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FujiFilm F20
Buying an "old" digital camera
I bought an "old" digital camera, something I've not done before. To keep up with technology, I usually buy a new camera as soon as it hits the market.
I bought a Fujifilm F20 that has been available for more than a year and a half. I considered FujiFilm cameras with Super CCDs for a very long time but never bought one, hoping future models would offer a few more exciting features such as optical image stabilization. The new F50 adds more features BUT....
... I read a number of reviews for the F50, the successor to a highly praised line of Super CCD cameras. The reviews lament the loss of the "class-leading" high ISO performance of other Fujifilm Super CCD cameras that came before the F50.
Super CCD cameras excel at taking photos in low light at high ISO. As of this writing, only digital single lens reflex cameras offer better ISO performance.
The most venerable Super CCD cameras have six megapixels. Well, Fujifilm has now jumped on the megapixel madness bandwagen and pumped a whopping 12 megapixels into the F50. High megapixels make for good marketing hyperbole but not necessarily better high ISO performance.
To be fair, some professional reviewers opine that the the F50 has slightly better ISO 400 performance than other cameras in its class. But at ISO 800 and higher, images contain much more noise than it's predecessors.
So I decided to get a 6 megapixel Fujifilm Super CCD digital camera while there are a few still available. Interestingly enough, the F20's big brother, the F30, is selling for the same price or more than when it first appeared on the market.
As to my F20, I'm still in awe of the low light capabilites. The high ISO performance blows me away. While I realize it is not as good as s DSLR, the high sensitivity is far better than any of the many digital cameras I've owned.
As the saying goes, there is no progress without change, but change is not necessarily progress. Sometimes older is just plain better!
Gail's Fujifilm F20 Blog
December 2007
Category: Best Camera Features
