Fuji Finepix F50fd 12 Megapixel Digital Camera - Silver - 15764326

F31fd has the "King of HighISO" reputation, but it doesn't apply to F50fd. If you've done your homework, you know what I'm talking about, thus I'm going to start the review with ISO-related topics. For many who can't tell the differences between this camera and the "rest" in the sea of P&S, the key is the sensor size. Go to dpreview.com and compare the spec of this camera with the rest of Fuji's to start with, and learn a few photography jargons. If you don't bother learning those and just want to get a cool-looking P&S, feel free to fall into those manufacturer's marketing tricks and make your judgement based on the look, number of MPs and the size of the camera. I own a Canon DSLR with a few lenses and would like a P&S to compliment with it. My goal was to look for a P&S that works ok at low light up to 400 ISO (and I have already lowered my expectation with F50fd before the purchse), take great pictures and high resolution at 100-200 ISO and able to capture video. However the F50fd disappoints in 2 of my 3 requirements. (Worse than average video and the way Fuji implements Auto mode, as I explain below). It's unfair to F50fd when it's trying to squeeze 12MP into the same sensor size. However, the way Fuji design the "Auto" and "Scene" modes don't help. In "Auto" mode, users can choose from three ISO settings: 400 Auto, 800 Auto or 1600 Auto. It's 1600 Auto by default, and to most users who are not famiilar with the ISO concept, they would be screwed big time. 400 ISO from this camera is ok, and I think I'm comfortable with printing out bigger prints for 400 ISO pics, so this configuration change is a MUST for ALL users. I'm saying this because the camera would attempt to use higher ISO even when the environment has sufficient light. If you want to use higher ISO, leave that in your manual mode. In my case, I default ISO 100 in the manual mode because I would really pass on the >800 ISOs. In the scene mode, there's no way you can set the max ISO like in the auto mode, and the max ISO you set in auto mode doesn't apply here as well. I wish Fuji could push a firmware update to address this "problem". The manual mode isn't truly manual. So for those of you who're debating whether to get F40fd or F50fd just because 50fd has manual mode (higher pixel counts aside), just go with F40fd. I mainly use this mode to "enforce" the fact that I only want to use ISO 100 in thie pictures that I want to take. The camera comes with a mode that it takes 2 pics "at the same time", one with flash and one with natural color (no flash). It's a nice feature, when the one taken with natural color is less than ISO 800. The camera also comes with a natural-color mode which pretty much means you suppress the flash regardless of the environment. It's a marketing trick really because of its reputation built based on F31fd. This mode would be useful on F31fd, but not here, and I would avoide this mode at all cost. I'm done talking about the ISO-topics. Now, comments on the rest of the camera... Pros: 1. Price. It's over 100 less than Canon Powershot SD950. 2. Screen. It's not the biggest in its class, but good enough to see everything clearly. 3. No optical view-finder. I see it as a Pro because... when's the last time you use it on your P&S? To conserve battery? Stop kidding yourself. I'd rather take it away and give me a bigger LCD screen. 4. The flash isn't top of the class, but I think it gets its job done well. 5. Face Detection works ok. Cons: 1. Image stablization doesn't work well. Period. 2. 25fps for video mode compared to 30fps in most cameras of its class. 3. High noise in video when the environment doesn't have sufficient lighting. 4. Hard to focus properly when you're taking pictures of an object and not a person 5. Can't use 3rd party software to correct noise in high-ISO pics because of the SuperCCD technology. I guess my statement doesn't make much sense... but the higher ISO it gets, the blurrier the picture is in addition to the "usual" noise. So maybe I'm better off spending extra $100 ($150 really, with the Fuji rebate, if it works)... but I guess that's the trade-off when you pay less.
 
Was this review helpful?    

The product performed flawlessly, very easy to startup and operate for a novice/pro. THE menues are stright foward without a lot of hidden submenues. I am presently using the camera in the auto mode and all of my photos in this mode has turned out teriffic, also in the semi manual mode works great. I know there is a lot of people out there are trying to compare this camera to the Fuji F31FD which was develope for a different market, however, believe me the F50fd performs great. This camera was not develope for people that are taking photos in the dark where you have to use ISO 800 - 1600 and even the F31fd at these ISO ,it's photos will show some fuzzyness and noise splotches if you pixel peeping at 100%. SO I am saying the F50fd is a great little point and shoot camera for taking great pictures witout a loy of fuss.
 
Was this review helpful?    

Computers > Shop by Brand > Fuji Digital Cameras

Digital Cameras > 12 Megapixel