Review: Fujifilm Z5fd – colourful, compact camera
The propaganda
Fujifilm’s Z5fd is a compact little snapper available in a range of colours – alongside the standard silver you’ll find mocha brown and raspberry red, although the latter is almost verging on pink.
The ‘fd’ in its moniker refers to face detection – it’ll search out people in images and ensure that they, rather than the pot plants behind them, are in focus when you hit the button.
The good
Aimed squarely at the point and shoot market, the Z5fd is quick to start up – slide back then lens cover and it’s ready to shoot in a couple of seconds. Despite its small size, there’s a 3x optical zoom squeezed in.
Max res 6.3 megapixel shots stretch to 2,848×2,136 pixels and come in at around 1.5MB at medium quality. Snaps are pleasing with realistic flesh tones and well defined colours.
The face detection is quick, so you don’t need to hang around while it assesses the scene, and it’s reasonably accurate if your subject is facing the lens straight on.
The bad
The lens is a little close to the left hand edge so when holding it with two hands it’s easy for a stray finger to impose on your image composition. It’s also a beepy little thing – from the moment you slide open the lens cover to pretty much every keypress you make. Thankfully you can turn the sound off.
It also boasts an infra red port for wireless transfer to compatible devices, but try as I might I couldn’t get it to send any images over to my Sony Ericsson phone successfully. It just sulked and said “Communication Error” each time.
Geek Sheet
Resolution: 6.3 megapixel
Zoom: 3x optical, 6.2x digital
Sensitivity: 100-1,600 ISO
Focal length: 6.1 – 18.3mm (Equivalent to 36 – 108 mm on a 35 mm camera)
Memory: 26MB internal, 16MB xD card
Dimensions: 93 x 55 x 19 mm
Weight: 148g (130g without card and battery)
Overview
The Z5fd is a small, stylish camera that’s well suited to the point and shoot market. It’s simple to use and takes decent snaps. The face detection is fast and reasonably accurate, keeping your subject in focus. However, with a RRP of £219.99 it’s a little on the high side for a 6.3 megapixel model.
Related sites: Fujifilm Z5fd
