My photographic equipment

Fujifilm MX-1200

This page is about the newest member in my camera collection: the Fujifilm MX-1200 digital camera.

The Fujifilm MX-1200 digital camera was the first one to drop below my own buying threshould while having a certain minimum of features I wanted to have. Here are some numbers and facts about the camera according to the manufacturers information:

1.3 million pixels (1280x960)
2x digital zoom with autofocus
macro mode for close-ups
built in flash with red-eye reduction
uses up to 32MB SmartMedia cards
5.8mm Fujinon objectiv (corresponds to 38mm)
automatic white balance
manual override

Well manufacturers are known to exagerate a bit when it comes to their own products so before actually buying the camera I read some comments on the web (mainly at http://www.doyoo.de) but then I decided to give it a try. There were actually two Kodak digital cameras in the race too, but they didn't make it to the final line... Now - 2000-06-03 - it's exactly one week that I bought it and during this week I took about 350 pictures with my new camera. Using my convential cameras this would correspond to 10 films with 36 exposures each and calculating the costs it's about 1/3 of the money I spent on my MX-1200. Here follows an overview over advantages and drawbacks.

Physical facts

Let's have a look at the facts beyond the advertisement:

dimensions	11cm x 8cm x 4cm
mass	320g with batteries 200g without batteries
lens	5.8mm Fujinon fix-focus with F4.5 macro option included
CCD chip	1280x960 pixels, approx. 140ASA
viewfinder	optical 4cm color LCD
batteries	4x AA size 1.5V
AC adapter	stabilized 5V 1A (any will work!)
power consumption	5V 4W (manufacturer) 5V 0.3W w/o LCD (measured) 5V 3W with LCD (measured)
data connection	serial RS-232 with passive adapter cable included
memory	3.3V SmartCard up to 32MB (2MB card included)
file format	24bit compressed JPEG - 640x480 pixel, 170kB/90kB/45kB -1280x960 pixel, 670kB/330kB/160kB

Image quality

How to measure image quality? - Well one way is of course to pick a test object and play with all the possible features. Then one can compare the result and draw ones conclusions. I'll start with the test object:

The castle of Edsberg in Sollentuna/Sweden. My test object for the different modes of the Fujifilm MX-1200. (click on the image to view it in full size)

1280x960 pixels normal sharpness

basic quality filesize: 155kByte JPEG quality: 46% JPEG compression 1:27.7	normal quality filesize: 330kByte JPEG quality: 86% JPEG compression 1:11.7	fine quality filesize: 675kByte JPEG quality: 97% JPEG compression 1:5.4

1280x960 pixels fine quality

hard sharpness filesize: 705kByte JPEG quality: 96% JPEG compression 1:5.1	normal sharpness filesize: 675kByte JPEG quality: 97% JPEG compression 1:5.3	soft sharpness filesize: 612kByte JPEG quality: 97% JPEG compression 1:6.1

640x480 pixels normal sharpness

basic quality filesize: 46kByte JPEG quality: 41% JPEG compression 1:25.6	normal quality filesize: 88kByte JPEG quality: 81% JPEG compression 1:11.5	fine quality filesize: 167kByte JPEG quality: 95% JPEG compression 1:5.7

normal scene light

EV correction -0.6	EV correction 0	EV correction +0.6 (you can see a clear lens shading "vignette" in the corners)

bright background

EV correction -0.6	EV correction 0	EV correction +0.6

Responsible for these pages: U. Zimmermann