It is hard to get over the incredible range on a lens like this. And especially because some of the issues I remember from the HS10 are not present here. The HS10 had contrast issues at full zoom and sharpness was mediocre. That was also down to the smaller sensor and a mediocre JPEG engine (my opinion.)
So this camera, despite giving up RAW, is easily outperforming my memory of the HS10. It has excellent high ISO as I have proven time and again already.
But it’s the clarity at distance that stands out as Fuji’s greatest achievement with this camera.
After I left my son’s double header on Friday evening, I stopped across the parking lot to watch some kites fly. Here they are at 25mm … and yes, there are three. Strain for it :-)
HS25 200iso f/3.6 1/2200 -2/3ev
Now I zoom in to the full 687mm.
HS25 200iso f/5.6 1/1600 -2/3ev
There’s even a small amount of crop room here …
A telescope in your hands … so very cool …