Fuji Finepix F200EXR 12.0 Megapixel Stylish Reviews Roundup

Will not get item that you ordered, dinosnake
Regretfully the F200EXR is discontinued and the dealer, while listing it for sale, is actually well out of stock. I got a F600EXR instead and, of course, returned it promptly. The dealer was very helpful and pleasant to deal with for the return, but I just wish they had told me what was going on before even bothering to ship me the wrong item.

Excellent Experience, james c thomas
I just wanted to say thank you, my camera came in less time than I expected.It was also in better condition than I expected. This is the reason I try to buy anything I need through Amazon first. My experiences here have ALL been great.

A little magical camera, KayCS
This was purchased more than a year ago based on one compelling reason, which was, and still is, its larger small sensor (1/1.6"). The size of its EXR sensor is the same as the F200EXR's sister product, S200EXR, and is still larger than the most current F series product (the F600EXR, which is only 1/2"). It is because of this very reason, I bought one, but had not used it until recent months because I was mostly using my DSLR (Nikon D90).
One thing struck me almost immediately was that pictures came out from the F200EXR lacked shadow details and pictures, very often, came out extremely high in contrast. This puzzled me for a bit and many different settings were tested but still the same result, the pictures were in extreme contrast ! Sharpness, however, was right-on ! Color was rich and tasteful, but still, no details in shaded or shadowed areas, things looked almost completely black in these areas !
I had determined to do a little research on this strange behavior. After some hours spent, finally found a solution! The trick was that the F200EXR must be using DR800 in Dynamic Range setting, and the ONLY way to get the camera to allow DR800 to be selected, was to NOT to touch the Film Simulation, which means, leaving it permanently set at default (PROVIA/Standard). Additionally, the EXR mode MUST be set to use DR. I hadn't spend time looking to further my investigation to why only PROVIA that allows you to choose DR800, but this, ladies and gentleman, was THE magical setting to get all those shadow and shaded areas details back !
It made a huge difference in quality when the pictures were compared, and because of this magical setting, the F200EXR is actually a portable photography wonder that produces sharp, delightful pictures with rich dynamic range ! The AF acquisition is fast and accurate, and it is also very surprising that even at ISO1600, pictures are still usable with bearable noise ! One star was knocked off because of its not so stellar VGA resolution only video capability.
There was a thought of either putting the F200EXR on eBay or still keeping it, after the aforementioned magical discovery, the camera, all of the sudden, became a instant keeper, and also one that would go wherever it is taken too.

not impressed, Amelia P. Pearce "Pearce"
I was not happy with the images that were taken indoors. The pictures were dark and grainy, especially disappointing since we were hoping to document our new baby!

Huge disappointment, Organic Mama "Organic Mama"
First, this camera takes terrible pictures indoors. The photos from indoors look like you are in a dust storm: all grainy, You have to be outdoors with no flash for truly good photos. Second, after about a month of having the camera, the lens cover will not open completely, almost as if it is stuck. Half my pictures have a black angled mark at the top left due to this. I am really disappointed by this camera.
Update March 26, 2011: This camera continues to get worse. I am on a family trip in Europe and what happens? My flash no longer works. Out of the blue, just like that. I have had this camera for roughly one year. I do not bang it around either. So with the lens sticking and flash not working, I continued to take outdoor photos only (due to the no flash thing) and suddenly the battery will not re-charge. I am still in Europe with my husband and children and am beyond upset that I no longer have a camera that works.

BUMMER, Organic Mama "Organic Mama"
First, this camera takes terrible pictures indoors. You have to be outdoors, no flash for truly good photos. Second, after about a month of having the camera, the lens cover will not open completely, almost as if it is stuck. Half my pictures have a black angled mark at the top left due to this. I am really disappointed by this camera.

Huge disappointment, Organic Mama "Organic Mama"
First, this camera takes terrible pictures indoors. The photos from indoors look like you are in a dust storm: all grainy, You have to be outdoors with no flash for truly good photos. Second, after about a month of having the camera, the lens cover will not open completely, almost as if it is stuck. Half my pictures have a black angled mark at the top left due to this. I am really disappointed by this camera.
Update March 26, 2011: This camera continues to get worse. I am on a family trip in Europe and what happens? My flash no longer works. Out of the blue, just like that. I have had this camera for roughly one year. I do not bang it around either. So with the lens sticking and flash not working, I continued to take outdoor photos only (due to the no flash thing) and suddenly the battery will not re-charge. I am still in Europe with my husband and children and am beyond upset that I no longer have a camera that works.

Broke after One Year, In Search of Value
A year ago we bought this camera because we wanted a better and faster camera to take pictures of our then one year old. I bought this camera mostly because I thought it would be quick and responsive. It wasn't as fast as I wanted it to be. It ended up needing more time to recover between pictures than was ideal for taking pictures of a toddler. The picture quality was usually good but I often got blurry pictures because the camera wouldn't focus quickly enough to capture the moment I was trying to capture. While it lasted I wouldn't say I loved the camera but I liked it and I was happy with it. I bought this camera October 15, 2009 and on Halloween 2010 I pull it out of my purse to take pictures of my son at his Halloween parade and it doesn't work. I turn it on and all I see is distorted blurred colors. A couple of days later it was working fine again. It worked through Christmas and then I pick it up from it having been sitting on a desk for a week and I see the same distorted colors. Time for a new camera. For this expensive a camera it should last longer than 1 year.

Fairly good pix do not excuse unacceptable quality of manufacturing and service, Carl Schuyler
This is the 4th and last Fuji I have owned. First, the good:
* I like the picture quality. Not the greatest, in fact I think since my first Fuji experience this aspect of the products has deteriorated. But, it's better than many less expensive cameras.
Now to the not so great:
* The battery life is abysmal. I needed to take up to 3 sets of batteries per day. Make sure you have a charger and time to recharge your batteries!
* Quibbles on picture quality: I was never able to get it to focus predictably - which was OK, since I just needed to take many pictures of the same scene and throw out the unfocused ones.
* I bought this for a trip to Europe. It lasted 2 weeks, then started to malfunction: It would go into USB mode unpredictably after being turned on. Within a couple days it was unusable.
* I sent it to the Fuji service center in New Jersey. They said it has a vertical line in the LCD - something that I certainly don't recall and think I would have noticed. But the kicker was they said it had water damage and was beyond repair. This is odd, since I never had it near any water. They wanted half the price of what I paid for it, in order to exchange it. Unacceptable: I used this thing for 2 weeks, and not roughly at all - I took good care of it. And it's broken, period. In addition, I had requested another service in the cover letter I sent, which was completely ignored. It's almost as if they threw out the letter, ascribed random and spurious reasons for not honoring the one-year warranty, and left it at that.
I will not buy a Fujifilm product again. To be clear: I'm calling the Fuji one year warranty nearly worthless, and those who handle the service process dishonest and nonresponsive at best, and cheaters and liars at worst.
PLEASE consider the poor durability of Fuji cameras, as well as non-stellar quality, before paying a high price for one. I have had three previous (and escalating) bad experiences with Fuji cameras. Previously I came back because of good picture quality, but in this last experience that, too, was not great. In my opinion Fuji doesn't value quality - they'd rather just sell as much shoddy product as possible.
Bottom line: Unacceptably bad durability, useless service and warranty, overpriced. Go with the top-notch brands.

Fairly good pix do not excuse unacceptable quality of manufacturing and service, Carl Schuyler
This is the 4th and last Fuji I have owned. First, the good:
* I like the picture quality. Not the greatest, in fact I think since my first Fuji experience this aspect of the products has deteriorated. But, it's better than many less expensive cameras.
Now to the not so great:
* The battery life is abysmal. I needed to take up to 3 sets of batteries per day. Make sure you have a charger and time to recharge your batteries!
* Quibbles on picture quality: I was never able to get it to focus predictably - which was OK, since I just needed to take many pictures of the same scene and throw out the unfocused ones.
* I bought this for a trip to Europe. It lasted 2 weeks, then started to malfunction: It would go into USB mode unpredictably after being turned on. Within a couple days it was unusable.
* I sent it to the Fuji service center in New Jersey. They said it has a vertical line in the LCD - something that I certainly don't recall and think I would have noticed. But the kicker was they said it had water damage and was beyond repair. This is odd, since I never had it near any water. They wanted half the price of what I paid for it, in order to exchange it. Unacceptable: I used this thing for 2 weeks, and not roughly at all - I took good care of it. And it's broken, period. In addition, I had requested another service in the cover letter I sent, which was completely ignored. It's almost as if they threw out the letter, ascribed random and spurious reasons for not honoring the one-year warranty, and left it at that.
I will not buy a Fujifilm product again. To be clear: I'm calling the Fuji one year warranty nearly worthless, and those who handle the service process dishonest and nonresponsive at best, and cheaters and liars at worst.
PLEASE consider the poor durability of Fuji cameras, as well as non-stellar quality, before paying a high price for one. I have had three previous (and escalating) bad experiences with Fuji cameras. Previously I came back because of good picture quality, but in this last experience that, too, was not great. In my opinion Fuji doesn't value quality - they'd rather just sell as much shoddy product as possible.
Bottom line: Unacceptably bad durability, useless service and warranty, overpriced. Go with the top-notch brands.

Fairly good pix do not excuse unacceptable quality of manufacturing and service, A Customer
This is the 4th and last Fuji I have owned. First, the good:
* I like the picture quality. Not the greatest, in fact I think since my first Fuji experience this aspect of the products has deteriorated. But, it's better than many less expensive cameras.
Now to the not so great:
* The battery life is abysmal. I needed to take up to 3 sets of batteries per day. Make sure you have a charger and time to recharge your batteries!
* Quibbles on picture quality: I was never able to get it to focus predictably - which was OK, since I just needed to take many pictures of the same scene and throw out the unfocused ones.
* I bought this for a trip to Europe. It lasted 2 weeks, then started to malfunction: It would go into USB mode unpredictably after being turned on. Within a couple days it was unusable.
* I sent it to the Fuji service center in New Jersey. They said it has a vertical line in the LCD - something that I certainly don't recall and think I would have noticed. But the kicker was they said it had water damage and was beyond repair. This is odd, since I never had it near any water. They wanted half the price of what I paid for it, in order to exchange it. Unacceptable: I used this thing for 2 weeks, and not roughly at all - I took good care of it. And it's broken, period. In addition, I had requested another service in the cover letter I sent, which was completely ignored. It's almost as if they threw out the letter, ascribed random and spurious reasons for not honoring the one-year warranty, and left it at that.
I will not buy a Fujifilm product again. To be clear: I'm calling the Fuji one year warranty nearly worthless, and those who handle the service process dishonest and nonresponsive at best, and cheaters and liars at worst.
PLEASE consider the poor durability of Fuji cameras, as well as non-stellar quality, before paying a high price for one. I have had three previous (and escalating) bad experiences with Fuji cameras. Previously I came back because of good picture quality, but in this last experience that, too, was not great. In my opinion Fuji doesn't value quality - they'd rather just sell as much shoddy product as possible.
Bottom line: Unacceptably bad durability, useless service and warranty, overpriced. Go with the top-notch brands.

Nice point-and-shoot camera, JoonsReview
I already own a Digital SLR, but needed a more compact and light digital camera which I can carry around and bring to occasions which I don't need the power of DSLR, but want better picture quality than mere phone cameras. This one was my final choice, and I bought it at Oct.10.2010. I carried this camera along by San Francisco trip. Overall, I am satisfied.
It is compact and light enough to carry around. It produces decent images with lots of modes. If you are quite a pro and want to set the shutter speed, aperture, white balance, color, etc, you can do that using the manual mode. If you are not, you can use the preset modes, which are actually quite good and convenient to use (My girlfriend loves the enhanced portrait mode, because it makes her and my skin look like porcelain).
EXR mode, which is a mode where the camera itself decides what the scene it is taking (portrait, scenery, night time, etc) is quite accurate. It does drain the battery than normal, but worth to use when you don't want the hassle of changing modes (or don't know what to choose).
Battery dies after a day of use, but I took about 200~300 shots, so I think it is decent.
Fuji makes great digital cameras, so I am quite sure you will be satisfied with this one :)

Nice point-and-shoot camera, JoonsReview
I already own a Digital SLR, but needed a more compact and light digital camera which I can carry around and bring to occasions which I don't need the power of DSLR, but want better picture quality than mere phone cameras. This one was my final choice, and I bought it at Oct.10.2010. I carried this camera along by San Francisco trip. Overall, I am satisfied.
It is compact and light enough to carry around. It produces decent images with lots of modes. If you are quite a pro and want to set the shutter speed, aperture, white balance, color, etc, you can do that using the manual mode. If you are not, you can use the preset modes, which are actually quite good and convenient to use (My girlfriend loves the enhanced portrait mode, because it makes her and my skin look like porcelain).
EXR mode, which is a mode where the camera itself decides what the scene it is taking (portrait, scenery, night time, etc) is quite accurate. It does drain the battery than normal, but worth to use when you don't want the hassle of changing modes (or don't know what to choose).
Battery dies after a day of use, but I took about 200~300 shots, so I think it is decent.
Fuji makes great digital cameras, so I am quite sure you will be satisfied with this one :)

Great for an experienced photographer, camera didn't last, HORRIBLE service, David Anderson
Loved the camera. but a few problems:
1. My wife hated it, she couldn't figure out how to use it
2. the zoom stopped working. it was very touchy and impossible to use
3. after about 8 months, the screen went out
I sent it to Fuji Repair with my receipt (it was in warranty) and detailed both problems. I heard nothing for 3 weeks, finally got an email from them saying they received my product. Two weeks later was an estimate for $115. They said there was a scratch on the exterior and an "impact" in the lower right which voided my warranty.
I tried to call and explain that 1. I don't ever remember dropping it and the 2. neither of the problems were a result of me dropping it, but they said it didn't matter because any scratch like that would void the warranty.
I've never had those problems with Canon. I'll spend that $115 on a different manufacturer.

Great for an experienced photographer, camera didn't last, HORRIBLE service, David Anderson
Loved the camera. but a few problems:
1. My wife hated it, she couldn't figure out how to use it
2. the zoom stopped working. it was very touchy and impossible to use
3. after about 8 months, the screen went out
I sent it to Fuji Repair with my receipt (it was in warranty) and detailed both problems. I heard nothing for 3 weeks, finally got an email from them saying they received my product. Two weeks later was an estimate for $115. They said there was a scratch on the exterior and an "impact" in the lower right which voided my warranty.
I tried to call and explain that 1. I don't ever remember dropping it and the 2. neither of the problems were a result of me dropping it, but they said it didn't matter because any scratch like that would void the warranty.
I've never had those problems with Canon. I'll spend that $115 on a different manufacturer.

Cheaply made camera, too many problems, Sunwing
I've had this camera for a year and am really unhappy with it. About a month after having it, the zoom started to malfunction and would only zoom all the way out or all the way in. Then the lens cap wouldn't close all the way; I sent it back under warranty and they only fixed the lens cap issue because they said they found some kind of sticky substance around the zoom and I was negligent. Then a month ago on a trip the camera was dropped from a height of about 6inches. It broke the camera for good, and now the zoom is stuck out and won't take pictures. Granted, the camera was dropped, but I had an Olympus for about 6 years, treated it worse than the Fuji, and it held out much better. I ended up giving that camera away to someone; wish I kept it afterall. I will never buy Fuji again; this camera just didn't hold up to a little bit of rough treatment, and for the $315 I paid at the time, you would expect a more solid made body. I bought this camera because of its video and image quality in low light, and I was disappointed anyway. Low light photos were mediocre, and the video image quality was decent, but the audio was so low you could barely hear what was being recorded.

Cheaply made camera, too many problems, Sunwing
I've had this camera for a year and am really unhappy with it. About a month after having it, the zoom started to malfunction and would only zoom all the way out or all the way in. Then the lens cap wouldn't close all the way; I sent it back under warranty and they only fixed the lens cap issue because they said they found some kind of sticky substance around the zoom and I was negligent. Then a month ago on a trip the camera was dropped from a height of about 6inches. It broke the camera for good, and now the zoom is stuck out and won't take pictures. Granted, the camera was dropped, but I had an Olympus for about 6 years, treated it worse than the Fuji, and it held out much better. I ended up giving that camera away to someone; wish I kept it afterall. I will never buy Fuji again; this camera just didn't hold up to a little bit of rough treatment, and for the $315 I paid at the time, you would expect a more solid made body. I bought this camera because of its video and image quality in low light, and I was disappointed anyway. Low light photos were mediocre, and the video image quality was decent, but the audio was so low you could barely hear what was being recorded.

Nice camera, T. A Brink "Treehugger"

Excellent camera, Madmoiselle Nitouche "shoefreeek"
Bought it in summer of 2010 - so "late" ... not exactly a new model.
Yet it is EXCELLENT - here's my take:
1. EXR mode is great - for 90% of pictures it will do much better than you can. It will auto select (if left in "Exr-auto") SN/HR/DR and focus type etc.. it is VERY VERY good and easy to use.
2. Low-noise HIGH ISO - for "low light" (meaning indoor pictures and especially evening incandescent light (meaning indoors light bulb) it is 2 f/stops better than competitive (2010 !) model cameras from panasonic and/or canon. Really decent detail at 800 iso and REASONABLE (in reasonable light) for 1600. Works for me -- it is roughly 1-1.5 f/stops "worse" (but not 2 f/stops - cause the pics I get at 800iso on the Fuji are a bit better than 3200iso on the Nikon) than my Nikon D90 but that's a mid-level dSLR so it isn't "fair" to compare it.
I compared it to my pany lx3 (a great little camera and much faster lens) but, the noise from the Pany was one full f/stop worse than on my Fuji. (but makes up in other ways for it). And the Fuji doesn't fudge out all details with heavy noise reduction - so you can actually clean it up to make your pictures look pretty good.
3. Sharp pictures (much sharper than canon) and good colors (a bit contrasty for my taste but good).
4. Quick - compared to my Canon powershots (have several models) shot to shot times are much better. Focus is faster too.
5. Good range - 28mm (I'd love 24mm but..) - 140mm --- it works for me - don't know why folks are crazy about 10-20x zoom - if you can't see it you don't need to photograph it.
6. Movies - eh -- not so great - my canon powershots take better movies - higher resolution and better colors and better sound.
I don't like the "on/off" button - set-in and not intuitable, but, it's a small gripe. Manual mode is limited on aperture ... but, not a big gripe either - for me it is ok.
And I am not crazy about the battery life - kinda short 200 odd shots before it went red - a bit of a bummer, this is my BIGGEST complaint.
But, in EXR mode it even makes my wife a good photographer... buy it if you can still find it. I paid about 200$ and worth the money !!

A great subcompact but failed after just over a year, E. J. Hutchinson
I did a lot of research before buying this camera. I was looking for a subcompact that could take decent low light pictures, period. That was my biggest complaint for subcompacts. I have not used it extensively and will probably update my review after my first vacation but I did some testing taking pictures next to a camp fire at night. The results were outstanding. Both myself and my friends were amazed. I even took a picture when the first went out and the only light was my friends cigar and even that was not bad. As for other general observations: the viewer screen is excellent, I used it with the sun shining directly on it and could still see the image. I have not seen the benefit of the EXR feature but again, I have not used the camera extensively. So far I have to say this is a great subcompact and the reviews I read were spot on (Cnet, Consumer Reports). The user guide is very good and I did not need a lot of time to understand the cameras menus, functions and how it works. The only negative things I can say is that I did not like the little push button to turn on the camera, a little too easy to press inadvertently for me and I do not like the lack of a view finder, but I realize they are being phased out in compact cameras. I don't know if this is appropriate for a review but I have to recommend the case at the link below for this camera, if you are looking for a good compact case.
[...]
UPDATE: after a few vacations I can see I made the right choice. The low light capability of this camera, for the price, is outstanding! My friends have also marveled at some of the shots I have gotten. Also the manual settings you can play with are helpful too! One more minor complaint could be that the battery dies fast if you are reviewing pictures a lot. I have two batteries and killed both on long days (over eight hours) of picture taking. But I realized I could have saved battery life not reviewing every picture. Again, minor complaint but wanted to put it out there, for long days a backup battery is essential.
FINAL UPDATE: After a little over a year I was using the camera on vacation when the screen began to show only a blurry purple image. No matter what I tried it did not go away. Being that the warranty is a year I had to look into repairing it myself. The repair shop I went to in my area said the repair was going to be $125.00 to $150.00. Needless to say I cannot see spend $150 to fix a $300 camera. Because of this I have to rescind my previous five star rating and drop to a one. I cannot in good conscious go any higher for a camera that is unusable after a year. A camera that was not abused or mishandled in any fashion. My last camera was a Kodak and that lasted many a vacation and the only reason I replaced it was that it was just outdated, wish I had that back.