Fuji F31fd review…
There’s a review of the updated FujiFilm F31fd on dpreview.com. This really is an excellent little camera and so much better than a lot of the rival models. It’s cheap too with Amazon.co.uk selling it for about 150 quid.
Fuji have resisted the temptation to install a 10Mp chip, staying with a 6Mp version of their Super-CCD chip. This is a philosophy I’d like to see a lot of other manufactures back because of the noise issues generated by so many pixels on such a small chip.
In this case (and because Fuji have worked wonders with their noise reduction) the results at higher ISO are truly amazing. Fuji have actually backed off the noise reduction at higher ISO in this new model producing slightly more noise but at the same time allowing a lot more detail through.
It’s a shame that the chip doesn’t allow RAW mode but I can see why. If the chip was dumped to card without the noise processing I doubt the results would be as impressive. However, it still very annoying that several stops of dynamic range are likely to be lost. Although there is no information on the number of bits the sensor outputs, I suspect it’s 12bit. This means the conversion to the 8bit format of JPEG is going to reduce to 1/16th the amount of information in the original image.
Generally this means a reduced ability to drag back high-light burnout and/or reduced shadow detail. I really would like to see some other format that allows JPEG storage levels but also allows 16bits to be stored. I’d have less of an issue with JPEG if there was less potential data loss. Of course it doesn’t get round the issue of losing the ability to change colour balance in post-production…
Perhaps what should really be offered is the ability to store ‘processed RAW’. That is, RAW data with the noise reduction applied to it but with the full 12bits per channel retained and the ability to re-mix the RGB data to form the appropriate colour balance in post production.
Any manufactures out there reading this?
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