Home > Consumer Reviews > Fujifilm FinePix F31fd Digital Camera - Silver (6.3MP, 3x Optical Zoom) 2.5 inch LCD

You may already know that this unassuming little camera, along with its predecessor, the F30, is widely considered a modern classic. What is unique is its proprietary Fuji sensor which, whilst not the highest in pixel count, currently offers by far the best low-light performance of any compact on the market. That is not just my opinion - read the major review sites to see how this camera stands out.

In real terms you get great pictures in conditions that flummox most non-SLR cameras, especially in typically overcast UK conditions or indoors when normal cameras would force you to resort to unflattering use of flash.

Having previously been a little disappointed with the results of a tiny Panasonic Lumix, which produced shockingly noisy prints even in bright weather, I did plenty of research before buying this Fuji. Whilst this is a fraction larger, it is still highly pocketable and the final image quality is far superior. It may not have the image stabilisation of the Lumix or my larger KM A200 but it more than makes up for it in low-noise high ISO modes.

I have taken lovely hand-held shots from my flat of night rolling in over the city, something I wouldn't normally contemplate without a long exposure on a tripod. More importantly for me, the F31fd takes impeccable natural light portraits of my baby daughters whether indoors or out.

I was tempted to go for the newer F40fd with 8MP sensor and SD card compatibility until I found it lacked manual modes and looked ugly and cheap in comparison (though some reviews prefer it proving the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder). Why they didn't just upgrade the sensor and maybe offer a black option I will never know, but it's telling that they have retained the F31fd alongside.

Anyway, this attractive, solid camera is as good as compacts get right now. Besides, after about 5MP the typical limiting factor on compacts is lens and CCD quality rather than CCD pixel count. With higher resolutions shrinking the individual pixel area it may be that image quality actually rolls off with current 8MP compact sensors. This Fuji may not have Leica glass or a 28mm wide angle end, but its lens does a great job of retaining optical resolution. It also has great ergonomics and handling and a usable face detection system.

The only things I can fault the Fuji F31fd on are the lack of a (rare) timelapse facility, no image stabilisation (though it does have an anti-blur mode that uses its incredible high-ISO performance), the lack of a true wide-angle lens, its reliance on (increasingly cheap) XD cards and the absence of widescreen 16:9 movie or photo modes.

All in all, this is a tremendous little camera capable of astonishing real-world results for far less investment than supposedly better brands. I can't recommend it highly enough, even or perhaps especially if you're after a point and shoot.

I bought this camera due to reviews about its "super CCD" light sensor which can produce good pictures in light that other cameras would struggle with. It does exactly that, with a natural light mode which will not use the flash and can still take great pictures. I found that this camera topped all the reviews I could find about it.

I bought it to take on safari, thinking that we'd be in low light situations a lot and that a flash would be pretty much useless. The camera was flawless and produced great pictures in light that would have stumped others.

Its well made, being a metal case and its quick to start up. Battery life is fantastic and seems to be up to the 500+ shots claimed. On our trip we took over 300 photos and the camera spent most of the holiday on full charge, only showing some discharge near the end. In the future I won't take the charger with me, one less thing to pack or worry about. Combine this with a 1Gb xD card and you've got a great holiday/quick camera.

I'd rate this over other 8 & 10 megapixel cameras, high pixels are no use if the picture get is poor or the light sensor cannot produce a clear picture.

I am principally a Digital SLR user, and wanted an easily pocketable camera to replace my old Canon Ixus 400. I naturally went for the highest MP size in the Ixus range - the 10.0MP Ixus 900Ti - but was very disappointed with the quality of the results. The pictures lacked detail and were particularly soft in the corners. A second 900Ti had even poorer picture quality (both were worse than my original 4MP Ixus 400) so it was back to the drawing board. After weeks of researching magazines and on-line reviews, I was impressed most by reviews of the F31fd, and I have not been disappointed. Admittedly it hasn't all the bells and whistles of the Ixus but the picture quality is superb right the way across the frame, with corners impressively sharp. Besides the usual programme settings, the F31fd offers the more creatively-minded control of shutter speed and aperture, an feature lacking in the Ixus and many other of the more expensive compacts.

If taking photos is about getting the best pictures possible, you can't go wrong with the F31fd. It is so much cheaper than most of its rivals - at £130 approx it is worth every penny.

On paper, there are higher specified cameras on the market, and notable "omissions" on the Fuji F31fd spec are: small resolution compared with the market-standard 8-10mp resolution now available, lack of optical camera-shake reduction mechanism, lack of a very long zoom.

And here's why none of those omissions really matter.

"It's only 6mp!"
The 6.3mp sensor on the F31 is a tried and tested item and produces wonderfully smooth images. Having recently tried a £400 Ricoh Caplio GX100 with a 10mp sensor, I can attest to the notion that too many pixels crammed onto a sensor = noise = bad image quality. Lots of pixels does not mean lots of quality. After a certain threshold (dependent on the size of the sensor), you start to get poorer quality images. The Fuji's results are sharp, clean and saturated.

To put 6mp into perspective, prints upto 8x10 will be absolutely fine. 10x12 will be very acceptable. Above that, they will be fine for viewing from anything other than the closest inspection. Does anyone really print A3 prints of everything they take? 6mp is fine for more than 99.9% of the home users' images.

"It only zooms to 110mm" (35mm equiv.)
Very long zooms just mean even slower lenses, which are eventually unusable in anything but the brightest of light. Camera shake is also exaggerated with longer zooms. The compromises that a manufacturer has to make to the whole of the zoom range are not worth the extra reach, and the pulling power of a telezoom dimishes the further up the scale you go. The difference between 24mm and 28mm is vast at the wide angle, but the difference between 80mm and 100mm is hardly noticeable at the tele-end. Not worth sacrificing image quality for. If you need to get closer, use your legs or crop the image in your computer.

"It doesn't have Image Stabilisation / Vibration Reduction / Shake Reduction / OIS..."
Camera shake reduction is a cool feature, but a fast lens (f2.8) and good low light sensitivity (3200iso) mean that this is less of a requirement than with slower cameras. Having said that, it might still be nice to have, but my experience of sensor-mounted shake-reduction solutions has not been good. Unless the technology is built into the lens, there seems little point in having it.

"Yeah, but..."
Despite the apparent "last gen" spec, this camera outperforms all other compacts I have tried. Images are clean and punchy. 400 and 800 iso are very useable. 1600 and 3200 iso provide fine B&W images, and adequate results for colour images (depending on how critical you are). I'm very picky, so this is an endorsement. Cf. the images at 800iso from the Fuji are better than those at 400iso from the Ricoh I mentioned before.

"What's really good?"
- The image quality - I've said it before, but you buy cameras for the images they produce, so why settle for poor images from a cool looking camera? The images will last a lot longer than the camera - hopefully a lifetime. I've talked about the sensor a lot, but equally impressive is the Fujinon lens. Lots of other manufacturers brag about their Leica and Schneider lenses, and Fuji has little to no reputation in lenses, but this lens is really great and deserves high praise.
- The speed - startup, focusing, write and shutter lag speeds are all excellent.
- The size - not too small, but eminently pocketable.
- The battery life - I've never run out of juice and I don't recharge it that often.
- I don't like using flash, but the flash on this camera does a good job of subtly lighting the subject rather than blowing all highlights way out.
- The pic modes and creative options are really great to have for beginners and experts alike.

"Can't ALL be good - what are the shortcomings?"
I kind of wish the camera was SD-card compatible and gave the option to save in RAW. Neither of these are deal-breakers though as memory cards are so cheap now and very few compacts offer RAW. Those that do offer RAW tend to be slow to write, so it may be a fair trade off - the Fuji is amazingly quick to operate. I also wish that it had a wider lens - perhaps a 24mm or 28mm equiv., but again, most compacts start at 35mm equiv. A live histogram view is also desireable. Hopefully all of these things can be sorted out on the update of the F31.

Bottom line - the images are great from the F31fd. The camera is perfect as a p&s, but more advanced users can also exploit the manual features for more creative effects.

Very very highly recommended and a bargain at the current Amazon price.

"Who on Earth are you?"
For what it's worth, I am a keen SLR photographer with 10years+ of experience. I'm a die-hard Canon-fan, but for a compact option, this is my hands-down recommendation to all users, of any ability.

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UPDATE

Fuji have announced the F50fd as the replacement to F31fd. There is a huge leap in features with the resolution rising to 12mp, a sensor-based shake reduction system and XD/SD card compatibility amongst the headline makers. Now, these may improve on the F31, or they may not. To date, no reviews have been released. However, watch out for price drops on the F31 as this is a camera which will provide years of superb service. I hope the F50 moves the game on again, but I have to be convinced.

Significant plus points from my point of view:

1. Battery life!!!! - I can't say this enough - it seriously lasts forever! I took 400+ shots over one weekend and the battery is STILL showing full!
2. Picture quality when using manual mode - almost perfect.
3. Sensitivity capabilities in dark situations - very good indeed.
4. User-friendly interface/controls/menus - what can I say, they suit my style of use.
5. Build quality and 'feel' i.e. ergonomics

Negative points from my point of view:

1. In Auto mode, the camera uses a higher than necessary ISO, which means that if you have to zoom in too much before you print/crop the picture, the resulting picture may (depending on the situation you took the picture in) have too much noise in it i.e. speckling.
2. AV/USB/charging port cover looks flimsy, but I think it'll stand the test of time.

If only it had the image sharpness that my F610 had (you could've cut paper with it!)...with it's current ISO capabilities...I'd have given it 5 stars.

NB: Seriously considered switching brands (looked at Canon 900 Ti and Panasonic TZ3), but why pay £70-90 more for a camera that isn't that significantly better? Did you see the head-to-head on The Gadget Show? Watch it if you need some help to make a decision.