My Blog: Fujifilm FinePix XP30 hands-on: a week of underwater testing (video)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Fujifilm FinePix XP30 hands-on: a week of underwater testing (video)

One thing's for sure: we're utterly thrilled with the direction that ruggedized cameras are heading. Canon's PowerShot D10, while impressive, was more like a small stone than a bona fide P&S, but it wouldn't take much convincing to make someone believe that Fujifilm's FinePix XP30 was just another run-of-the-mill compact. Our pals over at Photography Blog already ran this thing through the wringer earlier in the year, but we couldn't resist the opportunity to take it to a few other places for testing. Namely, the Big Island of Hawaii. We spent a solid week with the XP30 and Samsung's W200, and while neither ended up impressing us from a visual standpoint, they both shared one common lining of the silver variety: price. At just $184, the XP30 is quite the bargain given its neatly trimmed exterior, but was the performance enough to warrant a recommendation? Head on past the break for out thoughts, as well as a heaping of sample shots and even an underwater video taken... after dark.

Gallery: Fujifilm FinePix XP30 hands-on