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Fuji FinePix 1400 A sleek design, great 1.3 megapixel picture quality, a 3x zoom lens, and a great price! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet FinePix 1400 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on FinePix 1400 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:Viewfinder Review First Posted: 6/6/2000

Viewfinder

The F1400 Zoom is equipped with a real image optical viewfinder that zooms along with the lens (except in digital telephoto, which relies on the LCD). A central autofocus target helps line up shots while an external LED lights green or orange to let you know the status of the autofocus or flash, if activated. Fuji estimates the frame coverage at about 80 percent, but we found the framing accuracy to be only 74 percent at wide angle and about 81 percent at telephoto. We also noticed that framing with the optical viewfinder results in an image shifted slightly towards the upper right corner. Additionally, the image seemed to slant ever so slightly towards the left in our test unit. Inaccurate optical viewfinders are a pet peeve of ours on digital cameras, to the point that we're going to start making more noise about it. In the case of the F 1400 Zoom, the viewfinder isn't much worse than many others we've seen, but we see no reason why it shouldn't be much better. (Expect to hear more of this from us in the future: We promise to pick on all the manufacturers equally!)

The 1.6 inch, D-TFT, color LCD monitor is activated by the Display button just above it after the camera is switched on. When not being used as a viewfinder, the LCD monitor continuously displays camera information, which remains on the screen when the viewfinder is activated, but can be canceled by hitting the Display button a second time. As with the optical viewfinder, a central autofocus target accompanies the information display. In Playback mode, the LCD can display up to nine thumbnail images at a time in the index display mode and a zoom feature allows you to scroll around an enlarged view of a captured image for closer review. (You can zoom in on images in playback mode like this up to 4.0x, in 0.2x increments, a very handy feature.)

Our tests showed the LCD monitor to be quite a bit more accurate than the optical viewfinder, showing about 87 percent accuracy at wide angle and about 95 percent at telephoto. Interestingly enough, we noticed that for both the optical viewfinder and the LCD monitor, the frame accuracy stayed the same for both high and low resolutions. However, on the smaller image size in the wide angle test for the LCD, we measured its accuracy at 92 percent, a noticeable difference from the 87 percent of the larger format.