The HS50EXR felt good in our hands but is expensive.

Last Sunday I visited SM lower groound floor with my older brother and we were happy to find fresh camera models from Fujifilm. The HS50EXR was there, even the X-Pro 1 and other rangefinder looking professional cameras. The HS30EXR was not available however.

The salesclerk allowed us to handle the display camera which is the most important advantage of a physical camera store. We were impressed by the superfast focusing, the capability of storing in RAW format, the side tilt swing screen, the electronic level gauge (not essential), and the overall build and ergonomics of the camera. It felt lighter than my HS25EXR as the new superzoom uses lithium batteries.

The price of the HS50EXR was P27,000.00 in installments. However when I mentioned that Kimstore is selling the camera at around P20,000.00 the salesclerk said he can offer the camera at a discount of P24,500 if bought in cash.
Note that the price of the Canon SX50 HS superzoom which has a 50x zoom lens is currently P25,000.00 at Canon dealers. Contrast this with the foreign prices of the superzooms from Canon and Fujifilm.

I have decided to wait for Xmas for the prices to go down. Until a real camera store will sell the HS50EXR camera below P20,000 something, it will remain a dream camera for me.

Further reading:

1. A non-biased review: digitalvesus.com
2. a review pitting the hs50exr vs canon sx50hs camera declares the canon model the winner! but read the article first and better yet try out the cameras!
   
   snapsort.com comparison: hs50exr vs SX50HS camera
   
   techradar.com
   
   
3. Thread discussions: Forum on hs50exr vs sx50hs
   
   
4. Official Fujifilm.com.ph product page: fujifilm.com.ph product page
   
   
   

I bought my HS50EXR camera for less than 18,000 pesos last December(?) (2013) at Camerahaus at the basement of SM North(near the food court. BAD NEWS: It is not available anymore at that branch when I last checked December 6, 2014.