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"Good value for money" on by greeng4309
Pros: ease of use, cropping tool, user friendly menus, nice clear daylight pictures, clear lcd display, excellent value for money
Cons: Poor battery life, sluggish between shots, average dark photos, face detection works best in indoor conditions
Summary: I'm not a camera expert but I do enjoy updating my equipment every couple of years. Basically I was fed up with the poor night performance of my Sony Cybershot I owned previously. When looking at reviews of camera, I realised most of the reviews were from Camera experts etc, talking about Photo noise!!! whatever that means. Basically I was looking for a compact, easy to use camera that I can switch on and take some photos. Simple as that. The F50FD fits that bill and was a lovely companion for my recent trip to Cuba. Easy to switch between modes and the picture quality seems to be excellent. The clear LCD screen is also excellent, and the cropping tool, where basically you can zoom in on a photo you've taken and save a new image of the original photo, is another welcome feature.
The negatives, the battery life is pretty poor, I had to charge the battery 3 times in 10 days whilst in Cuba. And I was not over impressed by how slow the camera was between shots, especially frustrating when I was on a bus tour around Havana and trying to capture that moment quickly. I missed a few good shots becasue it took approx 3 seconds for the camera to be ready between shots. Fuji states on website that the F50FD is perfect for night time photos, but this is correct for close shots, but colours and detail are lost when you zoom into distant shots. Very bleak results but still better than my Sony. Face detection works fine indoors but suffers in bright sun or dark light conditions.
Overall, I would say that if you were looking for a cheapish camera with some nice features then look no further. If you are after that perfect companion, then this camera may frustrate you. One of my friends just bought the Canon Ixus960 which also has face detection and 12mp, and although this is currently £100 more than the F50fd I would say the picture quality, face detection and overall performance of the Canon is better than the F50FD and perhaps worth that extra bit of cash. -
"OK but not as good as Fuji F10" on by CajunDilbert7
Pros: Compact Size, Aperature and Shutter Settings, Outdoor photos are excellent
Cons: Pictures are soft, exposures indoors are inconsistent.
Summary: I bought a F50fd for my daughter because I really like my Fuji F10. The performance of the F50 is better than most compact camera's but it is worse than the F10 even though it's resolution is double. The sharpness of the photos is worse as is color reproduction. The optical image stabilization adds at most 1 stop. The video is good. Bottom line is that the camera is better than most compacts but not as good as a F10 or F30.
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"Disappointing" on by dennisfan
Pros: Lightweight, compact, great A/V feature
Cons: noisy photos, can't charge using A/C.
Summary: So my Canon G6 Powershot is starting to die, so I needed a new camera. I knew that I wanted something smaller than the G6 to tote around, and the Fuji Finepix boasted 12 megapixels. I tested the camera at the store and was impressed by what I could see on the LCD display, so I bought it.
I immediately took it on a vacation, but was very disappointed when I downloaded the pictures to my laptop that evening. Almost 100% of them were noisy/grainy. None of them came out clear and crisp. Not even the autoshoot ones with plenty of daylight. I spent $300 on this camera, and it is a piece.
I took it out at night-time using their night mode, which says that you will get beautiful, clear, skyline shots. NOT!!! The images look okay on the lcd, but when I put them on my display at home, they are blurry. Honestly, I have gotten better images from throwaway, one-use cameras you get at a drugstore.
The best features of this camera are the low-weight and portability, and the video feature. The quality of the video is quite good for such a small camera (still somewhat grainy, but more acceptable than other cameras' video features). As you are filming, the camera also tells you how much time you have left to film in those conditions with your video card.
By the way, the thing does NOT come with a memory card. It comes with a TINY internal memory that can hardly hold 10 pictures. You will have to buy an external memory module. The other issue I had is that in order to charge the battery, you can't just plug the camera into an A/C charger or your USB. You have to physically remove the battery and plug it into Fuji's wall charger. This makes it IMPOSSIBLE to recharge this thing on the road or in an on-the-go situation.
Overall, I would not recommend this camera for the money. It's not worth it. For the cost, it should be better than it is. -
"Very disappointed" on by rhderanek
Pros: Many features; small and light; big screen
Cons: Worse picture quality than my 3-year old sony digital camera
Summary: I purchased this camera to replace a three year old 5MP Sony Cybershot. The 12MP, stabilization, red-eye removal, and face recognition were big pluses for the Fuji F50fd, and the multitude of various settings you could manually control was very appealing. It didn't measure up – my three year old camera beats it!
When I got the camera, I tried it out at my in-laws on Thanksgiving. The light was moderate - not very bright, but certainly not dark. I tried many different settings - full auto, indoors, manual, etc. There were posed shots and impromptu. I also took some video. 80% of the photos were very disappointing.
First off, the "face detection" worked only in bright lighting - the moderate lighting of my in-laws living room (overhead and lamps) was not enough to enable its use. The red-eye removal was very spotty - sometimes it worked and sometimes not. Now let's move on to the real disappointments...
The picture quality was terrible. Most of the photos came out incredibly grainy, almost like tiny pebbles that were used in a mosaic of my loved ones. Not only that, they were dark and sometimes out of focus. And the image stabilization touted simply did not work very well. I had blurry shots, even in posed photos. This is from a line of cameras that are famous for being great low-light cameras!
Less important, the video was very grainy and pixilated. It was a little better than the Sony I have now, but not by much. I expected more from something much newer than what I had.
Look, I bought this camera having seen the other bad reviews out there, but I figured they were blowing it out of proportions, and not only that, but the camera got good reviews from a lot of people and a lot of reputable websites (CNet, for one). But I was wrong - this was a terrible camera. I'm now back with my Sony (the pictures look better than the Fuji's) until I can find a camera that beats it. -
"Excellent overall camera despite mixed (confused) reviews" on by vicwinner
Pros: Better resoulution, build, and high iso than any others
Cons: Not as feature laden as Canons
Summary: I've done my research on compact cameras far and wide. From Canon sd950is to canon a650is. Despite all the chatter about this camera's "noise", the truth is- unless you plan on making posters, this camera will print superb pics worthy of cropped 8x10s. You need to know how to work it, which is pretty easy. It's iso 400-800 embarasses canon and any others. It has proven better resoulution than any other compact. And it has the best face detection system. On top of that, it's build is not only sturdy with nice feel to all controls, but it's interface and operation are easier and quicker to operate than canon's, especially with one hand. The LCD screen is also the best on the market with best resolution and none of the smudging you get on a canon. If you print pictures and are of the 1% that take the picture beyond a blown up version on a computer screen, this camera will show out. Truly a professional's pocket cam. It's color is by far the most accurate without the "warming" of other processors. It has hardly any purple fringing. It won't overblow highlights like all canon's in tricky sunlight/shadow situations. And it's almost half the price. You kidding me. One more note - this camera has the best black/white pics. Canons tend to lean towards a grayish blue tint. This one is straight black. Great for art. And for anyone thinking I'm anti-canon, over 90% of pics on computer are either from a95, a620, or sd900.
I always recommend a bigger lens vs. small, but this camera does justice for small pocket cams. Don't get ripped off or misled by those who don't ever print their pics but just scrutinize them beyond their intent. If you want to make a 3'x4' get a DSLR. Otherwise this is a serious steal.
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