Fujifilm FinePix F50fd

Viewfinder (0.0)
The Fujifilm FinePix F50fd lacks an optical viewfinder. Instead, the 2.7-inch LCD screen serves as the viewfinder. The resolution is great and the view is 100 percent accurate of what is recorded.

The LCD’s viewing quality can be changed by pushing the "F" button and browsing the power management options: power save, quick AF, and clear display. The first two choices have the slowest refresh rates and the latter option is the highest quality option. It brightens the screen as well as speeds up the refresh rate to about 60 fps instead of 30 fps.

There is a display button to the lower left of the multi-selector. It allows users to view a blank LCD screen or to add file info and/or grid lines. The screen blacks out for a moment before the image taken is displayed and then returns to the live view. The blackout is typical of compact digital cameras and the F50fd still returns to shooting faster than most other models.

LCD Screen (7.0)
The 2.7-inch LCD screen takes up most of the tiny camera’s back. The large fonts and 230,000-pixel resolution make menus easy to read and images easy to review.

The amorphous silicon TFT LCD is only slightly larger than the 2.5-inch version on the F40fd, which also has 230,000 pixels of resolution. The screen boasts fairly wide viewing angles – although not quite as wide as the big screen on the Canon SD870 IS. The Fuji’s screen can be seen when held to the sides and below the eyes, but it fades out when held above eye-level.

The screen has good contrast and its clear display mode is nice and bright. Its brightness can be adjusted on a +/- 5 scale. Despite this, it is still difficult to see when outside. The screen has a shiny surface that reflects light and makes it hard to see what’s happening on the screen. The 2.7-inch LCD screen has great resolution and looks fabulous when viewed indoors or under clouds, but any harsh lighting renders it useless.

Flash (4.75)
Unfortunately, not every component was improved on the F50fd. The older F40fd has a fantastic flash that can reach 21.3 feet, but the FinePix F50fd’s flash can only reach 14.4 feet at best. That’s when the lens is zoomed out, but once it is zoomed in the flash is only effective to 7.9 feet. In Macro mode, the flash is effective from 1 to 2.6 feet.

The F50fd still has the intelligent flash system, which Fujifilm calls i-Flash. This system measures lighting on subjects as well as background lighting and then regulates its flash output to retain details in images. It does this quite well. Portraits look good and subjects' foreheads aren't overexposed as they sometimes are with compact digital camera flashes. Backgrounds are also visible, avoiding that common bright subject and black background look.

The Fujifilm FinePix F50fd’s flash can be turned off, on, or set to Slow Synchro or Auto using the right side of the multi-selector. There isn’t a spot in the menu or on the selector to choose red-eye reduction, but all the modes include it. If, for some reason, red eyes still sneak into an image, they can theoretically be removed in the Playback menu. This is a new feature on the F50fd. When we set the Flash mode, we didn’t spot any red eyes. However, almost every shot in the Natural Light & With Flash mode ended up with red eyes. We ran those pictures through the red-eye removal feature in the Playback menu and most were rejected with a "cannot detect" message. One picture was accepted for red-eye removal, but the red eyes were not actually removed, despite the long processing time. Disappointing, to say the least.

The flash reach isn’t as impressive as its predecessor, but is still great for taking portraits of people within 14 feet. It keeps details in the background and properly exposes subjects. The bottom two corners of the frame are darker than the rest of the frame, but this won’t be noticeable unless photographing blank walls.

Zoom Lens (7.0)
The camera’s Fujinon 3x optical zoom lens isn’t very impressive. It measures 8-24mm, equivalent to 35-105mm in the 35mm format. It’s not exceptionally wide, so group photos will be tough to pose.

The lens is the same one found on the older F40fd, and its control is also identical. There is a tiny zoom ring that surrounds the shutter release button. When tapped lightly, it can only settle on six focal lengths zooming in and out, respectively. To its credit, it doesn’t hiss and backfire like some digital cameras’ lenses do.

Like the F40fd, the F50fd’s lens has an f/2.8-f/5.1 aperture range. This range is sufficient when the lens is zoomed all the way out, but is a little small on the telephoto lens.

The Fujifilm FinePix F50fd has more digital zoom than its predecessor at 8.2x, but it should be used sparingly because it degrades image quality. It can be turned on and off in the Setup menu.

The F50fd is the first Fujifilm digital camera to include mechanical image stabilization, which reduces blurry images caused by shaking hands or moving subjects. Other models only have a "picture stabilization" system that combines high ISO and a fast shutter speed to reduce blur. High ISO brings noise with it, so the mechanical image stabilization system is far superior. Fujifilm uses a mechanical CCD-shift stabilization system that can work together with the older picture stabilization.

The mechanical image stabilization system can be set to run continuously or only when the exposure is locked just before the picture is taken; this preference can be specified in the Setup menu. The system itself can be turned on and off with a small designated button to the right of the shutter release button.

Overall, the mechanical image stabilization system works nicely in conjunction with the 3x optical zoom lens. However, the lens isn’t very wide, doesn’t have the greatest control, and shows significant barrel distortion when shooting close-up subjects.