The main attraction of the Fuji Finepix F20 is the technology incorporated in the camera to overcome lowlight conditions.
There are two main features that allow the camera to overcome lowlight. The first is that it has ISO settings up to ISO 2000. Higher ISO levels brighten darker photos. There is often a trade off though in that they introduce higher levels of noise into a photo. Noise is basically like static on a television screen and decreases the quality of the photo. In my view though, Fuji do manage to outperform other brands in this area.
The other feature used to give the Finepix F20 the edge in lowlight is a setting that allows you to reel off two quick photos. The first one is with flash and the second one is without it. You can then compare the two photos and decide which one produces the best result. You can then delete the unwanted photo.
In other areas the Finepix F20 is a standard digital camera. It has six megapixels and a three times zoom lens. In terms of style it is also quite standard. It is a typical shiny, silver rectangular box with rounded edges. That is not to say it is unattractive in any way and I like the build quality of the camera too.
When it comes to other features the camera resembles many other point and shoot cameras. You will find all the typical features such as a movie mode, flash, zoom and an assortment of scene modes.
It is a fairly compact camera and measures just over 26mm wide. You can get the camera to go into a pocket, but you might have a problem where the pocket is on the small size. Without batteries and memory card the Finepix F20 weighs in at 150g.
You will find in the box a lithium ion battery and also a charger. Fuji claim the Finepix F20 is able to take roughly 300 shots in between charges. This is certainly a respectable amount. You are likely to find the number of shots between charges varies depending on how you use the camera. Heavy use of flash, shooting movies and excessive replays of photos and movies can all have a detrimental affect and cause the battery to drain down faster.
In terms of ease of use I think you should be up and running soon enough with this camera. The menu system is quite straightforward. One issue I do have is the number of buttons squeezed onto the back of the camera can make it a bit fiddly to use. This is especially true for anyone with slightly larger hands.
One area where Fuji could have done a bit better is with the in camera storage. No memory card is supplied as standard and only 10mb of storage are built in. This is barely enough to give the camera a decent test run and you will need to buy a higher capacity card (compatible with xD picture cards) before you can really give the Finepix F20 a real run out.
