Electronics : Fujifilm FinePix F100fd Digital Camera - Black (12.0MP, 5x Optical Zoom) 2.7" LCD

Rating: - Excellent for a compact camera
I've been using the F100FD for a few months now as a second camera to my Nikon D40 DSLR. All compacts have limitations over DSLRs but all have one big advantage, they are pocketable.

GOOD POINTS
- Good picture quality for a compact. I think this is down to the better Fuji sensor which is a bit bigger than most compacts and has slightly better dynamic range.
- Wide angle, 28mm equivalent is great. Probably there is some distortion but it doesn't bother me. Only a problem for techy geeks who take pictures of brick walls.
- Auto mode great. I guess most people will leave it on auto and let the camera figure things out.
- Face detect is nice feature and works well, as long as you give it time. After the picture is shot it blows up the face on screen which is very handy to check for closed eyes, odd expressions etc.
- Nice build quality. Feels fairly solid but is still compact and lightweight. Recessed screen helps avoid greasy fingerprint problem.
- Portrait mode takes out the wrinkles nicely. Unless your subject is really wrinkly don't use the portrait enhancer mode which overdoes the smoothing.
- Manual mode. Not really manual but automatic with overrides. The override I like to use is to set the white balance to shady. This just warms up the pictures a little.

BAD POINTS
- Slow, as per all compacts. You have to give a moment or two to focus, set the exposure, detect faces etc. by half pressing the shutter release. Not great for action shots.
- Zoom is not very progressive or smooth. In practical use its best to zoom to approximately the right setting and then take a step forward or back to adjust your framing as appropriate.
- Its difficult to get used to the wheel.
- No orientation sensor. This seems like a minor point but its a pain having to rotate your vertical pics all the time.
- Battery life not terrific but sufficient for a few days shooting if you don't play with the camera too much.
- 12MP not necessary. No problem though, I leave the camera on 6MP and can print fine up to 12 by 18 inches which is as big as I want to go.
- Pink banding mentioned by some, but I have not seen it yet in 800+ shots. It seems not to be a problem, at least with firmware 1.02.

---

Rating: - Amazing little camera
This camera is amazing. I've owned 2 other ones in this line (and managed to lose one and destroy the other) and this one is a big improvement over the F50 I had before.

The pictures it takes are amazing and the auto mode is excellent. I just wish it took MPEG4 videos. If it did that I'd ask Amazon for a 6th star.

---

Rating: - Not up to scratch! Fujifilm FinePix F100fd Digital Camera - Silver (12.0MP, 5x Optical Zoom) 2.7" LCD
I have had three compact Fujis and have been very pleased with them. Not so with this one. The colours were distorted, especially in reduced lighting, such as inside a church. I returned the camera to Camera Box and after a very annoying two months was relieved to receive a refund. I would not deal with Camera Box again.

---

Rating: - Seriously great
I bought this camera just before the summer for my summer holidays. I have had 7 cameras from Fujifilm over the years, and always been impressed by 2 things - the ease of use and the richness of the photos. This one proves no different.

It is brilliantly quick to switch on, and when it does the LCD screen amazes - it is so detailed and the colours are so good. The wide angle also proves a huge bonus, and coupled with the large 5x zoom it means that a surprisingly large amount of new photo opportunities appear.

Face Detection is advertised a lot in the press for this camera, but to be honest it's a bit of a gimmick. It works and it's fine, but you never actually use it. You just show your friends to make them go "woah".

On the styling front, it looks flawless and feels great to hold.

2 things annoy me a bit - the screen has no glass cover, so feels a little flimsy, and hooking up to the computer requires the software, as it cannot be treated as a disk drive.

But other than that - great great great.

---

Rating: - life in a barrel
very very dissapointing. The lens perfomance at the wide angle setting gives results worse than a single use plastic lens - the complete inability to render a straight line as anything other than a barrel shape made me return this camera. I have used Fuji cameras for 20 years including the previous digital models - this is the worst. avoid it. Back to my Samsung NV20