GET FINE PICS FROM A FINEPIX (Fujifilm Finepix F30)

Name: jellybean11

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Product:	Fujifilm Finepix F30
Date:	14/11/06 (255 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fast shutter speed, easy to use, good manual, looks good, produces great photos

Disadvantages: recording mode does not produce good quality footage

The Fujifilm Finepix is a 6.3 megapixel point-and-shoot digital camera which claims to have higher light sensitivities than most similar camera giving it higher shutter speeds which reduces the chances of getting blurry pictures, which can be caused by a fidgety subject or a shaky hand for example. The camera claims to offer shutter speeds that had previously reserved for professional photographic equipment thus allowing the humble consumer to achieve higher quality shots! This is the main emphasis that the camera was marketed on, so did it live up to expectations in this way and in the other ways we would expect a digital camera to perform?

Firstly the camera has a compact alloy body which seems light yet fairly robust. It looks pretty stylish with sensible sized buttons that children and adults alike would be able to operate. It also has the advantage of a large LCD screen which has an anti-glare coating which supposedly allows you to view pictures even in bright conditions. I’ve found this to be pretty good, better than many other cameras I’ve used but unsurprisingly in very bright conditions I couldn’t see a thing. I fail to see how this could possible be viewed in bright conditions. It works well within reason and serves its purpose though.

Start up time is fairly quick. The camera is ready to take a photo within about 2 seconds. The shutter speed is indeed very fast. The camera has 15 modes and combining their use with the camera’s fast shutter speed allows you to get excellent photos in situations where other cameras would struggle. For example I managed to get some excellent photos of my dog jumping for a Frisbee, children running in a race and diving into the swimming pool. Obviously in these situations it is crucial to have a fast shutter speed or you simply miss the moment. This camera certainly fulfilled my expectations; the pictures are crystal clear, not in the slightest but blurry. I’ve even had one blown up and the quality has not been affected at all. This is helped by the camera’s 6.3 megapixel sensor (above 5 is desirable) and 3x optical zoom, producing a high quality photo.

The flash has various different functions including red-eye reduction. I have only had a couple of red-eye photos so it seems to be working well, considering the number of photos I have taken. The controls of the camera are on the back right-hand side and on top of the camera. The instruction manual was very easy to understand guiding you through from turning the camera on to the various functions and features as well as uploading photos to a computer. The useability of the camera is excellent. Within a few minutes of playing around with it I had found everything I wanted. Settings are not hidden away and you don’t have to press lots of different buttons to get where you want, so to speak, as you do with some digital cameras.

The camera has 10MB of internal memory which is not bad for a camera of this type but you will want to top this up with a memory card unless you only intend to take a few photos at a time. I’ve found the battery life to be really good. It indicates when the battery is getting low but you could easily go out and take photos all day long without the battery running out. The camera also has a record mode to make short movies. The quality seems pretty good on the LCD viewfinder but when you put them on the computer you realise that the quality of the movies is not actually that great. The sound retains its quality well though. Not an ideal camera if you intend to be doing a lot of recording.

Playback mode is easy to use. The camera will automatically show the last photo taken and then you can scroll though them or alternatively to find a picture quickly you can set it to show 9 thumbnails on the screen at a time so you can scroll to find the one you want quickly.

In conclusion I am really impressed with the Fujifilm Finepix. It looks good; small and compact but feels comfortable in my hand and the buttons aren’t too small, it is very user-friendly, it has a high megapixel sensor and good optical zoom, a good battery life and ultimately, most importantly, it produces excellent photos. The only drawback I have found to the camera is the record mode, as the quality of video footage produced is nothing special, but at the end of the day it’s a camera designed to take photos, so I would not consider this to be a major disadvantage and it shouldn’t put you off buying this camera.

Summary: Easy to use with good range of feature, produces excellent images due to fast shutter speed

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