User reviews for Fujifilm FinePix F700: Digital Photography Review

Opinion: Two words TONAL QUALITY. Pixel peepers should look elsewhere. This camera is all about pleasant and more film like tonal quality, not resolution.
To understand it you have to step back and compare the overall picture with other cameras that use regular sensors. You will see the difference in smooth tonal rendition. For instance light skin tones don't blown into yellows. Flash photos look more natural, etc
The F700 offers lots of photography control. The manual focus system is a joy to use thanks to the dedicated AF button on front, same as the Fuji 810. Manual exposure is also very usable thanks to a live meter.
Dynamic Range is HUGE. All available when using RAW. Because of it it will handle any light situation. Shooting at Noon no problem, Shooting at Night no problem.
Jpeg engine is fantastic, so no forced to use RAW.
Camera works great as a P&S in full Auto mode.
Fast Focusing, Fast Power On, Fast Burst 5fps at full resolution.
Has an AF assist light to focus in total darkness.
Unlimited VGA 30fps video.
ISO 800 full resolution looks good.
Huge value for what it sells now.

Problems: Lens has soft corners at larger apertures. (Typical of compact lenses) But sharp from f4.5 on.
Purple Fringing and CA at large apertures.
No Histogram. (Huge Fuji mistake) It really needs a S+R Histogram.
Selftimer doesn't stick. (I hate this)
RAW works only at base ISO, but you can underexpose to get the equivalent of higher ISOs then boosting levels in Software.
RAW is not buffered although the write time with xD type H cards is about 3sec, not bad.
RAW files are huge 12Mega a pop, but can be compressed using Fuji Hyper Utility.
Slowest shutter speed is only 3 Sec.

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Opinion: enjoying this camera for 4 moths now. excellent camera. takes a bit time to get most of it but delivers. still mastering my skills. this is the 3rd camera i have. the previous two being fuji 4900 and f30. very fast even for todays standards. sits in my pocket all the time. amazing raw mode and full manual controls, 5fps, ...

Problems: camera is better than me as a photographer :)

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Opinion: Excellent unique camera. They don't make them of this quality anymore.
The F700 is Fuji's best little underated secret.
It is the one and only compact digital camera capable of capture large dynamic ranges.
Once you pass the meagpixel syndrome you realize tha after resizing your images, what is left is the overall color rendition.
And is here where the F700 excell too.
The F700 is not a camera for amateurs, impatient people, or those who want something simple to use. It's best suited for experienced photographers who are willing to spend the time to get to know the camera.

Positives:
Fast RAW mode. (3sec to write to xD H card)
High Dynamic Range (when using RAW).
Best B&W compact camera yet due to the fine tonal range.
Low Noise @ ISO800.
Fast start-up time.
Fast and accurate focus.
Useful and practical Manual and Contious focus system using dedicated buttom.
AF assist light really works in total darkness.
SR sensor takes Night photogaphy to the highest level.
Record breaking 5fps burst mode, fastest among digicams.
Last five pictures burst feature is good for action shots, etc.
Durable built with a metal body & metal tripod socket.
Small and lightweight.
Great movie mode.
Auto WB is great indoors.
Good lens, low distorsion, no soft corners or vignetting.

This camera shines in expert hands when using the lastest RAW software. Fuji, Adobe or better yet the freeware S7RAW that allows you to customize the S+R mixes.
Good resolution about 5 Megapixels (Bayer sensor equiv.).
Despite being an oldy camera it still remains very competent. (July, 2006)
It can be found and at ridiculous price. $100-$150.

Is an excellent ultra-compact companion for his big brother the Fuji S3 DSLR.

SuperTip:
By Overexposing by +2EV, this camera can reach higher resolutions and less noise than previously thought.
You need overexposure to activate the other 3Million R pixels. Only in RAW mode. Readjust levels later in S7RAW or ACR.

PS. Don't be fooled by the scores. Unreasonable expectations about this camera Dynamic Range in combination with its 'real' price when it was introduced explain its low review scores. IMHO this camera is an underated and forgotten gem. Grab one before it completely disappear.!

Problems: No camera is perfect so:
No histogram or Out-of-Gamut warnings.
The most frequently used functions that an advance user would use are buried in menus, like RAW, WB, etc.
No image parameters tunning like Contrast and Saturation.
3 sec. min. shutter spped is limited. It needs Bulb or at least 15sec min S. speed.
Not so good WB outdoors, but if you use RAW or custom WB then is not an issue.
LCD monitor is hard to see in low light (no auto-gain), but the OVF helps in those cases.
No magnified LCD view during manual focus.
2sec. Selftimer doesn't stick, so is hard to use it frequently.
RAW files are not compressed 13MB per photo.
Steep learning curve and hard to exploit its unique HDR advantages.

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Opinion: Like the cradle, good features. Good for just a point and shoot camera.

Problems: Bad image quality in terms of saturated red and green, dreadful software, especially for mac 10.3 (cannot use it for opening up and processing RAW files). Difficult to hold when taking pictures.

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Opinion: Very good camera for point-and-shoot type of user, like me!

But, for underwater user (diving with the marine pack), it is so difficult to get good quality picture.

I still don't know up to now what settings to use for underwater photography? Please advice.

Thanks.
YNIK

Problems: So far no harware problem encountered.

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Opinion: I have owned a number of digial cameras over the last couple of years including the Kodak LS443 (not great), Canon Ixus 400 (slow operation but very high resolution images) and the Konica Kd510 (again, very high res and excellent colour balance but dated menu system and narrow-angle lens). I consider the F700 to be an excellent compromise amongst these, though it is not without its problems:

1. Very rapid operation. Start-up times are only equalled by the very latest compacts (eg Sony P100), were ground-breaking at the time and remain competitive.

2. Lens is excellent in terms of the lack of barrel distortion (all but unnoticeable), lens shading or corner softness.

3. Autofocus is rapid in operation and generally reliable. Low-light A/F is not perfect but better than other compact digicams I have experienced

4. Very customisable via an extensive menu. Full manual control and an intuitive menu system.

5. Image quality is generally good, with excellent colour balance (though only when correctly adjusted; see below) and moderately-low noise levels at ISO200.

6. At current price levels, I would consider this camera a bargain.

7. As much as I would love a new compact digicam, I have yet to find one free of reported major image quality issues and with the range of abilities of the F700

Problems: 1. Resolution is not on a par with Canon/Sony 4 or 5mp competitors. It is certainly sufficient and images look sharp but cropping ability is limited. I use the 3mp setting as I am not keen on the look of 6mp images.

2. It takes a little experience with the camera to make the most of its abilities. For example, I use the 'Chrome' setting for portraits for its accurate skin tone and the white balance must be adjusted fairly frequently, particularly in sunny conditions with a lot of sky or water in view (manual or cloudy wb settings avoid the auto's tendency towards blue casts under these conditions). The Canon Ixus series requires fewer user adjustments to obtain optimum image quality. I feel that many negative user reviews of this camera will be due to a lack of understanding as to how to squeeze the best from it.

3. I do not find dynamic range to be greatly improved in relation to competing models

4. No direct adjustment to saturation and contrast are available, though it is possible to work around this with experience (see above).

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Opinion: You cannot use zoom in movie mode. That is a drawback, but the size and convenience of the camera makes up for any imperfections. The quality of prints is excellent, just using auto mode.

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Opinion: 'nother digi... handy. Sort of like the x-D card. Wife coopted the 401.... This has some advantages. Typically Fuji... verrrry good.

Problems: On/off is testy; mode selector gets turned by accident (often); need to watch that. Otherwise pretty neat.

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Opinion: F700 SMARTEST CHOICE for anyone who is between an amateur to keen amateur. If you are a simple point n click weekender, you will still find the F700 easy to use (just set to Auto, have a 128MB XD inside, set to 6M and away you go). With this setting you will get around 80 photos in the 6Megapixel range.
The photos are crisp and much better than any 35 mm I have shot with.
The amateur will find such rich features as the ISO (shutter speed settings) to be quite useful from darker to super bright shots.
It's a great camera from a great FUJI company.
I wouldn't have enjoyed spending $100 more for the KODAK DX7630 6 MP and being left w/o so many added features offered by the F700.
Enjoy!

Problems: None so far!

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