Hi, This is my first ever Photoblog so it may not be quite as neat as some of the other more experienced "photobloggers".

Firstly let me say a big big thank you to everyone at Fuji for giving me the opportunity to put the HS10 through its paces. I am very grateful.

Also I will compare it to my Fuji S1500 camera in some parts as I cannot believe the difference between them and also to make the review a little different.

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS 

As soon as I opened the box and took the HS10 out I knew I was holding a serious piece if kit. It felt very solid and the build quality was second to none. The weight is just right and it feels perfectly balanced in the hand. The grip is just the right size and all the buttons fell just under the right fingers. Just holding it made me feel like a 'proper' photographer. So it was off to a very, very good start

In the box you get:

- The HS10, Strap, Lens cap, AV cable, USB cable, Software CD's, 4 Batteries and Product booklets.

Here are a couple of images comparing the size to my Fuji S1500

FIRST POWER UP

The set up was really straight forward and quick. The first thing I noticed when the LCD came on ( which large and very clear) was how much the 24mm wide lens caught. My first photo was simply of my living room, the detail and colour blew me away. Comparing the image quality with my Fuji S1500, the HS10 was in a different league. 

Then came the zoom which can only be described as incredible. The detail which is captured at the full 30x end of the zoom is amazing. It looks as if you have taken the picture standing right next to the subject. I also found the manual zoom so much easier to use than a powered zoom, I found it so much quicker to zoom in and out and also to get the image perfectly framed. 

The image stabilization works really well and is so useful when taking pictures in low light or when you are shooting at full zoom without a tripod. Also it is so much more reassuring when taking a picture and the image is not shaking around everywhere.

This image of the moon was taken at the full 30x zoom and was hand held.

Here is an example of the zoom range on the HS10. The first image was taken at 24mm. You can just about see the green and yellow glass ornament hanging on the tree.

Here is the image taken at the full 720mm from the same position.

I then tried the macro mode which was also excellent. The detail and the clarity of the photos is stunning. I thought images of this quality could only be captured on a DSLR. Also the tilting LCD is so handy and allowed me to take some really interesting photos at unusual perpectives.

Here is a comparison shot between the HS10 and the S1500, It shows how much detail the HS10's lens can capture as both cameras have 10MP. They are 100% crops.

The first is the S1500 and the second is the HS10

I also found that I could crop my images more without loosing detail, unlike with my S1500. This gave the confidence to take photos of things from a distance, and crop afterwards. Something which I wouldn't have bothered with before because I knew that it would have become pixelated.

The controls are all in the correct places and it is so much more intuitive having separate buttons and a scroll wheel, than having to go into the menu and change the settings one by one. I kept the camera on Programme mode most of the time, however I tried the Aperture, Shutter and manual modes as well and they are so easy to use, with just a button press the shutter speed and aperture can be changed. The automatic mode is very accurate and doesn't boost the ISO to high like on my Fuji S1500. Likewise with the automatic scene mode.

The 'Adv.' mode on the camera are where the 'pro low-light', 'motion remover', and 'motion capture' modes are. Although I didn't test the latter two as much as I would have liked they do work well and the ' motion remover' would be especially useful. The 'pro low-light' mode works exceptionally well and it really did reduce the amount of noise captured in the image.

The panoramic mode is awesome, its so easy to use and in my opinion 'fool-proof'. All you have to do is press the shutter and sweep across until the arrow stops. You can change the direction of the panorama from right to left, left and right, up to down or down to up.  You can get some really interesting images and because the direction can be changed it comes in useful in many situations.

(this image makes my garden look really long)

The fast 10fps is very useful, especially because it captures them at full resolution. The speed can be changed to 7, 5, and 3fps also.  The best picture mode works well to. It captures 7 images when you focus the camera, 1 when you press the shutter and 7 after you press the shutter. It really does guarantee that you'll get the perfect photo.

The fast auto focus, even at full zoom is very useful to capture fast moving subjects, like wildlife. Both of these were shot at full zoom. The seagull was moving very quickly and as everyone knows squirrels don't hang around too long, so the fast power up time, quick manual zoom and fast auto focus are really handy in capturing images like this.

I also found the manual focus very useful and easy to use thanks to the proper manual focus ring on the lens. it allows accurate focussing and is made easier thanks to the manual focus check which magnifies the centre part of the screen.

Finally the HD movie feature. The quality of the video is brilliant and the sound quality is just as good through the stereo microphones. The image quality at 640 x 480 is just as good. The dedicated record button makes it really simple to be taking photos and quickly switch to recording video. I also had a lot of fun with slow motion video recording, the quality of which was also very good, however at higher frame rates more light was needed to keep the video clear. 

In other reviews I have read that the viewfinder (EVF) is a bit small, however I did not find it hard or uncomfortable to use. However this may be because I am used to the  small EVF on my S1500, and don't know any different. 

It may sound as if I am only pointing out the positives of the camera, but I really could not find one fault in the camera. It really is that good.

The only disappointment in the ten days I had the camera was knowing that after I sent it back I would have to go back to my Fuji S1500, which although is a good camera (no disrespect to Fuji), I feel that my photography skills have over taken the camera, and it is limiting me. I do not think of myself as a decent photographer but after having the HS10 for a couple of days I know that I am capable of a lot more. I would love to have this camera and if I had the money (which I don't) I would honestly go out and buy the HS10 over a Budget - Mid Range DSLR, because I cannot see how the quality of the images at any focal point, quality of the lens and overall professional feel of the camera could be beaten unless you enter the realms of Mid-range DSLR's with a very high quality lens, even then you wouldn't get the power of the HS10's lens.

I would strongly recommend this camera to anyone looking for an advanced camera, for any purpose. I don't believe there is a better camera on the market in terms of image quality, build quality, focal range and features. You really won't believe the quality of the camera until you use it. It is the perfect size to be comfortable to use but without being overly large or heavy. Also because it has everything I'll need in one product.

I'd like to say congratulations and thank you to Fuji for listening to what we wanted and making an awesome camera. In one word it's "Perfect".

I would like to spend a lot more time writing about this camera and going into detail about all it's other many features, however I don't have as  much time as I'd have liked as I've got a lot of coursework to be getting on with. Blimey, if I knew photoblogs took this long to make I wouldn't have started this late. 

Thanks a lot for reading my review. I hope it was informative enough, and has helped if you are thinking of purchasing one of these. Please take a look at my gallery where there are additional images taken with the HS10.

http://www.myfinepix.pl/gallery/21561

Thanks again to Fuji for loaning it to me and I hope the next lucky person has as much fun with it than I did.

Thanks

Jack