Testing the FujiFilm HS25EXR, Part 1

Or a complete amateur’s fooling about with a new used camera in hopes of replacing his well out of date travel camera.

After failing to make a decent video of a once in a lifetime swarm of tens of thousands of dragonflies flitting around the property, I came to the reluctant conclusion my trusty Canon S1 IS was truly out of date. A newer used camera with HD recording was needed – hopefully one that took good stills as well. Hunting on eBay netted me a steal in the form of a FujiFilm FinePix HS25EXR 16 megapixel “bridge” camera capable of true 1080P video at 30 FPS.

Rave reviews online of this intermediate between snapshot and DSLR classes convinced me this would be a massive upgrade in capability. However, first snapshots had me wondering if I’d taken a step backward. Equipped with a bewildering array of settings, the HS25EXR was far more exotic than anything I’d used before. Of course that didn’t stop me from trying on my own.

This post will cover my initial attempts at using the digital wonder and will be continued in a future post. Above is actually the start of round two of mucking about with the new camera. Snapped at nearly maximum zoom, the picture is of trees across the valley from us beginning to show their autumn colors. The day was sunny, but marred by haziness due to high humidity.

Post correction was done in Corel PhotoPaint X5 for a very quick and dirty tuning of colors and contrast that’s a wee bit oversaturated yet pleasing to the eye. Detail is not great, however it is at nearly full zoom and handheld.

EXR mode was not used for this batch of photographs despite it being the big selling point of Fuji’s digital cameras. A combination of hardware and software, it analyzes whatever the camera is pointed at and automatically sets aperture, ISO speed, and shutter speed while figuring out what lighting and distance conditions are present. Actually, that’s the tip of the iceberg for it can tell if faces of people or pets are present plus many more factors.

For me, it produced photos that were awful when viewed at 100%, though they could be somewhat salvaged by resampling them to a lower resolution. Something was way off and my initial satisfaction turned into distress. While smaller camera CMOS sensors have their limitations, the pictures weren’t even as good as what my Canon S1 IS took.

A search for solutions was in order.

Program mode was used following FujiFilm EXR settings suggested at the Nothing Special blog. Without finding that post, I would have been completely lost at where to begin. If you have a camera of this type, it is a must read.

The first thing I learned about the HS EXR family is that they are very settings sensitive, requiring just the right combination to take decent pictures. Only half the rated resolution was used to eliminate heavy posterizing encountered during testing, which means these are 8 MP (M 4:3) originally before being scaled down to reduce Web download size.

One thing I like in a camera is the ability to take pictures of small objects both at a moderate distance and close up. This also doubles as a torture test for image stabilization because my hands shake nearly as much as a tuning fork vibrates. Thanks to an unusual warm spell, insects showed up in abundance giving me something to shoot.

This crop is from the original photo with color, contrast, and adaptive unsharp mask applied. While not that sharp, the picture was taken from four to five feet away using the zoom which amplifies shaking.

Another six legged beastie caught my attention, this one around seven feet away. Time to test the full zoom! Of course her being in the shadows made it another torture test. Pity the poor camera…

Once again, the crop is in original size and filtered in PhotoPaint. Graininess is present and the details soft with the former being typical of the camera while the latter is all my fault. A tripod should have been used, but then it wouldn’t be a torture test, would it?

Enough with poorly lit subjects, it was time to find out how the HS25EXR would handle bright back lighting. The full power of the monstrous 30x zoom (720mm) brought the small eagle on our flag pole much closer. Filtering was needed to correct the contrast yielding a satisfactory shot. I was surprised by the amount of detail present given my hands and the lighting.

Being a lover of silhouettes, I started feeling better about the purchase.

A quick test of one handed shooting produced quality that impressed me. Reflective surfaces are a good test of camera capabilities in my opinion. I have to note that almost every shot is somewhat washed out so far.

I need to clean the watch face, don’t I? After contrast enhancement, faithful to real life rendition of colors popped out plus plenty of detail. It makes me think this is going to be a great camera for miniatures photography.

Some side by side photos for contrasting original results with software enhanced versions follow:

A little after taking this shot of two Asian beetles passing in the night… err, day, the realization that fill in flash should have been used hit me. Doh!

Some of the brightest light that was had demonstrates the kind of detail the HS25EXR can reproduce even when subjected to shaky hands. Given that the grasshopper was invisible in the viewfinder (I cannot stand view screen shooting) this turned out really well. Shot from several feet away without kneeling, by the way.

The best way to tell one’s car apart from others in a parking lot is to not wash the road dust off it. Hasn’t failed me yet, the dirtiest car is always mine.

All of the tuning was of the quick and dirty kind with no attempt at subtlety. A more careful application of filters would improve this photo no end.

After writing this post, I discovered there is an update to the firmware. More research will be needed before I dare flash the camera memory. In the meantime, I’ll be working on post 2 of the series.