FinePix F30 Zoom review

The F30 Zoom is the successor to Fujifilm's F11, which is an excellent camera that performs particularly well in low light.

The F30 doubles the maximum ISO setting to 3,200, allowing for extremely fast shutter speeds in low light. The 2.5" screen's resolution now has a 230,000-pixel resolution (up from 153,000 on the F11) and the styling is more attractive. The bundled memory has taken a nosedive, though; instead of a 64MB xD card, there's just 10MB of internal memory. The bundled soft case makes up for this.

Otherwise, the F30 and F11 are extremely similar. Aperture and shutter priority modes are available for creative photography, although there's still no manual exposure control. Both cameras are fast, at less than two seconds between shots, and their chunky lithium-ion batteries have tremendous staying power. Image detail is as good as we've seen from a 6-megapixel camera, with skin textures looking crisp and realistic. Flash photography looked warm and natural, and not once did the automatic settings produce a bad photo. ISO 400 gave sharp pictures with minimal noise and even ISO 800 was usable but, as with the F11, heavy noise-reduction processing at ISO 1,600 gives sharp edges a spidery appearance. The ISO 3,200 setting is for emergencies only. Still, high-ISO (and low-light) performance is better than from any other brand of compact camera.

The FinePix F30 Zoom is the best 6-megapixel compact camera we've seen, but it's more expensive than similarly specified cameras such as Sony's excellent DSC-W30 ('Also consider...', page 31). The F30's priority modes, big screen, long battery life and superior low-light performance go a long way to justifying the high price. However, the F11 Zoom costs just £150 including VAT from www.dabs.com.

Author: Ben Pitt