Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Green)

Review by Gadgester for Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Green)
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Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RBALABS3LFOWQ The Fujifilm Finepix XP10, newly available in April 2010, is a stylish little ultra-compact camera that invites you to have fun outdoors while taking pictures. It:

- is waterproof to 10 ft. under water, perfect for swimming pools, beach, snorkeling (note: do not use in hot water!)

- is shockproof up to 3 ft., great for jogging, cycling, or even letting your baby learn to take pictures

- is freezeproof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius)

- is dustproof

- has 12.2 effective megapixels

- has 5x optical zoom and features a Fujinon lens for great clarity; lens focal length is 36-180mm in 35mm film camera terms

- takes 720p widescreen, VGA or QVGA video

- can zoom optically in video mode (but see note on audio recording below)

- is really small and weighs just a little over 5 oz. with battery and SDHC card

- uses SDHC memory card, no more xD that was championed by Fuji and Olympus

I bought a green XP10 because I love spending time in the water. I find that, outdoors during the day, the XP10 takes pictures with excellent clarity and excellent color saturation and contrast. Using fill-in flash in daylight truly enhances the picture. Indoors, because the XP10 lacks Fuji’s legendary SuperCCD technology, picture quality is average for a compact or super-compact camera. It does have two natural-scene modes where it boosts the ISO (light sensitivity of the image sensor) at the expense of increased noise. I bought my XP10 to be used outdoors, in the pool and at the beach, so I haven’t taken many indoor pics.

Video shooting at 720p yields smooth, clear HD video clips. BTW, video size is limited only by the 2GB FAT32 file size limit — this means even if you pop in a 16GB SDHC card, the longest video clip can only go up to 2GB in file size, due to the limit imposed by the FAT32 file system. Video is recorded as motion JPEG in an AVI container, so it can be played on many, many devices, at the expense of slightly larger file sizes than a more compact format like MPEG-2 or MPEG-4.

While you can zoom optically — a feature that every digital camera should have — audio recording’s volume level is lowered during zooming. Instead, the camera picks up some noise from the lens mechanism and that noise overwhelms the ambient sounds you want to record, which can be annoying when played back on a large TV. My advise is to use zooming sparingly during video mode. If you want great video recording on a compact digital camera, you should get a Sony or Canon or Panasonic camera (be prepared to pay a lot more for the waterproof feature, though).

Anyway, my sample video clip shows how the camera works under water. The video resolution was set to QVGA (320×240) for easy upload to Amazon, but you should be able to see the amazing clarity both in and out of water.

In summary, the XP10 is a great waterproof, shockproof camera that every water enthusiast should bring along to record fun memories.

Review by Edward J. Hendrick, Jr. for Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Green)
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Just took the new camera on a white water rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. Clearly the camera met the specs for water tightness and shock ability as this type of trip had both. Pictures were of low quality, with little ability to handle a mix of shadows and light. Shutter is slow and unresponsive to the moment. In bright sunshine, or very low evening light, the lack of a view finder rendered most pictures a pure guess. Controls at the top of the camera for on/off and snapping the picture were too low a profile to allow for handling in tough situations. Worst of all was dismal battery life–only able to get about 100-125 pictures, while carefully turning the camera off in between, before battery was exhausted. Overall–very disappointing.

Review by S. Greene for Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Green)
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I got this camera to replace my previous underwater / shockproof Canon D10, which died after about 8 months for no apparent reason. When I got the D10, it was the only low-cost point-and-shoot I could find for light underwater use, which made it good in its own way, but the electronics and sensor and etc. were already a couple of years out of date on the Canon, plus it was really big and bulky.

I don’t do serious underwater work, but do want a camera I can take out in the rain and occasionally in a swimming pool or to the beach, without worrying about it. Also with small kids, the likelihood of a camera getting dropped is high, so a sturdy model is key.

This little Fujifilm advertises the same kind of water- and shock-proof characteristics as the Canon, but it’s a whole lot more modern in its features, and a whole lot smaller, which is great. I haven’t used it underwater yet, but for everyday use it takes good pictures.

A few issues I have with it. One, the cable connector is nonstandard. It should be mini-USB, like so many other things – I keep a mini USB hanging off my computer anyway, and if I lose a mini USB cable it’s easy to find another, vs. the Fuji cable which doesn’t match anything else I own.

Second, the mechanicals are not quite as polished as I’d like. The waterproof cover for the cable connector doesn’t seat well – it’s very hard to get in. And the battery cover has a strange hinge device that was confusing to figure out and I fear will not last well, since I have to open it frequently to extract the memory card, because the cable connector is nonstandard and hard to reseal.

All in all I would still recommend this camera, and I hope these few flaws get corrected in a future model.

Review by Kent Wheeler for Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Green)
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Pros:

Great outdoor pics!

Great under water!

Tough

SR Auto works well

Indoor pics are fine for parties

720p HD video!

12mp!!

5X optical zoom

Cons:

Battery life!!!

Software kind of sucks

Not crisp indoor/lowlight pics (please read more about this below – it’s not so bad)

So I got this camera as soon as it came out. This is my first camera actually. I never bought one before bc anytime that I want a camera I am at the beach, river, fishing, pool, drinking, etc (i live in FL). I couldn’t bring myself to buy a camera that i know would break with my lifestyle. I liked the D10 but it’s so expensive and I’m not gonna carry that egg thing in my pocket. The previous WP Fuji camera got pretty good reviews and I liked the sample pics people uploaded from them the most. Even more than the Olympus or Pentax. The new XP10 was about to come out with better resolution etc so I pre-ordered it.

I am very happy with this camera! It looks real nice (silver), fits in my pocket, is super tough (i’ve thrown it around), the waterproof is great, 5X opt zoom (great for video), HD video, and the pics look real good for my purposes. I wasn’t sure about the buttons behind rubber(?) before but they click when you press them so it’s nice.

I’m not a pro photographer, i’m not making posters of landscapes or anything. These pics are for facebook basically. I wouldn’t have any pics at all if it weren’t for a tough waterproof camera. My sister’s SLR takes much better pictures indoors of my aquarium and food (we like to take pics of food we make). But this is still an awesome camera.

The battery does suck on this camera. It will only last for one day of fun. The next day it will die pretty quick if you try to keep going on it. So i’m gonna have to buy another battery or hope for an extended life one to come out :/ I’ve used friends’ cameras that last weeks on a charge. But, they’re not WP. I’ll deal.

The other thing – low light pics. They don’t come out crisp at all. It’s not a big deal to me bc it’s usually at parties when i’m drunk so it kind of captures the moment being a little warm and blurry looking. People actually seem to kind of like it. But just a warning.

Overall this is a great camera for most every situation and is a good deal at $200 (mine came with a 4gb memory card). I highly recommend :]

I can’t wait to try it on my next ski trip!

I will upload sample pics.

Review by Colorado for Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Green)
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I purchased this camera to take pics of our 18 month old who loves the water. We have an DSLR and a very nice point and shoot but I worry about taking those cameras on the boat or to the pool. The first day we had it my wife dropped it on the sidewalk getting out of the car, no problem. This past weekend we took it out on the boat, I used it in and around the water, works better than expected. Only problem we found was we got sun tan lotion on the front blurring the images, easily fixed with a towel….I even took a quick video of my daugher jumping in the water, video quality is better than our Flip video. Can’t wait to take it along when we go hiking in the mountains.

I would recommend this camera to anyone who already has a nice digital camera, if it is going to be your only camera you might want to look at the Panasonic.

Pros:

Worry free (only cost $150)

Waterproof

Rugged

Cons:

No lens cover

Doesn’t float (use wrist strap)