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Fujifilm FinePix F40fd Review

Author	Cliff Smith
Published	5th Jun 2007
Manufacturer	Fujifilm
Price	£156.52 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£180.00 (Inc VAT)
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Features
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It’s been a few months since I last reviewed one of Fujifilm’s F-series cameras, in fact it was January and the camera was the FinePix F31fd. I have to admit I like the F-series cameras a lot. For the most part they have managed to combine cutting-edge technology, solid build quality and excellent photographic results in a stylish and compact package. There aren’t many brands that have been so consistently good for so long.

The F40fd is one of the latest in the line, announced in January this year, alongside a basically identical model made exclusively for Argos, the F45fd. It is an 8.3-megapixel model featuring Fuji’s 1/1.6-in SuperCCD HR VI sensor and Real Photo Processor II engine, as well as Fuji’s hardware-based face detection technology. Other features include a 2.5-in 230k LCD monitor, 2000 ISO maximum sensitivity, and interestingly the ability to use both xD-Picture and SD memory cards, although it does NOT accept SDHC cards.

I say interesting because Fujifilm and Olympus jointly developed the xD-Picture card format, and have both used it in their cameras since they abandoned SmartMedia cards in 2002. However the xD-Picture format has not been taken up by any other manufacturers, as Fuji and Olympus were clearly hoping it would be, which has meant that the cards have remained relatively expensive compared to the much more popular SD format. Is the F40fd’s dual-format slot a tacit admission that the xD-Picture format has been a failure? Will future Fujifilm cameras abandon it altogether?

Speculation aside, the F40fd is an impressive looking camera. It has a strong all-metal body finished in a semi-matt metallic grey, with silver and chrome details. It is not a small camera, measuring 95.7 x 59.0 x 23.3mm and weighing a hefty 181g including battery and memory card it is definitely on the heavy side. It’s not too big to fit in a pocket, but you’ll definitely know it’s there.

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Paul Tasker said on 19th July 2008

Not impressed. I bought one in new york as I figured I could get great deal over there, half the pictures were taken with the fuji, the other half with my old budget samsung L700 a... more

Dee said on 24th July 2008

I just bought this camera and it's very good indoors and in low light but I have to say outdoors colours do look very cold on a CRT monitor although they look fine on a Standard CRT TV or LCD screen.

The quality of the photos at 100 ISO are not as good as many other cameras, but what it can do at the high ISO's is amazing. it's 800 ISO is as good as many camera's 200 ISO. I'd say this camera was made more for taking photos of people then landscapes. And most people will have their pictures taken indoors.

One great feature not mentioned is this camera has a white LED light built in. Not only can it come on to provide a bit of extra light for the camera to focus at night, but in video mode you can also have the light on to provide more light when filming.

I also love the mode that takes two shots, one without a flash and one with - before I've had to do all that manually and tell people not to move whilst I adjust my old camera settings.

The continuous shooting mode is by far the worse I've ever seen in any camera, it is so slow between shots - which I don't understand why because it has a two shot mode which works really well, but anything more then 2 shots and you're left waiting ages between each frame. Even reducing the size of the pixels to the lowest and using a very fast SD card doesn't seem to make any difference. It would seem there is software in the camera stopping it taking photos any quicker more then any physical limitation.

It's also a shame there's no auto bracketing feature.

I have fairly small and nibble fingers but even I struggle to turn the selector wheel - there's virtually nothing on there to grip on to.

I would say this is a good nightclubbing / indoor party camera. It would also be nice if the camera could shoot in 16:9 format for the new generation that only want to display photos on a TV.

What's interesting about this camera is most of it's short comings could easily be improved in software, i.e. Lack of auto bracketing, 16:9 photos, slow continuous shooting.

I hope Fuji listen to their customers and perhaps introduce a new firmware update that would add these features

I just bought this camera and it's very good indoors and in low light but I have to say outdoors colours do look very cold on a CRT monitor although they look fine on a Standa... more

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