Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR is certainly the most exciting compact digital camera we have seen in a while, technology-wise. The 12MP compact uses the new EXR technology that caused the stir at Photokina last year. In a market where consumers constantly expect more megapixels, yet companies are unwilling to diminish quality by packing an unfeasible number of pixels onto a small sensor, Fujifilm has made a sensor that changes the behavior according to the scene. The company says its engineers used human eye as the basis for the technology.

Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR offers three changeable modes from its single sensor: High Resolution mode with 12 million pixels, for when light is full and even; High Sensitivity and Low Noise mode for maximum quality low-light shots with minimal noise and grain; and Wide Dynamic Range mode for an excellent level of detail in highlights that would normally be lost.

As well as the new sensor, a 12MP 1/1.6-inch Super CCD EXR, the F200EXR has a completely redesigned EXR processor. It also has a strong feature set inherited from F100fd, including the Fujinon 5x wide angle optical zoom lens for which its predecessor was acclaimed, and Face Detection 3.0 with auto red-eye removal.

Other features packed into the attractive yet serious-looking body are 3-inch high-resolution LCD, Dual Image Stabilization, HD Photo Output and sensitivity up to ISO 12800, in 3MP only. Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR also offers five Film Simulation Modes.