Fujifilm’s FinePix Z100fd

Fujifilm has slimmed down its FinePix camera even more—now it's just 19.8 mm thick—but the redesigned FinePix Z100fd still manages to cram 8 megapixels of imaging goodness into its slim form factor.

Fujifilm’s FinePix Z100fd is stylish, has a cool on/off mechanism, and packs a collection of innovative features, but if you tend to change settings often, its interface just might make you tear your hair out. Unfortunately, the soft and chromatically inaccurate image-quality fails to make up for the camera’s aggravating interface, so for most users there are better point-and-shoots to be found. Release: February 2008

Pros: Engaging design, optical image-stabilization, interesting shooting-aides.

Cons: Troublesome interface, no manual-mode, soft image-quality, consistently high color-temperature.

Interface and software - Mediocre

At first glance the Z100fd's interface seems intuitive enough: using a typical wheel-controlled GUI, a user can quickly scroll through the camera's modes, settings, and system settings. The camera also has shortcuts for face-detection, image stabilization, macro, flash, and timed-shutter toggling.

Alas, for some baffling reason the camera dumps you completely out of the menu after each selection. Therefore, if you want to set the ISO to 400 and then change the white-balance mode, you have to push the menu button, select the appropriate sub-menu, select the ISO-sensitivity setting, and then select the desired ISO rating. The camera then exits the menu altogether, so to set the white-balance (which is literally one step away from the ISO setting), you have to repeat the entire process. This increases the amount of button-pushing and wheel-wrangling by 2 to 10 times over what it should be, a frustration compounded by the fact that there's no conceivable reason as to why the camera behaves this way. Those who setup their cameras once, keep them on automatic, and never change settings again shouldn't be terribly affected by this, but the vast majority of users who change settings more frequently might soon be chucking the Z100fd against a nearby wall.

Fujifilm's software fared a little better. It includes an easy to use mechanism for automatically downloading software to a host computer, it has built-in connectivity to their online repository, which is similar to Flickr, and it has both editing functionality and automated printing (for both local and online printers). Unfortunately, this software too has a niggling annoyance that seriously cripples its usefulness: to wit, it continually refreshes its ‘focus' (i.e., brings its window to the foreground) while performing any operation, thus effectively taking your computer hostage while transferring images. It's not so annoying, but seems to lack polish. --infosync


Manufacturer Description

Despite being only 19.8 millimeters thick, the 8-megapixel FinePix Z100fd is packed with state-of-the-art technologies and features. These include a mid-range Fujinon 5x optical zoom lens--the equivalent of a 36mm-180mm camera--a high-resolution 2.7-inch LCD with a reinforced glass coating for scratch-free durability, and sensitivity settings of up to ISO 1600 that allow natural images that retain the atmosphere of evening events taken without the use of a flash.

Fuji FinePix Z100fd features and highlights
Designed for the most style-conscious user, the FinePix Z100fd sports a totally redesigned metal body that is guaranteed to turn heads wherever you take it. From its unique 'diagonal slide' lens cover and illuminated 'Z' logo to its eye-catching color combinations, the FinePix Z100fd sets a new standard in sophistication.


Product Description

The high resolution of the sleekly designed FinePix Z100fd 8-Megapixel Digital Camera lets you crop and enlarge faces and parts of scenes, while still enjoying smooth tones and images. The amazing power of 5x optical zoom lets you use a wide angle to capture the entire scene or take great close-ups from far away. Innovative Face Detection instantly identifies faces in the scene and automatically adjusts focus and exposure to ensure beautiful people pictures. The FinePix Z100fd features a red-eye removal function that automatically detects and corrects unsightly red-eye reflections that often spoil flash photos of people. High sensitivity lets you use a fast shutter to freeze the action in sharp bright detail, while built-in CCD shift image stabilization automatically compensates for camera shake. Take vivid, clear and bright photos indoors, at night, or when shooting fast moving subjects. ISO1600 high sensitivity and versatile functions make it easy to capture more scenes with exceptional results. By automatically setting the ideal balance of flash output and sensitivity, Intelligent Flash captures both the subject and the background with natural brightness and in beautiful detail. Composing and viewing photos and slideshows on the spacious 2.7" LCD is a real pleasure. With a 230K-pixel canvas, it is easy to see photo detail and read the intuitive GUI menus. Lens focal length - f=5.9mm - 29.5mm, Equivalent to 36-180mm on a 35mm camera 1/2.5 CCD sensor File format - JPEG (EXIF Ver 2.2) IrSimple for Wireless Communication Shooting modes - Natural Light, Natural Light & with Flash, Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Fireworks, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Underwater, Museum, Party, Flower, Text, and Auction Shutter Speed - 4 second to 1/1000 second Self-timer - 10 seconds and 2 seconds delay Dimensions - Width 3.6 x Height 2.2 x Depth 0.8 (92.0x55.7x19.8mm) Weight - 4.9 ounces (138 grams)