FUJIFILM FinePix F200EXR Digital Camera

I was a, owner of a Fuji F31fd - this was a classic camera. It just took great pics, day or dark. Fuji took a risk with this camera by not following the megapixel marketing method; Namely, they gave us a 6 megapixel camera, when everyone else was putting out 8 and 10 megapixel. Why would they do that?, you ask. Well, Fuji decided a more detailed picture was better than a larger picture! And dang right they were. It's low noise at high iso, the detail, the speed, and the absolutely INCREDIBLE battery life of this camera put it head and shoulders above anything else in the small camera market. It still is a really good camera.
Now Fuji has given us the next evolution in this philosophy - the F200 EXR. It is very, very similar to the F31, but a lot more smarter. Essentailly it is a 12 megapixel camera, but retains the same kind of detail, and the high iso usability as the F31 - which is an awesome thing! Honestly, when you pull out that camera do you worry about low light? I NEVER did with the F31! Anyway, 12 megapixels, great...you can't even see it all on the screen at once, unless your monitor has a 4000 by 3000 resolution (only Bill Gates has one of those!).
The F200 has an EXR mode. What this does is take two 6 megapixel pictures, and combine them. You can choose how it does this. Firstly, the overlay can produce more detail (and yes, it looks a lot more detailed than the 12 megapixel picture), you can use the overlay as a noise reduction method for high iso/noise photos, or, you can use it to make an HDR photo. It takes a pic at -1 and another at +1 (you can adjust this more and less in the settings to the taste you like) and combines them. You no longer get blown out skies or lost details in shadows. Very handy. It also has an auto-EXR mode, where the camera will determine the scene for you, based on contrast and focal point and light etc. I use the camera almost exclusively in EXR mode, and have absolutely no need for anything larger than 6 megapixels (which all the EXR photos amount to). You can also change the feel and saturation of the photos to emulate Velvia and Astia film types. They add a nice touch in a lot of situations.
The other reviewer complained about the durability of the F200: My metal cased F31 was dropped multiple times, never kept in a case; it has dents and scratches all over it, and it still works flawlessly. The metal cased F200 is on par with, and I would honestly say, hardier than the F31. The flimsy plastic latches of the F31 are now made in metal for the F200. I have no doubts I will be using and abusing and enjoying this camera for a long time to come.
I got my camera brand new, with spare battery, small tripod, lcd protector, cleaning kit and microfibre cleaning cloth for $330 at online auction. I also bought an 8 gig Sandisk extreme 3 SDHC card to go with it for about $28 (fast card!) It holds 1600 pics at 12 megapixels each! If you can, get the extreme 3, and even better, if you can find it, the extreme 4 - they are very fast read/write SD cards.