Electronic Review: Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd

Fujifilm came out with the FinePix Z5fd a couple years ago, but the camera is still available via internet sale sites and some stores. With a mix of reviews going around, I decided to purchase the camera and test it for myself. How did this camera hold up?

FinePix Z5fd is stylish and appealing to the modern eye. The lens is located at the very top, left corner with the flash to its right. There is not an "on/off" button, but, instead, a slide on/off. When slid all the way open, the lens and flash become exposed.

On the back, a large 2.5 - inch TFT LCD. The LCD is very bright on most occasions but has flaws all of its own. Whenever this camera is used in dim situations (indoor without bright lighting), there is a lot of noise. This causes the pictures to come out covered in dark specks. Same with the video recorder; unless you are in a very well lit area, all the videos will come out with noise.

Switching between video and photo settings is very easy. On top of the camera is a switch (located on the right). There is an image of a camera and video camera on opposite sides of the switch. Simply switch from either image to go from video to photo.

Next to the switch is the capture button. Next up is a button that has an image of a head with a box around it. That is the face detection. If you push that button, small squares will form around faces on the LCD before you take the picture. This is to help focus on the faces and prevent them from blurring. It did turn out to be a handy little setting.

Visiting the camera's back again - you will see two buttons at the top right; one with a "W" and one with a "T". These are your zoom buttons; very easy to use. Z5fd comes complete with 3 x optical zoom and 6.2 digital zoom - making 18.5 x total zoom. The optical zoom is good but digital zoom is a last resort. It causes the pictures to come out blurred and pixel filled.

Looking under the zoom panels, you will see a D-pad and four other small, circular buttons surrounding the D-pad. Use the D-pad to locate the menu for settings and other features. The other four buttons are used for photo viewing, display settings, anti-blur/flash/no-flash setting, and functions (i.e. ISO).

Moving on to MegaPixels - Z5 is a 6.3 MP camera. It is a good amount of pixel for people who would like to have larger prints made of photos. An 8 x 10 photo could easily be printed without distortion.

There are 14 scene positions available, such as: text, flower, landscape, etc. Each with their own purpose, and they come in handy. What I did not like about this camera is the fact is only has a B&W, natural, and chrome color settings. Being a photographer, I like to have a little more flexibility. It would have been nice if there was Sepia setting as well.

An ISO of 100/200/400/800/1600 is available for use. I personally enjoyed this setting because it adds more options for those of you taking photos in manual.

Fujifilm Z5 takes a lithium ION battery and comes with the wall charger as well. The camera also takes an XD card for memory, but also has 26 MB internal memory.

All-in-all, this is a good camera to have on hand if you like to take quick snap shots because it is easy to use and very compact. I honestly would recommend this camera if you like to take outdoor nature shots. The camera is a professional in natural lighting.