Fujifilm tosses in a boatload of this-year's-buzz technologies into its new FinePix HS10. The upside of this is that it includes a 10-megapixel backside-illuminated (BSI) sensor, which promises an improvement in low-light photographs; manual zoom ring on the lens; a 7-frame, full-resolution 10fps burst mode; 3-inch tilting LCD (albeit at the common but low resolution of 230,000 pixels); and 1080p HD movie capture with stereo sound. It also has a full set of manual and semimanual exposure modes, and supports simultaneous raw+JPEG capture. On the downside, Fujifilm's first out of the gate to announce a 30x zoom lens, 24-720mm with an aperture f2.8-5.6. This is great news for stalkers, specsmanshippers, and (possibly more optimistically) amateur astronomers.
As is becoming common with BSI cameras, the HS10 adds a host of special multishot modes made possible by the sensor's speed. These include Motion Panorama (automatically capturing and stitching a panorama as you pan the camera), Motion Remover (5 frames combined for best action freeze), Multi-Motion Capture (5 frames combined for sequential motion), Pro Low Light (multiple frames combined for best low-noise exposure), Best Frame Capture (7 shot prerecord) and Multi-Frame image stabilization (combines multiple exposures for result with least shake). However, keep in mind that modes like these generally have a bit of postprocessing overhead; they capture quickly, but can take a long time to process and save to the card.
The HS10 will be available for your long-lens fix in April for $499.95.