FinePix 2000HD

FujiFilm's FinePix 2000HD is a capable ultra-zoom, 10-megapixel camera for a casual user who isn't too concerned about image quality. It offers face detection and image stabilisation, and it can shoot video at a resolution of 1280x720 (720p).

A bulky chassis houses the large 28mm, 15x zoom lens, which gives the 2000HD a reach of 414mm. Its aperture is f/3.5 at the widest point, and it stops down to f/5.4 when you zoom. Handheld pics taken at the maximum zoom will suffer from blurriness due to shaky hands, unless you use a fast shutter speed, but the camera's built-in image stabilisation does a good job of countering the shake effect. Likewise, it works well when taking photos in low-light conditions with a slow shutter speed — down to 1/30th of a second. Taking photos at this speed without image stabilisation enabled produced heavily blurred images.

The image quality of the FinePix 2000HD is passable if all you want to do is capture everyday shots of your mates and put them up on Flickr or Facebook, but if you're serious about your photos you will be displeased with its results.

Our shots came out looking noisy, even at ISO 100, and quite soft. There was also noticeable purple fringing in high-contrast areas, and this didn't look good in portraits where white skin met dark hair. Colours were captured quite well, although we noticed some slight over-saturation — but on the flipside, some light colours tended to look washed out. If you can overlook the noise, softness and purple fringing, the 2000HD will be a fun camera to use.

It has macro and super-macro modes, so it can take some impressive close-ups of objects and very interesting portraits. You're limited in the way the camera focuses, as you can't set a specific focus point, and we found it would only focus directly in the centre of the lens in many of our close-ups. Likewise, its face detection focusing was a little off (it wouldn't always recognise faces in the corner of the frame) and wasn't swift in its operation. It's no match against more expensive cameras we have seen, but if you persist with it, it does eventually work.

Despite having such a long-range lens, distortion wasn't a noticeable problem, and straight lines appeared straight and not curved in most of our test shots. We like the way the 2000HD handles itself while zooming, too; we didn't experience any jumpiness while sliding the zoom lever to get closer to our subjects.

Shooting modes for shutter priority and program mode are available, and there is also a manual mode that lets you easily change the aperture and shutter speeds via the thumb control. A shortcut button on the back of the camera also allows you to quickly change the ISO speed. As mentioned previously, the 2000HD produces noisy shots even at ISO 100, so anything faster will produce even more grain. If you're feeling creative enough, you can take advantage of this graininess to create some nice black and white, high-contrast shots (with post-processing). There are also dedicated modes for taking high-speed shots, indoor (flash and non-flash) shots, and scene selection.

The HD in the camera's model name signifies that it can capture video at a high-definition resolution. The actual resolution at which it captures video is 1280x720 and it captures it as an MPEG-4 file with sound. Its results were satisfactory in our tests, meaning that this mode will be good for capturing the moment your friends do something goofy while down at the pub, and then uploading it to YouTube. For anything more serious, it probably won't suffice. Our videos suffered from a little jumpiness, especially while panning the camera, and focusing was also slow. It did capture some very rich colours, however, which people in the office didn't hesitate to comment on.

Physically, the 2000HD is comfortable to hold and use thanks to its deep hand-grip, which is also the compartment for the camera's 4x AA power source, and all the camera's controls are logically laid out. You can use its 2.7in LCD as the viewfinder, or the electronic viewfinder when the sun is too bright to view the LCD properly. We were able to capture approximately 60 photos and a one minute video with one set of AA batteries while using the LCD as the viewfinder and seldom using the flash, but this life will vary depending on your usage pattern.

For $399, the 2000HD offers plenty of versatility in a bulky, albeit relatively easy-to-carry chassis. Give it a go if you want something that will let you take shots in almost any situation, but don't expect spectacular image quality from it.