Fujifilm Z10 refresh, FinePix Z20fd, announced

[David Rasnake]

Hyphenated, hyperbolic marketing copy abounds with the release of Fujifilm's Z10fd update, the FinePix Z20fd: it's "style-savvy" and "ultra-glam." Basically a light retouching of the Z10 concept, the 10 megapixel Z20fd gets an upgrade in resolution but offers many of the same basic physical specs as its predecessor – including the signature Fuji Z styling in outlandish colors.

Appearing with a very familiar 3x optical zoom and 2.5-inch screen, the Z20fd seems to be soft feature upgrades only from this point forward. Fuji's i-Flash intelligent flash system helps control the blasted look of many flash photos, and Dual Shot Mode takes both flash and non-flash shots in rapid succession, letting users take their pick of the pics.

As with the Z10fd, much of the Z20fd's marketing copy emphasizes its IrSimple file transfer technology, which allows images to be beamed between many Fuji digital cameras, as well as the auto file-sizing Blog Mode. The Z20fd adds Dual Blog Mode functionality, optimizing both still images and videos for posting on the web.

With a retail price of $199 and a street price probably much lower (if the Z10fd's pricing differential is any guide), the Z20fd may still not be the best image capture tool out there, but it has the potential to continue to be a whole lot of fun for the money. Look for the new model in stores in March.

Fujifilm FinePix Z20fd specifications:

Sensor	10.0 megapixel, 1/2.3" CCD
Zoom	3x (35-106mm) Fujinon zoom, f/3.7-4.2
LCD/Viewfinder	2.5", 150K-pixel TFT LCD
Sensitivity	ISO 64-1600
Shutter Speed	3-1/1000 seconds
Shooting Modes	Auto, Manual, Picture Stabilization, Movie
Scene Presets	Natural Light, Natural Light with Flash, Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Fireworks, Auction, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Museum, Party, Flower, Text, Stamp
White Balance Settings	Auto, Fine, Shade, Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, Fluorescent 3, Incandescent
Metering Modes	Multi
Focus Modes	Center AF, Multi AF, Macro
Drive Modes	Normal, Top 3 Continuous, Final 3 Continuous, Continuous
Flash Modes	Auto, Forced On, Slow Synchro, Forced Off, Red-Eye Reduction, Slow Syncrho with Red-Eye Reduction
Self Timer Settings	10 seconds, 2 seconds, Off
Memory Formats	xD-Picture Card, SD, SDHC
Internal Memory	45 MB
File Formats	JPEG, MPEG
Max. Image Size	3648x2736
Max. Video Size	640x480, 30 fps
Zoom During Video	No
Battery	Rechargeable lithium-ion
Connections	USB 2.0, AV output, DC input, IrSimple
Additional Features	Face Detection, High Speed Shooting, Blog Mode, i-Flash