Fujifilm FinePix F100fd

I take pictures primarily to remember and share events. I like to enjoy the moment more than shooting for the sake of shooting. But I like great IQ too, so I want a small camera to fit in my pocket that… takes great pictures when I need it in a variety of situations. All P&S cameras have their shortfalls but the f100fd fits my needs better than anything I have found. The key is to work around the shortfalls. If you want a camera that you don't have to think about to get great image quality the f100fd does okay but generally picks higher ISO than is needed. The result is loss of detail. I use the manual mode and ISO 200 for most situations. I like to shoot at EV -2/3 because the default settings have a tendency to clip highlights. I don't mind post processing to adjust that later. I might lose some shadow detail but I prefer that to clipped highlights. For low light indoors I use Auto 400, Auto 800 in a pinch. The 800 is okay for small prints but these days I mostly view images on a computer or make DVDs for TV. For that you need lower ISO and high resolution, especially if you want to do some cropping. If the subjects aren't moving I like to use ISO 200 and the 2 second timer to steady the shot. I always use the image stabilization which is not optical but helps some. PROs: 12MP resolution with larger than average sensor Excellent detail at 100-200 ISO Good P&S low light performance at 400 ISO Solid build quality Fast operation Useful 28-140mm equivalent zoom range Fits my pocket Wish list: Longer battery life (buy some spares) More manual control (F30 had Aperture and Shutter Priority) Easier to reach EV adjustment HD video

expand

collapse

I am so disappointed in this camera. The size/weight/and layout is great however it takes horrible pictures. It does an OK job outside, but every picture I take inside is grainy and hard to see. I… certainly could never have any of these pics printed to a nice size to frame, I can barely post them on Facebook. I bought this camera for a trip to Disney because we had too much stuff to bring the big D-SLR but I really wish I would have purchased a different camera. Keep researching and find a different compact!!

expand

collapse

Over the past few years I've owned a Canon G2, Canon S2, Fuji S9000, a Panasonic TZ3 and now the F100fd. All of these cameras had pros and cons, but after buying the TZ3 I rapidly grew tired of the… extremely poor indoor quality and noise that I actively sought out newer and smaller (compared to the beefy S9000) super CCD Fuji. IMO the F100fd is a marked improvement over the TZ3 for indoor photo quality and below are some of the pros and cons I've found with this camera. Pros: * Larger CCD than typical point and shoots (compare pixel density on dpreview) yielding decent to good indoor image quality. * Nice color balance and saturation, especially when set to "chrome" * Ok movie mode * 28mm wide angle which is huge for outdoor shots. * Fun burst mode albeit at 3MP Cons: * Slower burst mode (@ 12.1 MP) * Slightly weak flash (but the norm I think in this price range) * Slower than average write times

expand

collapse