Part 1 - Introduction
Part 2 - High ISO Noise
Part 3 - Dynamic Range
When I shop for a pocket camera, there are three questions I ask.
1) How well does the camera allow me to do my part? This is largely dependent on features such as those that follow:
- Aperture-priority, shutter speed priority, and true manual mode (independent aperture and shutter speed control)
- Focal length range
- Maximum lens aperture
- RAW capability
- Manual focus capability
- Quality of LCD and/or viewfinder
- Ergonomics
- Physical controls
- Operational speed (including autofocus speed, shutter lag, RAW buffer, etc)
- Camera size
2) How well does the camera do its part when I do mine? This consists of the following:
- Lens sharpness, distortion, contrast, bokeh, color
- Sensor ability to capture detail in optimal light
- Sensor detail relative to noise in suboptimal light
- Sensor dynamic range (effect of lens omitted here for discussion)
- Sensor effects on color
- Presence and effectiveness of image stabilization
- Battery life
- Weather resistance
The two categories above are largely what define the "seriousness" of a compact to me. Yet there is another category.
3) How well does the camera do its part if I don't want to do my part? Here we consider such features as face detection, which are of greatest importance to the person who doesn't want complete control over the picture-taking process.
One area which broadly falls under categories 2 & 3 is that of in-camera JPEG handling. There is no doubt that some compact camera photographers prefer to do "serious" work while shooting in JPEG mode, whereas others prefer RAW. For the former group, the in-camera handling of JPEGs is critical and raises the following questions:
- How flexible are in-camera settings for sharpness and noise reduction?
- How flexible are in-camera settings for color and contrast?
- What other operations is the camera performing with regards to tone mapping, and how much control can I exert over these?
What does all this have to do with the Fuji F100fd, and does the F100fd deserve to be called a "serious compact"? The second question is worth asking because the F100fd lacks important features from category 1, namely control of aperture/shutter speed and RAW capability. In this sense, it isn't a very serious compact at all. It is the heir of the F20/F40 more so than that of the more capable F30. Yet, having viewed a number of image samples from the F100fd, it is clear to me that this camera has the potential to produce "serious" results. In fact, despite having left out aperture and shutter speed controls, Fuji is referring to the F100fd as "the ultimate ‘F Series’ digital camera."
Boiled down to it's essence, the F100fd offers the promise of two potentially exciting capabilities. First, it is said to have a 1/1.6" 8th Generation Super CCD sensor capable of both recording 12MP of detail as well as maintaining high detail relative to noise at high ISO values in low light. Second, Fuji claims that "[the wide dynamic range] technology, now perfected in the EISA Award-winning FinePix S5 Pro, has been brought to the consumer in the FinePix F100fd." Before dismissing these claims out of hand, one ought to give Fuji the respect they are due. In terms of detail/noise, Fuji truly brought high ISO performance to compact cameras with the F10/11 and refined this capability with the F30. With regards to high dynamic range imaging, Fuji again successfully pushed the field with their S3 and S5 DSLRs. However, with today's technology, the F100fd's 5x zoom and shirt pocket size means a small sensor size; and while 1/1.6" is larger than most other small sensors, it isn't that much larger. Putting 12MP in a small sensor means a tiny sensel size. Part 2 of this series will address the question, "Can the tiny-senselled F100fd have a detail/noise performance similar to that of the 6MP Fuji F30?" Part 3 will address the F100fd dynamic range claims. Disclaimer: I have no inside information from Fuji, nor have I had the priviledge to yet test the F100fd. What follows is simply a discussion of the known technology with a measured dose of good-natured speculation.
Fuji F100fd - It's Compact, but is it Serious? Part 1 of 3 (Introduction)
Monday, March 17, 2008
Posted by Amin
Labels:
detail,
dynamic range,
F100fd,
Fujifilm,
high ISO,
noise,
RAW,
Serious Compacts
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That's a good strategy for assessing whether a camera is intended for advanced users. I would also consider whether the zoom range (or prime) meets my shooting needs. Maximum aperture is also significant in marginal light.
Advanced users might also look at exactly how compact their camera needs to be. There's still quite a difference in size between Canon's G9 and an ultra compact camera.
At the moment I'm deciding between the Panasonic FX35 and the Fuji F100fd. If I'm going to be shooting mostly at the wider end, then the FX35's lens which starts at 25mm and a slightly brighter f/2.8 could be the better choice. The Fuji F100fd's zoom lens, however, has the greater reach and brighter lens at the telephoto end.
Quite likely the F100fd will outperform the FX35 in most aspects relating to image quality. Still there could be other factors that allow the FX35 to close part of that gap: DPReview found that the F100fd's predecessor, the F50fd's image stabilization wasn't particularly effective.
Hi Björn, I knew I was leaving out some important stuff =). I was thinking about this mainly from the standpoint of part 2 and 3, so thanks for reminding me about important lens characteristics and body size. I'm going to add those to the post.
The FX35 and F100fd comparison is an interesting one as you point out. I'm looking forward to hearing more about both cameras.
I had a play with an F100fd the other day (was in my local shop when the Fuji rep was there) and was a bit taken aback by the lack of aperture/shutter priority that I'd been led to expect. That said, I had a long think about how I use my F31fd - advanced exposure control is so comparatively fiddly, and changing the aperture doesn't affect depth of field that much anyway, and I started wondering whether aperture/shutter priority on compacts was a bit of a gimmick.
Generally, I agree that aperture and shutter priority are less useful on a compact - at least one with a small sensor.
I've used aperture priority on cameras like the GX100 only to leave the shutter open longer for night shots. In dim surroundings, compacts tend to choose the largest possible aperture with the fastest possible shutter speed. But sometimes I wanted slower shutter speeds to achieve motion blur - for example cars moving in front of a building.
I own a Fujifilm F31fd and I almost exclusively shoot using aperture priority mode.
The simple reason is that with F3.6 or F4.0 the lens does not show any significant chromatic aberrations even in high-contrast situations.
See also http://www.pbase.com/arn/fuji_f30 .
So I definitely would consider the F31fd a serious compact. It has dedicated buttons for exposure compensation and it also as the A/S mode - both of which are missing on the F100fd.
However, note that the F100fd is the successor of F40, not of the F50 or F30/31
The rumors have it that in autumn will present at Fotokina a F110fd (?) with manual modes.
Good point. Aperture priority mode is also useful guiding the camera away from f-numbers where diffraction leads to significant softening. Some cameras do this in bright light even when there is room to go higher on shutter speed.
I agree that the F100fd is the successor to the F40, but in that way it is strange for Fuii to call it the "ultimate F series camera," no?
I'm looking for a new pocket camera to replace my Fuji E900.
This was sold as a 'serious amateur' camera 3 years ago, and when I got it I was mightily disappointed. At 100% the images had no definition and were very noisy. I want a camera that is good enough for reproduction in print, and the only way the E900 could be used for print was at 1/2 size ie not 9m pixels but reduced down in Photoshop to about half to improve the sharpness.
The RAW setting was also rather a joke, as it was hidden way down in the bowels of the on screen controls, and the only software free with the camera to deal with this setting interpolated up each shot to 50mb, and just made the noise twice as noticeable.
I also have a dSLR for more serious stuff, but I don't want to have to carry that with me everywhere, so I want a small high resolution, high quality camera for the other times.
That's where the F100fd comes in. At the moment it's a toss up between this and the Canon Ixus 960IS. Both are 12m pixel cameras, and both are supposed to be very good, but which has the edge?
One has an optical view finder (the Canon) this is very much in its favour, as something I have alway found in the past, is that you can get nearly twice as many shots out of a camera's battery life by using the optical viewfinder instead of the back lcd display, and it's more natural to me...
I am willing to buy the Fuji, though, if the picture quality is significantly better at 100%, though, so I'm crying out for reviews and sample images on-line.
My e900 prints 8.5x11's that look the same as my k10d with a 16-45 and at 11x14 the same as the same camera with the kit lens. Raw looks good at 100% through iso 200 and jpgs at 80 and 100.