F50

Out of the water I did a direct comparison to the F10. I took the same shot with each camera. I had read reports on why it wouldn't be a improvement of any significance, 12mp would have twice the resolution but on the same sized chip it would loose quality. Admittedly lenses would have to be very good, but just because something is smaller may not mean it's not what it says it is. It has (almost) twice the pixels of the F10, so in each direction it has roughly 40% more pixels. With this in mind the F50's results were a definite improvement on resolution and general picture quality over the F10. My first thoughts were that it didn't look any better, but after playing with the camera it is a big improvement. It can shoot as high as ISO6400, I would never shoot that high as it would be very grainy, the 6400 setting only works at 6mp not 12mp. This is where current limitations in technology affects it. As I have never shot in anything higher than ISO800, I am not bothered. The rear screen is large and clear, it has a clear indication on the screen as to which mode you are selecting, and there are plenty of modes. More things to get used to, I don't think face recognition will be a priority underwater for me, camera shake, may be Ikelite already make a housing for it, mine has just turned up. The buttons are not quite in the right place to turn the camera on, I have to press a button on the back to move the camera forward to turn it on!! At the time of writing this is has yet to be underwater. In 2 weeks time it will be in Thailand and will get some use, for now though, I am getting used to shooting in non auto mode. Gotta get used to Aperture and Shutter priority!! Above the water the F50 is miles better than the F10, below the water it's as though the F50 struggles to focus, yet some pictures seem to be in focus and look quite good. The F50 doesn't seem to have the same macro ability as the F10, although I must add that I didn't spend too much time in macro to get so used to it. The wide angle stuff was indifferent as well, although I was shooting with a low ISO (100) the image still seems grainy as if it were on 400 or above. In macro mode out of the water it underperforms the F10 by miles, very disappointing.

Value

For value it is excellent although better value would be to have bought an F30.

Performance

Out of the water it is excellent with excellent results in high contrast conditions. The lower the contrast, like underwatee, the more disappointing it becomes.

Verdict

If you want a good topside camera, you won't be disappointed. If you want to take it underwater, pick up an F30/31/10/11 and get much better results.

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