Jaron Berman
July 22nd, 2007, 12:23 AM
I've been a still photographer a lot longer than I've been in the motion business. One of the painful things for many of us has been trying to find a small rangefinder or p&s that takes pictures good enough to actually use. For a long time, I've simply sidestepped, using contax g2's and old canonets because film is still film. Recently, I got tired of using 35mm film when my work cameras are all digital (or 4x5). Someone mentioned a fuji, a brand I'd never considered for a camera, and I can honestly say it was a fantastic investment.
Fuji f31fd
It's a small and pocketable p&s that still allows shutter or aperture priority, and shoots CLEANLY up to 800 iso (not so clean up to 1600). It's "only" 6 mpx, however in test prints I made before buying the camera, I lined up shots from the canon G7, A640, the Nikon p5000 (which has a great feel, great interface and horrible image quality) as well as various sonys, casios, and the Ricoh gx-100 (which was the camera I was about to buy). In every blind print comparison, I picked the fuji as the best, sharpest, and most "photographic." Spec-wise, it seems like it should fall far behind, but in reality is certainly does not. Obviously, it's no Dslr...but its literally as close in quality as you can get on a small camera - take my word for it, I compared everything out there.
The only drawbacks: it uses xD cards... get the faster cards and a dedicated reader..which is hard to find. There's no optical vf...but the lcd does a nice job of gaining-up so you can at least frame in dim situations. In super high-contrast areas, it sometimes has a purple fringe, but the photoshop fringe-remover takes care of that very easily. A non-issue in my mind, especially when you compare it to anything else.
There is a newer model, the f40fd which is actually the upgrade to the lower-spec'd f20fd, NOT this particular camera. Avoid it! It has higher res and significantly worse prints. The f20fd has the same sensor and electronics as this, but no manual control. Fuji really hit the sweet spot on this cam, it'll be a shame when they replace it in the megapixel race.
If you're looking for something small to throw in your camera bag (or pocket), something that can actually make prints that stand up to Dslr prints, get it! And even at iso800, the pics are very very nice. Oh, and with rebate its just over $200~!~~~~~!!!
(Disclaimer - I'm a Canon guy, always have been. I have a LOT of canon glass and bodies..it pained me to blindly pick a fuji over a canon, but I've been extremely happy!)
Fuji f31fd
It's a small and pocketable p&s that still allows shutter or aperture priority, and shoots CLEANLY up to 800 iso (not so clean up to 1600). It's "only" 6 mpx, however in test prints I made before buying the camera, I lined up shots from the canon G7, A640, the Nikon p5000 (which has a great feel, great interface and horrible image quality) as well as various sonys, casios, and the Ricoh gx-100 (which was the camera I was about to buy). In every blind print comparison, I picked the fuji as the best, sharpest, and most "photographic." Spec-wise, it seems like it should fall far behind, but in reality is certainly does not. Obviously, it's no Dslr...but its literally as close in quality as you can get on a small camera - take my word for it, I compared everything out there.
The only drawbacks: it uses xD cards... get the faster cards and a dedicated reader..which is hard to find. There's no optical vf...but the lcd does a nice job of gaining-up so you can at least frame in dim situations. In super high-contrast areas, it sometimes has a purple fringe, but the photoshop fringe-remover takes care of that very easily. A non-issue in my mind, especially when you compare it to anything else.
There is a newer model, the f40fd which is actually the upgrade to the lower-spec'd f20fd, NOT this particular camera. Avoid it! It has higher res and significantly worse prints. The f20fd has the same sensor and electronics as this, but no manual control. Fuji really hit the sweet spot on this cam, it'll be a shame when they replace it in the megapixel race.
If you're looking for something small to throw in your camera bag (or pocket), something that can actually make prints that stand up to Dslr prints, get it! And even at iso800, the pics are very very nice. Oh, and with rebate its just over $200~!~~~~~!!!
(Disclaimer - I'm a Canon guy, always have been. I have a LOT of canon glass and bodies..it pained me to blindly pick a fuji over a canon, but I've been extremely happy!)