| Likes |
-57 MB internal memory
-Longer 5x lens
-Fast face detection
-Rotary dial
-IrSimple wireless transfer |
| Dislikes |
-Boring design
-Poor handling
-IrSimple transfers one image at a time
-Non-intuitive virtual dial |
Conclusion
The Fujifilm FinePix F100fd comes with a larger image sensor than its predecessor but the same 12 megapixels. It also improves upon the F50fd with a longer 5x optical zoom lens and a new version of face detection. Even on the pre-production model we looked at on the floor, these features were impressive. The 5x lens is a welcome change from the short 3x, and the dual image stabilization complements the lens nicely. The F100fd’s face detection quickly finds faces and tracks them accurately, even when they turn, look up, or lean forward.
The features on the F100fd are really cool, but the design feels all wrong. The mode dial on the F50fd turns into a virtual mode dial on the F100fd. It also places the menus on a position of the virtual mode dial, adding yet another step to access them. Scrolling down with your thumb to access something that is visually placed above where you are is not very intuitive, either. The graphic user interface is a step down, and the boring body design doesn’t help this FinePix’s case. In the end, the Fujifilm FinePix F100fd’s interface makes it too difficult to access all of its cool features. Perhaps Fujifilm will do some things to make the F100fd's features easier to use in the final version of the camera, but as it stands now, if you can’t access them easily, what use are these features?
