Fuji FinePix 40iLook! There in your pocket! It's a camera! It's an MP3 player! It's... The Fujifilm Finepix 40i!<<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 11/03/2000 |
Test Results
In keeping with our standard policy, the following comments are condensed to summarize our key findings. For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the Fujifilm FinePix 40i's "pictures" page.
As with all Imaging Resource camera tests, we encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the devices performed. Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how its images compare to other cameras you may be considering buying.
Overall, the F40i performed better than we initially expected, given its lack of exposure features. Color balance looked great throughout most of our testing, although the camera's white balance system had some trouble with the incandescent lighting used for our indoor portraits. We typically set the white balance on automatic, which handled most of our light sources with ease. The F40i did a fairly good job with the Davebox test target, reproducing the large color blocks with near accuracy, and distinguishing the tonal variations of the Q60 target up to the "B" range. Color in our outdoor portrait and exterior house images were pretty accurate as well. Overall, the F40i does a nice job with color, which has typically been a Fujifilm strong point.
Resolution on the F40i also looked great, with a resolution value that we determined to fall between 900 and 1,000 lines per picture height in both the horizontal and vertical directions....?
The F40i operates in automatic exposure control at all times, with the Manual mode providing control of white balance and exposure compensation, in addition to the flash mode. The F40i performed as we expected it would in low-light tests, providing bright, useable images only as low as one foot candle (11 lux). Since this corresponds to a typical city night scene, we think the F40i should handle a reasonable amount of city night shooting. Noise was moderately high at the lower light levels, but not too bad overall. (We direct readers to Mike Chaney's excellent Qimage Pro program, for a tool with an amazing ability to remove image noise without significantly affecting detail.)
The F40i's optical viewfinder is pretty tight, showing approximately 81.8 percent of the final image area at all three image sizes. We noted that images framed with the optical viewfinder shift toward the upper right corner of the image, and slant slightly toward the lower left corner. The LCD monitor was much more accurate, showing about 95.3 percent of the final image area, also at all three image sizes. Since we generally like to see LCD monitors as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the F40i did a pretty good job in that category. Images framed with the LCD monitor were slightly centered toward the lower left corner, with a very slight slant toward the lower right corner. We were unable to judge the frame accuracy of the camera at the 3.75X digital telephoto setting, because the digital telephoto setting blurs the image in the LCD display, making it hard to precisely frame the target. We also noticed increased noise and a softer image quality with the digital zoom.
The F40i does an excellent job in the macro category, capturing an impressive minimum area of just 2.26 x 1.69 inches (57.35 x 43.02mm). Color balance is slightly green, but detail and resolution are both very nice (although the brooch appears a little softer than the rest of the image). The F40i's built-in flash does a pretty good job of throttling down for the macro shot, but we detected uneven distribution and a rather dark shadow in the top right corner.
Though the F40i doesn't offer much exposure control, it still did a nice job with most of our tests. Given its limitations, we think it performed very well, capturing great color and image quality. Its macro capabilities are definitely worth mentioning, as is the F40i's great resolution.
Conclusion
Fujifilm's combination digital camera and MP3 player definitely caught our attention. Initially, we didn't expect much from the FinePix F40i, because of its very limited exposure controls, however we were pleasantly surprised at its test performances. The camera does a wonderful job in average shooting situations, with great image quality and color. Combined with its very portable design and fun MP3 player capabilities, the F40i should be a popular new arrival on the digicam scene.
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