Fujifilm Finepix Z100fd

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http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/digitalcameras/0,39030233,49295109,00.htm

Reviewed 18 January 2008

Reviewed by Rich Trenholm

The 8-megapixel Fujifilm FinePix Z100fd is a stylish point-and-shoot, available for a reasonable £150. Some of its design elements, such as the sliding faceplate caused us concern before we even got it out of the box. We tested to see if the Z100fd was concealing a classic compact beneath its understated exterior.

Design
There's no denying the Z100fd looks good. It's extremely slim, despite the sliding faceplate. We're not keen on cameras with sliding faceplates and non-protruding lenses, as the plates add unnecessary width and lenses can be hamstrung by diminutive dimensions. The Z100fd squeezes into a very svelte 20mm width, while it manages to be sturdy yet light.

Available in a multitude of colours, the Z100fd has a faceplate that's prone to opening in your pocket

The Z100fd is similarly styled to the Z10fd, but has a more refined feel. The unique diagonally sliding faceplate doesn't feel too gimmicky alongside the brushed metal styling, although the sliding action is looser than vertical sliders and is prone to opening in your pocket. The placement of the lens at the top right of the camera also leads to occasionally covering or smearing it with fingertips as there is little to hold on to on the camera.

Sliding the lens cover illuminates a backlit 'Z' on the front of the camera, a fun if inconsequential touch. The camera comes in brown, silver, pink and an unusual two-tone black and white version.

Functions are controlled by a zippy scroll wheel, similar to that on the Nikon Coolpix style range, to the right of the 69mm (2.7-inch ) screen.

Features
For a non-protruding lens, a 5x zoom is good. It's reasonably wide at the equivalent to 36mm-180mm on a 35mm camera. CCD-shifting image stabilisation is also included, which is excellent for a camera this size.

The Z100fd features Fujifilm's Face Detection 2.0. The system can cope with glasses, while movement tracking keeps the focus locked on to a face even if the subject turns sideways. As well as these added improvements to previous face recognition systems, Face Detection 2.0 is quicker and more effective in everyday straight-on portraits than other systems.

A clever addition to the face detection feature is the option in playback mode to zoom in on faces captured by the system, allowing you to easily check focus and exposure.

Although the lively scroll wheel is fun to use, some of the shooting options are buried at the bottom of the main menu. This is especially true of the manual mode, which in fact gives you very limited manual control and doesn't allow you to alter the aperture or shutter speed. We had to do lots of scrolling in our tests, as will anyone not relying on the Z100fd's automatic settings. As the camera is so squarely aimed at the point-and-shoot style market, this isn't too big of a criticism.

One of our favourite features is the natural light and flash mode. This takes two photos -- one with flash, one without -- for each press of the shutter. This is good for use indoors or in low light settings.

Performance
Despite the lack of a focus assist lamp, the Z100fd's low-light performance is good. The autofocus was quick to find a subject, and the automatic mode wasn't too zealous in increasing the ISO sensitivity. This is just as well, as the Z100fd, like most compacts, struggled with higher -- or faster -- ISO levels. Images captured at ISO 400 showed noise in shadow areas, while any faster images were unusable due to a combination of noisy speckles and smeary noise reduction applied by the camera.

Image stabilisation made up to two stops difference to images. It can be turned off, but to no real advantage as battery life managed more than 200 shots with IS on.

Burst mode manages a commendable 2 frames per second -- but stops after 3 frames. This is a frustrating trend in compacts, but at least it stops you leaning on the shutter and ending up with thousands of pictures. An unlimited burst mode is available, although it is noticeably slower.

Overall, the automatic mode was capable and reasonably quick, which is just as well given the lack of manual control. A slight softness to images lent itself well to portraits, although may not suit anyone looking for pinsharp images.

Image quality
The natural light and flash bracketing mode is certainly a good idea, but we found in low light situations that the natural light images, although warm, were generally blurred by the slower shutter speed. The flash-assisted images were crystal clear but could be harsh. A smaller gap exposure compensation might yield better results. There is also an appreciable lag between the two images, so subjects were able to dance out of the frame by the time the second picture was taken.

Conclusion
The Fujifilm FinePix Z100fd wears its biggest strengths on its sleeve: a decent-sized screen, fun scroll wheel and engaging looks. Under the bonnet, there's a disappointing lack of manual control, but the scene modes and automatic settings are up to the average user's point-and-shoot needs. The face detection system is particularly impressive.

The Pentax Optio Z10 has a bigger zoom under its sliding plate, but lacks optical image stabilisation. If it's style you're after, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70 has all the panache and a touchscreen as well. Still, the Z100fd is another quality compact at a very reasonable price.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday