F70EXR – Does P Mode Bin?

Big Tom asked me to test whether P mode bins as I have claimed because there is a flickr group where the question was asked and user Kelly_Squared, who is presumably a Fuji representative, answered no.

The exact quote:

2. No , reducing the file size to 6MP outside the EXR mode does not incorporate any pixel binning.

So … Tom would like it tested because there are a lot of people who use this setting as the result of my assertions (and those form others of course.)

The test is pretty simple … low light, 1600 ISO, four shots, crops of several areas to gauge detail and noise … and especially chroma noise.

The four shots will be:

1. P mode large size resuced to medium size in CS4
2. P mode medium size DR400
3. EXR SN mode
4. EXR DR mode DR400

I’ll save you the agony …. I am right. There are three differences between shot one and the other three shots, which look surprisingly similar.

Fine details are smeared, likely from selective NR that kicks in hard in 10mp mode.

Noise pattern is very fine and annoying on shot 1, the others have grain that looks more film like.

At least twice the amount of chroma noise on shot 1, even after reduction. Very objectionable levels. The key here is that shot 2 is *clearly* not just a reduced shot 1. It is binned as are shots 3 and 4. This is blindingly obvious from these crops.

And … without further ado … here are said crops. Click on them to see them full-sized.