The Z100fd is slim, smoothly designed, and packs all sorts of features for point-and-shooters and aspiring photographers alike, but do its pictures impress?
Review summary of the FujiFilm FinePix z100fd:
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 Fujifilm’s FinePix Z100fd is stylish, has a cool on/off mechanism, and packs a collection of innovative features, but if you tend to change settings often, its interface just might make you tear your hair out. Unfortunately, the soft and chromatically inaccurate image-quality fails to make up for the camera’s aggravating interface, so for most users there are better point-and-shoots to be found. Release: February 2008. Price: $230.
Pros: Engaging design, optical image-stabilization, interesting shooting-aides.
Cons: Troublesome interface, no manual-mode, soft image-quality, consistently high color-temperature.
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Full review of the FujiFilm FinePix z100fd:
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Design - Very good
The Z100fd is certainly a sleek looking device, with a well-reasoned layout and a metallic sheen that lends it a retro-chic minimalism. The camera is comparatively heavy, and, possibly a problem for those with sensitive digits, it does tend to get chilly to the touch. Otherwise, it handles well enough and packs a stylish façade to boot.
The top houses the rectangular shutter-release and face-detection buttons, and on the back are the two-way zoom buttons, a convenient four-way / wheel controller, in addition to menu, playback, and display buttons. The back also contains the large LCD viewfinder, which has been expanded as much as proportionally possible within the confines of the body.
The most catching design decision on the Z100fd is its unique on/off mechanism, which is controlled not by a button press, but by physically sliding the camera's front-cover; to turn it off, simply slide the cover over the lens. We experienced a certain visceral satisfaction with this setup, though others may yearn for a simple button to control the camera's power. Either way, the lens is certainly better protected than in most any other point-and-shoot design.
Features - Very good
The Z100fd's biggest feature is its optical image-stabilization, which effectively reduces camera shake and can be a life-saver in slow-shutter situations. The camera also features a quality flash that automatically adjusts brightness and dispersal as the situation warrants. Cooler yet, there's an innovative ‘natural & flash' mode that snaps off a flash-backed photo and then immediately follows up with another sans flash. Users can then chose whichever image works best for their needs, or even better, advanced users with Photoshop can blend both images together to get the best of both worlds, so long as they used a tripod.
For the economically minded, the camera features an ‘auction mode' that allows users to collate several images into one ‘shot;' this allows eBayers to squeeze several angles of their merchandise into a single file, thus sidestepping eBay's fees for multiple images. Rounding out the Z100 fd's usability index is a helpful ‘rule-of-thirds' grid that can be overlaid on top of the display, which should help novice photographers with their framings.
On the negative end, flash itself can be a bit befuddling, as Fujifilm has included a bevy of flash-modes but, confusingly, the camera needs to be set to ‘red-eye reduction' to approximate the results of a simple automatic flash-mode. Furthermore, the misleading ‘manual mode' really only allows altering ISO and white-balance settings, which makes the ‘manual mode' analogous to the ‘automatic mode' on most cameras and the ‘automatic mode' really just an override setting that disallows any adjustments whatsoever. Finally, the camera's continuous mode is too slow to be noteworthy, and the burst-mode only affords three rapid shots.
Interface and software - Mediocre
At first glance the Z100fd's interface seems intuitive enough: using a typical wheel-controlled GUI, a user can quickly scroll through the camera's modes, settings, and system settings. The camera also has shortcuts for face-detection, image stabilization, macro, flash, and timed-shutter toggling.
Alas, for some baffling reason the camera dumps you completely out of the menu after each selection. Therefore, if you want to set the ISO to 400 and then change the white-balance mode, you have to push the menu button, select the appropriate sub-menu, select the ISO-sensitivity setting, and then select the desired ISO rating. The camera then exits the menu altogether, so to set the white-balance (which is literally one step away from the ISO setting), you have to repeat the entire process. This increases the amount of button-pushing and wheel-wrangling by 2 to 10 times over what it should be, a frustration compounded by the fact that there's no conceivable reason as to why the camera behaves this way. Those who setup their cameras once, keep them on automatic, and never change settings again shouldn't be terribly affected by this, but the vast majority of users who change settings more frequently might soon be chucking the Z100fd against a nearby wall.
Fujifilm's software fared a little better. It includes an easy to use mechanism for automatically downloading software to a host computer, it has built-in connectivity to their online repository, which is similar to Flickr, and it has both editing functionality and automated printing (for both local and online printers). Unfortunately, this software too has a niggling annoyance that seriously cripples its usefulness: to wit, it continually refreshes its ‘focus' (i.e., brings its window to the foreground) while performing any operation, thus effectively taking your computer hostage while transferring images. It's not so annoying, but seems to lack polish.
Image quality - Good
The Z100fd does not produce razor-sharp images. In all of our tests, and in all of the resultant photos, we noticed a lack of edge definition and a certain haziness to its color reproduction. However, this is by no means a deal-killer. At unzoomed sizes the camera's issues with sharpness are less pronounced, if not unnoticeable, and for many users the image quality should prove serviceable.
Flash test
In this sample we tested the flash and found it to be suitably bright without washing the image out. However, along the surface of the black case and bags, purple and green dots are clearly visible, which signals a level of color distortion that, to a degree, is evident in all of our tests.
Scene test
This second sample is of a ‘scene' without a clear subject, and at sub-100% zooms, the image is clear, vibrant, and colorful. At 100%, however, the photo appears sketchy, and some color distortion appears along hard edges. The Z100fd fails this test in terms of fringing, which is glaringly obvious along the centered tree-branches. Granted, this section of the photo is a labyrinthine nightmare for imaging-sensors, and many a prosumer camera would break a sweat in the attempt to render it faithfully, so the Z100fd's difficulties are at least understandable.
Edge test
This test for hard edges, while perhaps unaesthetic and questionably composed, demonstrates another issue evident in nearly all of our tests: the Z100fd tends towards inaccurately high color temperatures, which leads to ‘cold' looking photographs. In other words, its pictures have more blue than they should. To note this for yourself, keep in mind that the depicted edifice is, in reality, staunchly white.
Macro test
Finally we come to the macro test. The Z100fd has a good macro-focus range, but its Achilles heel swells again, as this image is just a tad soft. Macro is hurt the worst by an underperforming level of sharpness, so those shopping for an up-close-and-personal camera for macro shots might want to look elsewhere.
Comparison
Compare the FujiFilm FinePix z100fd with similar products
Who is the FujiFilm FinePix z100fd for?
Camera enthusiastsFashion conscious usersMomsStudentsStyle conscious users
Price and availability
The Fujifilm Z100fd is available now for $250.
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