Fujifilm FinePix T300

Resolution (10.36)

We found the Fuji T300’s lens to be of a lower quality than the cameras we directly compared it to, with heavy oversharpening and drastic sharpness falloff toward the edges of the frame. The camera reined in chromatic aberration very well and kept distortion to a minimum, but the lack of sharpness negatively impacted image quality and held the T300 back. More on how we test resolution.

Distortion (15.0)

Despite cramming such a large optical zoom range into such a compact lens, there is not as much distortion with the Fuji T300 as you might expect. At the wide angle there is practically no distortion, with a pincushion bend of just 0.17% registered by our test. We found that distortion increased through the zoom range, ultimately ending up with a pincushion distortion of just a hair over 1.0% at the full 50mm telephoto end.

Distortion Examples
Wide (5.0mm): 0.0% Pincushion Distortion
Mid (): 0.0% Pincushion Distortion
Tele (50.0mm): 0.0% Pincushion Distortion

Sharpness (8.16)

The Fuji T300, like many point-and-shoot camera, provides a heavy dose of sharpening to its images along high-contrast areas. This results in a rather dramatic haloing effect near any edges, though this effect is dramatically worse on the T300 than other cameras in this class. The sharpness falloff as your approach the edge of the frame, however, is among the worst we have seen. This is due to the sacrifices Fuji has to make to fit 10x optical zoom in such a compact lens, but the effect is such that the outer edges of the frame are practically unusable.

Chromatic Aberration (8.88)

We did not notice any drastic issues with chromatic aberration when using the T300. Our tests indicate there are some focusing errors in the certain channels, but they’re minimal at worst and don’t appear visible in any of our test images.

Quality & Size Options (6.42)

The T300 offers a variety of quality and size options for still images, with the ability to shoot in 4:3, 3:2, or 16:9 aspect ratios at resolutions up to 14 megapixels. The maximum resolution is only available when shooting in 4:3, with the camera cropping part of the sensor to achieve the other aspect ratios.

Image Stabilization (6.85)

The T300 earned a remarkably strong stabilization score in our tests, showing a 55% improvement with stabilization activated. That’s even more impressive considering its long zoom ratio. More on how we test image stabilization.

Stabilization Comparisons
Fujifilm T300	Fujifilm FinePix F600EXR	Casio EX-ZR100	Samsung PL210
Stabilization Off
Stabilization On