>>Hi, I'm Josh Goldman, Senior Editor for CNET Reviews and this is a look at Fugifilm's FinePix JZ500 and JZ300. The models, which are separated about $50, are for the most part the same featuring a 28 millimeter equivalent wide-angle lens, the 10x zoom and a 2.7-inch LCD in back. The size and shape are identical. Very nice and compact but the less expensive JZ300 does come in silver and black versions while the JZ500 is black only. What's different between them is that the JZ500 is 14 megapixels and the JZ300 is 12 megapixels and the JZ500 also has a couple more shooting options. Those options include a dog and cat face detection as well as an auto shutter release that works with the face detection and a face recognition for humans that lets you associate info like name, birthday and category such as friends or family with a person's face. Registered faces will then get focused in exposure priority when they're in shot. The cameras are designed for simple point and shoot use so those shooting features are pretty straight forward as are the control and menus. Both do capture 720p HD quality movies and have use of the zoom lens while recording. Shooting performance is actually better than expected for this class of camera. Not blazingly fast but still very good for a compact megazoom. Photo quality is pretty good too but even at this camera's lowest ISO settings photos just aren't very sharp so subjects a little soft and smeary and can benefit from some sharpening.
I'm Josh Goldman and that's a look at Fujifilm's FinePix JZ500 and JZ300.
