Fujifilm V10 Design

Though it's not quite ultra-slim, at 3.3 x 2.55 x 0.9 inches, the Fujifilm V10 is small enough to pass the jeans test with flying colors, fitting easily into the front pocket of a pair of Levis without accidentally turning on in the process. Though it's a blend of metal and polycarbonate, the Fujifilm V10 feels solid and sports an attractive gun-metal grey faceplate. The Fujifilm V10 weighs 5.5 ounces (without battery and card) and though it's basically a square with rounded edges, it is easy to hold with your thumb resting on the huge 3-inch LCD on the back.

The Fujifilm V10's metal front panel is completely flat with the lens retracted. A shutter-like lens cover protects the front of the lens when closed, and quickly retracts when the camera is powered on. The lens is set off slightly to the right and the flash is near the top left of the metal faceplate. On the upper left chrome-banded corner of the Fujifilm V10 is the self-timer lamp. Two dots below the lens barrel mark the location of the camera's microphone.

The right side of the Fujifilm V10 (as viewed from the rear) has the movie and still photography mode switch, a raised eyelet for the wrist strap and a rubber covering for the A/V Out and USB sockets.

The opposite side of the Fujifilm V10 is smooth and featureless, except for a small rubber flap covering the DC IN 5V power input socket.

On the Fujifilm V10's top panel (l.-r.) are the Photo Mode (F) button, the power button, and the Shutter button, located in the center of the zoom ring.

The remaining controls are on the rear panel, squeezed in below the huge LCD monitor. Though the controls on the rear of the Fujifilm V10 are obviously very tiny, that's the price you pay for having such a large screen on such a small camera. All the way on the left is a barely noticeable indicator lamp next to the playback button. In the middle is the 4-way controller which is actually three separate controls placed side by side. The left arrow is for scrolling left and engaging the Macro mode. The right is for scrolling right and adjusting the flash. The center control toggles up and down and operates the self-timer. Toggling up during playback also starts the automatic slideshow playback. A little further down on the right is the Menu/OK button which calls up the camera's Record or Playback-mode menu system, and acknowledges changes to menu items. All the way on the bottom right is the Back/Display button, for backing out of menu screens, or cycling through the available LCD display modes.

The Fujifilm V10's bottom panel is flat, with the threaded plastic tripod socket located slightly to the left (as viewed from the rear), almost dead-center below the lens. The shared xD-Picture Card and battery compartment is to the right of the tripod mount , with a hinged door that slides out before opening. The door doesn't lock, but latches closed fairly firmly.

At the left end of the Fujifilm V10's bottom panel, seven holes in a diamond-like grid indicate the location of the speaker. I initially found myself wondering why the camera's sound seemed to randomly get louder or quieter, until I realized that the speaker is in exactly the wrong location: When holding the camera with both hands, the only logical position places your thumb directly over the speaker holes, muffling the camera's sounds.

 

Fujifilm V10 External Controls

Shutter Button: Located in the center of the zoom dial, this button sets focus and exposure when halfway pressed, and fires the shutter when fully pressed. When in Playback mode, half-pressing this button quickly returns the camera to Record mode.

Zoom Ring: Surrounding the Fujifilm V10's shutter button is the zoom ring which controls the 3.4x optical and the up-to-5.7x digital zoom. In Playback mode, the zoom ring lets you zoom in on captured images, for closer viewing

Power Button: Located to the left of the zoom ring on the top of the camera, this button turns the camera on and off.

Photo Mode Button: Located to the right of the Fujifilm V10's Playback button, this button displays the Function menu when pressed in Record or Playback modes. The following options are available:

Record Mode

• Quality: Sets the image resolution to 5M F(fine) (2,592 x 1,944 pixels), 5M N(normal) (2,592 x 1944 pixels), 3:2 (2,736 x 1824 pixels), 3M (2,048 x 1,536 pixels), 2M (1,600 x 1,200 pixels), or 0.3M (640 x 480 pixels) for still images. In Movie mode, resolution options are 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels.
• ISO: Adjusts the camera's sensitivity to Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, or 1,600 equivalents.
• Color: Adjusts the color to Black and White, Chrome (high saturation and contrast), or Standard.
  

Playback Mode

• DPOF: Accesses the camera's DPOF menu, where you can browse images and set the number of copies of each image to be printed.

Movie/Still Photography Mode switch: Located on the right side of the Fujifilm V10, the switch lets you select between using the Movie and Still Photo modes.

Playback Button: On the back of the Fujifilm V10 on the lower left hand corner, this button puts the camera into Playback mode. However, unlike other Fuji models, hitting this button again will not put the camera back into Record mode. For that, you will need to lightly tap the shutter button. If the Fujifilm V10 is powered off, pressing and holding this button briefly will power the camera on in Playback mode, so the lens doesn't extend.

Delete/Brightness button: Next to the Playback button is the Delete/Brightness button. In playback mode, the button will let you erase an image. In Record mode, the button will increase the monitor's brightness in one large step; the monitor brightness does not remain increased in Playback mode.

Four-Direction buttons/switch: This button is actually three separate controls placed side by side. The left arrow is for scrolling left and engaging the Macro mode. The right is for scrolling right and adjusting the flash. The center control toggles up and down and operates the self-timer. Toggling up during playback also starts the automatic slideshow playback.

Menu/OK button: The Menu / OK button activates the menu system in any camera mode, and subsequently confirms menu selections. In playback mode, if a movie is playing the Menu button calls up the Playback volume menu.

Display/Back Button: All the way to the right on the back of the Fujifilm V10, this button controls the LCD display in Record mode. Pressing the button cycles through the available display modes. In Record mode, these are text overlay, image only, framing guidelines with text, or post-shot assist (which shows the last three images captured since switching the camera to record mode alongside a live view, to assist in framing shots with similar composition). In Playback mode, they are text overlay, image only, 30-image index, or 11-image index by date. When menus are activated, the Display / Back button backs out