Side by Side Comparison of: Fujifilm vs Ritz Camera

This camera is far beyond what I had dreamed of for a non-DSLR. I have recently owned a Nikon D80 and FujiFilm S2 Pro DSLR's. This camera has replaced them both. First day I owned it, I walked into our backyard at midnight with a full moon, sat the camera on a pillow to hold it into place, set the timer to 2 seconds, then zoomed the full 30x at the moon. Then snapped the pic. There was NO noise, just black sky and the moon. You could see the craters in the moon. I was shocked. Every picture I take with this camera amazes me. It has worked flawlessly. I bought a Vivitar filter to keep the lens clean and scratch free. I have not used my DSLR's since I purchased this. I highly recommend it.Only Con:When the camera showed up, the battery door had a VERY small amount of movement in it once it was closed and locked. I thought about sending it back, but the vendor was out of stock and I would have to get my money back. Then I looked closer and it looks like this was the way it was designed, so I took a small piece of a cotton-ball and put it against the inside of the battery door latch. Once closed, the movement was gone.

I've had the HS20 for two weeks and shot about 400 images with it so far. My previous cameras have been a Sony f707 5mp, 5x zoom camera from 2001 through 2006, and a Pentax K100D 6mp DSLR from 2005 through the present.I was considering purchase of a more current Pentax body (the K-X or K-R for $500 and $800) to utilize the 4 Pentax lenses I presently own. The benefit over my existing K100D would have been a faster multi-shot rate, better low light/high ISO performance, and quicker focusing. But two recent vacations where I had to switch lenses and miss shots, or ignore my wife while I was fully engaged in manipulating my DSLR, provided incentive to look around for a better "carry around" solution.I first started evaluating the super zoom bridge camera options last month. I compared the HS20 with the Canon and Nikon counterparts. Most reviews gave the HS20 an edge, mainly in photo quality.So, for less than the cost of a new DSLR body, I got the benefit of:* Higher multi-shot rate (up to 11 per second - at a reduced pixel count)* Greater focal length range than with my existing four Pentax lenses.* Much easier and great quality macro shooting built into the camera; I would have had to buy a macro lens for my DSLR.* Very decent low light capability* Great panorama output processed/stitched "in-camera." I don't have to fiddle with post processing the images in my Elements program. While Elements 9.0 does a very nice stitching job, it takes an extra 5 to 10 minutes to collect and process the 3 to 8 images I need to create the panorama.I agree that this is not a camera for those who just want to point and shoot, although it does that well. This is a very feature rich piece of technology that would be wasted on the point and shooter. As someone else has said, this is a "near DSLR" camera with a small sensor.Regarding the smaller than DSLR sensor: There are trade-offs. The image quality at large blown up sizes, e.g. greater than 100%, larger than 8 X 10, will not quite match a $500 DSLR. But the smaller sensor does enable use of smaller optics that allows the extended focal range that on a DSLR would be absolutely grossly cumbersome. I have been amazed at the good quality of night scenes, e.g. urban/suburban areas with low light.The many optional settings take some time to master to get optimum results. Some of the complaints about focusing can be substantially improved with the right combination of focus settings. The manual could use more examples on what combination of settings work best in different shooting situations.Color is outstanding, shooting options are rich, and image quality is considered the best for this class of camera. On this basis, I give the HS20 5 stars.

I wanted a dependable camera to take along on a trip to Vegas. I have a Canon 7D and some L lenses, but that entire getup weighs more than some people I know. I wanted a camera with wide focal range and one that took excellent pictures. I had the previous Fujifilm HS10 and really liked it. Like most people reading these reviews, I had read about the serious problem encountered by some people with the overheating warning. Still, it didn't seem to be universal and I liked the specs so much that I decided to take the chance and ordered it. I have just returned from a week in Vegas, where temps hit in a range between the high 80's to 96 while we were there. I gave the camera one heck of a workout to see if any problems would surface. What did I get? Magnificent pictures. Never once did I get a heat warning. If it was ever going to do it, I would have supposed one day in the Red Rock Canyon, temps easily in mid-high 90's would have triggered this warning, but nothing happened. I am absolutely more than satisfied with the brilliant colors and sharpness of over 400 pictures I took during this period. I did not try the video, since I have no interest. I read this camera might be a little too heavy for some, come on! It is a feather weight compared to my other camera and lenses. Too complex? no way! Takes magnificent pics in the AUTO EXR mode, and you can fiddle with the dials to get everything in between. In summation: this camera was everything I thought it would be when I ordered it, even more so. I am not discounting that others ran into the heat warnings, but I did not. And I note that there is a firmware fix available should this warning present itself. I also echo others in saying that an initial investment in good AA rechargeable batteries is more than worth it. I use GREEN BATTERIES, but also have used ENLOOPs with the same result ... they keep a charge and can be counted on when you need that power most. I also agree that you absolutely should keep an extra fully charged set on hand at all times. This is just one person's experience with the Fujifilm HS20, and it has been a great experience. I should also add that, with the 2.8 focal capability, I took pictures in conditions that would have called for a flash with most cameras, and the pics were bright and clear ... something I paid big bucks for in lenses for the bigger Canon 7D. To me, this camera's a winner.

I have had this camera for several weeks with all sorts of shooting involved.I have over 40 years experience as a photographer, both as an enthusiast and part-time professional. I don't know-it-all nor do I pertend too, I'll just give my impression as honestly as I can. I purchased it as an all-around shoot everything without having to pack a DSLR and lenses.For an amateur, I'd say it would be quite easy to learn to get many good shots. For the intermediate user, it has a number of features that will help you produce outstanding shots. For a more advanced photographer such as myself, all of the manual controls and abilities to "replicate" Fuji's film qualities are much appreciated.Overall, I find the quality of the construction to be among the best out there in terms of a "less than DSLR". The photos I have shot are very good given the size of the sensor. Color reproduction is outstanding, low light performance is just OK, speed is good, feature set is very, very good, and size/weight is moderate(a little bigger than most but I am comfortable with it). If I want something smaller with me I'll stick with my Canon G12 and make do with a shorter zoom.Video is not a consideration for me really as I am usually packing a small Sony or my Canon XH A1s for that. I have only tried my Canon 5D MKII once for video, great potential but it's a still camera mainly. I will not add to the video reviews given by others.My true surprise was the quality of the "Super-Macro" feature. It can focus extremely close, even at up to 105mm equiv. setting, which provides a very diffuse background and dynamic subject. These are some of the best results outside of my Nikon 200 Micro lens.The HS20 may not be the best at anything, but it is very good at many things and I am looking forward to a number of trips this summer. For the really important stuff, the DSLRs will be used, but for just walking and hiking around rather unencumbered, I'm pretty sure this will work out just fine.

The HS20 shares the same body and lens as the HS10, but has been beefed up with much faster and more capable electronics. It is what the brain-dead HS10 should have been. After all, it should be expected that one of the biggest uses for a superzoom camera would be shooting live action long distance shots and sporting events. This sort of photography makes full use of the superzoom lens, but does need very fast focusing and fast shot to shot times.I had earlier purchased, reviewed, and returned the HS10. The camera had terrific features, but was just too slow for anything more than predictable portrait shots.The HS20 focuses faster and processes and stores images faster than the HS10. Not as fast as a full fledged DSLR, but close enough. An example of a few runs I did on this camera: At 16Meg Fine resolution, with RAW turned off, I could get off 16 shots in 20 seconds, manually clicking away. With RAW and JPG both turned on, the speed dropped sharply to 5 shots in 20 seconds; with only RAW turned on - 6 shots in 20 seconds. At the opposite end of the spectrum, at 2Meg Normal resolution, with RAW turned off, I could get off 22 shots in 20 seconds. With RAW and JPG both turned on, the speed dropped to 9 shots in 20 seconds. The setting I'm most likely to use - 8Meg Fine resolution with no RAW - shoots at 20 shots in 20 seconds, one per second, which is pretty good. Certain settings help improve the speed slightly - autofocus continuously, turn off the automatic picture review and red eye features, etc.The feature with the high speed series of shots has also improved from the HS10, with a maximum run of 32 shots from 3fps to 11fps. This is much better than the HS10, which only allowed for a short run of 6 shots. The maximum resolution of the images drops from 16M to 4M as you go from the smallest series of 4 shots at 3fps to the full 32 shots at 11fpsThe video also has improved. Both the HS10 and the HS20 have 1920x1080 HD video, but the HS20 has a continuous focus mode that adjusts the focus as you track a subject, which the HS10 could not do (although the continuous focus during video on the HS20 is still a bit sluggish, I have to say). The HS20 can do a 30 minute long 1080p HD video segment (I think the HS10 was only 15 minutes). There is also an ultra high speed 320fps video at 320 x 112 resolution which runs for 30 seconds.A few quirks and gimmicks on this camera - there is a setting for "silent mode" in the menu. This does indeed turn off all the beeps and artificial shutter clicks. It also turns off the flash! I set the camera to "silent mode" before testing the flash, which then did not fire. For a moment, I thought I had gotten a bad camera with a broken flash. To make this camera silent without turning off the flash, there are two other settings that should be used - volume settings that adjust the volume of the camera beep and the shutter click.Another setting gives you an electronic horizontal "level" in the lcd/viewfinder.The camera does give you a "heat" warning when you fire off a lot of shots very fast, e.g., fire off a couple rounds of 4M shots at 11 fps for a series of 32 will provoke this warning. So far, though, the camera has kept going even with the heat warning on.The camera comes standard with a hard shell (not foldable) bayonet mount "petal" lens hood (unlike the HS10). Yay! What an intelligent idea! This allows you to use a regular thickness 58mm lens filter/protector without causing vignetting at the ultra wide angle lens settings.The camera comes with a mini USB cable connector (unlike several of Fuji's other superzoom cameras, which came with a micro USB plug), and the image/video files transfer directly to your computer without needing any intervening software or SD card reader. One of the most annoying things about the Nikon P100 (which I had also purchased and returned) was the fact that the image files would not transfer directly from the camera to my computer. The HS20 also has an HDMI plug (no cable) and a video plug (with cable)Finally, the biggest reason that I have stayed with Fuji cameras - they still use AA batteries! Now I know a lot of people are just the opposite and hate AA batteries and think they are heavy and obsolete. I prefer heavy and obsolete to "expensive, dead, and unavailable", i.e., your camera stops working just when you need it, which is the truth behind all proprietary rechargeable lithium batteries. In a pinch, AA batteries can be found virtually anywhere in the world, which is absolutely not true for proprietary lithium batteries. As many other reviewers (including me) have mentioned, the key to success with AA batteries is to use only the Sanyo Eneloops, which are without doubt the best ever, far superior to any other rechargeable or alkaline battery. In my first test run, I fired off over 1,000 shots on my HS20 (mix of file sizes) on a single charge of these AA eneloops. Your mileage may vary.Compared to the Nikon P100, the HS20 is slightly faster in shot to shot times - not sure about the new P500. I prefer the manual zoom and AA batteries of the HS20 though.The HS20 also has an external TTL flash mount, unlike the HS10. Two Fuji flashes are supposed to be available soon, the EF-42 and EF-20. The Fuji EF-42 looks like a re-branded Sunpak PZ42x with a proprietary Fuji hotshoe, priced a hundred dollars more. Hopefully somebody will make a cheaper TTL synced flash for the HS20 soon.All in all, this camera is just too feature packed to go over all the details. Having suffered through the HS10, I am familiar with the camera's basic strength, which is its powerful manually focused superzoom lens. The improvements in electronics have finally made the HS20 what the HS10 should have been.

I had spent my first day with the HS20EXR and was generally very pleased with the functionality and performance. Make no mistake, this is not a DSLR, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This camera packs some capabilities and features that I would dream to have in one of my DSLRs. Although it's not a large camera, for those who've used the HS10, you'll already know that the build feels solid and the handling is somewhat like a smaller DSLR. The menu system is fairly easy to navigate and more common functions, like exposure, focus, and flash modes are easily accessible via dedicated controls. Be prepared to spend an hour or so getting familiar with the controls and menus - it may be intimidating if you're brand new to this type camera, but most experienced photographers will pick it up quickly.A couple of early concerns materialized. First, I experience the temperature warning display that has been noted in some early reviews. However, I didn't see any degradation in performance even with the warning lit. Upon calling Fujifilm, they quickly sent a replacement and I'm happy to say the problem didn't reoccur to that extent, but later I experienced temp warnings in warmer and more continuous use conditions. Another minor irritant while shooting was that the display froze for a moment while focus was obtained. If shooting a moving object, this could mean the difference in getting or not getting the shot. After some further testing, I discovered that this problem seemed related to the "Multi" focus mode. I did not experience the same degree of delay in Center, Area, or Tracking modes.The flexibility in shooting is remarkable, given the standard PSAM controls, plus some really interesting advanced features, there's few still shooting situations the camera will not handle. Those extras I found very appealing are the EXR High-ISO/Low Noise (SN mode), the Pro Low-Light modes. In SN priority mode, I was able to shoot at higher sensitivities up to ISO 1600 with very low noise and even ISO 3200 was very usable. I'm sure I'll get flack for this, but I have to admit some shooting modes outperformed my D300. I believe this has more to do with the HS20's high ISO performance than general lens clarity or image detail, in which most DSLRs excel. The Pro Low-Light mode is another trick-up-the-sleeve that combines 4 exposures taken in rapid succession into one very low noise image even in very dim light.Not surprisingly, the HS20 autofocus did seek a little in low light, but not much more than my DSLRs in the same setting. The zoom lens was impressive for such a small package and both wide and full zoom shots were crisp. There are many more modes and options, but none of these bells and whistles would mean much if the end results didn't deliver. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised at the sharpness of the full sized 16MP images - I really expected to see a lot of artifacts from noise reduction and other in-camera processing. On the contrary, my "pixel peeping" revealed clean edges and very good fine detail. Pictures of my cat actually show individual fine hairs instead of the painterly effect of some compact cameras. It seems like Fuji took lessons from predecessors and managed to squeeze more image quality out of their tiny sensor than many of us expected.One of the cool benefits of the CMOS sensor is speed. Once I figured out the continuous shooting modes, I was tickled at being able to fire off 8 fps in full resolution. I also played with the 11 fps mode which works with at 8MP and felt like I was shooting an old movie camera instead of a point and shoot digital.One issue of concern to me was the processing speed or write speed of the files to the card. This was a common complaint for the HS10. What I found was that the write speed is improved, but don't expect DSLR performance. A JPEG Fine image would write to card in under 1 second to my SanDisk Extreme Pro, and a RAW file averaged 4 seconds. Now before you say "WHAT?", let me explain that that is the write time itself, HOWEVER, due to the internal cache, the camera is ready for the next shot in less time than the write time. I found that generally it was ready almost instantly shooting JPEG and with RAW, there might be a second or two delay for an individual image. In burst mode, the camera was able to cache all images in the burst without pausing, although after capturing the images, the write time again took 4-6 seconds depending on the image sizes. So not a perfect situation, but definitely an improvement over the noted problems of the HS10.The video was very easy to use and looks acceptable for simple scenes at wide to normal viewing angles. At full zoom, images were shaky and focus was slow. Plan on using a tripod for long zooms, and careful zooms and panning. With the manual zoom barrel, which is really geared toward still photography, zooms can be awkward during video recording, without the smoothness of the typical motorized zoom. The video issues were not a big deal to me since the features that attracted me to the camera were for still images.One area that is still a minor irritant is the electronic viewfinder. It is still pretty low resolution and is difficult see small details in your scene. Given a bright outdoor scene, it does allow composition without fighting the glare on the LCD, but it seems like they could have could have packed a little more resolution in there to make it more useable. That problem is offset somewhat by the articulating LCD screen. It allows you to view from odd angles and with a little extra manipulation you can usually get a clear image even outdoors.Another minor nit pick is the inclusion of alkaline batteries with the kit. Not only do alkalines not last very long with this camera, they actually heat up during use possibly contributing to some of the temperature issues. I quickly replaced them with NiMH Eneloops and surprisingly, the camera's operation actually sped up noticably. If you buy this camera, invest in some good rechargeable NiMH batteries - you'll be much happier.The software accompanying the camera is not impressive, but it does what it needs to. It comes with picture management software Finepix Studio so you can view and organize your images. It also includes a RAW file converter (Silkypix) which allows you to adjust and save captured RAW images as TIF or JPEG images. Adobe Camera Raw didn't initially recognize the HS20's RAW format, but is now supported so if you are used to the Adobe workflow, you'll be happier with Adobe Camera Raw.On day one, I took a liking to this camera and gave it a starting rating of four stars. As I got more familiar with the HS20, I've posted sample images and video and links to these can be found in the attached comments. Although I've identified some issues that could be improved, this camera actually exceeds my expectations for a point and shoot. I can capture images that rival an entry-level DSLR, and not have to carry around 20 pounds of equipment (camera body, wide and telephoto lenses, tripod, etc.). The HS20EXR more than meets my desire for a relatively small travel or hiking camera that still has good reach and image quality. If I could, I'd give a rating of about 4.6 stars. I don't love everything about the camera, but as a whole, it's fun to use and a great photo-taking machine for the price.Pros: Shooting speed, low light performance, image quality, flexible shooting controls, massive sharp zoom rangeCons: Slow autofocus/instability during video, low quality EVF, display lag on shutter releaseUPDATE - April 19th, 2011: Firmware update to address the temp warning. Everything else is working fine.UPDATE - April 29th, 2011: Adobe Camera Raw now supports EXR RAW files. Great news!

GREAT Camera and Great DEAL! I am by no means a photographer so I'll never match up to the camera's abilites, but then some of the greatest can use any point and shoot! I am a marketer and wanted one like this for better shooting and capabilities. Definitely worth the money. Some of the accessories are cool. I was a little concerned with the SD not being compatible as most people don't pay attention to that, but it is compatible with the camera. I registered it with Canon with no problem.

The best camera I've ever owned and probably the last one I'll buy for a long time I bought books to go along with it so I can use all of its features I recommend this camera anyone interested in photography

The Canon Rebel T6i is a fantastic camera, and is a really reasonable price for what you get, and the 5 stars is for that alone. The rest of the kit, minus the bigger lenses would get 3 stars; the bigger lenses 4. The larger lenses are both Canon, and therefor of good quality, though they are far from top of the line. I have, however, been able to take some really excellent photos with both of them. The smaller lenses are nice if you don't want to do anything serious with them, but just take a few pictures for fun. Their quality, and the quality of the pictures, is subpar, and I would never rely on them for important pictures. The flash unit is fine, and works as you would want - same goes for the tripod. The bag quality is bad - I had 2 zippers break within the first day, and it doesn't even fit the whole kit well. In all, if I could go back, I would buy the T6i with a kit lens, and then add to the kit myself with better alternatives.

I was looking at the T6i and ultimately got it with this bundle. It's the same cost as the camera alone, so right away I view the rest of the kit as essentially being free. You can't go wrong.

Like others, I worried if there would be something different, but no - Camera as described AND the extra gear came in as I had hoped.

I LOVE this camera. It's easy to use, and I'm getting great results with it.
Here's what I'll say for the rest of this kit:

Case: Seems to be of decent quality. I'm using it and I'm pretty happy with it. It has movable padded inserts you can use to shape the inside of the case to whatever layout you'd prefer.

Lens Filters: I don't find myself using them, but I can see their application. For instance - you can use the UV filter, or Florescent filter if you're not comfortable working with manual white balance on the camera itself. Ultimately, I think most people will leave these alone if I'm being honest.

SD Card: 32Gb SD card. This is more than enough to get you started. It's big enough that you can shoot some video as well without worrying about filling up your storage the first time out.
I've been using this as my "primary" card, then I have a few other SD's as backups in case I fill it up.

Remote Trigger: Works without issue. It is what you'd expect it to be. Comes in handy for long exposure shots where you don't want to bump the camera and create motion blur.

Tripod: It's a cheap tripod, but that's what I expected. It works fine for still shots, and I've used it playing around with some long exposure stuff. If you're doing anything serious (or any video) you'll want an upgrade. But over all I can't complain as I view all of these add-ons to be essentially free.

Cleaning Kit: I've used the cleaning cloth a few times. Haven't had a need yet to use the solution and other tools. But seems like a pretty straight forward kit.

Flash: If you want a flash, you have one. If you want a good flash, you'll need to replace this one.
I WILL note this: in "slave mode", you can put this flash to the side of your subject, and it will fire off of the camera's internal flash. It's a nice tool to practice with, but a decent flash setup is already on my shopping list.

SD Card reader: Nice add on. The one I got had both regular USB and a micro USB port, so I was able to pull the SD card, and read it directly with my phone. My PC has an SD port, so I don't find myself using this reader a lot, but it is a handy tool, and I keep it with the camera bag as a backup.

Extra "lenses" (add on): They're not really lenses. The 2 extras are lens attachments. So they screw on to the end of an existing lens. I have found no use for them.
I might give them another shot, but so far I unpackaged them, screwed them on, and didn't see the point.

Recommended:
Get this camera and kit, you'll be happy you did!
Depending on what you're shooting, I strongly recommend the 50mm lens from Canon. It's a fixed lens with down to a 1.8 aperture. Great for depth of field! They sell here on Amazon.

So far I LOVE this camera. Bought this after my son was born so I could get better picture quality than the phones provide. Plus I want to learn how to take semi-professional-looking photos of my baby boy as he grows. Camera seems relatively easy to use, I love they touch screen and the fact that u can easily send the photos to your phone for quick social media posts!!! Absolutely LOVE that feature... I'm getting complimented all the time on the quality of my posts. The accessories that come with this camera are also amazing. I haven't had a chance to use them all yet but I love the remote picture taker and the tripod the best.

One thing I don't care for is the brightness of the flash. I obviously understand why it's so bright! But when trying to get photos of my baby, it blinds him and he ends up all squinty. I have to use lots of natural light if I want to get good ones of him awake or partially awake.

My opinion is that it is a good first camera for those who wish to graduate from casual photography to the ranks of enthusiast or hobbyist. The camera certainly gives image quality better than I expected for its price range. It has been particulary useful to me, because I do indulge in some nature photography. Birds that are 20 to 30 yards away can be captured "up close". Even without a tripod, I managed to get reasonably sharp images using the mid zoom range. In such situations, using the rather basic digital viewfinder helps me to steady the camera against my face. The camera is well furnished with buttons that mimic the more professional DSLR cameras. But so far, I have mostly stuck to the Auto EXR modes as I am still on the learning curve. I have yet to explore its potential for manual photograhy in PASM modes nor have I tried out continous tracking focus for multiple photo shoots in action scenes. To my eyes, video was adequate with good color rendering. I did not experience some of the focus issues reported. But I did notice an orb issue when I shot into the setting sun on one occasion. Batteries do not last as much as promised. So keep a extra set always. I recommend that you invest in the charger and Ni-Cd rechargable batteries.The camera is definitely much bigger than your ordinary point and shoot and somewhat heavy. I recommend you buy a camera bag so that you can hang the camera around your neck/shoulder on trips. I bought a Case Logic faux leather bag.

The HS20 came on Wednesday evening. I have been shooting twice a day since. My previous camera was also a FujiFilm S7000 which I purchase for $420 in 2005. I took 14000 photos with the S7000 and learned to use all of its features.If you are familar with Fujifilm operating system, you are going to love this camera. Since 2005 little has changed. More features and more menus, but intuition that you have been taught is similar. I have not looked at the manual closely and have been able to navigate my way to outstanding photos. Thanks to the greatest feature of digital photography, auto bracketing.In broken desert skies I shot snow covered mountains, bright moss covered rocks, red slickrock, the moon, and a rainbow. I put the HS20 on (S)hutter and selected auto-bracketing 1/3 steps and shot away. Of the 140 photos I took the first day I was happy with about 14."Happy" is subjective word, meaning proud to share with others in this case. When you consider that 99 of the photos were auto-bracketed burst (meaning 66 were either over or underexposed) 14/33 frames is 42% acceptance rate,outstanding for any shooting day. When we left to head out to test I was disappointed with rain and clouds everywhere and it turned out to be great day to try the HS 20.The HS 20 (SP 1) Mode (Landscape) took a couple of fine pictures. The "dog" mode worked okay but often mistook boulders for my Labrador. The biggest problem I have observed with the "auto" features is that they want to push the ISO upwards. In full desert sun I need to shoot at ISO 100 and 200.I like to display shots on my plasma so the 16 by 9 resolution saves me a ton of hassle. Popping the SD card in the TV is easier than firing up the desktop, especially if you are sharing with a group.Love the EVF I have always used them to save battery. The AA Ni-MH are great option.Manual zoom is outstanding, makes you think more about compostion before just zoom shoot, zoom, shoot. Many of my "waste" shots were Zoom, Shoot, Zoom. I was able to easily zoom in on automobiles .5 miles away and tell Make, Model, and number of occupants.Next week: Night shots, indoor shots, astronomy, X-mas lights. EXR shots at X mas parties and events.Note on Video: I will let my daughter test and review the video options as she has more experience with using a point and shoot as a video camera.

After reading the specs on this camera, I sold my Canon G11 and bought the HS20EXR. I was looking for a "manual" barrel zoom and this was about the only choice, the 30x was a bonus, and the rest of the specs were outstanding.Overall, I am very pleased. This camera takes great pictures and has many neat "tricks" like taking multiple exposures of stationary objects at night to remove noise.The zoom range is nothing short of incredible! People assume pictures taken from wide angle to max zoom from the same spot are from different locations as the zoom range is almost telescopic :)Ok, now for the bad news, this camera has 2 Achilles heels. First, focus! Dear Lord how did this camera get produced with this abysmal of a focus system! It hunts (and not well) even in bright light, in low light forget it, better have a flashlight to shine your subject and focus lock. Manual focus is a joke, I think that wheel is there for entertainment (frustration) purposes only.The other issue is a strange SD write issue. After you take a shot, it will not let you take another picture till it completes writing of the first. Now, you can take multiple images in burst mode, but once you let off the shutter you sit and wait till it completes the write before you can take any more, peculiar and frustrating at sports events.. Combine with the hunting focus and you can just leave this camera at home for night or indoor sports.So, you are probably wondering why I gave this camera 4 stars given those significant drawbacks. Well, this camera is really that good (and let me tell you when you can forgive that focus system, you have got to have something extra special going on ;).It is quick to start up, choosing mode is easy, many creative settings, good face recognition (although this slows focus (if you can believe that) so I have to turn it off most of the time unless doing portrait work), and THAT ZOOM, Wow. Stabilization is good, flash is ok (would like second curtain option, but I digress), and finally I am a fan of the AA battery choice, may not last as long as battery pack but it is nice being able to run into a corner store for batteries in a pinch. In short if this thing could learn to focus it would be near perfect. I have owned many DSLR's and even own a 3D camera (but that is a different review), this is a great camera. It frustrates me with it's focus, but I still take it everywhere, from vacations to weddings to homecoming (though may not take it to any more homecomings as that was frustrating), I can still get shots no one else can (bonus if they are in focus ;).Fuji, if you are listening, if you can make the X-S1 this camera with a decent focus and SD write control, you will steal much market share from Canon and Nikon !My $.02

I unpacked the first camera I received, put in the batteries, turned it on - so far so good. Took a couple test shots. So far, so good. Then I tried to turn it OFF. It would not turn off. Had to remove the batteries to shut it down. It went back immediately. Amazon's return policy is amazing - turnaround time was incredibly fast. The second one came and it worked great for one week - then "lens control error" and the zoom quit working. IT went back - with the same stellar customer service, I had the third replacement inside of a week and this one has been flawless. It's the 1B serial and it has not had any overheating issues, the zoom is smooth and there are no mechanical issues whatsoever. I've taken several thousand shots with this unit thus far with no problems.Image quality is excellent for the type of camera that it is (small-sensor); color reproduction is very good albeit there are some issues with bright reds (as there is with many other cameras). It's surprisingly quite good with noise up to ISO 800 and the lens is sharp throughout most of its range. This camera is very subject to lens flare - a lens hood (included) is somewhat of a help but will not eliminate it entirely if shooting into the sun at all. Time to write to the card is decent in .jpg with a Class 10 SDHC card - abysmal in RAW no matter what card. The included software is adequate, though I prefer Adobe Lightroom for any adjustments. It's a sturdy, fairly large camera, rivaling some small DSLRs in weight and overall size. The 30x zoom is slightly soft at its outer reach and image stabilization is decent but not great; overall, though, it's a very good camera for its price range and I take it with me everywhere - just fits in my purse :)I've posted several image from this camera in the customer's images for this model. The .jpeg engine in this camera's firmware is very good - it captures a pretty good range of tones with a fair bit of latitude at each end. There is some more detail and range to be squeezed out of its RAW images (especially in the bright areas), but the slow write time makes that mode awkward and frustrating to use. While this camera does have a manual focus mode, it's quite cumbersome so I stick with the half-press autofocus method. Generally, focusing is very good - it tends to hunt a little on complex subjects but is usually pretty accurate in center/spot focus mode.It is NOT a very good low-light camera - that long lens assembly cuts down on quite a bit of light entering the camera so one must use the flash indoors or else be prepared to start with at least ISO 400 to get anything decent. I will be purchasing the EF-42 flash for use with this camera in the near future.

Knowing the limitation, you will be happy with HS20!First off, I'm not trying to compare apple and orange here. I hope this review will help someone, especially for those who have a DSLR, looking for something light for travel, walk-around, etc.I hate to give a lengthy review, but this cam has too many features, I have no choice! I might repeat something that someone else has already mentioned, but I think emphasis is necessary.I've had my K-x for almost one year now, I really enjoyed it. When I went out with family, I usually carried the K-x with one lens on, either 18-55mm or 55-300mm (sometimes 35mm F2.4 for low light shooting). Many times I wished I had the other lens with me, either I needed wider or more reach. So I started to look for a camera that could give me that kind of flexibility and versatility. Of course I could get a 18-250 lens for this reason.One reason I bought HS20 is that K-x is very loud (the sound of mirror flip) when I press the shutter, this is pretty awkward when silence is needed. HS20 can be completely muted!Another reason is that I've been interested in EXR technology which seems very interesting and appealing.Finally Adobe now supports RAW format of EXR cameras, this probably the deal breaker for me since I have been using Adobe stuff.My search criteria basically include:1. shooting in RAW, so I can get best possible image quality;2. manual zoom ring (as I'm used to DSLR lenses);3. AA batteries (K-x uses AA too);4. macro is a plus (a decent macro lens for DSLR costs as much as or more than this camera itself);My first impression is that this camera is light weighted (even lighter than my K-x with 18-55mm lens), but feels pretty solid in hands.I would suggest that when you get the camera, don't rush out and shoot in low light condition because you will get disappointed with the noise in the pictures. Instead, shoot in good light which will give you impressive images. Also before you decide to keep or return it, give it at least three week workout (the lens is jerky at start, but will become smooth after using daily for a few weeks).It's a keeper for me because I have had a lot of fun with it! I took HS20 with me on my family vacation to Orlando in early August, it was very hot (around 95-100 outside). Here is what I found out so far:In good light condition, the IQ is good if not great! The straight out of box JPEG gives good color, fine detailed, good DR, etc (Of course you need to change some settings first). You will get more control with the raw files.RAW is a must-have feature for me, because it gives me more out of the camera, especially for ISO above 800. I bought FZ40 before K-x and returned it mainly due to the IQ (the RAW files look ugly on the screen). The RAW files of HS20 look much better than FZ40 in LR3. Still looking grainy, but in more pleasant way. ISO-1600 photos look arguably acceptable after NR (I printed out one 4x6 which looks not bad at all). Once I transfer all the files from HS20 to my computer, I use Adobe DNG Convertor to convert all RAF to DNG in a batch, then imported to LR3. There are two benefits for me: 1. cut down file size from 24MB (Large RAF) to 15MB (sometimes you will get 12MB RAF when using M mode), no quality loss here; 2. DNG will stay as long as Adobe exists. Since I used DNG format all the time, I feel safer. Although Adobe support HS20 raw format, but it doesn't come with lens profile for HS20, so I had to create one myself (using Adobe Lens Profile Creator), the result is pretty close to JPEG out of box. I hope Adobe will release one LCP soon.Those buttons on the back are very convenient. The layout makes a lot of sense. I can make changes more quickly. I wish my K-x had some of those buttons or the same layout. I think once you get familiar with all that, you will feel at home with DSLRs, or vice versa.The tilt LCD is very useful when shooting macro / super macro or at any situation you need it flip.Manual Focus: the ring location is pretty awkward, I found only useful when shooting macro or super macro mode, useless otherwise, nothing like manual focus on DSLR lens.Video: set the focal length, and shoot. Don't use zoom when shooting, you will be happy. In low light condition, the video is actually pretty good, noise is well controlled. Although the feature is there, I would not recommend to take picture while recording video because it will cause some frames loss, so when playing back you will see jumping at the gap (where a picture was taken).*** Heat warning kept coming up and shutting down itself when I was shooting video at Disney World (outside temperature is about 95-100). I almost returned it because of this! I think HS20 is designed for northern users...because I never had the warning when shooting at home!Low light without flash: be prepared to give up some image quality since you have to boost the ISO to 1600 to get decent speed. IS works for a few stop, but be realistic, in low light condition, you need very steady hands or support, or use 2 sec self timer to help. Also don't zoom in too much since the aperture will become smaller and smaller. Think of those good low light performers like S95, LX5, XZ-1, they all have small range of zoom. Using EVF also helps, but resolution of EVF is killing me (I'm so used to the OVF of my K-x).When using 126mm (660mm / 720mm) to shoot, any photos over ISO200 will lose details (I think it's due to small sensor).I think "compromised" is the right word to describe this camera, which has lots of "DSLR" features, but come to action, it's slow, AF slow, freeze after each shot (you can set IMAGE DISP off to overcome this or get at least 1.5 sec faster), etc. Over all, compared to my K-x, the speed is not there. So I wouldn't use HS20 if I need speed or for real low light jobs. My K-x will be much faster at focusing and shooting time - high ISO would no doubt be much better too.This camera is NOT for beginners, period. The auto mode (except EXR Auto) for P&S is not working well out of box. You have to deal with those settings and find out which works best for you. This is definitely a bridge camera, a good one if not the best in the market. I think the learning curve is pretty BIG, even for a DSLR user.HS20 is appealing for weight and silence (you can turn all sounds off) and cost.After realized the limits of this camera, I appreciate my K-x more (especially the speed)! That's absolutely positive. I will keep HS20 as a walk-around and travel cam. For other situations I still prefer my K-x.Thank you for reading, hope this helps.

I chose to buy this after a lot of deliberation. I was originally thinking of either going for this, the Panasonic Lumix FZ100, Canon SX30IS or the Sony DSC HX100v.While the Panny was high on my list and Sony was yet to release theirs, I decided to settle for this for primarily 2 reasons... good manual high-zoom, and the EXR mode.Research and reviews of photographs showed the camera to be very capable. Unfortunately, after FZ50, Panasonic has discontinued their series of non-DSLR/prosumer cameras with a manual zoom. This might seem as a non-issue for many, but there is a joy (and sense of freedom) in being able to rapidly control the zoom manually versus electronically. The autofocus is reasonably good, though, a little slow as compared to some other high end cameras. I found that to be the case because the default is a single auto-focus instead of continuous (which is also a battery drain, as learnt from my Canon PowerShot S2IS).The EXR mode does capture pictures much better than most others that I've seen thanks to good HDR capabilities in the EXR mode. Control from the user is mostly taken away, but its still pretty good.The manual zoom control (plus the 30x Zoom) with a BSI CMOS chip was the clincher for the HS20. To my knowledge, Panny has not released/announced a successor to their FZ100 and FZ50. Sony, well, is/was still a while away in launching their HX100V.The EVF is pretty useless in my opinion, but the LCD is quite crisp & bright. Video, however, is a little disappointing, since the autofocus is kinda flaky. A bit of quivering in the image also appears during recording, which, I suspect, is because the Image Stabilization is performed on the sensor. This isn't, however, a big deal since the camera is good for taking still photos (like many DSLRs are not meant for video shooting really!).The burst rate, however, is good, and far superior to the Canon SX30IS, which lost out on this reason (apart from no manual zoom control).An articulating screen like the Canon SX30IS or the Panny Lumix FZ100 would have been nice, but this is fine. I wish the jog-dial of the Canon SX30IS was the mechanism of control as compared to the dial on the right top. It is a little inconvenient in my opinion. The SX30IS jog dial is very smooth, which means you can almost maintain the camera's focus on the subject while making changes to the setting.I've purchased some Hoya filters too, to go along with this, and I'm still trying it out. So far, I'm very impressed with the low-light high ISO sensitivity capabilities. While AA batteries aren't always the best power option, since they come cheap in bulk and readily available in most inhabited corners of the earth, I think it is a major factor that makes it stand out.Personally, I feel that if you are looking to take up photography as a hobby, without the excessive costs of a DSLR or the need to drag a bag of high zoom lenses, this is great. Even for a novice, this will take great pictures, which means you don't end up burning a hole in your pocket by purchasing a DSLR while having below-average pictures.

Arrived way earlier then expected, great camera with good assesories haven't gotten a chance to try them all except the tripod was opened before the tape was that was keeping it shut was all dusty and not sticking to the box to keep it shut. Other the camera is great including the bag was a great touch as well.

I am an aspiring photographer, so I do not have much experience in this field. However, this is a great place to start. The camera is easy to figure out and the accessories that came in this bundle are fun to experiment with. I would have given this camera bundle 5 stars, but I did not receive the 32 GB SD card. It is an essential piece to this bundle and I was bummed not to see it in the box. I contacted the seller about the missing SD card and Amazon Fulfillment got back with me saying they created a sales order for the card. I have not heard or received anything in about two weeks, so hopefully I receive something soon.

Love this bundle! The Rebel series is a great starter series for any photographer or videographer! And in all reality, it works great for pros too! Bought this as a secondary camera and would have given this 5 stars except the two polaroid lens' they sent do not attach to the camera. They sent two "adapters" for the lens' but neither of them adapt to canon products.. So that was a bit of a bummer. Just bought an actual adapter for them for $8 here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057GO65W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.Anyway, all the other gear is great. Just lost a star for not sending appropriate adapters. Good tripod for the cost. Wouldn't trust it too much though. I continue to be impressed by the Rebel Series.

Wife loves it, way more features than we need and the accessories are not the best quality but will get you up and running until you can figure out what you want to invest in on your own. The company did an excellent job packaging everything and it arrived a little later than expected but was worth the wait. Good package at a good price.

The camera and lenses are excellent, and a few of the accessories are good. The 2.2x telephoto extender does not appear to be compatible with the Canon lenses and several of the smaller items are cheaply made and not useful. The gadget bag had a broken zipper and is not large enough for the items included in the kit. In total, the camera and lenses are a decent bargain at this price, and if you can find a way to use the other stuff that's a minor bonus.

The camera and lens are great! Great quality, takes super good photos. The menu interface takes some getting used to but is really nice.The bag is average quality. Other than that, the only other good things that come with this kit are the tripod (it's cheap but works) and the remote. Basically everything else (extra lens, filters, cleaning supplies, flash, etc) that comes with the kit is crap and I wish these companies like Ritz would not include them and lower the price, or include fewer but better quality items. I tossed most of the extra stuff.

The camera is almost perfect. The only thing about it is the petal hood that produces a shadow in most of the pictures taken with it on the camera, the solution is simple: just take it off!!!A word for the ones that thougt this camera would work fine for doing independant films (like me): IT WON'T WORK, the constant autofocus is so anoying imprecise and keeps doing all kind of crazy moovements in low light conditions. The manual focus feature is confusing and very slow. Just won't work fine.If you need a nice camera, good resolution, exceptional acurate zoom, vivid colors, decent video for personal or familiar stuff, this is just wonderful and it is worth every dollar. I recommend it, but not for producing any formal or business video.I love it but I keept it for my home and family. Back to Canon.

Stopped turning on after a month or so even with fresh batteries. "Reboots" or something if I open and close battery door. Otherwise, nice camera. Going back to Fujifilm for repair since malfunction didn't occur until after the return period.

Hs20 is a good camera in the day time! It has a hard time a night, with the auto focus. Mine came with dust in side of the lens. So I have to send it to be cleaned or for another one. For the price and it having the hot shoe, it's a good camera.

The HS20EXR camera was tested side by side with Canon sx30 IS, Panasonic FZ40, Nikon P500, Fujifilm S2900-4000 series cameras, Kodak Z990, and Kodak c613 point and shoot. A Nikon D90 and D3100 is mentioned as a result of casual use, but images were not tested. The D90 and D3100 are referenced concerning ease of use of cameras. Compared to cameras in the Bridge/Super Zoom market, the HS20 camera is a 5 star product; I would rate this camera 5 stars if not for the manual focus that does not function, video that does not worked as advertised, and overheating issues not addressed until release of new v1.03 firmware after customers already suffered problems while waiting on updates. Additionally, while having the superior image quality in the bridge cam sector, image quality is still sub par for landscape/scenic photography. Because of this the HS20 is a 3.5 star camera, but the rating system does not allow half stars so I listed 3. I also have had in my sole possession a Pentax K-R. I will just sum up comments now; in comparison to the K-R, the K-R has much more clear resolution,even only having 12MP, and getting nice bokeh (intentional background blur) is better with the K-R, and the K-R menus are far more elaborate. However, the HS20 is dead on accurate with exposure/white balance and gets you the shot you are looking for so much easier and more accurately. I find I kept far more pictures (except for scenic shots-explained in detail below) from the HS20 than the K-R for the K-R has serious issues with exposure and color reproduction to the point it is absolutely frustrating - the HS20, you know you have your shot when you review in the LCD after the shot and feel good about it. But that is just my experience. Here is my review...PROS=====+++ color/contrast/exposure is by far the most accurate+++ low noise at ISO 200 or less - anything above 200 becomes noticeable as it does for any camera that uses the tiny little inferior sensor that ALL cameras use in this category. Regardless, the lesser amount of noise in the pix from this camera beat out the competition.+++ overall image quality for near field subjects such as people, pets, architecture, hard defined objects, and some floral arrangements was superior+++ if managed properly, indoor flash shots were outstanding - colors were perfect and there were absolutely no washed out shots at all+++ menu layout and menu options were superior in design and functionality+++ manual zoom (once broken in after 20 hours of use or so) was superior in operation +++ faster to use, saves battery life, allows for extra area to hand hold and further stabilize+++ superior and fast image stabilization for still shots+++ outstanding white balance and white balance setup+++ fairly quick focus outdoors+++ moderately fast shot to shot times outdoors, lightning fast burst modes (though offset by write times)+++ superior LCD panel - 460K dot vs. 230K on Panasonic and Canon, Nikon and Kodak was 460 also.+++ best folding type LCD - fast and easy to use - it keeps you behind your camera and out of the sun - EVF is not even necessary - I took shots in bright sunlight and saw every last detail with this LCD - the best in this market+++ outstanding hot buttons to allow you to quickly change type of focus, ISO, exposure, etc. - far superior to competitors+++ AA batteries -HUGE PLUS - this enabled me to use Eneloop 1500x batteries - I got 900 outdoor shots on one set of 4 in one charge - mind blowing! The P500 only got 400 and the others around 500. Plus this allows for cheap replacement and easy to find replacement batteries.+++ EXR HR PRIORITY mode - allows you to use all of your own custom settings, but the camera determines only shutter speed and aperture - ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT IDEA! - no one has this kind of setup. This allows you to expect to get the settings you want, but the lighting conditions may change and the camera IQ will only adjust aperture and shutter to help with varied lighting. To add to this, you can choose the exposure settings to "zero out" the variance the camera will use to get proper exposure. This is hard to explain, but if you should use this camera, you will see what I mean. It is very easy to use, yet very advanced. Basically, choose what you like, choose the exposure in a given shot, and the variance now will be close to the same for every shot. It is not perfect, but, once again, FAR superior to the competition.+++ Overall, an absolute incredible experience to use this camera - it just feels and operates that good - I was just overwhelmed! I took over 4000 pix in 4 days and took 3000 test shots for 2 weeks before going on location. I can tell you there is nothing quicker to navigate and more logically setup than this camera. I have used the Nikon D90 and D3100 and can tell you they are total CLUNKS compared to this camera, though they likely have better image quality. Shockingly, at much greater cost, those Nikons only allow use of the optical view finder to take shots, the LCD is for reviewing pix only! I am just noting, this HS20 WILL SPOIL YOU. The longer you use it, the more you see how logical the feel, navigation, operation, and use of this camera is.CONS=====- overheat warnings - despite firmware update and minding ambient temperatures- took scenic mountain pictures at 10x to 15x zoom - all evergreen trees looked like water color paintings. No exaggerating - it was just AWFUL. Tried multiple settings.- foliage and grass just looks horrible, even when in near field or as part of the subject - made me feel as though I needed glasses for it sometimes seemed I was seeing double- Sometimes will not find subjects in low light despite use of AF illuminator, but this is a common problem for most any camera sub $1000.- blur or unclear image detail when targeting in 'area focus mode' for subject as opposed to 'center focus mode' for subjects like a person, or a sign, etc.- video is limited to just using center focus and not zooming past 2x if you want good video - outside of this, it is awful. However, I do not need video and would like to say the videos I made (outdoors only in order to get good lighting) were actually superior to anything else tested - again, as long as I did not really zoom and I used only 'center focus mode' instead of 'continuous focus mode' in the video settings.- horrible EVF - but it is not needed since the LCD is so darn awesome-horrible idea for a power switch - I accidentally bumped it off several times in middle of a shoot - perhaps my fault too, but it would be better to have a "time release/spring switch" instead of one that is off the moment it is barely moved. Perhaps shortening the lever would fix this also.-camera is poorly sealed around the area of the battery compartment and SDHC door - the battery door is loose! Otherwise, good construction/weight/feel-extremely slow write times - I used both an older CL4 Kingston 4GB SDHC and new Lexar 133 (CL20 type speeds), got the same sluggish write timesQUICK SUMMARY (IN CASE THE REST OF THE REVIEW IS TOO LENGTHY FOR YOU!)======================================================================-UNDOUBTEDLY THE BEST BRIDGE CAMERA IN THE MARKET-MENU AND ESPECIALLY THE HOT BUTTONS ON LEFT OF LCD ARE EVEN SUPERIOR TO SOME DSLR'S MADE BY CANON, NIKON, AND PENTAX. IT IS LIGHTNING FAST TO NAVIGATE THIS CAMERA, AND SOON, OTHERS WILL FOLLOW WHAT FUJI HAS DONE WITH THIS - QUITE A BRILLIANT SETUP-GOOD PICTURE QUALITY OVERALL, THOUGH IMAGES OF GRASS/TREES TEND TO BE A BIT SOFT OR DISTORTED ON OCCASION - NOTHING AS BAD AS THE COMPETITION THOUGH - SX30, FZ40, AND OTHERS ARE FAR FAR WORSE-SMOOTH, BUT NOT REAL FAST, SHUTTER TIMES AND OPERATION-IDEAL FOR ALL USES EXCEPT VAST SCENIC PHOTOGRAPHY-GOOD 30x SHOTS (I SHOT DEER, ELK, PHEASANTS, AND BUTTERFLIES FAIRLY EASY WITH GOOD CLARITY AT LONG DISTANCES)-GOOD INDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY - VERY LOW NOISE, TRUE COLOR AND NO HAZING-BEST COLOR, EXPOSURE, AND CONTRAST OF ANY CAMERA IN THIS MARKET-EXTREMELY LONG BATTERY LIFE USING DURACELL OR ENELOOP AA PRECHARGE 2000mah BATTERIES - FAR SUPERIOR TO OEM BATTERIES-SMARTEST MENU ON THE MARKET+++DO NOT COMPARE THIS CAMERA TO CAMERAS IN THE MICRO 4/3 SENSOR MARKET OR APS-C BASED CAMERA MARKET, DO COMPARE TO ANY OTHER 1/2.33 SENSOR CAMERAS TO BE FAIR. HONESTLY, ANYTHING UNDER $450 WILL NOT COMPARE TO THIS CAMERA, BUT THOSE THAT ARE AT THE $500 AND UP WILL BE IN A DIFFERENT MARKET. HOWEVER,No functional manual focus, too small a sensor for great photography (that instead yields just good pictures, not great - though poor for scenic photography), and overheat warnings really hinder this camera.If it came to just how smart the design of this camera was, its feel, its menu, its controls, its ease of use, its smart folding 460k dot LCD, its AA battery source and extremely long battery life, the EXR HD Priority Mode, and most of all, how fun it is to use, this camera is 6 stars on a 5 star scale. Great stuff.HELP POINTING YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO SHOOT=================================================-Never shoot above 200 ISO with any bridge camera - there is no need with exception of rare occurrences to shoot 400 at sunset or if you are night shooting. Just change shutter speeds instead and use a tripod. I even got a crystal clear shot of the moon at ISO 200.-all my indoor shots and daytime/sunset shots were done at 100 or 200 ISO - this reduces noise in pictures-use fine and sharp settings in the menu-before using other EXR modes, use EXR->HR Priority. This mode allows you to keep all your settings in the menu and all focus and exposure metering settings. With EXR HR, the camera ONLY chooses shutter speed and aperture. THIS IS AN AUTO FEATURE TO DIE FOR. All other cameras completely take over your settings when in ANY type of auto mode, which ruins your ISO preference, color settings, sharpness, etc. With EXR HR Priority, you are essentially still the "boss" of the camera, it is just aiding your lighting situation, which even then, you have an exposure hot key(yes, a hot key, no navigating thru a long menu) to tell the camera the variance you want to work within.-I read in a camera review website that using this camera in EXR HR mode and keeping the size options of menu at medium instead of large (no more than a 10MP setting) keeps down "pixel smearing" and other distortions, but I have not seen the difference-I have also read on several occasions the HS10 model has better picture quality for it does not try to cram so many pixels on one sensor (its max is 10MP)-REMEMBER, MORE MEGA PIXELS DOES NOT EQUAL BETTER QUALITY!!! IN FACT, MORE MEGA PIXELS ON NEWER CAMERAS (IN OTHER WORDS GOING MORE THAN ABOUT 12MP) MEANS THEY ARE LYING TO YOU ABOUT IMAGE QUALITY IN ALMOST EVERY CASE. DPreview, camerlabs.com, photographyblog.com, etc etc etc have observed in every camera that has gone over 12MP for the same model (example, the HS10 to the HS20 and the Canon T1i to the T2i then T3i) have degraded the picture quality by increasing Mega Pixel counts per the same sensor in each case. Distortion occurs from overloading the sensor - BUT WHAT THE HECK, they got every one else to "buy into it" didn't they. Its a bad thing. BUT, do your research and you will see this is true. Go for image quality, not pixel counting.THE OVER ELABORATED PART OF THE REVIEW - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.......SPECIFIC THOUGHTS==================The feel of this camera, the incredibly smart layout and operation of buttons/controls (minus the power switch), the very intelligent menu, quick navigation, manual focus, and the rubber grip and weight and dimensions made this camera the most pleasurable experience I have had using a camera. To top it off, the price effectiveness and long battery life with the AA battery options made this camera superior in reliability in shooting long outings. The Nikon P500 has the worst battery - being the size of a thin chunk of cheese to put on a Ritz cracker, this battery did not even allow 400 shots outdoors. Replacement batteries for competitors center around 40 bucks - my batteries for this HS20 (Sanyo Eneloop 1500x) cost just 10 bucks and lasted more than twice as long. I just die when someone complains that this camera uses AA batteries - they really miss the point! OEM batteries suck - period. And if you do like them, don't count on finding them in 5 years! AA batteries can only improve with time and they are already far better as long as you buy Eneloop 1500x or Duracell Precharged (white caps) that are only second to Eneloops and better than OEM. Both these AA batteries are 2000mah, but superior to anything made - you can read detailed reviews on Amazon and other websites.The menu is great, streamlined, and keeps color and picture adjustments together in scrolling through the menu - very organized. On top of this, the last place you were in the menu will be the first place you revisit when going back to the menu after choosing setup or camera options. Although, after turning off the camera, you will be reset as to the last place you visited in the menu - no big deal since the menu is so organized anyway. I found the menu to be far more accurate to use in that options actually made a difference in white balance, color, and sharpness of pix. I did not have this luck with the FZ40 and the P500 does not even have manual color controls. Even the Pentax K-R sharpness did not impact pictures as I would have hoped, but the HS20 did so you can artistically effect photos. The P500 had far over saturated colors and the FZ40 had a terrible red hue to everything and was not able to be adjusted. Shockingly, The Pentax K-R with the most superlative and elaborative White Balance menu still had problems with hue, yet this HS20 at half the cost was right on the mark with color and exposure. The noise in the pictures by Canon, Panasonic, Kodak, and Nikon all are very notably inferior compared to the HS20, no exaggerating. The K-R is in a different market, but must be noted the clarity of images it produced were mind blowing, but at twice the price, only 2/3 of the zoom, and the pain of changing lenses.Overall, I found everything about this camera superior to the competition and to previous point and shoots I have used. However, 2 major issues caused me to return and NOT replace this camera. 1) heat warnings 2) extremely poor image quality for scenic mountain shots (which is actually a problem for ALL small sensor cameras and some entry level DSLR cameras - digital is difficult to use for wide/long range scenic shots).ELABORATING ON THE FLAWS========================I bought this camera for use as a camera that would capture scenic shots. I was willing to put up with heat warnings that prevailed after anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes of VIDEO recording after also taking some pictures (keep in mind, I took pictures for an hour first - regardless, overheats should not happen). As long as this HS20 would shoot scenic photography, I did not care anything of video. Video for all cameras outside the video recorder market seem sub par to me anyway.Well, after I returned home from a 4 day shoot, I found that almost all TWO THOUSAND PICTURES LOOKED LIKE A WATER COLOR PAINTING, and I then immediately decided I could not keep this camera.I did some research and found that this can be a problem for small sensor cameras. I am not an engineer or scientist, so it would be to your advantage to take my words with a grain of salt and do some research of your own - but, the problem goes something like this. In the air there are photons traveling. These photons are like atoms (maybe smaller) that end up passing over the sensor giving info of color/contrast/brightness/detail of subjects. The larger the sensor, the more all the detail will show up on that sensor. Given the same amount of photons to scrunch onto a smaller sensor, the info is now divided so small the sensor can no longer distinguish details - the detailed info runs together and there is no distinguishing details. Thus, in my pix, all you see of each 4mm sized tree on a 22" monitor is a solid green outline, no variation in color, no branches, no tips. Top it off, put together thousands of trees on a mountain side 1 mile away and all you see is a giant green blob.CAMERA SETTINGS===============I shot half my pix in EXR High Resolution (HR) priority, the other half were in Manual. Most shots were between 40mm and 300mm full frame focal lengths (meaning about 2x to 12x zoom) so there is NO reason shots should look this bad. I also tried varying Auto Exposure from Multi, Average, and Spot. AF was mostly set to center focus, but I also tried Area Auto Focus. I tried fluctuating higher f-stops with slower shutter speeds and lower f-stop with higher shutter speeds to no avail. I kept all shots to ISO of 100 except when absolutely necessary, I then went to 200 ISO, but never higher. It ended up that I kept menu settings at 'high sharpness, 'high noise reduction', image quality on 'fine', and used 12MP 16:9 shots. Changing any of these settings did not matter for scenic shots - grass and trees were all mottled or water colorish in these shots that covered miles of terrain.I concluded this camera (and most likely all others with these tiny sensors) only have the ability to maintain detail if subject matter is within about 100 meters of the target focal point. Everything outside that range does not just blur (which blurring is normal in areas outside the center of focus, in SOME instances) but instead, every last tree looks like a cartoon or water painting. I was utterly shocked.I tested this camera at home prior to the mountain scenic trip and noted foliage was a bit mottled, but this is with all objects in the photo being in a 100 square meter area and not 10 miles apart. So something is not quite right that at short distances, mottling was already showing. Now, go out on a mountain side and things become exaggerated. I felt like I just created water color paintings with my camera. Obviously, anything outside that 100 square meter field will start losing clarity, but it should not lose clarity to the point it all runs together in a VERY one-dimensional appearance, not even 2-dimensional. Even the grass looked mottled from close distances. The grass looked very unclear - some areas detailed, some not, and detailed grass shooting out in the middle of blurry patches of grass. The issue with grass being mottled is in all depths of field, not just distant scenery.FINAL DECISION - RECOMMENDED USE================================Since the overheats were prevalent after 1 hour of photography and 30 minutes of video, and the most important thing to me, scenic photography, was now unattainable, I very reluctantly returned the camera.If you are not using this camera on large terrain shooting across 20 miles of scenery and you do not need zoomed video, this camera is a MUST for you. The pictures I got of cats, my wife, my flower beds (within 10 feet of focus), and pictures of architecture and still objects all came out really good. Superior to anything else in this market. The colors are AWESOME - not over saturated or pale. Contrast is good, everything looked life like within the near field (within a 100 meter area of CENTER OF FOCUS - so this means you can zoom onto something 200 meters away and anything within 100 meters of that area will look okay - buildings, hard defined objects, and animals/people really show well zoomed at the full 720mm/30x focal length). The camera feels good, operates good, and has great stabilization (beyond belief really - it blew me away how I could focus and stabilize at full zoom). The LCD screen is awesome - ALL LCD panels should fold the way this one does and have the clarity this does. This camera is a BLAST to use - fun like you will not believe and the manual zoom will grow on you fast. Literally fast - I can zoom in less than half the time and with greater accuracy than others using the electric motor that bounces all over the place to get to the right spot. This camera blows the competition away. Though only the HS20 was used in the mountains, I feel certain all sensors sized at 1/2.33 or 1/2 that are used in this market will likely have this problem. If you do some research, you will find that these image sensors are just way too inferior/ too small for in depth situations. Perhaps I am just looking for too much out of such a small sensor. As far as doing a competitive analysis in this bridge camera market only, I am telling you, this HS20 is to die for. All the other cameras feel and function like toys compared to this. A camera I have yet to test, however, is the new Sony HX-100V - then again, good luck finding one. For some reason, very little stock of this camera was available in the entire USA at the time I bought this HS20. I have read and seen reviews for the Sony and it lacks in image quality compared to the HS20 on professional reviews, but has superlative video to anything else in the bridge/superzoom market.OTHER NOTES============If I had recommendations to Fuji, these would be it.1- give us a 300mm focal length instead of the not needed 720 in order to put in a larger sensor, put in an APS-C format, and rid of video if they have to in order to keep the price the same. The larger sensor would then actually get clear pictures and the 300mm length zoom could be more effectively used to get realistic images. IMAGE QUALITY TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER ALL OTHER FEATURES - super zoom and video comes later. No picture quality, no camera.2- Fix the over heat - This is the 1AA serial numbered model camera with the latest v1.03 update installed and it still does not work. I guess someone has to get the 1AB serial numbered model to avoid this heat warnings.SUMMARY=========I spent well over 300 hours the past 8 weeks on researching/testing/using cameras. While I do not expect any of you to do this grueling research, I hope you do take the time to truly learn the basics of photography in order to understand better how ISO, Shutter speed, and Aperture (all 3 together are known as the exposure triangle) function within cameras and pictures so you can really get to know what camera works for you and more adequately write much needed reviews on Amazon. Many or most of the reviews that are out there are just not helpful, unsubstantiated, and lack detail. What is more, it is evident many users NEVER GET OUT OF AUTO MODE, which tells me they probably do not know image quality nor take the time to compare image quality from camera to camera. Hopefully, this review will help you.I can assure, PICTURE QUALITY TAKES PRECEDENCE over everything, smoothness of operation of the camera next, all other options are subjective or not so needed (like 720mm focal length lenses with a tiny useless sensor versus shorter focal lengths with a large sensor). People need to talk more of ISO, aperture, and shutter speeds and test settings on cameras and explain the subject matter more clearly. People also need to learn about what really works before doing reviews! An example is the battery situation - People buy junk AA batteries on sale for 5 bucks from 5 years ago that are half dead and then complain the camera does not have good battery life and state they prefer OEM batteries as a result - phooey! No OEM battery compares to Eneloop 1500x 2000mah batteries. I visited the Pentax website and noted a whole section of threads (conversation) filled up on the topic of how much better the AA batteries perform in the k-x/k-r cameras than the OEM battery. Yet the OEM battery Pentax provides is better than most Nikon and good as Canon. NO MORE OEM BATTERIES UNLESS YOU WANT TO FIND YOURSELF IN THE SAME SITUATION THAT ALL OF US ARE WITH PRINTER INK!Going through this mess has taught me some interesting things about cameras and those variables which make photography work. I hope I have helped you with what to expect from the HS20 by doing this review. I guess I am headed to the DSLR market. I should ask all of you to wish the best for my wife - I am driving her nuts with reports on "camera stuff", as she calls it. THEN AGAIN, I should ask you wish me well, for I am going to be one bruised and beaten husband when my wife sees the credit card bill after I buy a camera and some lenses!!!BEST WISHES TO ALL - AND HAPPY SHOOTING!

After a couple weeks of use, I have "reluctantly" returned this camera. I actually loved this camera and it was very painful returning it. The photos were sharp, colors vibrant, and the camera was extremely easy to learn and operate. Also, the camera has a robust set of features. Prior to this camera, I owned a Panasonic FZ30K which has a manual zoom with 8MP. The low light photos taken on the HS20 were far far superior to ones taken on the FZ30K. If I liked this camera so much then why did I return it? Well, from my perpsective the only flaw with this camera is the video. Initially, most complaints about this camera were about the "heat sensor" issue. This has been resolved via firmware and using low discharge batteries per one person's suggestion found on the internet. It appears that other people are starting to complain about the video quality too. The video quality color wise is fine and sharpeness too but only when in focus which isn't often. When shooting video, the camera was constantly re-focusing. After researching this problem via the internet, a suggestion was made to set the "Movie AF Mode" to "center" rather than the default "continuous". This certainly helped reduce the re-focusing but not eliminate it. Inside a house, if I shoot a 25 second video from the middle of a room and panned the camera 180 degrees and everything is stationary, it will re-focus at least a half dozen times. So, during playback you'll see the video go noticeably out of focus and then back in every few seconds which makes the video really unwatchable. Then I tried doing the same in an outside setting whereby I'm maybe 50-75 feet away from what I was video shooting which did have stationary and moving objects. In this situation, the video results were much better. It would re-focus every once it in awhile. During playback, you could see a very "subtle" and brief re-focus. In this case, the video was watchable. On YouTube, someone video shot a cat on a window sill. I looked at this one very carefully and I did not detect any re-focusing in the video. I tried doing the same type of videoing myself and was never successful. There is another video on YouTube of someone shooting a downtown scene. This one too was excellent except when the person was zooming in and out. When zooming in and out, I would expect the camera to re-focus unless done exceptionally slow. By the way, in my tests, I never zoomed in or out. Plus, one test was in the middle of a room and I never panned the camera yet it re-focus several times. There is another YouTube video where someone was shooting an Osprey eating its captured prey. If you look at that video carefully and when there is no camera shake, you'll see some very brief and subtle re-focusing occurring. If you are going to use the HS20 strictly as a camera or a camera plus video of landscape scenes then I would highly recommend this camera otherwise not. I contacted Fuji via email about this video issue and their response was that they are investigating it and hope to have a fix soon. Rather than having the camera and potential no fix, I decided to return it. I plan to wait another 3-4 months to see if they issue a firmware update resolving this problem and if so then I'll buy the camera again.(Update 5/8/2011):I have done a little more research (via the internet) of the extra focusing problem when video shooting. Someone suggested that you turn off the image stabilization feature. There is an option off the "menu" button called Dual IS Mode which can be Mode1, Mode2, or OFF. Since I have returned my purchase of this camera would some one be kind enough to conduct the following experiment or test and post your results as a comment against my review. With the Movie AF Mode set to Center take a video of something inside your home until it does a few extra focus hunts Then turn off image stabilization and perform the same video shooting and determine if the extra focusing is eliminated or reduced or the same as before THANKS

In addition to what has already been said, I must say that this is the best Super Zoom camera ever. I own a Lumix FZ-18 and have been waiting for a camera with the advertised qualities of the Finepix HS-20. In the meantime, I have purchased and returned several cameras including a DSLR due to disappointing photos, especially in lower lighting. This Finepix HS-20 has been amazing. I love the low light capabilities and all of the very user friendly features. I will add much more specific information to this review in the coming weeks, but I wanted to say that if you are looking for a great all around camera and don't want the hassle and expense of the DSLR lenses and weight, then this IS the camera that you have been waiting for. I'm waiting for my UV lense to arrive before I do too much more photography to protect my lense, but I have been blown away by almost every shot so far! The build quality is very solid and it does everything that I have wanted form a camera. Great job Fujifilm!!!!!4.7.2011 Update. Camera is still producing outstanding results. I have always wanted a camera with these features that produce these results all in one package without extra lenses and weight to carry around. I really like the focus ring which makes it so much easier to frame the photo. I will be adding more information and posting sample photos in the coming weeks. If you are considering a super zoom, this is worth a serious look. This does a nice job in low light without using a tripod which I have always wanted in a camera. Tripods are great, but you don't always have an opportunity or even want to use a tripod for many occasions.4.14.2011 Update. Camera is producing excellent photos in all conditions. Very satisfied. Just tried the video yesterday and it is unusable due to the focus problems. I did not purchase this with the intent of using the video so it's not critical, but I wish it worked better for the few times that I might use it.4.20.2011 Critical Update. Took the camera to the beach for a family get-a-way! Took the best pictures ever, but I experienced the dreaded temperature warning that I had only ready about up to this point. I'm very disappointed because this camera has taken the best pictures EVER! I used the Sport mode and took some incredible action shots of our son and friend experiencing the crashing of the cold waves on them. This mode let's you totally follow the subject in the viewfinder and using the zoom the shots were the best action candid shots ever. The bad news is that the camera displayed the heat warning shutting down my fun photography which is a KILLER for me. The last time was while I was taking some shots of them go cart racing on a cooler evening. Regardless of how much I love this camera and I do love it for a bridge camera, I cannot keep it which is very disappointing. The idea that the camera is going to tell me when I can and can't take photos is just unacceptable. This coupled with the video that is unusable due to the focusing problems means that I will be contacting Amazon for a return. The good news is that a great Super Zoom is around the corner...hopefully someone will get it right. If Fuji can take the feedback and make a few improvements, then this will be awesome. The final observation is that the weight of the camera was a bit heavy after a few moments. Best Super Zoom to date, but not ready for prime time!

The camera is great but be careful with these bundles as some of the items are of very low quality or could be missing. I first bought a Canon T6 bundle for my son and some of the items were missing and the tripod is poorly made. This T6i bundle I bought for myself and the remote control did not work, the macro lens protective cap was forced in therefor damaging the thread (factory issue) and it feels like the memory card wallet was sewed by a five year old. The tripod on this bundle is better thou.

Product arrived with carry bag ripped. Attempted to contact manufacturer for replacement via their website. No reply to date.

Camera and most of the package are great and the camera takes amazing photos. Package came quickly and have high quality materials. The big thing I didn't love is that the lenses aren't very high quality and the other two lenses are really just attachments for the others. Overall, I'd probably buy just the body and invest in better lenses next time

Good product.
But the package was a mess when they deliver it.
It was half open and some thing could have been lost.

Okay, this review is for the camera with Polaroid "Deluxe" accessory kit. All I have to say about the kit - if these were the deluxe accessories, the normal accessories must be made out of construction paper. The camera is amazing, well worth the cost. The accessories are a mixed bag:

The good: The SD card is good, not great - a nice big capacity, but if I were buying a card I'd go for the 1000x speed not 600x. The USB SD card reader works just fine, as does the IR remote, and both are nice to have.

The okay: The full-size tripod is mostly plastic. It's light, which is a good benefit if you are going to carry it a long way, but I have concerns about its durability.

The ugly: The mini tripod. It can't even hold the camera without the weight of the camera collapsing its legs. The flash might be good if I had gotten a working one - as is, it's a paperweight and some free AA batteries.

All in all: I don't regret the camera purchase, but I do regret buying the accessory kit. I should have bought the bare camera body and accessorized on my own. I would have picked out higher quality accessories and not wasted money on some of these.

Just a flaw in an otherwise exemplary series of Fuji bridge cams. I've talked this to death, but I'm a Fuji fan and it pains me to pan one of its products. Hasn't stopped me from continuing to buy Fuji.

I ordered this item for my Christmas present. I was so excited. I was replacing my old Sony DSC-H2. My son does ballroom dancing and we are in low light and need action shots. My old camera did very well with this; it is a 12x 6 mega pixel. I was excited for the extra zoom and the high pixels. I tried the new Fuji Camera and was very disappointed. The time to record to the memory card was excessive. The zoom is cumbersome as you have to manually zoom in with turning the lens. The auto focus was not very quick so I kept missing the shot. The action photo's turned out blurry. I tried all the settings available for action shots and I manually set the shutter speeds and F stops to no avail. If in bright daylight this carmara is awesome. However for my needs in low light and action it was not a good fit.

It's capable of taking good photos however the ISO settings and shutter speed is confusing to say the least. Besides, the EVF is painful to use. It so PIXELIZED that I can't see the details of what I am going to take. It's just plain terrible. Unless you are not planning to use the EVF at all, or else you should really start looking elsewhere for other alternative. The manual focus is painful to use as well. It auto zoom in/enlarge which is painful(for me) because I'm not used to it. Besides, the manual focus ring is at the very odd position. The processing speed of photos are rather slow too and do not expect to take fast moving objects using this camera as auto focusing and manual focusing is painful to say the least. It's slow. However i do have compliment for the camera which is the tilting screen which is a bless to use and the zoom ring. Other than that, it's not a camera for you unless you're not planning to use it to take fast moving objects and not using the EVF at all.

At first I was very pleased with this camera. I take thousands of family photos every year and this camera was quite an upgrade. The 30x zoom is awesome and the image stabilization, even at full zoom, works quite well. The panorama function is super easy to use, no tedious stitching or matching at all. You just pan the camera around and it does the rest. I love the smart flash, no more overexposed pics or dark backgrounds, and it's great in low light. For the first few weeks I took a lot of indoor pictures and was thrilled.Then I took the camera outdoors. After weeks of trying every combination of settings imaginable the best I can compare the outdoor photos to is an old 110 film camera. The photos of my children are grainy and perpetually blurred because the camera insists on choosing shutter speeds too slow. My children's faces look like they're painted and their hair looks like straw. I am deeply disappointed.

I am an EE working in Fishery and Ocean Science, I have a very good Canon DSLR w/many lens's, etc., very pleased with the overall operation and pic quality but lots of heavy stuff to drag along all the time. Several months ago I bought a Fujifilm FinePic S2950 for a friend, she loves it, I started using it, it is a flawless performer, at the max 18X zoom the pictures are perfect. So I took a look at its big brother, the HS20, a manual zoom to 30X @ 16MP and 58mm lens accessories (same as my DSLR)plus all the other features it offered for less than $400, seemed too good to be true. Stayed home all day waiting for UPS. First thing out of the box I noted that the zoom function was very stiff, not the smooth zoom I expected. Then the focus, very unstable, too much time to lock-on and then did not hold, a serious focus/stablizer problem? Was unable to get a decent picture at 30X. I am a very experienced digital camera guy, these were not "operator" problems. Very disappointed and sent it back for a refund. I read all the reviews, it seems that many HS20s are flawless but many have problems, as an senior EE I think that there is just too much high technology jammed into this little package at too low of a price. I have to wonder just how good these "good" HS20s will be working a year or two from now?

This was the perfect camera... until I recorded video in HD mode and it all fell apart. Battery overheat problems just crippled this camera. Yes I did specify the right battery type as I tried both regular alkaline and nimh rechargeables. I did not use lithium AA's so I can't comment about those. I did the firmware update to 1.03 but it didn't stop this known problem. I did have one of the earlier versions with the A in the serial # as those were known to be the major culprits with this issue. If those were all off the market, then I might go back and repurchase this camera. I liked the fact that it accepted filters like normal SLRS and I have several from my old SLR rig. The manual zoom ring is great vs the sliding lever as I can zoom in/out with speed and control. It does hunt quite a bit in video mode as it focuses back and forth at the extended zoom ranges. Close up and bright outdoor environments I didn't have this problem. Take your chances with this purchase as it will be absolute joy or total failure.

I was disappointed with this purchase. Yes the bundle came with a lot of stuff but my camera did not operate well. I full daylight the flash would pop up on auto. It did not always focus well and the picture quality was disappointing. I feel the camera may have been used the manufacture date was 2014 I know that,s not proof but it does seem to fit. I have taken several hundred pictures on two vacations and its just ok. Don't think I will buy electronics on amazon again I am hearing too much about quality and counterfeiting. I will keep trying to work out the bugs

Unfortunatelly, mine stopped working a few shots after arriving. After talking to customer service there was no other option but returning the set. Still want a Canon camera. But this set was not the correct one. After reading some reviews, It is possible that the cause is the lens of less quality to be added as a combo.

Camera is great but the Polaroid external flash is not compatible. The external flash is one of the reasons I picked this bundle so I'm pretty annoyed.

The camera & most of the peripherals included worked just fine, but the Polaroid telephoto & wideangle lens did not fit with the T6i body. I tried to get some sort of replacement through Amazon, but they said since it's in a bundle, I would have to return the WHOLE bundle. I was hoping some replacement lenses or monetary compensation would happen, but I was not given any o those options.

Great camera. Ritz was difficult to work with. The filters were not included in the initial package, but I received them later after contacting Ritz. The Flash and the remote didn't work

I've has this HS20 almost 5 years. Not too shabby for manual images. There is NO WAY to put the self timer on default. I must set it for EVERY shot. It is also ridiculous that when given an option to set something, you get less than a second to make a choice before it disappears. I shouldn't be forced to buy an optional USB shutter release. Very poor technology and very poor support, no one available to help. I should've purchased something else.

I bought this camera about a year ago and I will unfortunately have to replace it.I won't speak to the various features this camera offers. What would be the point?Here is the problem: The camera jams inexplicably and nothing short of removing the batteries will unlock it. I cannot tell you how many pictures/moments this problem has cost me in the year since I bought the camera. imagine seeing a shot you want, pointing your lens and pushing the button, only to have your camera fail to accomplish what even the basest of cell phones does -- capture the image.I have done some research since this mistake of a purchase and discovered that this is not unique to my camera. Many others have encountered the same problem. From my experience and from what others have written on Amazon, Fuji will not stand behind this product. You will not get it fixed or replaced and there are no software updates to address the issue.Take my advice and skip this camera. At any price, it is a bad deal. A camera must be reliable above all else, and this one isn't.This is a very expensive paper weight.

If possible I would have rated this a zero because of the lack of service from Fuji.I bought this camera in June of 2011, being a professional photographer I wanted a camera to fill the the gap between a point and shoot, and my digital SLR cameras.For about three months the camera worked fine,the quality was not anywhere near the my three Nikon cameras but it was generally acceptable. About two months ago the camera began acting up, at first it was only occasional glitches with the display, but now it is a totally worthless item. I cannot take one photo without the camera freezing. I have tried different memory cards, checking the for the latest firmware (it already had the most recent) but nothing has fixed the problem.I have attempted to contact Fuji twice in the last month with nothing more than an automated reply.Take my advice, purchase from a reputable company such as Nikon or Canon I know from personal experience that they back their products with customer service.

Get use to this word! This is our 5th Fuji Camera and our last. When the HS20 camera started overheating (only 70*f outside)and shutting down we pursued the issue on the net and we ended up at the Fuji web site. I was instructed to download a patch, I did and it took (camera showed new firmware number) but it still keeps shutting down. Now we can send it in for repair in which we have been told they can send us a refurbished one back. Yippee! Lucky us! The problem is the more I read on the net the more it becomes obvious Fuji is highly aware that this camera has this defect. They keep selling it regardless of the problem, so you can also have the privilege of paying $100's for something they know won't work properly.Oh yeah we did give a Fuji Tech a chance to get this right over the phone, have fun updating the firmware. It didn't work for us. Now we send it back and wait.Irony, The half of time it does work it's a great camera!

I am pleased with the physical appearance and feel of the camera. It is very close to my 9000 which has been an excelent camera. I made this purchase based on the new abilities and features. I shoot a lot at night and under existing light. The quality is what has come into question at this point. After only 10 frames the camera is back with Fujifilm due to the operating software freezing up. I have also been informed by Fujifilm that the camera does not like certain memory cards. There is nothing in the manual stipulating a certain card to use. At this point I am waiting to hear from Fujifilm if I will get a new or repaired camera. Kudos to my 9000 however. I purchased the HS20 in time for a family wedding. When it failed I dropped back to my 9000 and the day was saved and bride and groom were happy with the photos. I have been happy with Fujifilm product so far and can only wait now to realy use the HS20 in the same way as I have my 9000 to see the results. Ok. Camera repair took six weeks and all electronics were replaced. Camera is slow. Trying to catch my grandchildren mid action is almost impossible. Depress the shutter release and it takes a while to focus then capture. Usually too much time has elapsed and the shot is missed. Good camera for stills and portraits. Anything thats not action related. Photo quality is excelent. I find my 9000 is still superior for just going out to get action or on the fly shots. I also miss the video feature of the 9000. I ended up using that alot during Irene when I hadn't planned on it. I am not comfortable with this camera on the go. Planned shots are ok. I will continue working with it though as the picture quality is superior to the 9000. It's now July 5. Three weeks till another wedding. Camera is broken again. Not a scratch on it. Same as when first purchased. Will not turn on. I am done with it. With 16 megapixles, EXR, facial recognition, all the settings and bells and wistles. All comes to nought if it will not turn on. This camera just has way too much crammed into it to be a good working camera. I find the automation gets in the way when trying to force the settings the way I want them. Manual focus is terrible. Auto focus is just too slow. This will be my last entry on this product. Don't buy it.

Received my new FujiFilm FinePix HS20EXR on July 21, 2011.Tried to use it on July 22, 2011 and between 2-10 photos it locks up.FujiFilm says I need a faster ScanDisk card, I had a class 4 in it and it needs a class 6 to 10 in it.Bought that for $85.00 on July 23 from Amazon, next day shipping, got it today and still will not work.Teck support says sorry, go to the service dept and send it it for repairs.I would think that they would do more for a customer than just send it it for repairs.Gosh, it is only 5 days old and it hasen't worked since I got it.TheOnlyOblong

No memory card included with my package! Going on vacation and will be without a camera and a memory card....

Very disappointing. Camera stopped working after 4 months. Even tried resetting to factory settings to no avail.

Dont buy this package. If you want the camera I suggest buying it separately, its NOT worth it. The lenses are garbage and their customer support is not helpful. Fisheye lens broke within an hour of getting the package. Unhappy.

After using it for only 5 weeks, it just stopped working and Error code 20 came up. After looking into it, this is a common problem which requires you sending it back in. Sometimes multiple times. Some have reported that it never quite works the same. Very disappointed. Especially if it's a well known problem with this camera.

Everything arrived well packaged but the camera has been freezing up on me, it even did it yesterday during a photoshoot which was really embarrassing! i couldn't get it to work so i had to get my t3i and finish the photoshoot. i was NOT happy about that.