Home > Consumer Reviews > Fujifilm FinePix F50fd Digital Camera - Silver (12.0MP, 3x Optical Zoom) 2.7 inch LCD

I've recently this (12 mill pixel) camera and also for half its price Fujifilm's J10 (£65). Owning both these camera I'd recommend the J10 as its photos in the AUTO mode come out a lot sharper and clearly despite being half the price and lower pixels (8.2).

The f50 is a much more advanced camera then the J10 but to get decent photos from the f50 you need to use it in manual mode and change the ISO setting, etc depending on your location and surrounding, so not a quick point and shot.

So save yourself some money and get the J10. Sadly the f50fd may be feature rich but I think Fujifilm got this model all wrong, maybe its replacement models the f60fd or the f100fd are better, but I don't own them so cant say.

Agree with the pros/cons review below.

If you just want a no hassle auto point and shoot go for Canon's Ixus. I had that before the FD50 and it is easier to use and the "average" picture turns out better. With the FD50 you have to be willing to venture beyond the "auto" setting and experiment with aperture, light etc. to take as good, if not better, pictures than the other digital compacts out there.

However, this camera's really the best in the market when it comes to indoor pictures and especially low light situations where you want pics without a flash (we have a young baby). Having tested Canon, Minolta and Sony I haven't seen a better compact than the FD50 for these situations. Superb colors, fine definition and consistent anti-shake: we absolutely love it!

This is a difficult camera to rate because it depends greatly on what you want to be able to do with it.


First the negative...

If you want to keep things automatic and really just point and shoot then this is definitely NOT the camera for you and based on this requirement I would rate the camera low.

The 'Auto' mode operates at a minimum ISO setting of 400, which is too high a starting point and leads to unnecessarily noisy/grainy pictures in a lot of situations. The high ISO settings of 1600, 3200 and 6400 are practically unusable due to the noise and in my opinion these are just a gimmick. Unfortunately another gimmick is the 'Natural' light and the 'Natural/Flash' settings. The latter allows you to take 2 photos at the same time, 1 tries to capture the natural situation and the other uses the flash. This is a great idea and could have been really useful but unfortunately the ISO setting in Natural again leads to a lot of noise in most situations.


Now for the positive...

If you want to take a more active involvement in your photography and are looking for a solid compact digital camera that has a wealth of manual settings, capable of capturing great detail at a relatively low price then this is an excellent option.

The camera seems very well-built, looks good and has a weighty feel of quality which contradicts its low price and pocket size. The large LCD screen is also excellent.

If you use the manual settings, which are great for such a small, compact camera, then you can really get some great noise free images. The colours, focus and white balance are all good. You can also very simply change the ISO, Aperture, Exposure and Shutter Speed settings without too much bother and so each photo can be tailored depending on the situation. The settings remain in place from photo to photo until changed, and so you don't have to keep making adjustments.

Personally I avoid the "auto" mode to get the best images.


And the neutral....

The pixel count is seen by many as fantastic and it certainly does pick up outstanding detail in certain circumstances, if also MBs in file size, however the pixel count for me isn't that big a deal. I got this camera in spite of its gimmicky high pixel count rather than because of it and would have been more than happy for it to be around 7-8. As I understand it the increase in pixel count has been the route cause of some of the negative comments I made at the start of this review, particularly when compared to the predecessor but I'm not technical enough to validate this view.


In summary...

This is a great little camera available at a good price if you are willing to use the manual settings, but is NOT the camera for you if you just want a point and shoot. Conversely the camera is marketed to the latter group and so will be under valued by many.

I havent quite made my mind up yet as I bought the camera based on the mainly very good expert reviews and my desire for a point and shoot, and so I was initially disappointed. However I have become increasingly impressed by experimenting with the manual settings and now I'm getting some great shots and really starting to enjoy it.

I have read alot of the reviews online and seen reviews on tv and they were all saying the same thing great camera! I took the plunge and am pleased that i did is as good as it gets for a point and shoot. The only thing that lets it down is the 3x optical zoom, but for this money i cannot complain!!
Its best trick is indoor photos, some of the best that i have seen even in low light. The other great feature is the pre set options which acutally offer a variety of qualities appatures etc.

Bought this camera from amazon just before Christmas. Cheaper than anywhere else for a start. The camera is excellent. Small compact, slips into your pocket. Loads of setting on the menu yet very easy to use. Takes really good pictures and I've tried the video all very good. If I had to moan I would have liked a bit more zoom on the lens but it's a compact camera! Starts up really fast and has a nice large screen that's easy to see in sunlight thanks to the anti glare coating. The anti camera shake works well too, digital and mechanical. The face detection is really useful it can even detect faces that are side on.
I really like this camera and am sure I've more to learn.
Well recommended.