Reviews for Fujifilm FinePix F40fd 8.3 Megapixel Compact Camera - Silver

FASTEST indoors low light P&S camera

Strengths: FASTEST indoors low light P&S camera, to capture fast moving small kids

Weakness: If your need is for a small simple fast low light P&S camera, NONE

Since October I have been researching to find the fastest (for fast moving small kids) low light (for evening indoor pictures) P&S camera. I also know 99.9% of my prints will be 4x6 or 5x7, never bigger. And I want the red-eye reduction to work! I refuse to do touch-ups. Before I review, let me say a THANK YOU, to all who do post their reviews, because I have read them ALL, and a really big THANK YOU to Steves-Digicams and the CNET staff, who test and provide shutter speeds with flash.

I have visited all local stores (BestBuy, CircuitCity, Target, Sears, Frys, Wolf, Office Depot & Max, Staples) multi-times to play with all cameras. Yes, I am retired and have the time. Plus I reviewed all CNET P&S reviews from 1/25/07 to 11/15/07. I documented speeds of low contrast shutter and shot 2 shot with flash. From my research, the final candidates, based on low light speeds, were Fuji F40fd, Canon SD 800, 850, 870(*).
* Interesting the Canon SD870 specs say it should be as fast as the 850, but comparing 850 vs 870 under store lights, at 2 different BB stores, the 850s were noticeable faster. I even had the salesperson swap the batteries, between the two, just to be sure.

I purchased the Fuji F45fd and Canon SD850. I borrowed a CanonSD800 and had my Canon A610. Without question the Fuji was the fastest for evening indoors pictures. The Fuji was also the fastest for flash recharge. The Canons 800 & 850 did missed some small kids indoors action shots. All cameras had the same brand 2Gb 150x SD. After a week I printed all the shots, as 4x6s, from the same store, as different orders with different names, to ensure no pictures were mixed.

The Canon SD800 had too many red-eyes. My old A610 was to slow for evening indoor shots. For outdoor daylight shots, all 4 cameras had the same speed results.

Overall the 4x6s quality was the same between the Fuji F45 & Canon SD850. Comparing two very similar pictures, sometimes one would be a slight plus over the other, when you looked close up, then on another picture the other camera would be a slight better, but no real difference.

The Fuji was set to 4M(2304x1728 pixels) A5 size, approx. 980Kb files. The Canon SD850 was set to M2(2048x1536 pixels) A5 size, with medium(fine) compression, approx. 893Kb files.

The Canons do have a better long range zoom, at MAX zoom. If your need is for enlarge crops, the Canon AUTO pictures are taken at lower ISO, then the Fuji, see comparison below. I also tested the Canon SD850 with different ISOs in low light conditions. It was at the manual ISO 1600, that the Canon was as fast as the Fuji AUTO(ISO800), but the Canon(1600) pictures had higher noise.

Here are the ISO results, taken with AUTO mode. I believe this to be very important to understand the results. The listed numbers will first be Fuji F40(F45) then Canon SD850.

AUTO mode:

Evening indoors F@800, C@200
Outdoors 10pm Christmas Lights F@800, C@250
Outdoors bright sun, at min zoom F@100, C@80
Outdoors bright sun, at max zoom F@100, C@160
Outdoors cloudy F@200, C@80

Conclusion:

NO one camera is perfect for all people or all conditions!!!!!

Fuji F40/F45 is for those who want a fast, low light, small simple P&S camera, whose prints will usually be normal size(4x6,5x7). It is the BEST P&S available today, to capture fast moving kids indoors. I also appreciate the battery indicator.

Canon SD850 is a great P&S choice for more outdoors(vs indoors) or indoor adults (vs kids) pictures, or if you usually print pictures bigger then normal size.

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Great Low-Light Camera

Strengths: Good low-light, xD OR SD, compact, Nice bright LCD, multiple-face detection

Weakness: Feels heavier that some other cameras of similar size, but this also makes the camera seem very solid.

My biggest gripe with the digital cameras I had before was their inability to produce decent indoor pictures. They would always show up dark and I would have to photoshop each one. The Fuji F40fd has changed all that. It is an all around solid camera for just about any situation. It's perfect for taking on a vacation when you never know where you'll want to take a picture. Another feature that is GREAT is the multiple face detection. When viewing the picture on the LCD, it will draw a rectangle around each face it detects. Then, with the press of a button it will zoom in on every face individually so you can make sure no one blinked or had an awful look on their face. I highly recommend this camera.

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Great item for a good price!

Strengths: It takes SD card,lightweight, battery charges in 2 hrs.

Weakness: Takes some practice to get good portrait shots indoors.Package doesnt come with AC power adapter.

This is my first digital camera so i dont know the comparisons with other cameras.
But I've played around with this camera for about 2 weeks now.

From my experience the f40fd is quite good:

-takes very clear,crispy photos with flash and well defined photos without.

-It has ISO upto 2000 (which works automatically)
and has the 2 pictures simutaneous mode (flash,without flash).

-You can take atleast 300 photos before the battery needs to be recharged.(so not much need to worry about that)
-Outdoor shots have great color richness and you dont even need the flash.

-Indoor ones are great for objects,but requires a little messing around before you get a good shot( due to my lack of digital camera experience).

-I use a 2GB SD card so I never need to worry about space.


Drawbacks:

-It doesnt come with the AC power adapter ( extra $40.00 from the fuji site).So everytime you snap indoors you have to remove the battery to recharge afterwards.

-Video mode has low audio,so you have to be quite close to capture it.


Apart from these minor flaws,this camera serves the purpose and I'm having fun with it;)
Big Thumbs Up!

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Awesome little camera

Strengths: size, video capture, and ability to take 2 shots, one in natural lighting and the other with flash.

Weakness: none I can comment on yet.

I just got my camera last week.. and I love it. I was going to buy this one or the Canon SD800. Price difference was a factor but both cameras seem to be in the same league. A friend bought the Canon and side by side the Fuji is slightly slimmer. Also it is very user friendly. I have Canon 30D SLR and I hate lugging it around for every day pictures and had been wanting a simple and small point and shoot to carry in my bag. This camera is awesome. And I love taking pictures without a flash, so this camera fit the bill. I highly recommend!

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Excellent Point and Shoot camera

Strengths: Fast Auto focus, lower noise at high ISO compared to other similar sized cameras, excellent picture quality, compact size, feels high quality, large screen, face detection works quickly

Weakness: noise at even ISO 100, AF not as fast as Casio cameras, less manual controls than the F31FD, larger than competition

Despite the large size and the lack of an image stabilizer, the F40fd provides an easy to use camera that takes very high quality pictures. If I allow the camera to focus, it provides crisp, clear pictures. Even at high ISO, the pictures are still decent and not blurry. The natural light and flash mode are convenient. I didn't find a lack of a view finder to be a problem as the LCD is still slightly viewable in direct sunlight. Overall, highly recommend.

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Is F40fd a good buy?

Strengths: Good indoor image quality. Fast,super-quick response Packet size.

Weakness: No wide lens(28mm).

I did some research to try to find a new good camera. (I bought a coolpix 3700 2 years ago.) The one should small, no shutter lag, good pics for indoor, 28mm wide lens, super zoom (more than 5x).

Panasonic Lumix TZ3 has 10X, 28 - 280 mm lens. It seems a big match. After play with it in the circuit city, I think it's too big. From review, it's pic is not very good. (too noisy).

I gave up the super zoom to choose a more smaller mode. Canon SD800 IS and Panasonic Lumix FX07. SD800 has better indoor pics, but the 28mm wide angle pics sucks. I decided to buy FX07. After reading the user reviews at dpreview.com (many of them return it after used it), I didn't know FX07 is still a good buy. I went to Bestbuy and tried FX07. The interface is very good, and feel in hand is good too. But the size is not small as I thought.

I went back home to review my need. I think indoor image is more important for me than 28mm. So there is only one choice: Fuji Finepix F series. Currently, F30 and F31 are out of stock in US. Only F20 and F40Fd available. F40fd is smaller and can use SD Card, so I ordered F40FD(which is $50 expensive than F20).

I will update the review after I receive my order.

Update:
I received the F40fd yesterday. (I ordered it at buydig.com. Fast free shipping and delivery)

First look: It looks better than the picture. It's not too small, but still fit the pocket. Feel good in hand.

It took 4 hours to charge the battery(not 2 hours as the manual says).

Fast. Quick start, not shutter lag. Amazing pictures at low lights.

It's easy to use. The function wheel is a little hard to operate. The menu and button is a little confusing. If you want to customize more, need to read manual.

Other thought, my next camera must have 28mm lens and 10X super zoom.

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Cannot Recommend

Strengths: -High quality 2.5" LCD display -Long battery life (never received a low battery warning)

Weakness: -No backlight compensation function key -Graphics clutter when navigating/zooming photos on LCD screen -No write capability to memory card

The F40fd's response to backlighting was very inconsistent; sometimes the flash would go off illuminating the foreground subject, other times it would not and depict the subject as a black silhouette against the sky, window or other light source. My previous digital camera had a separate function key to toggle on/off for backlight without using a flash. Backlighting is the primary challenge for me because my kids don't pay attention to lighting when they decide to do some photo-worthy antics. This alone is a knock-out for me with this camera.

When calling up photos on the LCD, the delete function is too close to the photo toggle. A number of times when I thought I was pushing the arrow for next picture, I instead received the "delete image?" prompt. When I could successfully pull up a photo, zoom in and reposition the image, there was no way to turn off the screen graphics for zooming and re-orienting without the photo re-setting to it's original configuration.

The interface options could be vastly simplified if Fuji would eliminate the functions that are mere gimmicks, like the "natural light" and simultaneous with and without a flash shot features. During three months of use, I never got a shot with these features that was worth printing.

Lastly, many reviewers cite excellent image quality as a key differentiator for the F40fd. This may be true when comparing quality against previous generation models, but for this class of cameras in the 8MP range, image quality to me was average when comparing to those produced by Nikon and Lumix lenses.

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Fine

Strengths: Clear Pix

Weakness: ...

One of my friends let me use his Fuji F40 for a while.
It was amazing, and even better than my Sony cybershot.
So, I bought my own F40.
You will love this for sure...

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Fuji FinePix F40fd Digital Camera

Lithium Ion battery lasts a long time. It has build-in A/V output and can take DC 5V In. Both XD and SD cards can be used. I like the stabilization and face detection functions which help taking good quality pictures. The camera is not so slim as I thought. LCD screen is a little small.

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Excellent compact ruined by the lack of image...

Strengths: Low noise at low/mid -light, compact, good image quality, large, clear LCD.

Weakness: No image stabilization, no manual shutter control, no optical viewfinder.

After researching compact digital cameras, I came to the same conclusion as the one often mentioned on photography forums: if you want to shoot in mid/low -light conditions without that awful flash, either go Fuji Super-CCD sensor, or a "real", but expensive, D-SLR camera. In the image quality department alone, the F40fd does not disappoint: low noise up to ISO800 sensitivity (ISO1600 is unbearably noisy), sharp focus, good color balance. However, unless you do shoot with a flash or do shoot outdoors under plenty of daylight, most of the photos consistently come out blurry, since the camera always automatically chooses way too slow a shutter speed to eliminate hand-held camera motion. The camera lacks "real", hardware-based, Canon-style Image Stabilization (IS), or manual shutter override, so unless you plan to always use a tripod, F40fd's good mid/low -light performance will not be of much use.

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Exceeded expectation

Strengths: sharpness, color, overall IQ

Weakness: people would say lack of IS, I would say, who needs IS for a P&S focal range

I have taken shots outdoor as well as indoor with this camera. The picture quality often compares that from my DSLR when I am shooting outdoors. The colors are saturated and edges are sharp.
I also think that this camera gives the best quality for indoor shots from a P&S. You can safely shoot at ISO 800 and with a little photoshop noise reduction, the pictures are perfectly usable.

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Best P & S

Strengths: Low light Performance, Quick start up, focus and cycle time. Best in class iso performance.

Weakness: Likes to select higher iso than needed. Set to Auto(iso 400). Short zoom.

This is a great P & S for indoor and outdoor. I took some stellar photos. Takes good macro shots too. Detail is excellent. It just starts getting some noise at 400 iso, but much less than a Canon SX110 IS (junk) and Pansonic TZ5 (great with more light). The closest P & S in terms of iso performance is the Sony DSC-W300 - much more money. If you want high iso, go with Olympus E-520 DSLR.

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One of the Best Compact Cameras I had

Strengths: Excellent Picture Quality Easy to use Very good battery life Lot of scenic options Value for Money - You wont find a better camera at this price

Weakness: None so far

I have always owned a Canon. But My last Compact Canon Camera was very dissapointing. I bought it for my brother and also recommended one of my friend to buy it. My friend and my brother still hold me responsible for suggesting such a bad camera. At low lights Canon cameras simply dont perform well. To my surprise this Camera has been performing excellent at low lights. I dont know wht everyone prefers Canon. After buying this camera , I feel I will never go back to Canon Products

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It's a good low-light compact DC

Strengths: Usable pictures under low light condition

Weakness: Not a real hardware image stablizer

I received it two days ago and have tried it out at night and at noon. Unlike the other compact DC, it does produce usable pictures in any light condition without using flash. IS(image stablizer) is the only job it does not exceed my Canon A570IS. After FinePix's $50 rebate, both Fuji F40fd and Canon A570IS are selling at the same price as the best DC at its own court.

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Awesome Low Light Point and Shoot Camera

Strengths: Excellent low light CCD allows capturing pictures and videos in low ambient light settings. Super fast rsponse speed (takes 2 pictures - 1 without flash and with flash with 1 click). SD card ok.

Weakness: Low light sensitivity increases grain and noise in pictures. Not aesthetically pleasing as the canon powershot series. Slightly bulky - not a slim 'purse' model.

Overall, excellent point and shoot camera. compared to the Nikon s200 and Canon s800is, the pictures are better than the Nikon, slightly worse than the Canon. Nikon has the clearest picture, but has a slight blue-gray automatic setting. The Fuji has a default 'warmer' look on printed pictures due to its super HR CCD. Cheap SD card media compatible. Long Battery Life... over 250 pictures and still clicking without a need for a charge.

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a good pocket dc

Strengths: friendly operation system, beautiful color and face detection.

Weakness: Somewhat big

The operation system is very friendly and the photos have bright colors. Its face detection helps me make great picture easily. However, it is a little big in size. It is acceptable compared to its great functions.

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Best Fuji Digital Camera For Portraits

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