Customer Reviews

Fujifilm FinePix F60fd 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was attacted to this camera frankly because I had a need for a good quality camera more compact than my GRD. I had read the reviews and decided that for the money, the F60fd would be 'good enough'.
I was shocked.
In bright light the very good lens and high res sensor produce awesomely detailed images.
In low light it produces images that trash those of cameras costing three times as much.
As good as the F30/31? Not quite, esp versus the F31.
But the image stabilization makes up for that in part allowing lower ISO's to be used, resultng in very very useable images out to ISO 800.
And the default metering and color accuracy far exceed those of either of the two earlier Fuji's.
As well as being far sleeker and more pocketable than them as well.
The lens is just bare touch wider; a true 35mm-e.
I have found no purple fringing or CA, images are crisp edge to edge.
The LCD is brilliant, sharp and very easy to use in quite bright light.
Some have said this is but a bare upgrade to the F50fd.
This is true, but it is a very much an evolved product.
I carry mine everywhere.
Should I leave tomorrow on a long trip, I would not hesitate to take it with, relying on it only.

If you're like me, you're not a photojournalist or photographer by trade. You're a dad who wants to take pictures of his family. This camera packs so much punch for the money, that you will be hard pressed to find a better "point-and-shoot" value.

Even at large reprints, you will see a level of clarity you were missing from even some last generation Digital SLRs.

Simple to use, outstanding picture quality, and low cost? I think you will come away impressed, and at around $200 (time of this review) this camera is a steal.

I haven't yet written a review on Amazon but since there are so few on this camera, I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

THE GOOD
I bought this camera primarily because the f series is supposed to have superior low light performance. This camera's 1600 iso really does seem no worse than some others at 800 iso - very noisy but usable in a pinch if it is a shot that you absolutely must have. It's 800 iso is pretty decent compared to the 400 iso of some other brands. Where this camera excels though is indoors without a flash at iso 400. Shots are bright and while not as clear as those with a flash are excellent when a flash is not an option. Not blurry or too dark to use.
Face detection seems to work really well too, even when the person is not looking at the camera straight on. I really like that you can enable or disable face detection with the touch of a button without having to go into the menu.
Auto white balance is surprisingly good indoors - not perfect but doesn't turn white into yellow or brown either. This is a huge plus for me since so many cameras, particularly under indoor lighting without a flash, have a great deal of trouble with auto white balance.
THE BAD
The iso programing on this camera is just aweful. When I left it on auto 1600 for an indoor photo without flash (in a lit room) - that's what it took the photo at. When I lowered the limit to 800 and then to 400 - that photos were much better and quite bright enough.
With a flash indoors the camera chose iso 800 when the upper limit was 1600 and 800 iso. ISO 100 or 200 at most would have been a much more logical choice. When set manually to those speeds the photos were much better and not overly dark either.
This camera appears to choose the highest iso possible by default, thereby decreasing the quality of your photos.
If you don't mind manually setting the iso (for flash shots) or making sure that the limit is auto 400 (800 if it is not a lit environment) then you can get some really good shots out of this camera. However, if you want a fully automatic camera where you can just point and shoot then this camera is not for you since you cannot control the iso settings on auto or scene recognition modes.
I have not yet tested any of the dedicated scene modes to see the quality of those pictures at the iso levels chosen by the camera.
SUMMARY
Good face detection and low light performance. Not useful in full auto mode due to lousy iso choices made by the camera.

*UPDATE: I compared results from this camera to the finepix f40fd. I took the same shots of the same items with both cameras. On screen results from the f40fd looked better but since one is a 8mp and one is a 12mp I decided to focus on printed results instead. Pictures were sharper with more detail and truer color (with the exception of red which the f40fd tends to make lean a little more toward orange than the f60fd without the flash with the flash both tend to lean a little more toward orange than they should). Noise was visibly less even with a 4x6 inch print when the photo was taken without flash.
Both cameras had to be forced to take the flash shot at iso 200 and the non flash at iso 400 as they want to fire at the highest auto iso setting.

This is a nice little camera. I had the f50fd & dropped it in the ocean on vacation. We really like the fact that it does videos, too. However, with that in mind the zoom does NOT work when you are using it as a video camera. The pictures from this camera are great. Easy to use & download.

October 2009:

The Fujifilm FinePix F60fd has been out of production for about a year. It has the feature that I wanted.(Manual mode w/aperture or shutter priority). Not many of this class of small cameras offer that feature.
I was able to find and purchase this camera at a reasonable price through amazon.com

I've owned many digital cameras and this f60fd is without a doubt the best so far. The scene recognition is an excellent feature. I don't really have the need for 12MP pictures, but I like that Fuji offers the setting of 6MP Fine that gives me the quality I need without the huge file size. With image stabilization, high ISO capabilities, face detection, scene recognition, and a smart-flash, it's very hard to take a bad photo. I couldn't be happier with this great camera.

I bought this camera 2 years ago, and then it was stolen. I was so happy to find the exact same one again! It takes VERY clear pictures, has a great battery that lasts a long time, is small, and affordable. What else might you want?

The Fuji Finepix F60fd camera perfoms very well. The lens has a slightly wider maximum aperture than most of its competitors, which I feel gives it a useful optical edge. Optical zoom is adequate at only 3:1 but zooming rather than adjusting your viewpoint is lazy anyway. Face recognition and auto redeye correction works very well. Auto scene recognition works OK (though I wouldn't rely on it). Most of the time I have used the camera in full auto, but there are manual override options as well as shutter and aperture priority though metering in these modes is a bit awkward. The biggest problem is the poor LCD visibility in strong daylight, but this is a problem with most compacts due to the lack of an optical viewfinders this is my first compact without one). This camera is slightly larger and heavier than its sub-compact competition, but I like the solidity this gives it. Most of the other cameras I tried felt too small and fiddly in operation. Picture quality is more than good enough, but you need to ensure maximum ISO is limited to prevent very grainy images in low light. I have max ISO set at 800. Menus are well laid out once you get the hang of the logic. Only the lack of an optical viewfinder prevents me giving this camera five stars.

Camera takes fine pictures. feels solid, etc.

Only problem is that it drains batteries just sitting around.

Sent it back to Fuji 2x for repair, came back both times "fixed to factory tolerances", but still drains batteries.

Charge a battery, leave it on the counter for 2 weeks, pop it into the camera, all is good.

Charge a battery, put it in the camera and leave the camera off. After 3 days the battery will be dead.

I think the memory management functions in the camera draw more battery power than comparable brands.

Get a Canon Powershot instead.

I purchased this camera 12/08 and have been very happy with it. I did a lot of searching on the internet before i bought it. It has the largest sensor for a point and shoot. I took the camera on my recent vacation overseas and the pictures are beautiful. There are alot of settings for different situations. The auto setting usually works good in normal light settings. There is a setting were you can pick apperature or shutter priority. I use it for the low light situtations and it does a decent job. Each mode has its own individual settings and the main settings are used for all modes. I do not think there is a nicer camera for this price. Go to dpreviews and do a side-by-side comparison with the rest.