Fujifilm Finepix F30 Review by LAPTOP Magazine

Where most compact cameras offer light sensitivity settings of up to ISO 400 and occasionally 800, the Fujifilm Finepix F30 can shoot up to an equivalent of ISO 3200, a level not seen on many professional digital SLRs, let alone consumer cameras. In layman’s terms, this means that the 6.3-megapixel F30 lets you shoot in very low light (say, at a birthday party) without having to turn on the flash, which can wash out your subject.

While it’s not the slimmest digicam out there, the 6.9-ounce F30 is small enough to slide into a bag or coat pocket and take anywhere. There are lots of high-end touches, including a luxurious, slightly curved finish and a 2.5-inch LCD with an impressive 2848 x 2136-pixel resolution. The buttons are a bit small, but navigation is easy through the F30’s 15 scene modes. These settings include the handy Natural Light & With Flash, which takes two shots in succession, the first without and the second with flash.

With most cameras, shooting at high ISO levels typically results in increased digital noise. But the F30’s imaging sensor and processor use advanced noise reduction technology designed to lower the incidence of noise in high ISO shots. Our shots at ISO 800 were some of the cleanest we’ve seen for a camera in this class. Images got rougher at ISO 1600 and 3200, however, which is not surprising. Although we were impressed with these pictures, printing them at anything higher than 4 x 6 inches will result in more noise and chromatic aberrations.

In addition to its high ISO range, the F30 includes a Picture Stabilization mode, which automatically pairs a high ISO with a matching shutter speed to decrease blur. This feature, while helpful at times, produced inconsistent results.

In regular conditions, the F30 fared better, with its 6.3-MP Super CCD and 3X Fujinon lens capturing colorful images with good overall sharpness, though skin tones tended to look a little pink.

Overall, the F30 is one of the best low-light performers on the market. If you like shooting night scenes or indoor portraits without a flash, you owe the F30 some serious consideration.

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Fujifilm Finepix F30

The Fujifilm Finepix F30 lets you take pictures in low light without a flash.

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