F31fd Review

These photos were taken by my new Fuji Finepix F31fd. I had always wanted (and had waited a long time) for a good compact digital camera to come along so that I dun have to lug my DSLR around. And from what I had seen so far... literally 'delicious'!

These photos were taken at night under low light conditions and at high ISOs! I had cropped and enhanced them just a little bit for aesthetic reasons but they are not very far from the originals. The F30 and F31 are well-known for their capabilities (noise management) under low light conditions (high ISOs) and it is quite justified. Mine you... the photo of Noah and Shufen (the couple in the photo) and of the tofu were taken at ISO1600 without any flash at all! The photo of the chicken was taken at ISO400.

Start up was relatively quick. The feel, controls and menus were intuitively simple and friendly to use. The 'face detection' (fd) function was helpful but not essential if you know how to focus. Focusing was also sharp at macro mode. The metering worked marvelously well and the flash was not harsh. Hardly any shutter lag. The 'chrome' colours were vivid and the LCD was big and bright too.

It really is a bang (huge one) for bucks and I can even say it gives some of the reputable DSLRs in the market a run for their money. I think it would be exciting to find out what more this baby could do.