Fujifilm FinePix F10 Digital Camera Review

Connectivity
Software (7.0)
The F10 includes a CD-ROM with FinePix Viewer software on it. The CD-ROM has a 5.0 version for Windows and a 3.3 version for Macintosh. It took almost 12 minutes to upload the FinePix Viewer onto my computer, which uses Windows. The program is easy to use with a simple interface. Photographs can be viewed in three ways: thumbnails, preview, and details. The thumbnail view is self-explanatory. The preview view shows thumbnails at the bottom and a larger highlighted picture at the top. The details view shows vertically aligned thumbnails in a chart. File information appears in the chart next to the pictures. In these three views, pictures can be viewed straight from folders or users can reorganize their massive amounts of image files into chronological order. The FinePix Viewer automatically organizes photos — with the user’s consent. One more way to view photographs: the traditional slide show method. In the thumbnail, preview, and detail views, a bar appears at the left side of the screen with editing and sharing options: Slide Show, Send Email, Rotate, Clip/Insert Text, Adjust Image Quality, Correct Red-Eye, Resize, and Change Format (this switches file types to JPEG, TIFF, or BMP). Some of these options cause a smaller window to appear with more options. For example, when the Send Email option is selected, a small window appears with image sizes. When the Adjust Image Quality option is chosen, the picture opens in a whole new window. There are step-by-step directions on the left and sliding bars with image parameters beneath the picture. The following parameters can be adjusted: Brightness, Saturation, Hue, and Contrast. This window also shows a before and after picture to show the effects of the adjustments; however, the pictures are so small that changes are hard to see. Overall, the software is simple to use and includes most basic editing functions such as red-eye removal and contrast adjustments. The only basic editing feature I’ve seen in other comparable programs that I did not see in this one is color balance. The Hue option changes colors to a degree, but individual reds, blues, and greens cannot be adjusted. All in all, the included FinePix Viewer is similar to most editing programs that come packaged with compact cameras — it is simplified and easy to use, but not nearly as elaborate as Photoshop or other external applications. If simple image extraction and basic manipulation is sought, this should suffice, but for more advanced alterations (e.g. specific color modification, extensive sharpening, etc.), the FinePix Viewer is not quite up to the task.

Jacks, ports, plugs (4.5)
The Fujifilm FinePix F10 has one port that connects to a terminal adapter with three ports in it in turn: USB, A/V out, and DC in. If users want to use external power, they must plug one wire into the wall and connect it to a port in the AC power adaptor, then plug a wire extending from the adaptor into the terminal, which then hooks into the camera. Phew. I think this is way too complicated. Perhaps Fujifilm wanted to reduce the number of ports located on the actual housing of the camera. However, the tangle of wires is a hassle and if the terminal adapter gets lost, users are stuck without connectivity. To make matters worse, when users want to print directly from the camera, they must switch the USB mode from DSC to PictBridge. The A/V out cable can be switched from NTSC to PAL within the setup menu.

Direct Print Options (6.5)
As I’ve already stated, printing from the Fujifilm FinePix F10 requires a few wires, a switch in the USB mode, and some patience from the user. The digital camera is PictBridge compatible, and will work once it’s connected. To select pictures to print, users must enter the playback mode and then press the F button. The F button acts as the Print button and lets users select which images to print and how many of each image to print.

Battery (7.5)
The FinePix F10 comes with a thin NP-120 rechargeable battery with a lifetime of about 500 shots. The camera does not come with a wall-mount charger. The battery must be charged within the camera; users must plug in the AC power adaptor and hook it up to the terminal adaptor and into the camera. To preserve battery power, the F10 has an Auto Power Off option in the Set-up menu. This shuts the camera off after 2 or 5 minutes of inactivity. This function can also be turned off completely, so that the camera will remain powered on until it is manually shut off.

Memory (6.0)
This digital camera does not have internal memory, though it comes with a 16 MB xD-Picture Card. When the camera is shooting at its highest resolution with this card, it can only handle five pictures. A large card is definitely necessary, so plan on dropping an extra forty bucks or so for a 256 MB card. The F10 can accept cards up to 1 GB in its slot, found next to the battery on the bottom of the camera.

Other features (3.0)
Self-Timer — Users can select the self-timer to capture a picture 2 or 10 seconds after the shutter release button is pressed.

Box Contents — Besides the F10 digital camera, the following items are included in the box: 16 MB xD-Picture Card, Li-ion battery NP-120, AC power adaptor AC-5VW, hand strap, USB cable, A/V cable, terminal adaptor, and CD-ROM with FinePix Viewer and ImageMixer VCD2 LE software.