 3 pictures in rapid sequence at the same ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, and averaging out the noise. So long as the photog can hold the camera reasonably steady, this works surprisingly well. It also has the ability to provide an apparently small depth of field, again by taking 3 pictures of the scene and somehow identifying the subject (closest object, I think) and making one shot of the subject and two of the distance, which it then blurs together.

Unfortunately this trick is less well executed. The background just looks as if somebody had blurred it uniformly, as putting a damp sponge on watercolors. On one shot the camera even left a hole in the blur through which one could see a fairly sharp background. Anyway, it only works at all when the subject is quite close to the camera.

Even with vibration reduction it is almost impossible to get a sharp image at a 35mm effective "250 mm" focal length using a camera this small. Hand shake and imperfections in the autofocus combine to limit the sharp zoom range to something significantly less, say around "175mm or 200 mm" equivalent focal length, if sharpness is important to you. The lens is also deficient on native sharpness, and when there's a bright background the chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is annoying and not removed by the firmware/software in the camera. Given the innovative firmware used elsewhere in the camera, some CA reduction and distortion correction should have been implemented.

A reasonably sophisticated user will probably find that he or she reaches for the exposure compensation button fairly frequently. I found that the meter just didn't deliver consistent results as you changed from, say, bright sunlight to an interior. In addition the auto white balance was consistently off, and the presets didn't help a lot. Pictures taken on a cloudy day were uniformly too blue, whether engaging the "shade" preset or using the AWB. In compensation, the custom WB mode is very easy to use and works better than on most compacts.

The F70EXR is beautifully built, a delight in the hand, and attractively styled. It's just not as adept at doing bread and butter photography as it should be, even at the pretty low price it's sold for at Amazon. I am mentally comparing it to a 3 year old Canon 710is and the brand new Canon S90, and have decided that I should return the F70EXR and give the S90 a try.