Fujifilm FinePix F40fd

Viewfinder
There isn’t an optical viewfinder on the F40fd, but the LCD screen makes a fine viewing device anyway. It measures 2.5 inches diagonally and has 230,000 pixels of resolution. This makes for a nice, smooth view whether in real-time recording or in playback mode. Making the live view even better is the fast refresh rate on the screen; it makes moving subjects look smooth instead of choppy or blurry. Older Fujifilm cameras let users choose between 30 and 60fps refresh rates on the LCD screen. The F40fd still has this option, but it is renamed "Power Management" and moved from the setup menu to the "F" menu. Its options are Power Save (15 fps), Quick AF (30 fps), and Clear Display (60 fps). The Clear Display mode is the best looking, but it drains the battery faster than the other two modes.

The display info on the live view can be changed by pushing the Disp./Back button below the bottom left of the multi-selector. Display info can be hidden, a grid with file info can appear, and just file info can appear too. The file info isn’t very elaborate: the screen shows the shooting mode, image size, battery power, number of photos left on the memory card, and if the face detection or any other settings are activated. The shutter speed and aperture appear briefly on the screen too, but only once the exposure has been locked by pushing the shutter release button halfway down. All in all, the LCD screen makes a great viewfinder.

LCD Screen
The 2.5-inch LCD screen is excellent in playback mode and in recording. The 230,000-pixel resolution makes pictures look great, and the 4:3 format keeps the images 100 percent accurate while framing and viewing. The screen brightness can be adjusted on a +/- 5 scale in the setup menu or via a one-touch brightener that can be activated by touching the top of the multi-selector in the recording modes. The size and resolution of the LCD screen are the same as the FinePix F31fd, but Fujifilm did make improvements on the viewing angle. According to the company, the F40fd makes a 25-degree angle improvement over the F31fd. Fujifilm made this improvement with the idea that users who snap portraits with the face detection technology will want to show the pictures to their subjects using the LCD screen. The wider the viewing angle on the LCD screen, the more people can fit around the camera and see the pictures. I held the Fujifilm F31fd up next to the F40fd and compared the two LCD screens. The actual viewing angle seemed nearly the same to me horizontally, but the F40fd had a slight advantage when held above the head. The F40fd’s screen was easier to view, though, since it has a more effective anti-glare coating on it. This LCD screen is also a big improvement over the F20’s which only had 153,000 pixels on a 2.5-inch monitor.

Flash
The Fujifilm FinePix F40fd has a built-in flash unit that looks similar to those on compact digital cameras, but it is dubbed "Intelligent Flash" or "i-Flash" by the company. The concept is that the camera measures the lighting on the subject and the ambient lighting in the background, and then the flash automatically adjusts its output accordingly. This translates to more detail in the background of images rather than total darkness and properly exposed faces instead of harsh and unnatural-looking light. The i-Flash reaches from 2-21.3 ft when the lens is set at its widest and between 2-11.5 ft at the farthest telephoto focal length of the lens. This range is more than what most flash units offer from compact digital cameras. The flash component itself is located in the top right corner of the front, which can be problematic when handling the F40fd. The left fingers can easily wander in the way, blocking the flash while snapping pictures. The right side of the multi-selector chooses the flash mode from the following selection: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, On, Off, Slow Synchro, and Red-Eye Reduction + Slow Synchro. The F40fd also has an interesting shooting mode tailored for users who aren’t sure whether to use the flash: Natural Light & With Flash. This mode snaps two pictures in a short burst – one using high ISO sensitivity and the other using the i-Flash system. The camera then displays both pictures next to each other before saving them both to the memory card. Overall, the flash seemed to produce fairly even lighting that wasn’t too harsh.

Zoom Lens
A Fujinon 3x optical zoom lens extends from the right side of the camera’s front when powered on. The lens is the same one found on other F-series models. Earlier models showed some barrel distortion in the macro mode, and the same problem can be seen on the F40fd with its bowed frame edges. It measures 8-24mm, which is equivalent to 36-108mm in the 35mm format. The maximum aperture at 8mm is f/2.8, but that shrinks considerably to f/5.1 near the telephoto end of the zoom. The zoom lever on the FinePix F40fd is different than on other Fujifilm F-series digital cameras. Other models have a zoom rocker control on the back of the camera, but the F40fd opts for a sleeker round lever that surrounds the shutter release button. This lever has a tiny knob on the front so users can push it back and forth with the index finger. The knob is so small, and it isn’t as comfortable. This control looks similar to those on the Canon PowerShot SD-series cameras: trendy and cute. But it isn't  quite as functional or comfortable. The tiny control is also not very sensitive and seems a bit jumpy. I tried tapping it very lightly to see how many focal lengths I could get the lens to stop at and got a maximum of six.

The zoom lens isn’t functional in the movie mode, and that probably isn’t a bad thing because there is no image stabilization. Movies lwill look shaky enough without the extra movement.