Chris Coleman takes the rather anonymous yet very capable Fujifilm Finepix F100fd for a spin. Does its large sensor result in high-quality images?
Review summary of the FujiFilm FinePix F100fd:
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 The Fujifilm Finepix F100fd packs a lot of features new to the compact market, and it's one of few point-and-shoots available that can shoot at 12-megapixels. More importantly, Fujifilm has given the camera an oversized sensor capable of images that rival low-end DSLRs. More manual controls and a sleeker exterior would have made the Fujifilm F100fd a perfect compact camera, but even as it stands, it's a great choice for anyone looking for superb image quality and top of the line features. Release: April 2008. Price: $380.
Pros: Outstanding image quality. Dynamic-range optimization. Sensor-shift stabilization.
Cons: No control over shutter or f-stop.
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Full FujiFilm FinePix F100fd Review:
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Design - Good
The Fujifilm Finepix F100fd is a slick camera, with subtle contours in all the right places and a nice, glossy sheen. Our only complaint would be over the wasted space on its back, which causes the 2.7" LCD viewfinder to seem unduly small compared to the physical size of the camera. Otherwise the Fujifilm F100fd is a well-proportioned compact with a solid, durable-feeling exterior.
The shutter release and power button are on top, and we were glad to see that Fujfilm opted for a twist-zoom placed around the shutter. On back are four shortcut buttons and a four-way controller, which cleverly doubles as a dial-wheel. Fujifilm has made the F100fd's exterior clean and serviceable, which is always preferable to busy and cluttered.
Features - Very good
The Fujifilm F100fd is packed with features, one of which is brand new to the market. Standards are all accounted for, from in-camera red-eye reduction to face detection to macro focus. The camera also has sensor-shift image-stabilization, a wide-angle 5x zoom lens, and a capable shutter-speed range from 8 – 1/1500 seconds.
One spit-take worthy feature of the Fujifilm Finepix F100fd is its inclusion of ISO-12800, a sky-high sensitivity previously only possible in prosumer cameras by underexposing and going through an elaborate RAW development. Before we could get too excited, we discovered that both ISO-6400 and 12800 are only available for 3-megapixel photos, which implies to us that it isn't a ‘true' ISO-12800, but a stopped-down ISO-3200 with software exposure-correction. Nonetheless, it's an interesting feature to have and could prove useful for low-light, hand-held situations. Still, ISOs have been steadily creeping up over the last few years, but we'll truly be impressed when ISO-25 enters the digital market. We're not holding our breath.
We've also been seeing progress in dynamic-range optimization for compacts, and the Fujifilm F100fd offers one of the most robust solutions we've tested. Optimization can be toggled between off, auto, 200%, and 400%, though the 200% setting requires an ISO of 200 and the 400% requires 400 or higher. As with amplified ISOs, dynamic-range boosting can be accomplished in RAW development, but it's nice to see the benefits of RAW being automated and trickled down to the consumer market.
Continuous shooting is particularly impressive on the Fujifilm F100fd. There are 3-shot and 12-shot burst modes, each of which can either retain the final images in the series or have the user select which to keep, and there's a slower continuous mode that retains all of the images in the batch. Finally, the F100fd does support xD media, but thankfully it also has full support for SD cards.
Interface - Very good
Fujifilm has included a wealth of scene modes, and to make selection easier they've also included a dial controller that allows users to quickly scroll through them. We also liked the one-touch shortcut to access shooting parameters, and we particularly liked the camera's expansive selection of ISO modes, which allow manual selections, full automation, and semi-automation in which the user specifies the highest possible ISO.
Image quality - Excellent
Fujifilm has added a 1/1.6" sensor to the Finepix F100fd, beating other 12-megapixel compact cameras' 1/1.7" sensors in size. We've also tested quite a few 10-megapixel compacts this spring, which compared to the 12-megapixel Fujifilm Finepix F100fd, offered smaller 1/2.3" sensors; perhaps too small in some cases.
The Fujifilm F100fd's 1/1.6" sensor offers a ~30% gain in sensor area over the standard 1/2.3". And no surprise, it simply trounces the image quality of point-and-shoots with smaller sensors. In fact, the Fujifilm Finepix F100fd is the best performing compact we've tested this year. Its ISO-400 mode is functionally similar to the ISO-50 sensitivities on other cameras we've seen, and noise isn't a problem until ISO-1600. Even then, noise is tightly grouped and dispersed throughout the picture, and white-balance distortion doesn't occur until ISO-3200. Simply put, this is far superior to the noise performance of most other compacts.
Scene test
This scene test is excellent. Colors are rich but accurate, edges are clean and distinct, and detail levels are maintained throughout the image. The Fujifilm F100fd automatically selected ISO-200, which implies that it employed a dynamic-range boost of 200%. That may account for the even distribution of contrast and the avoidance of crushed levels. Regardless, we've seen DSLRs that could not perform this well.
Edge test
Ditto for this edge test. Absolutely no fringing or haloing is present, the brick pattern along the building is immaculately rendered, and hardly a speck of noise is visible in the entire photo. Were we to see this image without knowing where it came from, there's no way we would assume it was taken by a point-and-shoot camera, especially considering how nicely contrasted it is and how deep the reds are. Another absolute win.
Macro test
The macro features maintains focus down to within a few centimeters, and here it did a good job of this ultra close-up photo of a wall. Some focus inconsistency is visible in the corners and along the bottom (keep in mind that a majority of the blur is due to the camera being sloped, such that the wall was angled towards the lens and gradually fell out of focus), though again the Fujifilm Finepix F100fd did a phenomenal job at rendering full, accurate colors.
Dynamic range test [off]
Dynamic range test [400%]
The dynamic-range booster performed decently in this stress test. The first is at ISO-100 with no boost, and the second is at ISO-400 with a 400% boost (as a reminder, the differing ISO settings were required by the dynamic-range processor). A noticeable amount of detail has been extracted from the darker areas near the bottom, particularly in the trees, though the sky has likewise been brightened, when we would have preferred to see it darkened to a rich blue. All in all it's a good result, though not quite competitive with Nikon's D-Lighting.
ISO-12800 test
Finally we get to the Fujifilm F100fd's ISO-12800 setting with this very low-light, hand-held photograph of a portrait in a restaurant. On one hand, the image is bright and free of camera shake at 1/34-second shutter. On the other hand, this is essentially webcam quality. Still, it's an interesting feature to have, and it might possibly be useful for documenting a low-light scene where flash isn't feasible.
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