I spent my first day with the HS20EXR and am generally very pleased with the functionality and performance. Make no mistake, this is not a DSLR, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This camera packs some capabilities and features that I would dream to have in one of my DSLRs. Although it's not a large camera, for those who've used the HS10, you'll already know that the build is solid and the handling is somewhat like a smaller DSLR. The menu system is fairly easy to navigate and more common functions, like exposure, focus, and flash modes are easily accessible via dedicated controls. One minor irritant while shooting is that the display freezes for a moment once focus is obtained. (see update 3/20/11) If shooting a moving object, this might mean the difference in getting or not getting the shot. Be prepared to spend an hour or so getting familiar with the controls and menus it may be intimidating for newbies, but most experienced photogs will pick it up quickly. I did quickly experience the temperature warning display that has been noted in some early reviews. Upon calling Fujifilm, they suspect it is a sensor calibration issue and will probably issue a firmware update for it soon. They are calling me back to check on it within a day. However, I didn't see any degradation in performance even with the warning lit.

The flexibility in shooting is remarkable, given the standard PSAM controls, plus some really interesting advanced features, there's very few shooting situations the camera will not handle. Those extras I found very appealing are the EXR High ISO/Low Noise (SN mode), the Pro Low Light modes. In SN priority mode, I was able to shoot at higher sensitivities up to ISO 1600 with very low noise and even ISO 3200 was very usable. I'm sure I'll get flack for this, but I have to admit some shooting modes outperformed my D300. That has more to do with the HS20's high ISO performance than general clarity or detail, which the DSLR accels. The Pro Low Light mode is another trick up the sleeve that combines 4 exposures taken in rapid succession into one very low noise image even in very dim light.

Not surprisingly, the HS20 autofocus did seek a little in low light, but not much more than my DSLRs in the same setting. The zoom lens was impressive for such a small package and both wide and full zoom shots were crisp. There are many more modes and options, but none of these bells and whistles would mean much if the end results didn't deliver. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised at the sharpness of the full sized 16MP images I really expected to see a lot of artifacts from noise reduction and other in camera processing. On the contrary, my "pixel peeping" revealed clean edges and very good fine detail. Pictures of my cat actually show individual fine hairs instead of the painterly effect of some compact cameras. It seems like Fuji took lessons from predecessors and managed to squeeze more image quality out of their tiny sensor than many of us expected.

One of the cool benefits of the CMOS sensor is speed. Once I figured out the continuous shooting modes, I was tickled at being able to fire off 8 fps in full resolution. I also played with the 11 fps mode which works with at 8MP and felt like I was shooting an old movie camera instead of a point and shoot digital. One issue of concern to me was the processing speed or write speed of the files to the card. This was a common complaint for the HS10. What I found was that the write speed is improved, but don't expect DSLR performance. A JPEG Fine image would write to card in under 2 seconds to my SanDisk Extreme, and a RAW in under 4 seconds. Now before you say "WHAT?", let me explain that that is the write time itself, HOWEVER, due to the internal cache, the camera is ready for the next shot in less time than the write time. I found that generally it was ready almost instantly shooting JPEG and with RAW, there might be a second delay for an individual image. In burst mode, the camera was able to cache all images in the burst without pausing, although after capturing the images, the write time again took 4 6 seconds. So not a perfect solution, but an improvement over the woes of the HS10.

The video was very easy to use and looks pretty much as clear as the still images, although that is of course partly an illusion. One area that is still an irritant is the electronic viewfinder. It is still pretty low resolution and is difficult see small details in your scene. Given a bright outdoor scene, it does allow composition without fighting the glare on the LCD, but it seems like they could have could have packed a little more resolution in there to make it more useable. That problem is offset somewhat by the articulating LCD screen. It allows you to view from odd angles and with a little extra manipulation you can usually get a clear image even outdoors.

Another nit is the inclusion of alkaline batteries with the kit. Not only do alkalines not last very long with this camera, they actually heat up during use probably contributing to some of the temperature woes. I quickly replaced them with NiMH Eneloops and surprisingly, the camera's operation actually sped up noticably. If you buy this camera, invest in some good rechargeable NiMH batteries you'll be much happier.

The software accompanying the camera is unimpressive, but functional. It comes with picture management software Finepix Studio and a RAW file converter which allows you to adjust and save TIF or JPEG images. Unfortunely, Adobe Camera Raw doesn't recognize the HS20's RAW format yet, but I hope that's just a temporary nuisance. It's only been a day, but I can safely say that I like this camera and give it a starting rating of four stars. I'll post sample images soon and as I exercise more features and get answers to some of my outstanding questions, I'll update my rating accordingly.

Pros: Shooting speed, low light performance, image quality, flexible shooting controls, massive sharp zoom range
Cons: Potential temperature problem, slow autofocus during video, low quality EVF, lack of Adobe RAW support

3/25/11: Editorial note, the review shows a date of January 15th for some reason. This was the purchase date, not the date of the review, which was March 24th.
3/27/11: RAW write speed seems to vary depending on the scene and mode. Sometimes shot to shot delay is up to 4 seconds, but other times less.
3/28/11: Fujifilm stated they are waiting on word from Tokyo on whether the temp warning is a common problem or an anomaly. I hope to hear back soon. Otherwise, I've gotten more shooting time in and have to admit I'm quite impressed with the imaging capabilities of this little camera. I could see five stars in the future if the temp issue is resolved satisfactorily.
3/30/11: Good news. I was relieved to discover a solution to my previous concern with delay during autofocusing. It appears that this only occurs if AF is in "Multi" mode. In Center, Tracking, or Area modes, there is no delay and I can adjust for movement of my subject just fine.