Fujifilm Unveils New Long-Zoom

Fujifilm unveiled its new X-series of cameras, which admittedly made me tingle when I had some hands-on time, but they’re also showing off a bunch of new cameras aimed at more general audiences at CES this year. These include revisions of its rough-and-tumble all-weather line with the XP60, a variety of new “bridge” cameras (aka SLR gateway drugs), and the extremely long-zoom SL1000.
Fujifilm knows where the bread gets buttered in consumer digital cameras these days – it admitted as much during its press event today when it talked about where the camera market has been headed lately, with the major growth coming from smartphones and DSLRs. Consumers need something extra spicy in their standard compacts and fixed lens cameras, in order to help them sway those who’d rather keep things in their pockets.
The XP60 is Fujifilm’s latest waterproof, dust proof and shockproof go anywhere camera, which sports a new double-sealed battery door for added protection, and a 16MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor with built-in IS for low-light shooting. It has a 5x zoom lens and a 10fps burst mode for high-speed shooting, and hits stores in March for $199.95.
The HS50EXR offers 42x zoom factor, and gets some help with the new EXR CMOS II sensor, which is what gives the X-series its fast new AF juice thanks to the addition of phase detection. Its 16 megapixel resolution and 11fps burst mode should really help it appeal to those who want DSLR quality without having to worry about the additional weight and size of a camera with swappable lenses. Focus peaking also makes its debut here with manual focus on the HS50EXR, and optical image stabilization is applied between F2.8 and F5.6, across the entire zoom range. It also drops in March, for $550.
If you’re looking for longer zoom and even faster autofocus, there’s also the new SL1000, which manages 50x zoom and AF locks in as little as 0.2 seconds, thanks to its 16 megapixel BSI-CMOS sensor. It ships in March as well (see the trend here?) for $399.95. There are also the S8200 and S8300, which are $299.95 and $309.95 respectively, boasting 40x and 42x zoom, and 16MP 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS sensors for good low-image quality capture, fast burst mode and quick AF. Arriving in… wait for it… March.