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Last week I took delivery of a point and shoot digital camera that I think would make an ideal Mothers Day Gift - the Fujifilm Finepix F10.
This is a point and shoot digital camera that has won awards and that has been given very positive reviews since it was launched a year ago.
While it might not be a camera that wins any awards for design (it's not ugly, but it's not beautiful) it's images are nothing short of brilliant for a camera of this price and feature set.
Technically speaking it has a 6.3 megapixel 1/1.7 inch Super CCD sensor but in practice this means it is capable of great versatility in a diversity of light situations. Where it rises above the rest of the pack of point and shoot cameras in it's price range is its ability to shoot in low light situations (without a flash) due to it's high ISO settings which unlike other cameras produce remarkably clear and un-noisy shots. If you do choose to use the flash it produces good results also (better than most point and shoots which tend to wash out subjects).
Starting the Fujifilm Finepix F10 up is quick and the shutter lag (the time between hitting the shutter and when the camera takes the shot) is quite quick. The 3x Optical Zoom also zooms quickly.
The LCD screen is great - it's 2.5 inches in size which is more than enough for framing your shots (something you need it for as it doesn't have a view finder - something that bothered me a little at first - but I got over it quickly enough when I saw the quality of images).
Battery life is also excellent with Fuji claiming up to 500 shots per charge (I'm yet to recharge and I've taken close to 400).
This is not a digital camera for people who want lots of manual controls. It does have five 'shooting modes' (natural light, portrait, landscape, sport and night modes) as well as a one touch macro mode but beyond that in 'manual mode' you only really have some basic control over exposure compensation and white balance. I played around with these settings but found that in most cases the fully automatic mode performed to such a high standard that manual mode is not something I'd use a lot with this camera. This is the reason that I first thought of this camera as a great mothers day gift - I know not all mums are 'auto mode shooters' but my mum is!
If I had to critique the Fujifilm Finepix F10 in some area it would be that it's menu system is rather 'odd'. This could just be as a result of me becoming used to Canons menus which I find very intuitive but there have been a number of times when I've been left a little confused about what the logic is behind the F10's menu. After a day of using it however I'm pretty used to it and as I've already mentioned - if you only intend to use this in it's auto mode the menus are not a place you'll go that often.
The other oddity of the F10 is it's charging system. I'm at a loss as to why they made the decision to have a separate little terminal to go between the camera and, your computer and the charger. Most modern cameras have the features of this little black box built into them. It's quite odd and a touch annoying.
Having said this - this is a solidly built camera that is relatively small and easy to slip into a pocket. Despite it's oddities it's also an above average performer and a in my opinion for the standard of image that it produces is very well priced.
I'd highly recommend the Fujifilm Finepix F10.
Get the latest price from Amazon on the Fujifilm Finepix F10
Posted by Darren in our Reviews category on May 04, 2006