The Fuji Finepix F31fd is a good looking digital camera with a metal body. At 28mm wide it is not quite pocket sized, but it is still a compact camera. It weighs in at 155g. This is a six megapixel camera with a standard three times zoom lens.
There are two main features that mark out the Finepix F31fd as a little different to the competition.
The first is the technology built into the camera to handle lowlight photography. To start with there is a mode that allows you to take two photos more or less simultaneously. The first photo is with flash and the second one is without flash. You can then choose which photo you prefer. The Fuji range of digital cameras also tends to perform better than any other brand at high ISO settings. Whereas with other brands there is a clear reduction in picture quality at around ISO 400, Fuji digital cameras still produce good quality at this level. This can be a big help in lower light, especially if you are out of the range of the flash unit.
The second feature is the face detection software. This software is what gives the Finepix F31fd the fd part of its name. This built in software helps the camera to focus correctly when you are taking a portrait photo.
Another plus point comes with the performance of the battery. Fuji estimates you should be able to take an impressive 580 shots before the battery needs to be recharged. Although this depends on how you use the camera, you should still find yourself being able to take a high number of photos before the battery needs recharging. Both a battery and a rechargeable lithium ion battery are supplied as standard with the camera.
Images are stored on xD picture cards. There are 26mb of memory built into the camera. Although this is one of the higher amounts of built in memory you will still need to buy a high capacity memory card before you can really put the camera through its paces.
When it comes to ease of use you are likely to find the Finepix F31fd quite straightforward. When it comes to features this is a pretty standard point and shoot digital camera. Therefore you should be able to get to grips with the camera in a relatively short space of time. Although the camera is not overloaded with controls it does offer aperture priority and shutter priority modes. These give you the opportunity to set either the shutter speed or the aperture yourself. The camera will then set the remaining control to ensure the photo is exposed correctly.
To compose shots and access the menu system there is a 2.5" LCD screen. This size is fast becoming the standard size. As with most compact digital cameras there is no room for a viewfinder.
Instead of image stabilisation the Finepix F31fd has an anti blur mode. There is a subtle or perhaps not so subtle difference between these two modes. Genuine image stabilisation works by using tiny compensating movements either in the lens or in the processing unit. This leads to the highest possible picture quality. Anti blur works by increasing the ISO settings. Although as I have mentioned above Fuji do this better than most it can still lead to noise creeping into a photo with the resultant loss of picture quality.
