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Select a Fujifilm digital camera ----- 2008 models ----- Fujifilm FinePix S100FS Fujifilm FinePix S8100fd Fujifilm FinePix S2000HD Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd Fujifilm FinePix F100fd Fujifilm FinePix F60fd Fujifilm FinePix Z200fd Fujifilm FinePix Z100fd Fujifilm FinePix Z20fd Fujifilm FinePix J150w Fujifilm FinePix J50 Fujifilm FinePix J12 Fujifilm FinePix J10 ----- 2007-2008 models ----- Fujifilm FinePix F50fd Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd Fujifilm FinePix F480 Fujifilm FinePix A920 ----- 2007 models ----- Fujifilm FinePix S700 Fujifilm FinePix F40fd Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd Fujifilm FinePix A900 Fujifilm FinePix A820 Fujifilm FinePix A800 Fujifilm FinePix A610 ----- 2006-2007 models ----- Fujifilm FinePix S9100 Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd Fujifilm FinePix F650 Fujifilm FinePix F31fd Fujifilm FinePix F20 Fujifilm FinePix Z3 Fujifilm FinePix A700 Fujifilm FinePix A600 ----- 2006 models ----- Fujifilm FinePix F30 Fujifilm FinePix V10 Fujifilm FinePix F470 Fujifilm FinePix A500 Fujifilm FinePix A400 ----- 2005-2006 models ----- Fujifilm FinePix S9000 Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Fujifilm FinePix E900 ----- 2005 models ----- Fujifilm FinePix F10 Fujifilm FinePix Z1 Fujifilm FinePix A345 / A350 -- 2004 & earlier -- Fujifilm FinePix S20 Pro Fujifilm FinePix S7000 Fujifilm FinePix S5100 Fujifilm FinePix S5000 Fujifilm FinePix F810 Fujifilm FinePix E550 Fujifilm FinePix E510 / E500 Fujifilm FinePix F450 / F440 Fujifilm FinePix F410 Fujifilm FinePix A310

Category: Beginner Amateur

HANDLING & FEEL

The Fujifilm FinePix F30 is about the same size and weight as the award-winning FinePix F10 but with a more streamlined look. It retains a classy and elegant design, and can be easily carried in a jeans pocket or fashion purse. The Fujifilm F30 uses the xD-Picture Card.

The Fujifilm F30 is attractive in its metallic silver body with chrome accents. A slightly raised grip on the front and two rows of rubber dots [a nice and original touch] at the back provide somewhat of a secure grip [use of the wrist strap is still highly recommended].

Startup and shot to shot times are fast at about 1.5 sec., and there is no practical shutter lag. Autofocus is fast and precise.

Included in the box is a rechargeable Li-ion battery that can take a remarkable 580 shots with LCD on (CIPA standard) on a fresh charge and an AC Power Adapter AC-5VW (with power cord) that will recharge a new battery in-camera in approx. 4 hrs.

The Terminal compartment is conveniently on the left side of the camera (viewed from the back), and the rubber flap extends to provide unimpeded access to the A/V OUT, USB and DC IN sockets.

The flash includes a new i-Flash Intelligent Flash System and has a range of 0.6-6.5m/2.0-21.3 ft., which is quite powerful. It is physically placed close to the top edge, so be careful your left fingers do not get in the way when using flash. You can set the flash to Off (Suppressed Flash), Slow Synchro, Red-Eye & Slow Synchro, Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, or On (Forced Flash).

Controls

The top of the camera has [from left to right] the Power ON/OFF button, Mode Dial and shutter release button. The Fujifilm F30 has one of the nicest 2-stage shutter release button we've ever used, with a distinct half-press click which allows your finger to pause there without risk of accidentally pressing the shutter fully.

On the F10, the Mode Dial was a collar around the shutter release button, but on the F30, it is a separate dial. Besides AUTO, Manual [really, Programmed AE], Movie and SP (Scene Position) shooting modes, two new settings are A/S (Aperture/Shutter Speed) and Anti-Blur.

The SP mode now also includes a Natural Light scene mode which will use a high ISO and disable flash.

The Anti-Blur (also referred as "Picture Stabilization") setting will select a high ISO and a fast shutter speed to reduce camera shake and blur caused by the subject moving.

A nod to more advanced photographers is the Aperture-Priority AE and Shutter-Priority AE setting. Note that aperture and shutter speed cannot be selected in 'Manual' Mode [we always said camera manufacturers should stop labelling this mode 'Manual' when it is closer to being really 'Programmed AE'].

You'll find most of the functions are easy to set. A bit more involved is manually selecting a Long Exposure which can go from 1 to 15 sec. These long shutter speeds allow very nice night shots using a tripod.

You can record movies with sound until the memory card is full at either 640 x 480 or 320x240 pixels at 30fps. You can preset optical zoom before movie recording but zoom cannot be used during movie recording.

About 10MB of Internal Memory comes with the camera, so no xD-Picture Card is included. Only 8 sec. of movies can be saved in the 10MB of Internal memory. If you plan to do lots of movies, plan on using a large capacity xD-Picture Card.

As the above chart shows, at 6M F image quality, only 3 images can be saved in the 10MB of Internal Memory. We recomend that you purchase either a 512MB or 1GB xD-Picture Card, depending on the number of images you normally shoot in one session.

At the bottom of the camera, the tripod mount thread is plastic. The Battery/xD-Picture Card door is also plastic and looks like it could open accidentally; however, I can happily report that it works quite well and hasn't opened accidentally at all during the time I used it. The battery also has a latch to keep it from accidentally falling. You won't be able to change battery or card when the camera is on a tripod.

LCD & Menus

There is no optical viewfinder but a very nice and extra large 2.5 in. LCD monitor with a high 230,000 pixels resolution. It's one of the best LCD monitor I've used. It has an anti-glare coating that works extremely well, even in bright sunlight, and, if further needed, the LCD monitor can be conveniently and quickly brightened with a press of the UP ARROW key. The LCD has a fast enough refresh rate for a smooth display in good and low light. The LCD also gains up well in low-light.

There is a very effective AF-assist Illuminator and I've found auto focusing to be quite fast and precise in low-light situations.

You can also display a framing grid [one of the selection when you press the DISP button continuously] of horizontal and vertical lines, which is very useful when you need to align vertical and horizontal lines precisely. The lines are fine and grey and do not interfere with the composition -- the way we like them.

The Fujifilm FinePix F30 is unmistakably built with quality in mind. From the moment you pick it up to your first pictures, you gain a sense that it has been well thought out in construction and design. Controls are logically placed and intuitive to use, with only a few niggles that should not detract from either the capability of this camera or the enjoyment of its user. A beautiful high-resolution LCD monitor, incredible low-light capability, high performance, compact and light,... the FinePix F30 is a perfect take-anywhere digital camera for the point-and-shoot photographer in your family. More advanced photographers will also find that the Aperture/Shutter Speed option allows enough exposure control to satisfy them.