Fujifilm recently announced that they will be launching five new digicams in September, two entry level cameras, two cameras for the advanced amateur and finally a camera for the 13-26-year-old demographic.
The FinePix F480 is an entry level camera with 8.3MP SuperCCD, 4x wide angle optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD, up to ISO 800 at full resolution and 14 pre-programmed scene modes. Fuji added a new graphic user interface this year to their line of entry level cameras to make it easier for the user to learn what scene mode to use and when to use it. Each time the user selects a scene mode a dialogue box pops up to help the user with the settings. The camera has 12MB of internal memory, an xD picture card and SD media format. It includes a rechargeable lithium ion battery and is scheduled to ship at the beginning of September at a reasonable MSRP of $179.95.
The second addition to Fuji’s new line of cameras is the FinePix A920. This 9MP Super CCD camera includes 4x optical zoom, a 2.7-inch LCD with anti-glare coating, up to ISO 800 at full resolution, 10MB of internal memory and is also xD/SD/ and SD-HC media compatible. The A920 also has IrSimple Communication for fast wireless image transfer. It is “AA” battery powered and scheduled to ship in September at an MSRP of $199.95.
The FinePix S8000fd is the first of two advanced amateur cameras that Fuji is launching. It is an 8MP SLR-styled camera with 18x optical zoom, one of the largest optical zooms on a fixed-lens camera in the industry. It also comes with Dual Image Stabilization, which combines a mechanically stabilized CCD sensor with a high ISO for total anti-blur protection. The combination of these two different approaches reduces the “blur” effect from the photographer’s hand-shake and subject movement even further to provide the highest quality digital pictures yet, with sharp, clean and clear results. It sports a 2.5-inch LCD, electronic viewfinder and features face detection (Face Detection 1.0 pioneered by Fuji in 2006) of up to 10 faces at one time. It has an ISO of 1600 at full resolution. The S8000fd is xD/SD/SD-HC media compatible and will ship in September with an MSRP of $399.
Fuji will be coming out with another advanced amateur model, FinePix F50fd. This camera will include a 12MP SuperCCD, 3x optical zoom, 2.7-inch wide angle view LCD and Fuji’s newest face detection feature, Face Detection 2.0. As with version 1.0, it can detect up to 10 human faces in a scene in as little as 5/100 of a second, correcting focus and exposure automatically, regardless of where subjects are located within the frame. Face Detection 2.0 adds to this technology by being able to identify faces at much more extreme camera angles than before – up to 90° vertically and 30° horizontally. No longer does the camera need a head-on shot to identify a face, now even a profile will do. Another neat feature of the F50fd is an automatic red eye remover. After the user takes a picture, the camera automatically zooms in on the faces in the frame, removes any red eye it detects and saves the new picture with red eye removed and the original picture onto the memory card. The camera comes with a rechargeable lithium ion battery, IrSimple Communication, which allows the user to take a picture, point the camera to another camera with the same technology and transmit the picture. The camera is XD/SD/SD-HC media compatible and will be available in September for $299.
Finally, Fuji will be coming out with a camera specifically targeted toward the tech-savvy Gen ‘Z’ users. Fuji believes since this demographic group spends more time online sharing photos on such Web sites as Facebook and MySpace, they too could use a camera that encourages such activity with one push of a button. The Z10fd will be available in five eye-catching colors: midnight black, wave blue, sunset orange, hot pink and wasabi green. It is a 7MP CCD camera with a 3x optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD, face detection technology and also features a new blog mode, which will take pictures in high resolution mode and then resize them in-camera into low resolution files to place on Facebook, MySpace or within a specific blog entry. The Z10fd features IrSimple Communication, is XD/SD/, SD-HC media compatible, uses a rechargeable lithium ion battery, has 54MB of internal memory and will be ship at the end of September for $199.
