If you were envious of the photographers who shoot RAW and then come out with excellent finished images thanks to post-production, you can afford a few smiles now. Catered for the more carefree crowd who prefers to shot and forget, there is now the Fujifilm’s new Super CCD EXR sensor technology. Gaining the accolade of the "Innovative Digital Product 2009" from the prestigious Digital Imaging Marketing Association (DIMA), the Fujifilm F200EXR stands out with good reasons. The EXR technology used in its sensor is quite revolutionary and gives us much to think about. The buzz words from Fujifilm are “Fine Capture”, “Pixel Fusion” and “Dual Capture” and while they give us a look into what might possibly be the future of compact camera’s sensor and camera engine technology, it also puts a big question mark next to RAW files. The F200EXR was surprisingly missing the RAW file support and while it seemed an oversight, and a serious one at that, it slowly dawned that RAW support on this type of technology may not happen.
The reason that RAW was not supported on the F200EXR is most likely due to the complexity of the modes available. Compact cameras in general only offer what Fujifilm term the “Fine Capture” mode where the camera uses all the effective pixels available. While the array of the pixels is different from that of a Bayer sensor, the RAW format output should pose no problems. What complicates matter is when you take the other two modes into question. The “Pixel Fusion” mode uses pixel binning where two adjacent pixels of the same colour are treated as one and delivered as a 6 megapixels RAW file for amplification and A/D conversion. This will offer a different RAW file from that generated in the “Fine Capture” mode. Similarly, in the Dual Capture mode, the camera takes 2 images at the same time, again using half the pixels for each. They are then merged in-camera for improved dynamic range. This is similar to how you would create HDR (high dynamic range) images using graphic software but without any of the fuss. However, it would be interesting to know whether the RAW format for this should be the unmerged files or the merged one… Assuming the file is merged, it will still leave us with 3 formats of RAW file, with one for each mode used.
For those who are not interested in post-production of their images, the use of the EXR sensor could well be the start of the new trend of compact cameras with the delivery of the RAW format forsaken. Could we be seeing a change in RAW format and the end of it in most compact cameras? This will largely depend on the success of Fujifilm’s EXR sensor.
I am a RAW shooter using Pentax DSLRs and a Ricoh GRD 2,rnMany members of my local camera club have bought the F200EXR and rave about it after seeing their files I bought one.rnMost reviews of the camera are very good but IMO a user has to do many test shots to understand what the camera is doing in the different modes. Once you get to grips with it the results are nothing short of fantastic. rnRAW who needs it when a camera produces a file with so much headroom. The JPEG can be adjusted as much as any RAW file from my GRD in fact in some respects more when shot in DR mode. This is a camera you need to use before making any judgements about and although it is a good snap shot P & S only those who have an understanding of exposure, and PP will get the most from it.
pbarnz From AUSTRALIA
01 Jul 2009, 9:01am
Thedy, if you have a closer look at the 'previous pixel array' diagram above you will see that it too has twice as many green pixels as red or blue ones. I read recently that all digital sensors work are arranged like this, and it is to do with the need to capture more green wavelength light to produce colours that our eyes and brain will perceive as accurate.
Thedy From NEW ZEALAND
27 Apr 2009, 11:44am
All almost clear. The only thing I didn't get (and it would be great if someone can explain) is that the EXR array pictured here (and on Fujifilm's web site) contains more green pixels than the other two colours. At the first sight The green ones appear to be twice the number of any of the other two colours, and this makes me wonder how this will influence the colour balance. Obviously, the quality of the pictures is not bad for a camera in this range, so I am wondering which is the explanation for the larger number of green pixels in the EXR pixel array.
Cheers
 "Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR")
