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Fujifilm FinePix F10 Review
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Review
Date: Aug 1, 2005 |
Category: Point-and-Shoot
USER'S EXPERIENCE
Thursday, Jul 11, 2005 - Here's what I receive
in the box:
- FinePix F10
- 16MB xD-Picture Card
- Li-ion Battery NP-120
- AC Power Adapter AC-5VW
- Hand Strap
- USB and A/V Cables
- Terminal Adapter
- Documentation (English & French): QuickStart;
Owner's Manual
- Software CD: FinePixViewer 5.0, ImageMixer
VCD2 LE for FinePix
The Fujifilm FinePix F10 is a major milestone
in the development of consumer digital cameras.
For a number of years, consumer digital cameras
were faced with three major challenges:
- Slow operation. Most cameras had an unacceptably
long shutter and Autofocus lag, i.e. you pressed
the shutter release button and the camera took
the picture... 1 or 2 secs later.
- Lack of a good AF Assist Illuminator. In low-light
situations, the camera is not able to focus
(and the LCD monitor is also pretty much useless
in low-light).
- Noise. This is most apparent when high ISOs
are used, and the inability to use high ISOs
meant that pictures taken in low-light situations
(if you could achieve focus in the first place)
were usually blurred due to the use of a long
shutter speed and resultant camera shake and/or
subject movement.
Most consumer digital cameras have pretty much
got the first two challenges under control. The
one challenge left to eliminate was the issue
of noise at high ISOs. A digital camera that would
address these three challenges more or less successfully
would satisfy most photographers, especially those
who desire a fuss-free Point-and-Shoot digital
camera.
The Fujifilm F10 -- with its new 5th Generation
Super CCD HR image sensor, Real Photo Technology
Processor and quality Fujinon lens
-- has the distinction of being the first
consumer digital camera to have addressed all
three of the above challenges.
The Fujifilm F10 comes with an AC Power Adapter,
which means that you can plug the camera in when
you come back from a day's shoot, and immediately
start transferring images to your PC without having
to recharge the battery first. The small self-timer
lamp lights red while the battery is charging
and turns off when it is fully charged. Note that
there is a safety mechanism built-in: if the battery
is too hot (e.g. after a full day's non-stop shooting),
the recharging process will not start until the
battery has cooled down appropriately. It's all
automatic, so just leave it plugged in. Fully
recharging a depleted battery takes about 4 hrs.
You can optionally purchase the Battery Charger
BC-65 which will fully recharge a depleted battery
in about 225 minutes; it doesn't shave off much
time but at least you can go out again and keep
shooting with a spare battery while the depleted
one is recharging.
The Terminal Adapter supplied with the camera
is a small rectangular box that contains 3 sockets:
DC IN 5V, USB, and A/V OUT. Fujifilm took them
out of the camera to keep its dimensions and weight
down. It is an extra piece that you must
remember to carry with you if you intend to do
any image transfer on the road or viewing images
on a TV at a friend's place. I just leave it plugged
into the power adapter and bring the two together
if I think I will need them on the road; otherwise
they both stay at home, with the Terminal Adapter
functioning like a mini docking station.
The Fujifilm F10 is fast, lens extending out
and LCD turning on in about 1 sec. There is no
practical shutter lag, and if you turn the display
off, you can pretty much take pictures one after
another. With the display on (you have a choice
of 1.5 sec. or 3 sec.), slightly depress the shutter
release button to immediately return to Record
mode.
There has been a lot written about the menu structure
of the Fujifilm F10, and I was expecting a disaster.
In fact, it looks quite nice, and as long as you
ignore the numbered tabs, it's pretty normal.
The Fujifilm F10 is targeted to Point-and-Shoot
(P&S) photographers, but everyone has been
waiting so long for its revolutionary image
sensor that there is understandably some disappointment
from more advanced amateur photographers that
there are not more manual controls. My major complaint
has to do with the inability to access the full
range of shutter speed (15 - 1/2000 sec.) in M
mode.
| Shooting Mode |
Shutter Speed Range
|
| Auto |
1/100
|
1/2000
|
| Manual |
1/4
|
1/2000
|
| SP |
|
|
| - Natural |
1/4
|
1/2000
|
| - Portrait |
1/100
|
1/2000
|
| - Landscape |
1/4
|
1/2000
|
| - Sport |
1/100
|
1/2000
|
| - Night Long Exposure OFF (auto) |
3"
|
1/500
|
| - Night Long Exposure ON (manual) |
15"
|
3"
|
Please note: SP Night mode defaults to 3"
to 1/500 of a second. In order to enable the 3
second to 15 second range the user must follow
the instructions in the manual titled Long Exposure
-- on pages 46 thru 48 to set Long Exposure ON.
Some early users of the Fujifilm F10 thought
the camera incapable of taking good night shots
because of the lack of a true manual mode. While
it is challenging, you can obtain excellent night
shots using the Scene Position Night (Long Exposure
OFF or ON). I took a number of good fireworks
shots at 3 sec. and got lucky. If I wanted to
use 2 sec. or less, I would be out of luck.
Tarzan
Rocks Concert
8mm, M (Programmed Auto), Pattern, 1/100 sec.,
F2.8, and ISO 400, Flash
Adjusted and sharpened in Photoshop Elements
To put things in perspective, you can take low-light
pictures with no flash, but it will mostly be
at ISO 1600, and noise will be visible. Even so,
the Fujifilm F10 rocks because it allows you to
capture low-light shots that no other P&S
currently can!
I use the Fujifilm F10 almost exclusively in
the M mode, and a press of the MENU/OK button
conveniently brings up the menu positioned on
the Exposure Compensation setting. The "F"
button, however, brings up Image Quality as the
first option when ISO would be a more useful choice.
One setting that does not make sense is the LONG
EXPOSURE in the SET menu choice. This option allows
you to manually select a shutter speed between
3 to 15 sec. when shooting mode is set to the
Night Scene Position. It's 14 button presses away,
making it very inconvenient to access. Without
LONG EXPOSURE set to ON, Night Scene is limited
to 3-1/500 sec. An easy solution would be to simpy
add an additional Scene Position of LONG EXPOSURE.
IllumiNations Parade at Epcot
24mm, M (Programmed Auto), Pattern, 1/58, F5.0,
ISO 1600
I mentioned this before in other Fujifilm reviews:
I simply love the FinePixViewer software because
all the information is contained in one screen.
Each image's filename is clearly visible and you
do not need to launch another window to view the
EXIF info. There is (still) some valuable screen
real estate wasted along the rightmost column
with the "Register Now" ad. You can
do basic image editing, re: brightness, saturation,
hue, sharpness.
The Fujifilm F10 Owner's Manual is well illustrated
and written, though the print font is very small.
On our improvements wishlist:
- provide the full range of shutter speeds in
M (Programmed Auto) mode;
- ideally, LCD should swivel for easy macro
photography.
The Fujifilm FinePix F10 is the almost
perfect P&S digital camera, especially with
the low noise at high ISOs capabilities. It has
set a new standard that other digital camera manufacturers
will have to reach.
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