dkozin's Full Review: FUJIFILM FinePix F40fd Digital Camera
Having used the previous F-series Super-CCD Fuji cameras (e.g. F20, F30, F31fd), I wished for several things from the new generations. Among other things, I wished that Fuji switched from xD memory cards that are Fuji/Olympus proprietary technology to SD memory cards that are used by most other manufacturers. This wish, along with some other ones was granted. The new Fuji F40fd is an improvement over the Fuji FinePix F31fd, which I tested last year.
What Is Fuji FinePix F40fd?
The Fuji FinePix F40fd is a 8.3-Megapixel 6th Generation SuperCCD compact stylish digital camera with a 3x optical zoom (36-108 mm equivalent, f/2.8-8 at wide angle, f/5.1-8 in 1/3 EV increments), a large 2.5-inch LCD screen, powered by a compact rechargeable Li-Ion battery.
The camera features ISO range of ISO 100-2000, 3-1/2,000 sec shutter speed. The camera features 10 MB of built-in memory. The camera stores pictures on xD-Picture memory cards as well as on SD memory cards and features fast USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection to PC and Mac computers. The face detection technology helps the camera focus on people’s faces.
Select Specifications
- 8.3-Megapixel 6th generation Super CCD-HR sensor
- Face detection technology
- Real Photo Technology with new RP Processor II
- Sensitivity (ISO): Auto and manual 100-2,000 (full resolution)
- 3x optical zoom (36-108 mm equivalent)
- Maximum Aperture: F/2.8 (wide) - F/5.1 (telephoto)
- Extra large 2.5-inch LCD monitor with 230,000 pixels, low-light gain-up, 100% coverage
- Focusing: center point AF, multi-point AF, continuous AF
- Color Modes: Standard, Chrome (vivid), B&W
- Shutter Speed: 3-1/2,000 sec
- Movie mode:640x480 at 30 fps or 320x240 at 30 fps
- Continuous Shooting Frame Rate: 1.3 frames per second up to 2 frames
- Dimensions: 3.8 (W) x 2.3 (H) x 0.9 (D) in.
Getting Started
The camera comes with a compact proprietary rechargeable Li-Ion battery. After I charged it, I was ready to see how the camera differs from the F31fd and the F20 (which is currently my pocket camera of choice). The F40fd (F40 further) has so many preset scene modes that you can find all modes you will ever need.
The front of the F40 is similar in appearance to other Fxx-line cameras, e.g. F20, F31fd. The camera is made from plastic and metal and looks stylish. It has a lens that is flush with the camera body when retracted and the metal lens lid (two halves) covers it. There is a rather large focus assist light on the front panel as well as the small flash window. The top deck has a power on/off button, a mode switch and a shutter release button with the zoom rocker in front of it.
The bottom of the camera has a tripod mount and the battery/memory card compartment lid. The rear houses a large 230,000-pixel 2.5-inch LCD screen, a mode wheel, a disc for menu control and other functions with a MENU/OK button in the middle as well as four other buttons: antishake button, playback/review, F and DISP/BACK. This set of buttons is an arrangement that will be familiar to users of the F20 or F31fd.
Usage
The camera starts up and shuts down fast and is very responsive in operation. The camera has a retractable lens that extends and has a lens cover that opens when the camera is powered on. When the camera is powered off, the lens retracts and the lens cover closes. Either happens in about one second.
The camera is sturdy and features good build quality. The controls are within easy reach. The menu system is not very simple to use, but I could use the camera and all of its features without reading the manual. I was helped, in no small part, by the fact that I used other Fuji cameras before.
The menus themselves are not difficult to use, but It also takes some time to get to the item you need. The camera is impressive in its low light capabilities, to explore which you will want to adjust the ISO. There is no dedicated ISO button, but the camera has the F button on the back camera panel. This button is used to adjust ISO (Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, ISO 2000 available in Anti-Blur or natural light mode), resolution (8M - 640x480) and color modes: Standard, Chrome (higher contrast and saturation) and B&W.
The camera is unique (in its size class, excluding its siblings of Fuji F-series) in a couple of areas. Firs of all, it lets you use sensitivity settings up to ISO 2,000 and produces printable photos doing so with noise at ISO 800 lower than the noise other compact cameras of the same resolution produce at ISO 400.
Also, unlike many compact cameras that use a two-step aperture control (Canon SD600, and SD700 IS come to mind), the F41fd uses a real adjustable aperture that goes down to f/8.0. Combined with shutter speed range of 3-1/2,000 sec, the wide aperture and ISO range provides a very wide range of usable exposures. In a non-geek speak, the camera will let you take sharp photos in low light with no flash or use telephoto handheld and get better results.
The camera can be used in full auto mode and scene modes as well. In auto mode, the camera can be used by anyone who can point and shoot. The preprogrammed scene modes give you more control.
The camera comes pre-set to Auto mode. You do not have to do anything other than point and shoot - the camera takes care of the rest. You press the shutter release button halfway to make camera focus and the camera shows you (on the LCD screen) where it focused by displaying green square brackets. Then you take the picture by pressing the shutter release button all the way.
If the scene has people, the camera will detect their faces and focus on them (rectangles appear over people’s faces). The face detection does just what it implies: it detects faces and focuses on them while showing you where it focused. The feature works well, but I am not sure I see much benefit in it, unless you are planning on shooting a lot of portraits or photos of people where other objects can be located closer to the camera than people.
The camera has no dedicated review mode on the mode selector, but you activate it using a button on the back of the camera. I like this idea. Not only can you switch the camera from shooting to review using this button, but you can also power the camera on in review mode by pushing and holding this button.
The camera switches from shooting to review and back very fast. To switch from review to shooting mode, you can quickly tap the shutter release button lightly.
You can also select Macro mode at a push of a button. You can also quickly change the flash mode, LCD brightness or engage timer at a push of a button as well (they are all clearly marked).
LCD and Viewfinder
The camera has no viewfinder, but it has a large 2.5-inch LCD monitor that "gains-up" in the darker environments and has adjustable brightness with one-push brightness increase when needed. It works well overall, even in darkness, but could have higher resolution. The coverage is about 100%. The resolution at 230,000 pixels is rather high (some of the previous models had much lower LCD resolution).
Performance
Since the F40fd finally takes SD cards (previous Fxx cameras used more expensive xD exclusively), I used my SD cards with it.
The F40fd is very fast in operation. Startup or shutdown take less than 2 seconds each. Focusing takes much less than a second in bright light and still under a second in dim light (with or without focus assist light engaged). The shutter lag, when pre-focused, is non-existent.
The camera can take pictures at intervals of about 1.5 seconds until the memory card is full in single-frame mode. It can take 2 photos at 1-1.5 frames per second in continuous mode. The flash recycle time is about 6-7 seconds.
The zooming is rather fast too. You can fully zoom in or out in about 2 seconds. In fact, in some situations the zooming is too fast and you can overshoot your desired zoom position slightly. It is just a matter of getting used to it though.
Overall, the camera is very fast, especially at startup, focusing and shutter lag. And the battery lasts long as well (see below).
Battery
The camera uses a proprietary Li-Ion battery pack. Having had good results with previous Fuji Fxx cameras regarding battery life, I was not surprised that I could take over 200 photos with no sign of battery depletion.
Flash
The F40fd unfortunately slightly underexposes pictures at medium to long ranges taken with flash. No big deal though, with the ISO range it provides you can take photos with no flash in most situations.
Connectivity
The camera features A/V connectivity (PAL/NTSC) as well as USB 2.0 High Speed. The camera uses xD-picture memory cards or SD cards and has 10 MB of built-in memory. At least you can use the camera’s built-in memory to see if the camera works, but do not expect to be able to fit much on its 10 MB.
Computer Connectivity
The camera uses USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection to transfer pictures to a computer. You can also remove the SD or xD memory card and use a memory card reader (if you have one). I used the memory card reader to avoid software installation, battery drain and to increase throughput. I do not use the software that was provided with the camera since I have Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Image Quality
The camera uses tried and true lens that is also used in the previous models. The lens features good zoom range, although I wish it had more of a wide angle coverage (e.g. 28mm). The lens overall is good, but produces some chromatic aberrations, mostly at wide angle.
The photos taken with this camera are sharp from corner to corner with only the very edges of the frame being slightly softer than the center. Since I mostly use 3:2 aspect ratio, the corners do not make it to the photo. And for printing , even “normal” 4:3-aspect photos have their corners cut off, making minor corner softness a non-issue.
What is of small concern is the above-mentioned chromatic aberration (purple fringing), which is visible, but not bothersome in most cases. I found that wearing a white T-shirt invites purple fringing around it in many cases, mostly at wide angle. Photoshop CS2 deals with this issue nicely using its lens correction filters. Obviously, I would prefer that the fringing was not there in the first place, but it is something most compact cameras suffer to some degree.
The F40fd produces well-exposed, sharp, contrasty photos. The standard mode features true-to-life colors, whereas the Chrome mode produces more saturation and contrast (e.g. for landscape pictures or macro photos in low light).
The camera produces good shadow detail and has a decent dynamic range, although I notices blown highlight in some of my photos. The white balance is generally on the warm side. The skin colors are slightly warm, but pleasing. The automatic white balance makes the incandescent lighting too warm (select incandescent white balance to make it cooler).
The image noise is virtually absent at ISO 100-200. It appears (slightly) at the ISO 400 in the shadows, gets more pronounced at ISO 800 and gets worse thereafter. The camera has ISO 100-200 that can be used at prints up to 13x19 and ISO 1600-2000 prints will be OK at 5x7 or 6x4. This is amazing, considering that most compact digital cameras produce so much noise at ISO 400, you can only print 5x7 at best. And some cameras do not even allow you to select ISO higher than 400.
The ISO 800 of the F40fd is better than most other advanced compact cameras at ISO 400. The ISO 800 is easily usable at 8x10 print size. If you are printing 6x4 pictures, the noise should not be visible at all, even at ISO 3200 and will only be slightly visible at ISO 800 with larger prints. Even wall-mountable 13x19-inch prints (or sharp 10x8) are feasible at ISO 400. Very impressive! Just make sure you use the lowest compression.
What it means for an average user? Sharp photos in low light with no flash, sharper photos while shooting moving objects and lack of noise in large prints.
Pros
Unique ISO range with low noise, 8MP resolution, low price per ISO, fast operation, large LCD, usable ISO 400-2000, long-lasting battery, real aperture, sharp optics, good build quality, face detection that works, finally SD card compatibility.
Cons
Slight flash underexposure, no superwide angle (something I prefer), no optical image stabilization (just anti-shake that raises ISO).
Bottom Line
I highly recommend Fuji FinePix F40fd if you want a compact, cool yet capable camera with 8.3-megapixel resolution, large 2.5 LCD screen, very fast operation and high sensitivity with low noise.
The F40fd features face detection technology that really works, can produce excellent photos with print sizes of up 13x19 inches and has usable ISO 400-2000 range. It is extremely fast, capable and has a long-lasting battery. And you no longer have to get xD memory cards; this camera can use SD.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 255 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
8.3-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 16 x 22-inch prints 3x optical zoom; 2.5-inch LCD display Face Detection Technology; up to ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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