A short review of the Fujifilm F50fd

*added some links 30th Sept 2007*



Front view of the camera

I availed myself with a Fujifilm F50fd about a week ago, against my better judgment and how I could have possibly put the money to better use. (i.e. a speedlight for my D50) Needless to say, I had a slight tinge of "buyer's regret" after leaving the shop, clutching the new camera in a nice big green plastic bag with "Fujifilm" printed on it, but after about 500+ casual and test shots, I have some rather positive (and negative) things to say about the camera in question.

Back view of the camera

This post is mainly my experience with the camera, which aims to be as practical (with as much pictures in varying situations) and un-technical as possible, as what most people would be interested in. Since this is my first 'review' (I prefer the terms, 'user experience/opinion'), the writing will be a little more free-flowing and seemingly disorganized, so bear with me on that.

As evident from the photos, this is a rather sleek camera - 25mm at the thickest point of the camera. The buttons are well laid and spaced out, no problems for my pretty large hands (I can span 13 white notes on a piano easily) and the buttons have a strong tactile feel when depressed. I won't go into detail about the specifications of the camera, since these are readily available at the manufacturer's website or other review sites I'm sure. The screen's a very healthy 2.7" with 230,000 pixels, more than enough for anyone to get a crystal clear review of the pictures they've just taken or to read the excellent help lines in the camera's menus.

Pink Ixoras in full bloom
(using Fuji's inbuilt Fujifilm-chrome color setting, we get very vibrant colors)

Which brings me to the topic on the usability of the camera's functions/settings/shooting modes. Long story short, if you like tinkering with your gadgets or exploring the menus, you'll be fine. Even if you aren't a techie, as long as you can understand any of the whopping 17(!) languages that are stored in the camera, you should be fine. Although seasoned photographers would be confused by Fuji's own terminology of certain common/critical functions, such as 'Photometry' which is basically Metering with the rest of the brands in the world.

A Can of soft drink
(1/10, ISO 200, f2.8, macro mode, handheld)

As with most compact point and shoot cameras, the F50fd comes with a plethora of pre-programmed shooting modes, of which the most useful ones will probably be the portrait (I especially like the gimmicky but works-as-advertised 'Portrait Enhancer', where the camera smooths the skin of the subjects for that magazine/advert look), and the long night exposures, with the Fuji capable of long exposures up to 8 seconds long. The 'Text' mode is also quite a successful mode due to the camera's beefy 12megapixel output, having tried taking an entire page of a local newspaper and both sides of the latest issue of National Geographic, I can say its really going to be useful for students (even spies! =p) who might want to share notes, scribbles, etc.

Waterwheel
(1/15, ISO 800, f2.8, auto manual mode, handheld)

As for manual controls and user-defined functions, I was pretty impressed with what the camera had to offer; at their 'fullest' manual mode, which surprisingly isn't the misleading 'M' mode (which is an 'automatic manual mode', WTH?), but is rather the 'A/S' mode, which is the Aperture or Shutter priority mode that every (D)SLR or prosumer user young and old are familiar with.

Aperture is limited to f2.8 - f8 on the Fuji, and Shutter speeds range from 8seconds to a very fast 1/1000. (With 8 seconds only accessible under night shot mode) I will say that the controls may seem limiting, but bear in mind that the F50fd has a very useful ISO range, which will make up for the limits of the Aperture and Shutter limitations, this is thanks in part to its 1/1.6" SuperCCD which in my very humble opinion totally blows the competition away in this class and even in the bigger classes of cameras. If all else fails, I have found the CCD-shift image stabilization of the F50fd to be quite useful indeed (I would say it gives at least 2 stops extra), I see a higher percentage of 'keepers' especially in the shots where motion blur is definite.

Bokeh is excellent @ f2.8
(1/15, ISO 400, f2.8, macro mode, handheld)

ISO 100-400 pictures taken (which can be seen) are essentially noise-free (although the more manic of pixel peepers might argue that @400 there are very slight noise artifacts) ISO800 is where the noise kicks in but is still very very (very) serviceable even for large prints in my opinion (please check out my full-sized sample pictures if you aren't convinced by my words). At ISO1600, the camera is pushing the physical limitations of what the sensor of this size can achieve, ISO3200 and 6400 are essentially to be avoided, unless you want a gritty look to your pictures. Although I must say the noise is rather tolerable (somewhat film-like in nature) even if very excessive, noise-reduction is rather conservative throughout the ISO range in the F50fd, which is welcome since it leads to preservation of details.

Cathay Cineleisure box office
(at ISO1600, chroma noise is significant, which leads to loss of details and color)

The auto-focusing is a decidedly mixed bag on the Fuji in my opinion, when it does work, it works as it should and as fast as a compact camera can go. (It's fast enough for most) However, as with most cameras (even the DSLRs) it tends to hunt under low light conditions, and AF illumination is a definite must since the user is not able to manually adjust the focus. I have encountered about 10% of my pictures not focused properly or as intended. Face detection 2.0 works as advertised, with the camera recognizing faces even if they are turned at an angle of 90degs perpendicular to the lens, but as mentioned above, has its flaws.

Excellent shadow detail
(1/340, ISO200, f5.6, aperture priority)

Lastly, I would like to touch on the sharpness of the lens (since it may be a concern of many). It's excellent from f2.8 - f5.6 from what I've seen so far, there might be slight diffraction at f8 since it seems a little less sharp (from my pictures) then similar ones at f5.6. Detail can be amazing if the user knows how to make the best of the limitations of the camera, needless to say, since its digital, you can shoot and review and re-shoot again if need be. Distortion is an issue at the wide end, I would say it is very obvious when you're shooting straight lines or architecture, but for portraits and impromptu photo-journalistic shots it can be ignored.

Significant distortion but excellent colors
(1/100, ISO100, f8, aperture priority)

To conclude, I would say I am thoroughly pleased with the F50fd, it will complement my D50 and F80 SLR kits rather than replace them, with very versatile manual controls and excellent high-ISO quality for its class, I've been carrying this little delight around in place of my DSLR for the past week and having a tonne of fun with it. It's a definite recommended camera for people who might want to look for a compact to carry around when they find their SLRs too cumbersome, or for 1st time owners looking for a decent compact digital camera. Upgraders from compacts to prosumers or for more manual controls might want to look elsewhere, as the shutter and aperture limitations might be too much a negative, but Fujifilm does make prosumers too, so you might want to check them out. =)

Some additional links:

My ever increasing set of Fuji F50fd photos

Other opinions and photos posted by other F50fd users at a local forum (incl. additional comments with regards to the performance of the camera from myself)