Las Vegas, Nevada, January 3, 2006 - Fujifilm today announced the FinePix F470, an affordable 6 megapixel, ultra compact camera with a 3x optical zoom and a 2.5-inch, 115,000 pixel LCD screen. Fujifilm is marketing this digital camera as incredibly compact with its 3.6 x 2.3 x 0.8-inch measurements and its 5-ounce weight – including the xD-Picture memory card and lithium-ion battery. Despite the marketing, the FinePix F470 is still about a tenth of an inch larger in every dimension than the company’s 2005 take on the ultra compact concept, the Fujifilm FinePix Z1. The F470 is slated to go on sale in March 2006 with a suggested price of $279.
The FinePix F470 features a new digital signal processor, Fujifilm reports. Fuji markets quite a few cameras with standout performance at high ISOs, but the F470 maxes out at a pedestrian ISO 400. With a maximum aperture of f/2.8 at its wide angle setting, the F470 should be able to handle some available light shooting, even though at telephoto the maximum aperture shrinks to f/4.9. The zoom range is equivalent to a 35-105mm lens on a 35mm camera. Unlike the Z1’s non-extending zoom lens, the F470 has a telescoping lens; this feature cuts costs compared to the Z1's internal optics, but also makes the F470 less durable.
The F470 takes video at a maximum 640 x 480 resolution and 30 frames per second, and offers a space-saving video mode with 320 x 240 pixels, but at the same 30 fps. The F470 shoots JPEG stills at 6, 3, and 2 megapixel sizes, plus VGA resolution. The F470 has 16 MB of internal storage, but an optional xD-Picture card will be necessary.
The Fuji FinePix F470, in addition to its manual mode, offers 10 scene modes. The camera also has six white balance presets and an auto mode. According to the Fujifilm press release, the F470 can take 1.9 frames per second, and can get off a shot with as little as a 1/10th of a second of shutter lag.
