Fujifilm FinePix HS10

Handling (6.50)

The HS10 is a large, rather heavy camera, but it fits well into the hand. The large hand grip on the right side gives plenty to hold onto, so you can shoot with one hand. You will need two hands to control this camera, though: it can’t be used in one hand because the zoom control is located around the lens.

The shutter button is well placed on the top of the grip, where it falls under the index finger. The zoom control ring is located around the lens, and it is completely manual: there is no way to zoom in or out except by using this. Behind the zoom control ring is the manual focus ring. We found both to be a little awkward to use: the zoom ring requires a fair amount of force to turn, and has a tendency to stop and start quickly, which is annoying if you are shooting video.The manual focus ring is a much lighter touch, but it requires a lot of rotation to go through the focus range.

Buttons & Dials (6.00)

There are a lot of controls on the camera body: we counted 18 buttons and 3 dials in total. This is a double-edged sword: it provides quick access to the controls, but it does also make the camera rather intimidating. It also increases the possibility of a button being accidentally pressed, but most of the controls require you to hold a button and twist a dial to actually change anything. To change the ISO setting, for instance, you have to press and hold the ISO button and twist the control dial or use the directional control. This means that you need two hands to access the controls, but that you are not likely to accidentally change something with an accidental button press.

The mode and control dials are located close to the thumb, but both are a little awkward to use with the thumb, requiring some bracing with the other hand to hold the camera steady. The buttons on the left side of the LCD screen provide access to features such as ISO, exposure mode, auto focus and white balance.

The mode dial on the top of the camera works in a rather unusual way. Rather than have a spot for every scene mode, there are two spots marked SP1 and SP2. These two spots set the camera to one scene mode, with the others available from the on-screen menu. This system means that you have quick access to two scene modes, and the others aren’t far away, but without cramming all of the modes onto the dial.

Menus (6.00)

The menu system is divided into two tabs: shooting and set-up. This system is easy to navigate, but it does involve a lot of up-down button pressing to get to the options in the middle of the list. But the dedicated buttons for many controls mean that you use the on-screen menu less than you would do with a smaller camera.

Manual & Learning (5.00)

The HS10 is supplied with a large in-depth manual that is well illustrated, but rather poorly written, with some more complex features poorly explained. The Best Frame Capture mode, for instance is described as ‘Each time you press the shutter button all the way down, the camera records pictures, ’bracketing’ the moment when the shutter button was pressed.