The Fuji Finepix F100Fd is a 12 megapixel pocket, digital camera with a 5x optical zoom lens. The lens has a focal length equivalent to 28 - 140mm on a 35mm camera making it a wide angle lens. This is especially suitable for landscape photography and photographing groups of people.
Why Buy the Fuji Finepix F100FD?
In addition to the wide angle lens, the Finepix F100Fd has a few extra features you do not always find on a point and shoot camera. These include image stabilisation, automatic red eye removal and a larger 2.7 inch LCD screen.
Image Quality Fuji Finepix F100FD test shots
Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
The Finepix F100FD does a better job of handling any glare from the sun than many cameras I have tested recently. This means there is minimal loss of detail on the boats and the colours also remain true. Focusing in the centre of the shot is not as sharp as the very best pocket cameras manage.
Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
The wide angle lens packs plenty of the scene into the picture. In this case sharpness is roughly average. Colours are vivid.
Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
As in the first shot is not in the same league as the very best cameras, although this should not be a problem with smaller prints. The colours are not so strong in this picture. There is also evidence of purple fringing appearing where the sun catches light objects.
Outdoor 4 (Building)
Sharpness falls away towards the edges and overall I rate the Finepix F100FD somewhere between 7 and 8 out of 10 when it comes to sharpness.
Outdoor Portrait
As much as I like pink skin tones they look somewhat overcooked to me. The lower half of the face has an unnatural amount of pink to it. That is a shame because the rest of the picture looks good.
Indoor Portrait with Flash
My two indoor portraits are better. The flash light is quite strong, but not strong enough to wash out too much colour. Focusing is sharp too.
Indoor Portrait without Flash
The Finepix F100FD works well with the available light. This is probably my favourite of the portrait tests. It is worth keeping in mind that the lighting conditions I use are quite generous and in the majority of indoor situations you are likely to have to use flash.
Colours
I found that the colours produced by this Fuji digital camera could be a bit inconsistent. In some cases such as the outdoor portrait one colour will dominate more than others.
Macro
The macro shot is sharp enough, but doesn't fall into the top category. There is also a colour caste to the shot where the camera has not managed to deal with the artificial lighting. This should not be a problem for outdoor nature type shots, but could be an issue if you are planning to use the camera in a home studio.
ISO 400 and ISO 1600
Fuji digital cameras
have a good reputation for taking photos at higher ISOs. At ISO 400 the picture is as good as any other compact digital camera is likely to produce. Once you go higher though picture quality breaks down rapidly. There is a setting for ISO 12800, but picture quality is poor long before you get there.
It has been documented elsewhere that the Finepix F100FD can have a pink band appear down one side of photos at higher ISOs. Although I did not see this in my test shots I have seen examples of it. Fuji now provides a fix that can be downloaded free of charge from their website and applied to the Finepix F100FD.
Dynamic Range
Fuji has introduced a new feature with the Finepix F100FD. The feature allows you to adjust the dynamic range. The advantage of this is that it helps to bring out extra detail in some of the darker areas of a photo where there is a high level of contrast in the shot. In my special test for this it was noticeable that some additional colour was added to the darker areas. The downside was that this was at the expense of some of the clarity of the photo.
Overall
This Fuji digital camera made a decent effort with my test shots. When it comes to overall picture quality I would place this camera in the second quartile rather than at the top of the league.
Shutter Lag
Shutter lag times with and without flash were almost identical. The time taken for a single picture is good, but after that the camera tends to slow down. My times were: without flash 0.3 seconds for a single photo and 19.56 seconds for five: with flash 0.35 seconds for one photo and 19.90 seconds for five photos.
You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.
Style: A fairly typical pocket sized camera. The build quality feels below the best cameras out there.
Dimensions: 97.7 x 58.9 x 23.4mm
Weight: 153g
Batteries: Lithium Ion (NP-50). Fuji supplies both a battery and charger with the Finepix F100FD.
Memory cards: 25mb of storage have been built into the camera. This is enough space for roughly 17 photos. The Finepix F100FD is also compatible with both SD and xD cards.
Click here to save money on SD cards.
Ease of use rating: Average. I found this camera a bit less obvious than a lot of cameras are. There are one or two places you need to look to find an option and the menu system is a bit fiddly as well.
Points I like:
Good at ISO 400
Where it could improve:
Picture quality could be 10 percent better.
Alternatives
If you are looking for a digital camera with that bit extra picture quality try taking a look at the Canon IXUS 85 IS.
Verdict:
Not every digital camera can be classed as outstanding. The Fuji Finepix F100FD does a decent job without quite hitting the standard achieved by some of the other digital cameras I have tested recently.
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
| Fuji Finepix F100FD Summary |
| Description: | 12 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens |
| Ease of Use: | 8 |
| Features: | 8 |
| Colour: | 7 |
| Macro: | 7 |
| Indoors: | 8 |
| Value for Money: | 7 |
| Style: | 8 |
| Movie Mode: | 8 |
| Image Quality: | 7 |
| Build Quality: | 7 |
| Total: | 75 |
| Verdict: | This is a decent digital camera without measuring up to the very best on the market. It will fit into a pocket and it takes a good photo in most situations. |
| Review Date: | June 2008 |
| Click for: | Specification Sample Images Features |
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