New Test: Fujifilm S200EXR, the last expert bridge camera?

Product Unavailable Our suggested alternatives: Editor's Choice Panasonic Lumix FZ150 Style and Substance Sony Cyber-shot HX100V Monster Zoom Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

With its manual zoom and a whole series of shortcuts, it's very clearly aimed at a demanding public who want to enjoy a 14x zoom without having to use several lenses or pay extra for a 14-250 mm superzoom: in short, people who don't want or need an SLR.

In reality, a lot of other brands have left this sector of the market behind.  To name but a few, the Canon Pro1, the Nikon 8800, the Samsung Pro815, the Sony F828 or the most recent, the Panasonic FZ50, have not been followed up.  That leaves the S200EXR as the last member of a very endangered species, hoping that its sensor, with unrivalled sensitivity amongst either compact or bridge cameras will do the trick.

To keep costs down compared to ever more aggressively priced SLRs--the Canon EOS 1000D, Nikon D3000 and Olympus E-520 all cost under £500--the S200EXR has done without a rotating screen.  We loved that feature on its predecessor, but will this newcomer be able to live up to that reputation?

This new test has also given us a chance to update our selection of bridge cameras, and we've moved some older cameras to a separate archive.

> Test: Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR

> Product Survey: Bridge Cameras

> Buyer's Guides: Our Pick of The Best Products