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Fujifilm F31fd - F100fd

Tim

Active member
As the F31fd is no longer available I thought I'd have a look at the F100fd as a small pocketcam that has a reputation for good dynamic range and low light noise performance.

If I use the F100fd at 6Mpixel will it perform as well as the discontinued F31fd? How does the 12Mpixel camera "make" a 6Mpixel image?

Thanks

Tim
 

Lili

New member
Personally, I would rather get the F50fd than the F100fd, sure the lens starts at 35mm efl instead of 28mm, but it has no pink banding issues and, from what I've seen online, I suspect its hi-ISO IQ is closer to that of the F31 than that of F100.
Plus it has aperture and shutter preferred moses, something lacking on the F100fd
And it is going for a steal right now on Amazon, just barely over $200
Prognathus, have you even tried the F50?
 
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Prognathous

Guest
I haven't tried the F50, but from images posted in other forums it seems to be the other way around - the F50 high-ISO is worse than the F100.

In addition, the 28mm wide-end of the F100 is far more significant in my opinion than the A/S modes of the F50. To quote myself on this subject:

What would you do with Aperture and Shutter Priority with a camera that has a such a tiny sensor? Here are a few facts:

1. Unlike DSLRs, where shallow DOF is an option, small-sensor cameras usually have huge depth-of-field that you can't get rid of even if you want to. The only exception being macro shots, or tele closeups.
2. Unlike DSLRs, where you have to stop-down 3 or 4 stops to get the best performance, small-sensor cameras usually peak at their wide-open aperture or very close to it. Blame diffraction for it, but that is how things are.
3. Unlike DSLR lenses, where there's usually a range of at least 5 apertures, many (if not most) small-sensor cameras only have a wide-open aperture and a stopped-down one. This doesn't leave you much control to begin with, so even if you give up on DOF control, you should understand panning-control is mostly out too.

In short, A and S (or AV and TV) don't have such an important place on a small-sensor camera like they do on a DSLR or a film camera. IMHO, they shouldn't be a deal-breaker, but that's mostly up to you to decide.
Prog.
 

Tim

Active member
Hi Prog,

thanks for the test link - and doing the work! The F100fd is close to the F31fd, I think the ISO 800 on the F31 are slightly better but not much in it. I think you've shown that its not worth chasing the F31 - at least to me.

Lili, I am a bit split with the F50fd, it is a bit cheaper in my neck of the woods but the other main difference is the F50fd has a max aperture of f2.8 at 35mm while the F100fd max is f3.3 at 28mm which is significant enought to take into consideration. Assuming the IQ is much the same its a tough choice.

I am confused by these two cameras though. Both the F50 and F100 have fujis' "super ccd" so does that mean they will perform equally well with the dynamic range improvement that fuji claim or is this with the F100fd only? Is the "wide dynamic range" function within the F100fd actually a useful advantage over the F50fd IQ wise ?

Tim
 
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Tim

Active member
Thanks for the link Wayne,

What I dont understand, is if you use 6 Mpixel resolution mode on the F100fd does this essentially give the same results as the F31fd? or is it that the photosites are still smaller on the F100fd just further apart and hence still have the same noise levels at 12 or 6 Mpixel? How do digicams derive the image when you use a lower resolution?
 
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smokysun

New member
hi tim,
good question. i don't know. i suspect they don't use all the photosites as in the 30/31.
a tip: look at the f20. if you don't care about manual controls it's the same camera/sensor as the 30/31 and incredibly cheap.
best,
wayne
 

Lili

New member
I haven't tried the F50, but from images posted in other forums it seems to be the other way around - the F50 high-ISO is worse than the F100.

In addition, the 28mm wide-end of the F100 is far more significant in my opinion than the A/S modes of the F50. To quote myself on this subject:

Prog.
Hi Prog,

thanks for the test link - and doing the work! The F100fd is close to the F31fd, I think the ISO 800 on the F31 are slightly better but not much in it. I think you've shown that its not worth chasing the F31 - at least to me.

Lili, I am a bit split with the F50fd, it is a bit cheaper in my neck of the woods but the other main difference is the F50fd has a max aperture of f2.8 at 35mm while the F100fd max is f3.3 at 28mm which is significant enought to take into consideration. Assuming the IQ is much the same its a tough choice.

I am confused by these two cameras though. Both the F50 and F100 have fujis' "super ccd" so does that mean they will perform equally well with the dynamic range improvement that fuji claim or is this with the F100fd only? Is the "wide dynamic range" function within the F100fd actually a useful advantage over the F50fd IQ wise ?

Tim
Prog very valid point about the modes.
Tim, . The F50, like other Super HR CCD cameras from Fuji does have the higher dynamic range inherent with these sensors but special hi DR range function is found on only the S100fs and F100fd only.
F2.8 versus f3.3., a matter of something a bit more than 1/2 stop.
Enough to make up the difference?
Not sure :(
 
P

Pavel

Guest
Hi Tim,

You can buy even a new (never opened) F30 unit via eBay. Check out this :
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Fujifilm-Fi...yZ107898QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or this :
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Fujifilm-Fi...VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247
There is also a US seller, but no "buy now" option, you have to bid :
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fujifilm-FinePi...yZ107898QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I had both F50 and F11 (new units) for a couple of days to try and I returned them to the dealer as their noise perfomance wase only minimally better than other compacts I know. In other words, I expected a lot more from Fuji Super CCD.

So I took the plunge and about a month ago I bought a used F30 from a Japanese seller (from the first one in links above) and I was surprised with the difference! It is worth every penny, if your preference is high ISO low noise. Now I get the same results at ISO 800, like I used to get with standard compact camera at 400 (Ricoh) or even 200 (Panasonic).

Well, I miss several important features on my F30, namely live histogram, manual focus, image stabilisation, and wider lens, but if I had to choose between these features and weaker ISO/noise perfomance, there is no contest (for my preferences).

So, this is just my personal experience and my 2 cents :)

Best Regards,

Pavel

P.S. Sorry for my English, I am a central Europe guy :)
 

Lili

New member
Update on this.
I reviewed in excruciating detail images from the F50fd on both flickr and DPReview and found them to be soft in the corners and even anywhere near the edges.
I note it seems to have the same lens as the F30/31fd but a slightly larger sensor.
I suspect that the coverage of the lens may have been exceeded a bit.
Does anyone here have direct experience with one or should I simply bite the bullet and get the F100fd (who's samples look great)?

Edit; I really like Fuji's colors and sensors, my S5200 and S6000 are wonderfully capable bridge cams.
 

Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
I bought a Fuji F50fd for my 11-year old daughter sometime ago. It's have a very good, but noisy sensor. I like the way fuji does with its color rendition. It also have very good dynamic range. But for low light photo, I think that Fuji needs make some improvement. Overall, it's an excellent camera for its value.

Here are few snaps by my daughter. I believe the first on is at ISO 1600, and the rest are at ISO 100.

Kind regards,
 
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Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
Somehow the colors were washed out in these photos when I re-sized them in PS. Here I try again.
 
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