Fujifilm Finepix F50fd First Thoughts

It seemed like the Finepix F40fd had hardly hit the street before Fujifilm announced the September arrival of the Fujifilm Finepix F50fd. The jump to 12MP on the same physical-sized sensor as the F40fd naturally raised the question of what would happen to ISO noise as a result. Fujifilm’s Super CCD-equipped cameras enjoy the reputation for providing the best low-light performance in the digital P&S ranks, but could Fujifilm pump up the resolution by 4MP and still retain their low-light lead?

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A quick look at some blue sky shots has me thinking the F50fd appears a little noisier than the F40fd, but still better than the competition by perhaps a stop. I took these shots at default values after literally getting just enough of a charge on the battery to run the camera, so there’s a lot of shooting yet to go before the final verdict comes in. Focus acquisition seems fairly quick, and shutter performance looks good in bright light conditions, based on about a dozen shots so far.

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The F50fd has some new features such as mechanical stabilization in addition to Fujifilm’s traditional ISO increase method, and automatic red eye correction that I first learned to appreciate on a Nikon P&S. We’ll have a more complete review of the F50fd in a week or so.