Fujifilm FinePix F31fd 6.3 Megapixel Compact Camera

Great Camera!

Strengths: Overall photo quality, Ease of use, Battery life, Low light abilities

Weakness: Kind of bulky compaired to other compacts, costly for 6mp

Let me start by saying before purchasing this camera I spent about 4 weeks of researching daily on the web. After researching I found what I thought was going to be the perfect all around camera. I purchased the Cannon SD800is. I was happy with its look and size. And of course it looked great on paper. On top of this it was hard to find because it was soo popular. This has to be a great camera...
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Let me start by saying before purchasing this camera I spent about 4 weeks of researching daily on the web. After researching I found what I thought was going to be the perfect all around camera. I purchased the Cannon SD800is. I was happy with its look and size. And of course it looked great on paper. On top of this it was hard to find because it was soo popular. This has to be a great camera right?... Wrong! After confidently purchasing the camera. I brought it home for some test shots. I used my Olympus D580 for comarison. I took pictures using both cameras of various targets around the house. Most included people and flowers and well as some land shots.(Pictures of the House) To my suprise and disappoinment the 4 MP Olympus blew the doors off of my brand new Cannon! I am not a professional photographer but you don't have to be to see which pictures were sharper and more pleasing to the eye. This was unacceptable. Especially since I paid $399 plus tax for the Cannon. After a week of it continusily getting blown away by the Olympus I returned it for a refund.


Now I was back to square one. More researching! Most stores have a 15% restocking fee on cameras soI did'nt want to make another bad choice. After another 2 weeks of researching. The Fuji F30 became the number one contender. Then I stumbled on the Fuji F31fd which is newer and has the face detect feature I thought might be useful. This camera is not yet available in most retail stores so I was forced to order on line. I got mine from Tri-State camera.com They did an excellent job of processing my order and shipping it right away. Mine arrived in 2 days and was "factory fresh"!


Once I received it, I noticed the camera to be of very good quality. It looks and feels solid and has a nice texture to the finish. (not slippery) After installing the battery and memory card and before charging it I fired it up. It was quick and snappy. Now the real test! Again I took shots of various targets around the house and to my delight it performed flawlesly. Pictures were sharp and well saturated. Inside shots of people were well focused and correctly exposed. The intellegent flash feature combined with face detect ensures you get great shots every time. In fact this camera does not miss! I found that it is as simple as putting the camera in auto mode and preessing the FD button for most situations. Most cameras will take decent pictures in well lighted situations. What make this one special is that you can get great shots in low light as well. In fact, most pictures taken indoors in Auto mode were taken at ISO 800. Even at this setting the pictures are crystal clear in prints up to 8X10, which is the largest most people will print at home anyway.


In conclusion you can't go wrong with this camera. Most people will opt for the Cannon SD series. Don't follow them! Save your time and 15% restocking fees. Trust me, you will be very pleased with this camera. I highly recomend it!

By Bennettke - Feb 7, 2007

A truly fine camera

Strengths: This camera is excellent both as a point-and-shoot camera and as a camera that permits setting exposure and speed and other characteristics manually. Also, face recognition is very helpful.

Weakness: It would have been nice to be able to use sd cards for memory; the camera requires an xd picture card.

The picture quality is excellent and rivals that of single lens reflex cameras. The picture quality and the clarity and ease of the commands and settings set this camera apart.

By Johannesknesl - Jan 23, 2007

Great Little Camera

Strengths: Face Detection, Image Stabilization, Buttons well laid out, Size

Weakness: USB port cover!

I bought this camera to replace on old Olympus D550. The speed of the camera is fantastic. With my old camera I was limited to an ISO of only 400, this one goes to 3200. Two features touted for the 31fd are the Face Detection and the Image Stabilization - both of which work great. My wife has a bad habit of putting the focal point in between our two girls, this HELPS eliminate her fuzzy...
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I bought this camera to replace on old Olympus D550. The speed of the camera is fantastic. With my old camera I was limited to an ISO of only 400, this one goes to 3200.

Two features touted for the 31fd are the Face Detection and the Image Stabilization - both of which work great. My wife has a bad habit of putting the focal point in between our two girls, this HELPS eliminate her fuzzy pictures:) I say helps, because in order for this feature to work correctly the camera has to "see" the face(s). That being said, a helpful little box will be placed around the face(s) to show the feature is working the way you expect.

The Image Stabilization seems to work just fine, like I said. If you review this feature on different websites, you'll see some discussion on what "true" Image Stabilization is and whether or not a company should or should not advertise it. I just know that in my pictures so far, it works for me.

Now the cons. The USB/Power port cover is awful. I will end up buying an XD card reader because this cover is such a pain. Not only is it flimsy, but it doesn't open wide enough. The other thing is the weight is just a little more than others I looked at in the stores.

Besides the two very minor cons, I'm happy with the camera. The size, speed, and Face Detection are features that would make me recommend this to others.

By pglenn - Feb 10, 2007

Fujifilm F31fd

Strengths: Great pictures for the front pocket camera. Has all the main buttons right at your thumb.

Weakness: Have not found any!!!

This is a great camera for the size, it also has a feature that will take a picture with the flash and a split second after will take one without the flash and it will let you pick the one you would like to keep.

By jhrfive - Jan 2, 2007

Great P&S Camera

Strengths: Low Light/High ISO shots, Extremely low noise ISO800 & down, Intelligent Flash, Face Detection that works, Battery Life, Solid Construction

Weakness: Occasional purple fringing Only 3x optical zoom No IS

This is a great P&S camera. It's low light/high ISo shots are best in class(and only really bested by SLRs). ISO800 and down have extremely low noise with it's ISO400 rivaling many P&S's ISO100 and 200. It's intelligent flash does a great job of not overexposing those indoor shots(I don't think this gets enough praise). If you can't or don't want to us e a flash, unlike other cameras, in it's...
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This is a great P&S camera. It's low light/high ISo shots are best in class(and only really bested by SLRs). ISO800 and down have extremely low noise with it's ISO400 rivaling many P&S's ISO100 and 200. It's intelligent flash does a great job of not overexposing those indoor shots(I don't think this gets enough praise). If you can't or don't want to us e a flash, unlike other cameras, in it's class, the F31 can handle it and give you excellect results. Even it's ISO1600 is very useable, if you use a simple noise removal tool like Noiseware on it. It's ISO3200 is a bit too much, however, and really shouldn't be used.

It's outdoor shots are excellent and can keep up with most cameras. It's colors are natural and aren't oversaturated, like some cameras. It handles outdoor lighting conditions quite well, but does occassionally show some purple fringing(but many other cameras do too)

I used to be a big Canon fan, having had an A70 and a G3(I still use my G3). But after my A70 failed, I went looking. Instead of looking just at Canon, I looked ate everything. When I came across the Fuji F series, there was no denying what it could do(I purchased the F31, F40 and Sony T100, all at the same time and compared). The indoor shots were just too good to ignore and it's pure worry free P&S capabilites are, as well.

Don't take my word for it, read the reviews, all over the net. They all pretty much say the same thing about the F30/31. Dpreview.com, which thrives on image quality, gave it a 9 of 10, for it's image quality, which is the highest given, to date, for a P&S camera.

By Chuck_IV - May 10, 2007