Fuji Finepix F610 Review

Overall Rating

Excellent resolution and low noise for a point and shoot
Very fast start-up
The extra LCD screen with four buttons is fast to use
Desktop cradle recharger automatically fires up transfers to PC
SuperCCD gives better highlight tones than previous P&S that I owned
Movies are smooth and sharp
I like the metal body
I like the thirds grid display option
It's small for a 6mp/12mp camera - fits in shirt pocket (just)

No Histogram display
No instant replay of last image while in camera mode (you have to switch back to replay mode)
Poor low light autofocus - no assist
White balance sometimes fooled - can only be set in manual mode
Buttons are very small - I guess it's a small camera
I don't find it easy to hold - it requires a finger detent top left and maybe another ridge on the front left.

Fuji Finepix F610:
I already own a DSLR Canon 300D. I bought the F610, because I want a small camera to carry on bike rides.
The Fuji F610 produces stunningly sharp images with a small amount of noise from a body that fits into your shirt pocket.

Colour is rich and saturated and the 4th generation SuperCCD sensor definitely seems to control the highlights. Skies have a more complete tonal range than my previous Nikon Coolpix.

Somehow the designers have just missed making the camera easy to hold - as a result I generally screw a tiny tabletop tripod into it and use that as a handle.
I have large hands and the tiny buttons are fiddly.
It us possible to obstruct the lens as it pops out, but you'll only do this a couple of times before you learn where to position your grip. The ridge on the front appears to be designed to indicate where to hold it - it flattens off beside the lens.

The tiny rotary selector can get turned around, so it has to be checked after taking it out of a pocket.

I like the twin screen system, with the upper screen displaying images and a full menu when required and the lower LCD screen showing information icons with each icon paired with a button. Changing options is intuitive and fast.

I miss being able to check a histogram - the F610 has none. One oddity is that regardless of whether the exposure is correct (it usually is correct; the 64 segment multi metering is very effective) , when the histogram is checked in Photoshop, it fills the chart from shadow to highlight. Normally, incorrect exposure shows as a gap at one end or the other.

I'm not impressed by the instruction manual - everything is in there, but not easy to find. There is no index at the back.

Battery life has been OK - I went out for a morning and shot a full 128 mb card (about 50 12mp shots.)

I like the camera very much. There is no "perfect" camera and the little F610 puts a very useable powerhouse into a compact body.
I can live with it's minor faults - which relate to ergonomics - while enjoying the poster sized prints this little beauty puts out - plus movies...plus voice memos....