Product Description

Dynamic range for digital cameras means the expression domain between the brightest and darkest areas. Fujifilm now takes you beyond ultra sensitivity and extends dynamic range for photos with more detail in both shadow and highlights. FinePix Wide Dynamic Range gives you the ability to explore extreme scenes and capture all the nuances of brightness and tonality. Skies and seas are expressed with a palette of vivid blues. Previously unseen details in the shadows emerge. It's time to get real with the FinePix F100fd.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7285 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Fuji
• Model: 15820728
• Released on: 2008-03-05
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 2.80" h x 5.60" w x 6.70" l, .37 pounds
• Memory: 57MB
• Display size: 2.7

Features

• 12.1-megapixel Super CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality poster-size prints
• 5x wide-angle optical zoom lens; Dual Image Stabilization mode
• 2.7-inch, high-resolution wide-angle LCD
• Face Detection 3.0 Technology, featuring Automatic Red Eye Removal
• Stores images on xD or SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

Manufacturer Remedy Information
4841340

Manufacturer Description

Combining a 12-megapixel, 8th-eneration Super CCD with a powerful Fujinon 5x wide-angle optical zoom lens and a 2.7-inch, high-resolution wide-angle LCD, the FinePix F100fd is among Fujifilm’s finest compact digital cameras. As with previous F-Series models, the F100fd is a powerful, feature-packed compact digital camera that offers the most advanced technologies available, including Wide Dynamic Range, Dual Image Stabilization, Face Detection 3.0 Technology with an Automatic Red Eye Removal function, and ISO settings of up to an unprecedented ISO 12800 - so missing great shots is not an option.

Finepix F100fd Highlights

Wide Dynamic Range Dynamic Range, or the gradations of light that exist between bright and dark in any setting, can be easily detected by the human eye, but not by most cameras. Fujifilm expanded dynamic range capture functionality on the professional imaging side with its FinePix S3 Pro digital camera. The technology, now perfected in the FinePix S5 Pro camera, has been brought to the consumer in the FinePix F100fd. Through a combination of advances in Fujifilm’s new Super CCD HR VIII and RP (Real Photo) Processor III, this wide dynamic range dramatically broadens tonal capability and guarantees exceptional rendition of photos with both bright highlights and dark shadows. This expansion of sensitivity captures greater detail, and subtle nuances of brightness and tonality that bring the photo closer to what the human eye actually sees.

Faster Face Detection 3.0 The FinePix F100fd is also equipped with Fujifilm’s proprietary Face Detection 3.0 Technology, featuring Automatic Red Eye Removal. As with the original version of Face Detection, it can detect up to 10 human faces in a scene in as little as .036 seconds, automatically correcting focus, exposure, and white balance, regardless of where subjects are located within the frame. Now, however, the FinePix F100fd is able to identify faces at much more extreme camera angles than before. The camera can register faces with up to 90O movement in either direction for profiles, and up to 360O. After the shot is taken, it instantly corrects red eye and then saves both the original and the corrected image file -- automatically.

Dual Image Stabilization mode The FinePix F100fd features Fujifilm’s Dual Image Stabilization mode which combines a mechanically stabilized Super CCD sensor with high ISO sensitivities for total anti-blur protection. The combination of these technologies reduces the "blur" effect from the photographer’s hand-shake and subject movement even further to provide the highest quality digital pictures yet, with sharp, clean and clear results. Thanks to the 8th generation FinePix Super CCD-HR chip and the RP Processor III, the Finepix F100fd can utilize ISO settings of up to ISO 3200 at full resolution and an amazing ISO 12800 at reduced resolution1, capturing stunning images even in low light while preserving the natural color and clarity of the shot.

Continuous shooting 3 at 1.7 frames per second at full resolution and 12 at 5 frames per second at 3-megapixels.

High-speed playback No waiting for high-resolution images to load during play back. The FinePix F100fd can display images at full resolution at 10 frames per second.

Portrait Enhancer mode Mimicking a professional photo studio setting, by using Face Detection and preset camera settings, Portrait Enhancer minimizes fine lines and small skin blemishes for smooth, natural looking portraits.

Dual Shot mode In this selectable mode, the FinePix F100fd quickly shoots two images in rapid succession -- one with the flash and one without -- and saves both. This convenient function lets users perform a comparison at their convenience and select the most pleasing image.

Special scene modes The FinePix F100fd has 16 pre-programmed scenes, including a special underwater scene mode for use with a special underwater casing. Also, a Blog mode that automatically reduces the size of copied images for easy posting to a blog, Web page or email attachment.

Micro thumbnails A playback feature that allows for viewing an index-style print on the LCD. The FinePix F100fd will show up to 100 images in micro form, then the control buttons are used to select specific images. An innovative wheel navigation dial makes it easy to quickly find a single image by being able to jump to particular segments of images in the time sequence.

IrSimple Infrared communication via IrSimple technology for fast, easy wireless image transfer to a compatible device.

xD/SD/SDHC-compatible slot The FinePix F100fd features a xD/SD-compatible slot, which accepts not only Fujifilm’s traditional xD-Picture Cards but also Secure Digital (SD) and SD-High Capacity/SDHC cards too.

Customer Reviews

Pro photographer loves it
I'm a professional photographer and I've owned a Fuji F10, F30, F50 and now the F100. The F50 was the only dog of that group. The F100 I feel has just as good low-light performance as my beloved F30 but with twice the resolution. You can look at my blog at http://rickleephoto.blogspot.com and click on the "Produce" tag and see that weeks #122 and up are shot with the F100 at ISO800. The color and sharpness are stunning. With the F30, I always had the camera set on minus 1/3 or 2/3 stops to avoid overexposure. I think that problem is solved on the F100. I love the extra wide-angle we have now. That really extends the usefulness of the camera.

As for the pink banding problem... I really don't want to start calling people names, but honestly, I've always found that there will be a group of people who approach photography from an "engineering" standpoint rather than an artistic one. We need the technical nerds to do tests and such, but I've never seen this problem show up in a real-world photo. I've seen a lot of stunning photos by some good photographers done with this camera and none of them suffered because of this problem.

Much better than I initially expected
Let me say right off the bat that I'm an owner of a previous F-series camera, the F31fd. I love that camera but I wanted the image stabilization and the wider wide-angle, which the F31 doesn't have.

When I first opened the box and tried out a few dozen shots, I was disappointed. Using the F100 as I had used the F31, I thought the results weren't as good. I wasn't used to the new controls, I missed the Manual-Aperture-Shutter- priority and the top-mounted Mode dial. (By the way I haven't encountered the purple band issue.)

But after several weeks I've changed my mind. The lens is sharper, the zoom is greater (on both ends), the response is just as quick, and I'm finally accustomed to the new rotating 4-way control. I never use Scene Modes, but the new Portrait Enhancer is awesome.

If you're new to Fujifilm pocket cameras, you will LOVE the F100. If you're like me and you previously owned an F31, I say give the F100 a chance.

Hints for those who owned the F31:
* in bright contrasty daytime shots the F100 underexposes where the F31 overexposed. Use "Spot" metering in bright daylight on the F100 and your problems are solved.

* Sunny shots seem a touch more bluish on the F100 than the F31. Use "chrome" or even better, set White Balance to "shade". Works great.

* again in low-light shots, the F100 exposes more accurately where the F31 overexposed. Forget Exposure Compensation, use plain ole AUTO mode (yes!) on the F100, it works fine.

* Miss the Manual mode for very dim lighting? Use "Night" mode, it now works automatically all the way down to 4 or 8 full seconds.

* With the new 4-way control on the F100, does the Menu-within-a-Menu annoy you? Easy fix: just HOLD DOWN the OK button longer and you jump straight to the inner Menu. (This is not in the manual!)

Designed by committee
I bought this because I hoped it would be an upgrade from my favorite digital camera, the Fujifilm F30. Unfortunately, it is not better overall.

The F30, which is out of production, developed something of a cult following in techno-nurd circles because it had the incredible sensitivity of ISO 3200 with low noise (speckle). Fuji accomplished this with their "Super CCD" using hexagonally packed, larger sensors for greater fill factor and the ability to capture lower light intensities. (CCD photodiodes typically operate pretty close to the quantum limit of efficiency, so there is no possible improvement except by larger pixels.) The technology was brilliant but worked well only up to about 6 megapixels for the small chip size used in pocket cameras. Unfortunately Fuji's marketing people were not as imaginative as their semiconductor team and did not know how to persuade the buying public that dim light image quality is more valuable to the average photographer than pixel count - which it is. Caving in to the pixel race, later Fuji F cameras had more but smaller pixels, giving up the extreme low noise, low light capabilities. As a result used F30's sell at high prices on eBay.

Now comes the F100, which Fuji advertises as the pocket camera to end all pocket cameras, state of the art in every way, and which is supposed to extend the low light theme to 12MP, offering ISO 3200 for full resolution and up to an astounding ISO 12,800 with pixels reduced to 3MP.

So, how does it work? I've just spent the better part of a spring day comparing the F100 images directly with my F30 under various conditions.

Unfortunately, no, they did not manage to repeal the laws of physics. At ISO 3200, the 12MP F100 with its necessarily smaller pixels gives rougher images than my 6MP F30. And as for the ISO 12,800; forget it, it's a gimmick. The images are so rough as to be useless. This irritated me; borders on deceptive advertising.

The higher pixel count does stand up better to higher magnification or cropping. In good light where it is possible to use ISO 200, the F100 gives wonderful photos which can be cropped or blown up significantly more. But for the unique higher ISO range for which people look to Fuji, the F100 is actually a bit worse in image quality. Disappointing.

Otherwise, the F100 gives the impression of a pile of disconnected features There are worthwhile features in the F100 over the F30; one is the wide angle lens, the equivalent of 28mm, uncommon on pocket cameras; another is active image stabilization which allows slower shutters. Also F100 accepts SD memory cards whereas the F30 only took oddball proprietary xD's. In my tests however, the benefit of the Wide Dynamic Range feature seemed hard to discern. The battery seems to discharge pretty quickly. The nice aluminum case of the F30 has been replaced with Chinese plastic. (By the way, I read about a "pink banding" problem with the F100 but did not observe this.)

Otherwise, some of the annoyances of the F30 remain; a strange USB connector which won't work with your non-Fuji cables. The movie mode, for me one of the really cool features of a pocket camera, has not been improved at all; it is still not possible to zoom the lens while capturing a movie. The zoom itself is too hard to control, always overshooting one way or another - Hey guys, what would be wrong with a simple manual ring to zoom the lens?

Most Japanese cameras and all Fujifilm cameras including this one are marred by byzantine, obscure, hard to remember menu systems, packed with a plethora of "scene modes" certain to be ignored by the type of user who would buy an advanced digicam in the first place. They serve no purpose except to clutter things up. The other day in a store I saw a digicam that boasted of "Fifty Scene Modes!" Fifty?? Hey folks, what happened to the idea of a POINT AND SHOOT camera??

Overall, I admire Fujifilm which is one of the world's premier imaging technology companies. But as with many large corporations, its products are designed by uneven committees; brilliant CCD people, me-too market people, and an interface team who muck things up based on false assumptions. Companies which produce really great products, like Apple, do so because one person with excellent design sense governs the whole development.

Bottom line: I was disappointed because the F100 was not a clear advance over my two year old F30. It does have a nice wide angle lens, and if you don't mind the high price you may love it. In good light the photos are superb. But overall it does not give the sense of a well integrated product. Once the dim light capabilities are compromised, the F100 is just another camera which competes with many others.