Fujifilm FinePix V10

Viewfinder
This compact digital camera has such a large LCD screen that there is hardly room for the buttons, let alone an optical viewfinder. Therefore, Fujifilm completely omitted it. This is just fine because no one will miss the inaccurate optical viewfinder when there is a beautiful 3-inch LCD screen with a 100 percent accurate field of view. When in recording or standby mode, the live view is always there – except for a brief fourth-of-a-second period when the camera is recording an image. Users can change the display of the viewfinder with the touch of the Disp/Back button. This toggles through several display options: tic-tac-toe grid lines with the shooting information, exposure information only, and a live view on the right side of the screen and the last three shots captured on the left side of the screen. If for some reason users cannot see if the picture is focused on that large 3-inch screen, bifocals need to be purchased or users can opt to use the Image Display function that enlarges the center of the frame before snapping a shot. The Image Display function can be activated in the setup menu.

LCD Screen
The Fujifilm FinePix V10 has a 3-inch low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD screen. It is equipped with 230,000 pixels, which provides a smooth picture. This is the same amount of resolution on the Kodak EasyShare-one’s 3-inch LCD screen. The screen provides a 100 percent accurate view of the frame, which makes it an excellent viewfinder as well. A button below the screen has a sun icon on it and indicates the "gain up mode" for the LCD screen. This brightens the screen considerably for those moments when the sunlight is at your back and shining on the screen. The LCD should be just fine in those conditions, as it also has an anti-reflective coating. The V10’s screen has a wide viewing angle horizontally but solarizes easily vertically. Basically, if you are one to raise the camera over your head and take pictures from a bird’s eye view, it will be tough to see the LCD from below. After a few seconds of inactivity, the LCD screen will dim slightly to save power. This feature can be turned off in the setup menu, but is a good idea to preserve the battery power. Overall, the LCD is one of the best features on the V10. It is absolutely huge and has adequate resolution to match. It is bright and accurate as well, so its beauty is completely functional.

Flash
The built-in flash is on the left side of the front. It isn’t directly over the lens and if users are sloppy when handling their camera, fingers can wander into its way. The rectangular flash is more advanced than those flashes on competing models. It has a farther reach and more modes. The flash can reach from 1-14.4 ft in wide and 2-7.5 ft in telephoto. The following modes are available: Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, and Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro. The modes are scrolled through using the right button on the navigational control. The red-eye reduction modes send out 3 or 4 very fast pre-flashes before the big flash with the shutter. It seems to work quite well because the pictures I took of people were free from red eyes. The flash itself is a little spotty; it does not light the frame evenly. There is an off-center white spot in the frame. That spot won’t be horribly noticeable when shooting a group portrait, but could show its ugliness if photographing plain surfaces.

Zoom Lens
The Fujifilm FinePix V10 has a 3.4x optical zoom lens that extends from the front of the camera in three segments. The Fujinon lens zooms from 6.3-21.6 mm, which is equivalent to a 38-130 mm lens in 35 mm format. The lens retracts into the camera body and the lens cover snaps shut when the camera is turned off and when the playback mode is entered. The lens has a wide f/2.8 aperture at the 38 mm focal length, but loses much of the opening in telephoto, where its maximum aperture is f/5.5. The lens has a macro mode that can be activated by pushing on the right side of the navigational control. In the macro mode, the lens can focus as close as 1 cm. The zoom lens is controlled by a toggle that surrounds the shutter release button. When it is tapped, a horizontal bar appears across the top of the screen showing where users are within the zoom range. There are no numbers to go with it however. For example, a "2x" clue would help. The toggle is sensitive, but not too sensitive. If the toggle is lightly tapped, there are about nine stops in the zoom range. This is just above average as many compact models with 3x optical zoom lenses have about 6 stops. Overall, the lens does its job in providing a good clear picture and zooming in and out on subjects.