Fujfilm FinePix HS20 EXR Program mode vs Resolution Priority EXR vs High ISO & Low Noise EXR
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To compare the noise performance of the FujiFilm FinePix HS20 EXR in its EXR modes we shot this scene with the camera in Program exposure mode and two of its EXR modes - Resolution Priority (HR) and High ISO and Low Noise (SN).
For these tests the camera was mounted on a tripod and image stabilisation was turned off. The lens was zoomed in to 5mm to match the angle of view used for the High ISO noise tests. The FinePix HS20 EXR was set to its largest 16 Megapixel image size with image quality set to Fine. However, in SN EXR mode the image size is automatically reduced to 8 Megapixels.
The sensitivity was selected manually at each available ISO setting. |
The above shot was taken with the the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR in Program auto mode. The lens was zoomed in a little to a focal length of 5mm (28mm equivalent), the sensitivity was set to 100 ISO and the exposure was 1/2 a second at f3.2. The crops are taken from the area marked with the red square and presented below at 100%.
The purpose of Resolution Priority EXR (HR) mode is to produce the best possible results at the full 16 Megapixel resolution of the EXR sensor in good lighting conditions, so we were interested to see how it compares with Program mode at the lower ISO settings here - the maximum available sensitivity in HR mode is 800 ISO. At 100 and 200 ISO there's definitely more detail in the crops, but they look a little bit grainier too. At 400 and 800 ISO you're probably better off with Program mode but, at the lower sensitivity settings, there's some evidence here that HR mode could be worth trying if you want to capture the maximum amount of detail possible.
SN EXR mode combines multiple photosites to produce a single image pixel. This improves the light-gathering capacity and, in theory, improves the noise performance, but at the cost of halving the maximum image resolution to 8 Megapixels. So how does it measure up in practice? Well, there's a huge improvement in the noise quality of the SN crops, clear evidence that Fujifilm's EXR SN mode really works. There are two obvious drawbacks - the 8 Megapixel maximum resolution and the 1600 ISO upper sensitivity limit (for manually selected ISO settings, though there is an auto setting with an upper limit of 3200 ISO). But if you don't plan on making big prints and there's enough light to work at 1600 ISO or lower, there's every reason to switch to SN EXR mode for cleaner images with more detail and significantly less noise.
Now head over to our Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR sample images to see some more real-life shots in a variety of conditions.
Finepix HS20 EXR
Program mode
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Finepix HS20 EXR
Resolution Priority EXR mode |
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Finepix HS20 EXR
High ISO & Low Noise EXR mode |
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100 ISO |
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100 ISO |
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100 ISO |
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200 ISO |
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200 ISO |
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200 ISO |
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400 ISO |
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400 ISO |
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400 ISO |
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800 ISO |
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800 ISO |
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800 ISO |
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1600 ISO |
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1600 ISO Not available |
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1600 ISO |
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3200 ISO |
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3200 ISO Not available |
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3200 ISO Not available |
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6400 ISO (8M) |
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6400 ISO Not available |
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12800 ISO (4M) |
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12800 ISO Not available |
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