Fujifilm XP80 review

Our test shots from the XP80 weren’t as bad as the XP30 fared but focus was pretty ropey towards the edges of frames, particularly for shots taken in the middle of the zoom range. Even when focus was sharp, subtle details tended to look smudged as a result of noise-reduction processing. Low light shooting inevitably made things worse but photos taken indoors during the day were the right side of passable. The 16-megapixel rating is a misnomer – photos looked OK when resized to fit a computer screen but they didn’t stand up to close scrutiny.

^ Fine details look smudged here and focus deteriorates significantly towards the right edge of the frame. (1/220s, f/8, ISO 100, 91mm equivalent)

^ We like the colours in this shot but the dense foliage textures look coarse on close inspection. (1/550s, f/7.1, ISO 100, 35mm equivalent)

^ Shaded skin textures look noisy at ISO 200, and the right edge of the frame is blurred once again. (1/125s, f/4.9, ISO 200, 91mm equivalent)

^ These skin and hair textures have fared better. (1/350s, f/3.9, ISO 100, 28mm equivalent)

^ Image quality holds together surprisingly well at ISO 400. (1/60s, f/4.6, ISO 400, 60mm equivalent)

^ By ISO 800 there’s a lot of noise, especially in shadows. (1/30s, f/4.9, ISO 800, 82mm equivalent)

Conclusion

The XP80’s image quality is beaten by most modern smartphones, but the 5x zoom and waterproof, rugged design let it take pictures that a phone would be unable to capture. Still, we think it’s worth saving up for a more capable rugged camera such as the Ricoh WG-5 GPS. If neither of these suit your needs then check out our Best cameras and buying guide.