Fuji pushes sensor envelope with new pashoo

By John Mello on February 7, 2009 12:05 PM

Fujifilm's point-and-shoot digtial camera announcement this week adds to the company's reputation as a camera maker that refuses to be enslaved to the megapixel myth. The new pashoo, the FinePix F200EX, has a sensor that Fuji is calling the Super CCD EXR. It has three modes aimed at optimizing the quality of a photo by manipulating how the sensor's pixels are used to capture the shot.

There's a Fine Capture mode, which uses the sensor's entire 12 million pixels to snag images when lighting conditions are full and even.

There's a Pixel Fusion mode that melds adjacent pixels together to improve light gathering capabilities in low light scenarios.

And there's a Dual Capture mode that takes two 6MP pictures of a scene at different exposures then combines the pics to improve the dynamic range of the shot.

Any of the sensor's modes can be chosen manually or choice can be turned over to the camera through an auto EXR mode.

“There is strong demand in the digital camera market to increase the number of pixels on a sensor, which, all too often, is used as a convenient yardstick for image quality,” Fujifilm's Consumer Digital Cameras Marketing Manager David Troy said in a statement.

“Consumers," he continued, "have realized there’s more to a good picture than just the number of megapixels, and with our Super CCD EXR sensor we prove that true image quality is about a combination of many factors like tone, hue, color fidelity, dynamic range, sharpness, and resolution...."

The F200EX has a relatively large sensor for this class of DSC--1/1.6 inch (more than half an inch diagonally).

It also has a good sized Fujinon zoom--5x (28-140mm equivalent, F/3.3-5.1)--and an expansive three-inch display with 230,000 pixel resolution and 100% coverage.

Light sensitivity ranges from ISO 100 to a whopping 12,800, but only small resolution images (2048 x 1536 maximum) can be captured at that highest ISO setting.

Three storage card types are supported by the unit--xD, SD and SDHC--and it has 48MB of internal memory.

Other features include 640 x 480 AVI video at 30 frames per second, face detection, dual image stabilization (sensor shifting and ISO/shutter manipulation), HD quality image output, dynamic range bracketing and an intelligent flash that avoids "washout" at close ranges.

The F200EX will reach retailers this month and sell for $399.95.

In addition to the groundbreaking F200EX, Fuji also unveiled an economy snapper, the FinePix A150. The 10MP digcam has a 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor and 3x Fujinon optical zoom (35.5-106.5mm equivalent, F/3.3-5.1) and three-inch, 230,000-dot LCD with 96% coverage. Light sensitivity ranges from ISO 100-1600.

The A150 has 20MB of internal memory and supports external storage on SD and SDHC cards.

Other features include 640 x 480 AVI video capture at 30fps, face detection, picture stabilization via ISO/shutter manipulation and a "baby" mode that's sure to be a hit among the parents of newborns.

The A150 will also reach retail shelves this month and its pricetag will be $129.95.