Fujifilm Câmera Digital FinePix F40FD

Comments about Fujifilm FinePix F40FD Digital Camera:

Bought this camera at B&H about three weeks ago. A customerjust in line before me bought the F31, so both were on thecounter while I listened to the conversation of the customerwith the sales rep. I hadn't made my final decision yet whenentering B&H, but based on what I knew about the F31 and theF40, I was eager to see and handle both of them. UltimatelyI went for the F40, since I wanted a really small,carry-everywhere camera. The difference between 6MP and 8MPisn't all that great, and the F40 turns out to be a reallygood outdoors shooter. It works well indoors up to 800ISO aswell, as I used it at a Leo Kottke concert recently, andeven ISO2000 wasn't too bad. Plenty of CA, but still enoughdetail to distinguish facial features and the guitar stringsfrom row 18 out at F5.1. This is a very easy-to-use camera. Plenty of presets andmodes (Beach, action, indoors, landscape, etc.). Too muchfor me, I usually use M mode, and select FujiChrome forcolor management. The lens is very sharp, and distortion issurprisingly low. A 2GB SD card will yield about 480 imagesat the best resolution. Most if not all of these images willbe a properly exposed tack sharp and croppable forbits and pieces of the image. Face detection is better thanon the F31, but don't expect too much - if the face is onlyslightly turned, it won't lock on. There is more to this cam than I am allowed to write hereI would recommend the F40 to anyone who needs a smallback-up camera.

Expertise: Long-time photographer

Problems Encountered: - Tripod socket is not aligned with the lens, and is made ofplastic. - In N (natural light setting) uses unnecessarily high ISOvalues- Requires Fuji software to connect and transfer images toPC (although there is a workaround by using the Explorerfunction)- No optical viewfinder

Previous Equivalent Item Owned: Olympus 8080, E-1 with plenty of lenses (still used of course)

Items I Recommend: 2GB SD card

Comments about Fujifilm FinePix F40FD Digital Camera:

I just got this camera last week and after everyone told me that this camera was awesome, 200 pics later, I am a believer. Do yourself a favor and take a hard look for yourself.

Comments about Fujifilm FinePix F40FD Digital Camera:

I stopped counting megapixels a while ago, and now that the current crop of 10 megapixel cameras have shown their unreconcilable weaknesses, I was looking for a 6 megapixel F30 to take advantage of its reputation for detail beyond the megapixel count and its 2-3 f-stop extended sensitivity, especially useful in dim light where other digicams give noisy mush. based not on research but Fuji reputation for the sensor in the F30. With trepidation about my rashly uneducated decision, I started testing in various lighting conditions, and all I can say now is that the quality of images from this tiny camera is so good it's eerie. I never expected such detail and tonal quality from an auto point an shoot. Every twig on every tree branch - can you imagine it? Chromatic aberration such as blue or magenta fringing is still there at extreme magnification around those same tiny branches, but at reasonable print sizes it is not a significant factor.The critics haven't found or at least published anything yet about it, but take it from this old amateur, this camera is unbelievable, especially for its size and price. I compared shots against my D200 using both a 24-80 zoom and 24mm prime. I have to admit that under all but the most challenging lighting conditions, the F40fd out-of-camera results were more immediately pleasing. My conclusion is that the sensor in this pocket camera has a future that should make history. It is slightly larger than even the F30 sensor, and its sensitivity and contrast are probably typical of Fuji sensors, although I found that the purported burnout of highlights was much more easily controlled than I had read about the F30 sensor.The bottom line from someone who has used over 50 different film and 20 digital cameras since the old Ricoh RDC1 is that this camera sees better than the human eye and much better than any camera I have used. The only downside is that the F40 lacks any manual control over shutter speed or aperture - no AE priority at all - unlike the F30. It will be a great camera that Fuji produces with this sensor and full manual controls. Until then or as the absolutely best ultra-compact, you gotta see this.

Problems Encountered: No manual shutter or aperture controls.

Previous Equivalent Items Owned: Too numerous to list.

Items I Recommend: Extreme detail, sensitivity, and tonal balance for a small sensor digital camera.