Fujifilm FinePix F31fd Digital Camera Review

As with other FinePix F-series digital cameras, there is no optical viewfinder. The manufacturer, like many of its competitors, opted for a nicely sized LCD screen instead of providing a live view. The display information on the screen can be changed with the Disp./Back button to the bottom left. Info can vanish, full file info can appear, and full info with grid lines can appear too. The screen resolution is great, so the live view looks good and is a hundred percent accurate – something that can’t be said of most optical viewfinders.

 

The amorphous silicon TFT LCD screen measures 2.5 inches diagonally and has 230,000 pixels of resolution. This is twice the resolution of the F10’s same-sized LCD. The resolution is better, the refresh rate is better (it can be set to 30 or 60 fps in the setup menu), and the angle of view is improved. The latter aspect is perhaps the LCD’s weakest point when compared to other digital cameras. Many competitors now include LCD screens that have incredibly wide viewing angles. The Fujifilm FinePix F31fd’s LCD screen can be viewed straight on and at about 40 degrees tilted side to side. However, it can’t be viewed at all when held above or below eye-level. When users push the top of the multi-selector during live preview, the screen brightens considerably and an icon appears to remind users of the brightened state. The view remains bright until the exposure is locked and the picture is about to be taken. This is good for shooting outdoors under direct sunlight because it enhances the contrast as well as the brightness. For other lighting situations, the Fujifilm FinePix F31fd has a +/- 5 brightness scale in the setup menu that adjusts the backlight on the LCD.

 

The Fujifilm FinePix F31fd has a built-in flash unit that is rectangular but squatty. It isn’t as thin as those on many competing models, which is good because it projects the light more evenly. The F31fd’s flash does have one downfall though. It is located in the top right corner of the front where the left fingers wrap around the camera. Because of this off-axis placement, the flash sometimes casts a brighter spot in the top left of pictures; it is only noticeable when shooting plain subjects – such as a wall. Since walls aren’t typical subjects, users shouldn’t notice this too much since the off-axis bright spot isn’t noticeable in portraits. Fujifilm calls its unit “i-Flash,” with the “i” meaning “intelligent.” The camera meters the lighting on the subject as well as the ambient light in the background, and then adjusts the flash output accordingly. This system works fairly well. It works best with portraits and pictures of people. It performs at its worst snapping still life pictures in the macro mode.

 

The camera’s flash can be adjusted with the right portion of the multi-selector. The following modes are available: Forced flash, Suppressed flash, Red-eye reduction, Sow synchro, and Auto flash. The slow synchro and red-eye reduction modes fire a few pre-flashes but don’t fire so many that you’ll fall asleep or shut your eyes. These modes seemed to work; in all of our test shots, we couldn’t get eyes to turn red even once! The F31fd’s i-Flash reaches from 2-21.3 ft in wide and 2-11.5 ft in telephoto. In the macro mode, the flash reaches 1-2.6 ft. All of these figures are using the automatic ISO setting, so the flash could be considered even more sensitive if the ISO was raised manually.

 

The flash has great output; 21.3 ft is much farther than the typical 13 ft flash range. Fujifilm’s i-Flash system casts natural lighting that is very flattering to subjects. The F31fd boasts many ways to retain natural lighting. There is even a dual shot mode called Natural Light & With Flash for users who can’t decide whether to activate the flash or not. The mode does both. It takes two pictures in a burst mode where the first picture is taken without the flash and with a high ISO setting. The other picture is taken with the i-Flash system. Once the pictures are taken, they are displayed next to each other for a moment before saving both to the memory card.

 

The F31fd’s 3x optical zoom lens is the same as the one that has been included on previous F-series digital cameras. It is a Fujinon model that measures 8-24mm, equivalent to 36-108mm in 35mm format. To control the lens, users must push the zoom lever on the back of the camera. When pushed gently, users can get 7 stops within the zoom range. This is just above average, as most cameras with 3x zoom lenses get about 6 actual focal lengths. It still doesn’t seem amazingly versatile since the lens seems to move in and out before it settles. When the zoom lever is pushed, a horizontal bar appears on the top left corner of the LCD screen. It shows a line within the bar to indicate approximately where the selected focal length is within the entire 3x range. There are no numerical indicators, however. When the zoom lens moves, it makes audible noise. It won’t disturb a third-grade music concert, but it could turn heads at a museum or cathedral.

 

The F31fd's f/2.8 max aperture at the widest focal length provides enough light for decent photos indoors and is about what the average 3x zoom lens offers. The f/5 aperture at the telephoto end is smaller than average. The aperture can be manually controlled in the aperture priority mode which is an advantage above most compact digital cameras’ lenses. The optical zoom lens works in every mode except the movie mode, when it locks while recording. Of note is the 6.2x digital zoom available on the camera, although it degrades picture quality quickly. Overall, the 3x optical zoom lens isn’t very impressive. It doesn’t provide a lot of control and the quality of its glass is questionable. There is significant barrel distortion that is especially noticeable in the macro mode.

 

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