Photography and Digital Camera

In the fast-moving, ‘bigger better faster’ world of the digital compact the Fujifilm FinePix F30 will be one of the rare few that are remembered after they have gone (the nearest this throwaway business gets to a ‘classic’). The reason this unassuming, blocky little camera stands out from the scores of other cameras launched last year – and why it has a mantelpiece covered in industry awards – is simple; image quality, or more specifically, high ISO performance. The F30′s low light capabilities come from a combination of clever technology (Super CCD and Real Photo Processor) and a ‘swimming against the tide’ attitude to specification, which means a bigger sensor with fewer pixels. The F30 also, against all the odds, actually sold pretty well, going against the conventional wisdom that consumers buy on pixel counts alone. Although it has its share of faults the F30 became the benchmark by which all compact cameras in the 6-8 megapixel sector were judged. The excellent battery life and high speed performance certainly helped too.

Now we have the F30′s replacement, the F31fd – an upgrade so minor that we would not normally even bother to review it (the only spec changes are a Face Detection function and infra-red communication). But such is the continuing level of interest in the F30 that it would be remiss not to update the review for the new model, and that is what we have done – the majority of this review is taken word-for-word from the F30 review, but the image samples are all new, and all the tests have been re-done.

In 2007 the market has, inevitably, moved on again, with 8,10 and even 12 megapixels common in even fairly inexpensive compacts, so the F31fd will have an even tougher job competing for attention, and we were interested to see how it stacks up against the latest generation of high resolution compacts; all boasting ‘high ISO’ capabilities – on paper at least. We were also interested to see if the internal changes (the sensor is the same but the F31fd has a new version of the Real Photo Processor) had upset the fine balance of hardware and processing that made the F30 what it was. We’ll start, as ever, with the headline specification:

• Face Detection Technology built-in to the camera’s processor
• Real Photo Processor II and new Super CCD HR VI
• ISO 3200 sensitivity at full resolution
• 6.3 million pixels
• 3.0x optical zoom
• Long-life battery (up to 580 shots)
• IR Communication (IR simple™)
• VGA movie capture of 30 frames per second with sound
• PictBridge™ compatible for direct printing without a PC
• Quick response times (0.01 second shutter lag and 1.5 second start-up)
• Aperture and shutter priority modes

Changes over the F30

Where the F30 was quite a leap forward from the F10/F11, the F31fd, as mentioned above, is a pretty minor, incremental upgrade to the F30. The biggest change is the processor, which has been upgraded to the latest Real Photo Processor II. As well as minor image processing changes the RPP II processor also brings Fuji’s hardware-based Face Detection technology to the F31fd. Aside from a slight color change and a redesigned grip the only other difference is that the new camera – like most of Fuji’s new models – sports IrSimple – a fast infrared comms system that allows you to wirelessly share pictures with other F31fd users and use print kiosks without removing the card. Not exactly what we’d call a key feature.

FinePix F31fd specifications

Review based on a production Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro

The successor to Fuji’s FinePix S3 Pro made its first, fleeting appearence at Photokina in September 2006, though it didn’t start shipping until the spring of 2007 – keeping in line with Fuji’s approx two-year gap between SLR models. The S5 Pro may have the same sensor (well, almost – more about that later) as the S3 Pro, but as a camera it is a quantum leap forward over the models that preceded it, being based on the highly-regarded Nikon D200 (all the previous models were based on consumer level Nikon film cameras).

Being essentially a D200 with a Super CCD sensor and Fuji processor means the S5 Pro enjoys all the benefits of Nikon’s superb ‘semi pro’ body; weather-sealed body with a magnesium alloy chassis, latest generation focus, flash and metering systems, better shutter, better viewfinder and expansive lens compatibility. It is also the first Fuji SLR to be a truly ‘integrated’ digital camera; previous models were based on film cameras (supplied by Nikon) which forced Fuji to use a clunky ‘camera of two halves’ design, complicating control (and in the early models meaning the ‘digital’ and ‘camera’ parts had separate batteries). Finally there are some changes under the hood, including a tweaked sensor, new processor and a host of minor (and a few major) feature upgrades.

The S3 Pro – despite a hefty price tag – carved out a niche for itself amongst wedding and portrait photographers willing to sacrifice speed and durability in order to take advantage of the extra dynamic range offered by the SR sensor. On paper the S5 Pro (which has a smaller $400 price premium over the Nikon D200) seems to address most of the issues we – and many potential purchasers – had with the S3 Pro, so let’s find out if it delivers…

Improvements of FinePix S5 Pro over FinePix S3 Pro

Where the original S1 Pro and S2 Pro did well because they offered high resolution at a low price (the S1 was the first ‘affordable’ digital SLR in the days before the consumer DSLR even existed), by the time the S3 Pro surfaced it looked expensive and under-powered. This was due in no small part to Fuji’s reliance on Nikon for the ‘photographic’ part of the camera, and Nikon’s obvious reluctance to give them anything too good. That’s all changed with the S5 Pro, which is the most significant upgrade the FinePix Pro series has ever seen. Based on a Nikon D200 it really is a totally different kettle of fish. The key improvements (adapted from Fuji’s press release) are listed below:

• Improved Super CCD SR Pro features an optimised low-pass filter to reduce moiré
• Newly developed RP Processor Pro features two cycles of noise reduction with a claimed reduction in noise at higher sensitivities (camera now allows shooting at ISO 3200)
• Users can now choose from up to six preset Dynamic Range settings between 100% and 400%
• Three new variations of the original film simulation mode (F1) have been added (five modes in total
• Improved Nikon lens compatability (including manual focus AI lenses)
• RAW+ jpeg (4,256 x 2,848 pixels, 3,024 x 2,016 pixels, 2,304 x 1,536 pixels) dual-save mode
• Robust lightweight magnesium-alloy body with moisture- and dust-proof seals
• Durable shutter unit stands up to approximately 100,000 cycles
• Adoption of high-precision i-TTL flash control
• 11-point AF sensor with faster autofocusing than the FinePix S3 Pro
• Supports 1/3, 1/2, and 1 stop lens aperture control
• Shutter speed 30 sec. to 1/8000 sec, maximum flash sync speed of 1/250 sec.
• 3 levels of custom function locking with password protection
• 2.5 inch LCD with 235,000 pixels, gives 100% frame coverage.
• Colour and monochromatic 30 seconds live view function to check focusing
• Li-ion rechargeable battery
• Face Detection Technology for post image verification

Fujifilm SuperCCD SR II

Like the S3 Pro before it, the S5 Pro utilizes Fujifilm’s unique “extended dynamic range” SuperCCD SR sensor. This features two photodiodes at each photosite (a single ‘input pixel’) and is designed to overcome the inability of standard CCD sensors to capture the full range of tones in scenes with a wide dynamic range (from deep shadows to bright highlights).

The ‘S’ pixel has normal sensitivity and captures the same range of light as a conventional CCD photosite, the ‘R’ pixel is smaller and has a lower sensitivity and is designed to capture detail above the saturation point of the ‘S’ pixel (in other words the brightest highlights). The ‘Real Photo Processor Pro’ can then combine the information from the ‘S’ and ‘R’ pixels to produce an extended dynamic range and avoid the loss of detail due to over-exposure..

Like the S3 Pro the S5 uses some nifty processing to turn what is effectively a six megapixel capture into a twelve megapixel output image (in its earliest incarnations Super CCD always came with a healthy dose of interpolation). This is despite the fact that the S and R ‘pixels’ are in fact dual photosites that are combined to produce a single input pixel.

Review based on a production Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd

Having recently taken its long zoom cameras into ever more DSLR-like territory, Fuji’s S8000fd is something of a departure. The S8000fd places a smaller sensor behind a much longer-range zoom lens in a less SLR-like body. Going head to head with the Panasonic FZ18 and Olympus SP560UZ the S8000fd is Fuji’s most ambitious zoom compact to date. It is also the first long-zoom camera from Fuji to offer image stabilization (in this case a CCD-shake system), which is offered by most competing brands and is pretty much essential with a zoom this long.

The S8000fd packs an awful lot into its compact body, and seems to be trying pretty hard to be all things to all people, with manual exposure controls sitting alongside point-and-shoot convenience features such as face detection. There is a high-speed shooting mode (at reduced resolution), and some extremely high sensitivity modes (again at lower resolution), for shooting in low light. What compromises this all-encompassing approach brings, we shall see.

Headline features

• 18X optical zoom, giving a 27mm-486mm equiv. range
• Dual IS, combining sensor shift technology with high ISO settings
• 8.0 million pixel sensor
• ISO 6400 at 4MP
• ISO 1600 at full resolution
• Face detection (up to 10 faces per shot)
• Face detection-combined In-camera red-eye reduction
• High-speed focus mode
• Rapid continuous shooting (up to 15fps at 2MP)
• 60 fps LCD refresh rate
• Accepts both xD and SD cards, including SDHC

S8000fd Key specifications