Review: Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd

(Skip to the end for photos taken with this camera.) Don’t judge a camera by it’s LCD screen — this may be the biggest lesson we learned with the Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd. While using the camera and adjusting the color and available manual settings, we were sure that every picture was going to come out blurry and with an overly blue hue given what was being displayed by the preview LCD screen; changing from one pre-set camera mode to another seemed to barely alter the color composition of the image in the viewfinder, but after downloading batches to the computer we found a completely different set of pictures than what had been displayed on the camera. Why would there be a color disconnect between the LCD and actual picture? Can’t be sure, but in trying to correct the apparent blue overtones we managed to do some real overcompensating; nothing that a round in Photoshop couldn’t fix, but it’s an extra step you might rather do without.

Still, color balance aside, the Z10fd is a cute little point-and-click camera, appropriately targeted at the teen/20’s audience with it’s candy-coated casing and unique horizontal sliding cover that works as an on/off switch and keeps the fixed lens protected when not in use. The camera touts an average line of specs with a 7.2 megapixel CCD sensor, 3x optical 38mm-114mm lens, and a 2.5″ LCD screen — not the biggest punch on the market, but that’s not what Fuji was going for; this is meant to be a highly accessible and widely affordable pocket camera. Don’t expect high-art quality shots, the Z10fd is best suited for daily knock-around use and, with it’s sturdy casing, can probably handle the wear.

The Whole Package
Out of the box, you’ll find:

The Finepix Z10fd Digital Camera with 25MB internal memory

Rechargeable NP-45 Li-ion battery

AV Cable, USB Cable, and wrist strap

CD-ROM with FinePix software and owners manual (hard copy also included)

Does It Deliver?
For under $200, yes, and that’s an important qualifier to remember. While the picture quality and image settings aren’t built to compete with higher end cameras, the included features make it ideal for your favorite blogger that needs a camera on the go. Fuji has included an infrared beam feature that lets you transfer images from one camera to another, or zap it directly over to your phone or PDA. The new “blog mode” quickly resizes images to web-friendly dimensions for immediate use on websites and email, and the “auction mode” automatically combines images into a single frame for easy posting on eBay.

This is NOT the camera for someone used to having a lot of control over their images — if you’ve got someone on your list that’s used to playing with manual features or has an SLR, this pocket camera will only frustrate them, even if it’s only meant to be a secondary portable camera. This IS, however, a great option for someone that just needs a camera to take a few pictures without the fuss of needing to know a lot about taking photos; your cousin in college, your brother who takes a ton of pictures of his friends at the bar, your grandma who’s been asking for a simple camera.

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Lots of intuitive automatic settings for folks that may not be too camera savvy — know what you need to shoot, but not sure what settings are best? Pick from any of the shooting modes, including auto, manual, natural night, natural light with flash, portrait, landscape, sport, night, auction, sunset, snow, beach, museum, party, flower close-up, text, picture stabilization and movie.

There are seven white balance options that can really help clear up lighting/shading issues in nature — view the properties of some of the images we took of the New River Gorge Bridge to see the difference between settings.

Face detection settings work to quickly isolate subjects in the frame to help bring out their features, which can help keep your friends from fading into the background of pictures.

It’s just CUTE, and we don’t mean that in a condescending way. The packaging is pretty and available in a handful of electric colors with silver accents around the buttons and a sturdy catch on the sliding cover so that it doesn’t accidentally open/close itself.

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The macro setting leaves a lot to be desired — macro doesn’t even register the subject unless you’re half a foot away, and even then has a hard time preparing the right focus.

Charging the battery isn’t as simple as plugging the camera into a power device; instead you have to remove the battery from the camera and slide it into the charging unit.

As mentioned, the LCD color doesn’t seem to jive with the actual color balance of the final recorded image, so you really have to take on faith that the image will come out as intended — or be prepared to do some cleanup in image editing software.

Pictures get noisy at higher ISO levels/in lower light situations; if you’re not using a flash, again, steel yourself for some grainy images and retouching.

Available for the low low price of $149.99 at Ritz Camera (or your local Best Buy if you need to grab a last minute stocking stuffer).

View our Flickr slideshow of unaltered images taken with the Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd to judge for yourself: