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| Click photo for more images of the FujiFilm FinePix F50fd. |
When the 6-megapixel FujiFilm FinePix F30 was released last year, its high ISO limit of 3200 was groundbreaking. And when we tested it in the Pop Photo Lab, it boasted full resolution capture with astounding noise and resolution results all the way up to ISO 3200. That legacy is both a curse and a blessing, however, when we tested Fuji's follow-up to the F30, the 12-megapixel, 3x zoom (35-105mm f/2.8-5.1) FinePix F50fd (street: $250).
Were it not for the high ISO lab results of its ancestor, we'd simply report that FujiFilm was a little too ambitious with its ISO range on the F50fd. It's a mistake that many other camera companies have made, and continue to make, with virtually unusable high ISO settings on their compact cameras.
Sadly, not even the F50fd's great additions, of which there are many, can convince us to recommend it over its predecessor.
Certified Lab Results
Like so many 10- and 12-megapixel compacts, FujiFilm's F50fd performs great at low ISOs, but image quality suffers dramatically as the sensitivity climbs. At ISO 100, resolution is Excellent (2300), Noise is Low (1.9), and Color is Excellent (Average Delta E: 7.4 Manual White Balance, ISO 100). At ISO 200, noise is Moderately Low (2.2). But it climbs to Moderate at ISO 400 (2.7) and ISO 800 (2.8). At ISO 1600, the last full-resolution ISO, Noise is Unacceptable (4.0), and Resolution drops significantly to Extremely High (1525). Shedding half its megapixels to double the sensitivity at ISO 3200, Noise climbs even higher into Unacceptable territory (4.7), and with less recording pixels, its only natural the Resolution drops yet again, staying just this side of Acceptable (1110). Shedding half its pixels once again for 3MP ISO 6400 mode, Noise climbs yet again (Unacceptable 5.4), and Resolution drops to an abysmal Unacceptable (800).
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What's Hot
• Face Detection that can even ID profiles
• Extremely Fast Autofocus
• Overall build
• Dual (xD and SDHC) memory format
• Sensor-Shift Stabilization
What's Not
• High ISO Image quality is a disappointment
• Plastic tripod socket
• Slow maximum aperture on a 3x zoom
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You've got to give FujiFilm credit for trying, but these lab numbers don't live up the legacy of the F30. ISO 100 images look fantastic, ISO 200 and 400 images look very good, but at ISO 800, you'll start to notice noisy shadows and soggy edges. This wasn't the case with the F30. In fact, the F30 performed significantly better at ISO 3200 than the F50fd (both of which capture at 6 megapixels at this ISO), which is disappointing.
Typical of a retracting-lens ultracompact, there's Slight Barrel Distortion (.34%) at wide angle (35mm/35mm equiv). Barrel Distortion is Imperceptible at mid-zoom (.06% @ 70mm/35mm equiv) and telephoto (.04% @ 105mm/35mm equiv).
Regular Autofocus feels fast in most lighting, but Face Detection feels sluggish at times. It can take nearly a second to find a face, particularly at indirect angles. But that it can usually grab a near-profile at all is, in itself, quite an evolution in Face Detection focus technologies.
Low ISO shots look gorgeous, with great detail in highlights, midtones, and shadows, but noise and detail loss becomes more and more distracting each time you double the ISOs. Turn on Image Stabilization, and stick to low ISOs (100-400) whenever possible!
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