Fujifilm S9200 16Mp 50X Zoom Bridge Camera Review

Needed to upgrade my SX50. Best zoom of any bridge camera out there!

I really wanted a “bridge” camera which had a decent zoom and was much lighter than a DSLR. My second criteria was the ability to shoot video in 4K, because I enjoy editing my travel pics and movies. This LUMIX fits the bill on both points!

This is my first super-zoom bridge camera, having come from DSLR's like my Nikon D7100. I wanted to travel light & simple without carrying multiple lenses. So far I really like it. It takes some getting used to the electronic view finder, being my first mirrorless camera as well. I find the focusing fast enough for what I do. I don't shoot high speed sports. I also find the zooming to be different than what I'm used to. It's electronic and a little sluggish, if that makes sense. It's not as precise and responsive as a normal Nikkor zoom but it works. For some weird reason it's getting better with time. Initially, it was really sluggish but it's gotten better with use. Strange. Exposures are great, both with and without flash. Consistent too. The big surprise for me has been macro photography. Wow. This lens gets really close and the manual zoom option makes it easy. At 2.8 at the wide end and only 4.0 at the long end, this all-in-one zoom really shines. It replaces thousands of dollars worth of detachable lenses, which is what I wanted when I bought it. I'm not a pro, but a serious amateur. It works for me. My only real gripe is weather sealing. It has none. Keep it dry and away from blowing sand. Come on Panasonic. You market this as a serious camera. Give us something. All-in-all I'm happy.

Minolta MN67Z Digital Camera (Red) I love Super-Zoom Bridge cameras and have owned several. Super-Zoom Bridge Cameras do not typically provide the image quality of a high quality DSLR with a collection of high quality lenses. But they are excellent for many photographic purposes. The ability to easily and quickly move between a very wide angle to an extreme telephoto is great for casual photography. That capability combined with very reasonable price makes a super-zoom bridge camera, like the MN67Z, a great choice for anyone who has a limited budget but prefers a camera over a cell phone, and does not want to deal with the bulk and complexities of a DSLR with a bag of various focal length lenses. My wife and I use our super zooms for vacation snapshots, work related images and everyday snapshots. It is especially good for capturing wildlife shots because many birds and animals do not give you a lot of time to get a photo.  The auto-focusing can be a bit tricky at times but under most well-lit conditions, the camera gets very good images.  I have owned several Minolta SLRs and digital cameras over the years and was always impressed with the quality and value, this MN67Z is no exception from that experience. It takes good quality images and is easy to use.  I really like the fully articulating back LCD, the one on my other bridge camera only tilts.  Having a 20MP image is helpful when editing, even after some cropping the image is usually still large. The menu navigation is pretty straight forward and it is fairly easy to find and adjust settings. Having only used it for a few hours, my impression is very good. It definitely feels like I got more than my money's worth.

I compared this eyepiece with the old 20-60x eyepiece on my 80mm HD scope before I decided which one to get. I came to the conclusion that this is the zoom eyepiece one should get a the Swarovski scope. Both eyepieces offer great clarity and resolution. The main advantage of the 25-50x is the expansive view from 25x all the way to 50x. At the low end, the new eyepiece provides greater true FOV at a higher magnification than the old eyepiece. Translated to real birding situation, that means you see more birds that look larger and has more details. This is a win-win situation. At the high end, the magnification difference is not that great between 50x and 60x. In fact, if 50x vs. 60x makes a difference in your ID, I would argue that you are better off with an astronomy eyepiece that provides even higher magnification. The Swarovski 80mm HD scopes are so good optically, I have no doubt you can push it to at least 75x (6mm eyepiece) without much degradation of the view. Of course, even at 50x, the atomosphric condition often make the image shimmer so much that it provides no more ID help than at 30-40x. In that sense, the slight disadvantage of 50x vs. 60x is even less of an issue in practice. The 25-50x eyepiece is also a lot closer to being parfocal than the 20-60x, which means you'll need to refocus a lot less when you change the zoom. It also has slightly longer eye relief in practice than the 20-60x, which should be better for glass wearers. All in all, if you are deciding which zoom to get, the $160 price difference is a small price to pay for the better view and other nicities of the 25-50x.

I love this film format. It is the bridge between MINI and wide. As with all Fujifilm, you can expect consistency. I have no complaints about this film.

I got this lens and the 70-300mm for my Fujifilm X-S10 as my previous Fujifilm camera was a super-zoom and I wanted to approximate the range of focal lengths. More details in my review of the X-S10 body.

As a videomaker who is mainly used to using camcorders with built-in zoom lenses, having to buy prime lenses for a camera is a new, and frustrating, experience for me. All the good ones cost a hefty percentage of I paid for my Fujifilm SX-20, and all the reasonably-priced (under $200) lens I've found are manual focus/manual aperture! My first video shoot using one of these lenses turned into something of a disaster.... This TTArtisan 27mm APS-C prime lens that was recommended by various Fujifilm X-mount camerapersons costs $149, has autofocus (which no other TTArtisan lens I've seen so far has), and is possibly even better than advertised! I'm delighted at the quality of the images I've gotten from it, and even more delighted at the relative affordability. I'm even pleased at its low profile on my camera, given the 18-55 mm zoom lens that was part of my SX-20 kit, while excellent, stands out a mile from my camera. I highly recommend this lens, and am BEGGING TTArtisan to please, please make a set of similarly-priced autofocus prime lenses of this quality.

I got this lens and the 16-80mm for my Fujifilm X-S10 as my previous Fujifilm camera was a super-zoom and I wanted to approximate the range of focal lengths. More details in my review of the X-S10 body.

Purchased to protect my Sony bridge camera