Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR Digital Camera - Black (12MP, 14.3x Optical Zoom) 2.7 inch LCD

I have wanted this camera ever since it was announced. Having had such great service from my S6500fd (now the property of my girl friend!) I had no hesitation in staying with Fuji. The EXR sensor is truly amazing, producing images of great quality. The camera is very easy to operate from `point and shoot` to full manual control. (If it ever stops raining I will put it through its paces in the West Sussex countryside.) Because of the high quality 30.5-436mm lens there is no need to have any other lenses since copes with everything you ask of it, from 1cm to infinity.
Since there is no lens hood supplied I strongly advise the use of a UV filter to protect the lens.
If you want to progress from your pocket compact to a serious camera I have no hesitation in advising you to buy a FujiS200EXR

I actually feel bad for not writing a review sooner, as I've been enjoying this camera for about 8 months. Prior to buying it, I'd been using a high-end Canon Powershot (SX10) and I can honestly say the only thing I miss about it is the tilting LCD. On every other count the S200EXR wins hands down.
I bought this camera mainly for the low-noise / low-light EXR sensor and it definitely lived up to this expectation. I haven't thus far been able to afford a DSLR with a long zoom to take my preferred shots (wildlife) and all the superzoom digital cameras I tried beforehand always produced noisy images, and I'd end up spending hours on my PC afterwards trying to remove noise and tidy them up. This camera is not immune to noise at high ISO settings but unlike other cameras I've used, it IS capable of noise-free (yes - noise-FREE - you heard me!) at lower ISOs. And best of all, if noise-free is all you want, you can get this with one simple flick of the wheel to the 'EXR' mode, using the "Resolution Priority" mode, and choosing an ISO of 100 (200 is near-flawless too). In normal daylight conditions, this will give you a full 12MP noiseless photo. This is how this camera has changed my whole relationship to photography. I can now take pictures knowing that my camera is up to the job, which allows me to finally focus on composition.
Now, if conditions are too dark for these easy, perfect photos, this is where the cool features of this camera really come into play. This camera is a godsend if you like taking photos in the evening. It is actually possible to take decent pictures without a tripod in low light (something that was always *impossible* with my other cameras) but I'd still recommend using one to get the best this camera has to offer. Still, it's nice to know that it's worth carrying your camera even when you don't have your tripod with you. There are 2 programmed settings designed for low light conditions: Pro-Low Light & High ISO / Low Noise. The former is fully automated and will take 3 shots and combine them to make a low-noise result, while the latter just takes one shot but is more flexible (you can choose the ISO, resolution etc). I have found that Pro Low Light works best with a tripod and used on stationary subjects, while the High ISO/Low Noise works well in burst mode where you have *slightly* moving subjects (I managed to successfully photograph my cat strolling at midnight). Both require a small amount of street light in order to focus. However, if you have no street light, you can still go into Manual mode and choose a long shutter speed, high ISO etc, in conjunction with a tripod. This is where this camera really works for me - I love the fact that I have a camera that is equipped to deal with 3 different low-light scenarios.
There are many other interesting settings that I rarely use but may be of use to others, particularly the automated 'Pro-focus' mode. Again, I recomend using a tripod for this one to experience the full magic: it takes 3 shots and combines them to blur the area behind what you're focusing on. If like me you've never used a DSLR camera you will be blown away by the result. It's actually designed to mimic the lens effect of a DSLR and you'll suddenly see the difference. I used this quite a bit when I first bought my camera because of how great the photos looked, but there can be imperfections if the subject moves or you don't use a tripod (slight blurring blotches may appear on the subject as well). Since I am lazy about gathering my tripod during the day I eventually opted to just do the blurring manually myself on my photo-editor for these types of photos, but I never would have thought of it had it not been seeing the result from this camera, so I am eternally grateful that it was there to 'teach' me!
The other cool thing about this camera is that in the manual and semi-manual modes you can choose from a variety of tweaks, such as sharpness, tone, noise, film effect etc. I personally prefer to keep all enhancements at 'standard' and make any alterations myself afterwards on my PC, but if you can't be bothered with this then you can enjoy discovering these little improvements on your camera alone.
I can't think of many 'cons' with this camera. I can only compare with my previous digital camera, the Canon SX10, and the only 2 things about it that I miss are the macro image quality (I like taking photos of insects and to my eye the S200EXR is just slightly inferior) and the tilting LCD screen that I mentioned earlier. Many reviewers cite the fact that the video recording capability is not HD, but this doesn't really concern me because in my opinion, if your desire is to make movies then you should really be shopping in a different department. You don't expect the video recordings made on a mobile phone to be capable of making short films so why should you expect a digital camera?! I've used the video recording feature now and then and it's watchable, fine for me!
I hope this review is of use to others, particularly those who are in a similar shopping dilemma that I was in: wanting a high-zoom, low-noise camera but not having the money for a full DSLR kit & zoom lens. My verdict is this: if you want good-quality photos and the possibility of adding night time shots to your portfolio, you would not be making a mistake buying this camera. And if you are already comfortable with using a photo editor to make 'blurs' and other minor enhancements, you can go even further and produce great photos. I no longer moan about not having a DSLR, the gap is much less apparent now, and more importantly, I am not constrained to taking photos in certain conditions. I am really glad I purchased this camera!

This is as close as you can get to a DSLR it has a slightly larger sensor compared to most compacts but not near the size of those found in a DSLR. I have been very pleased with the picture quality and the lens provides all I need. I consider myself a keen photographer and have used Canon and Pentax SLR 35mm and a Finepix F700. The image quality from the S200EXR is better than the F700 and up to 8 by 10 I would find it hard to fault!

If this price drops further it will only become more of a bargain. The movie mode does let it down but when you think the cheapest DSLR with movie mode pushes into the £500 plus it is nice to have it!