Overview
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.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
12
5x
2.7 inches
97.7 x 58.9 x 23.4mm
153g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
5cm
No
No
Lithium-ion Rechargeable
xD/SD
Image Quality - See Sample Images Below
Outdoor Scenic Shots in Good Light
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.
The wide angle lens packs plenty of the scene into the picture. In this case sharpness is roughly average. Colours are vivid.
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.
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.
Portraits
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.
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.
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.
Macro, Colours and Noise
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.
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.
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.
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.
Summary
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.
Style
A fairly typical pocket sized camera. The build quality feels below the best cameras out there.
Shutter Lag Times
Single Shot
Five Shots
Single Shot With Flash
Five Shots With Flash
0.3 seconds
19.56 seconds
0.35 seconds
19.9 seconds
Ease of Use
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.
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.
Product Shots
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
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Related Pages
Fuji Finepix F100fd Review Fuji Finepix F100fd Specification Fuji Finepix F100fd Sample Images Fuji Finepix F100fd Features
Review Date
June 2008
