Introduction and key features
Rugged cameras make good holiday and family cameras because they can handle anything you’re likely to throw at them.
The Fuji XP80 is waterproof (down to 15 metres), shockproof from a height of 1.75 metres, freeze proof down to -10 degrees celsius as well as dust and sand-proof. Often, these kind of credentials come at the expense of decent image quality, but the XP80 is equipped with a 16.4 million pixel 1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS sensor, which in theory should offer good quality pictures.
There’s also a 5x optical zoom, inbuilt Wi-Fi, a 2.7-inch LCD screen with anti-reflective coating and full HD video recording. A range of digital filters are available, including a brand new “Sketch” option, and there’s also an “Action Camera” mode, which means you can use it in the same way that you might use something like a Go Pro while taking part in action sports such as skiing.
Quite a few rugged cameras are available on the market right now, but sitting towards the more “family” end of the spectrum, the XP80 perhaps competes most closely with the Olympus Stylus Tough TG-850.
Build Quality and Handling
Fuji has gone for a curved look for the XP80, as it has with previous XP cameras. The lens itself is completely encased in a rounded shell which protrudes out from the top of the camera, while the corners of the camera are smoothed off.
There’s a small rubber grip on the front of the camera which helps you to get better purchase on it, but if you’re wearing thick gloves, you may struggle to feel it. On top of the camera is the shutter release button, which is textured and quite large – this helps you to better find it when using the camera underwater or with cold hands. Its large size also makes it fairly easy to use with gloves.
The other buttons on the back of the camera include a ‘telephoto’ and ‘wide’ button for zooming the lens in and out. Once again, these are quite large and are well spaced, making them easy to use with gloves or underwater. You’ll also find a standard four way navigational pad, but these buttons are smaller and slightly more fiddly, though it probably won’t matter too much if you’re concentrating on taking pictures rather than changing lots of settings.
Having said that, there’s not a huge amount you can actually change. The exposure modes available are Scene Recognition Auto, standard Auto, Program and a range of scene and filter modes. In Program, you can change sensitivity (ISO) and white balance, but not much else.
On the side of the camera you’ll find a door covering the memory card and battery. This door can only be opened by pushing in a button and twisting a lock – something which is pretty difficult to do by accident, giving you confidence when using the camera underwater.
Connecting the camera to your smart device is fairly straightforward. You can control the camera remotely, or you can send photos over to your device for quick sharing on social networks and so on. There is also a dedicated button for accessing Wi-Fi when in playback mode, which speeds things up even further.
Lab test: Resolution
We’ve carried out lab tests on the Fuji XP80 across its full ISO range for resolution. We’ve also picked out three of its chief rivals so that you can compare their performance directly.
The rivals we’ve chosen are:
Olympus TG-3: once a standard-setting for tough compact cameras, the TG-3 is still good but other cameras have overhauled it.
Ricoh WG-4 GPS: quirky looks but good image quality at low ISOs for a camera of this type. Actually, it’s a rebranded version of the Pentax WG-3.
We test camera resolution using an industry-standard ISO test chart that allows precise visual comparisons. For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them, check out our camera resolution test process.
Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting for both JPEG and raw files reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:
Analysis: The resolution figures are lower than you would see from high-end compacts, CSCs and DSLRs, but that’s because of the small sensor size in this type of camera. The design restrictions of underwater cameras can also have an effect on the lens performance. The drop-off in resolution even at medium ISO settings is also typical for sensors of this size.
The Ricoh WG-4 is clearly sharper than the Fuji XP80 and Olympus TG-3, which are pretty closely matched.
Given that these cameras are designed for casual and family use, though, it’s unlikely that these differences will be a crucial factor in deciding which one to buy.
Performance and verdict
The quality of images from the XP80 depends on the light you’re using the camera in. In bright, outdoors light, pictures are bright and punchy – which is good news considering this is probably where you’ll be using the camera most of the time.
It’s possible to see some image smoothing if you examine an image at 100% but, again, the likelihood of doing that for the majority of your pictures is fairly slim, and they’re certainly good enough to be displayed or printed at normal sizes, such as 5×7 inches, or on Facebook.
Click here for a full size version.
Click here for a full size version.
Shooting in low light is not the camera’s forte, though. As you move up through the sensitivity range, you’ll see a loss of detail and noise starting to creep in from around ISO 800, and images start to become less usable at ISO 3200 and above unless you’re sharing at very small sizes.
Moving on to better news, the camera’s metering system does a good job of producing accurate exposures – I hardly had to use exposure compensation at all, except in very high contrast situations. The camera’s automatic white balance system is not too bad, producing pretty accurate colours even under artificial lights.
Click here for a full size version.
Generally speaking, focus is acquired pretty quickly in autofocus mode – again, especially when shooting in bright light. Things slow down a little when you’re underwater, especially in murkier waters. Macro focusing allows you to get reasonably close to the subject for frame-filling shots, and there’s also an underwater macro mode which can be useful in helping the camera to focus in more difficult conditions. In practice I found this gave mixed results, though, sometimes focusing, and other times failing.
Images taken at the far end of the 5x optical zoom contain a good amount of detail, and while a 5x optical zoom isn’t much to write home about compared with some of the other compacts currently on the market, it covers enough bases to be useful. You can also activate a digital zoom, but I’d avoid that unless you’re absolutely desperate to get closer to the subject in question.
There’s a decent range of digital filters, with some being more appealing than others (depending on preference). It’s worth experimenting with them to see which ones you like, but my favourite is Toy Camera.
Click here for a full size version.
We liked
A fun and simple camera to use, the XP80 doesn’t offer the best image quality on the market for compact cameras, but it’s pretty decent for a rugged offering. It’s a camera you can (literally) sling in your bag and take on holiday with you. You don’t need to treat it with the respect you might a regular compact camera and it will still survive – always a bonus when beaches, kids and water are involved.
We disliked
One of the biggest limitations of this camera is its inability to make key changes to certain settings, such as shutter speed or aperture, making it less than appealing to more advanced photographers. It also doesn’t cope too well in low light.
Verdict
It is often the case that rugged compact cameras offer a trade off between high image quality and tough credentials and the XP80 pretty much follows that pattern.
While image quality is pretty decent in good light, if you examine pictures close up you’ll see a loss of detail, and if you try to use the camera in low light, you may be disappointed with the results.
However, that fact is pretty much made up for by the fact that you can treat it pretty roughly and it will survive. Being able to take it underwater makes it fun to use at the beach and during water sports, while its freeze proofing makes it appealing for lovers of snow sports.
It’s also a pretty easy camera to use, leaving you to concentrate on composition rather than changing a myriad of settings – good if you’re a beginner, but perhaps a little frustrating to enthusiasts who want to take a little more control over things.
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