Fujifilm FinePix HS10

Focal length: 4.2mm (24mm equiv.)
Aperture: f/6.5
Shutter: 1/750
ISO:100

Shot in the super macro mode, this shot of a busy bee shows how the HS10 can get close into the action: the bee was less than an inch from the lens. However, we did find that the camera was slow to focus in macro mode, and despite setting it to use the center of the frame, it often tried to focus into the distance, producing blurry subjects. The camera also underexposed the image a little, obviously trying to compensate for the bright blue sky.

Focal length: 4.2mm (24mm equiv.)
Aperture: f/4.9
Shutter: 1/240
ISO:100

Shooting in the SR Auto (scene recognition) mode, the HS10 made a good choice here, setting the camera to landscape shooting mode, which keeps the ISO low and ups the aperture to keep the landscape in focus. However, the image does have some softness at the edges, and there is some evidence of chromatic aberration on the edge of the branch at the left.

Focal length: 126mm (720mm equiv.)
Aperture: f/5.7
Shutter: 1/320
ISO:200

This shot of a local fisherman shows the advantage of a long zoom. This Great Blue Heron is not big on posing, but with the long zoom I was able to take the picture from about 20 meters away so he could continue fishing in peace. As you can see from the crops, there are some minor issues: the center of the frame is sharp, but the reeds and a passing insect at the edges are a little soft (crops 2 and 3). The image is also a little noisy, despite the ISO being relatively low.

Focal length: 4.2mm (24mm equiv.)
Aperture: f/5.0
Shutter: 1/550
ISO:100

The HS10 can take panorama shots in a single exposure: you press the shutter and pan the camera and it creates the image in the camera. We found that this generally worked well, although objects moving in the frame can confuse it, with the objects sometimes being chopped in half. There are also some blending glitches on this image, where some objects appear several times because the camera didn’t quite blend them correctly.

Focal length: 10.9mm (24mm equiv.)
Aperture: f/3.6
Shutter: 1/4
ISO:800

Shooting in the pro low light mode, the HS10 takes 4 images and stacks them together. The result looks good, with decent color and relatively low noise.