The interface of the F50fd is clear and very legible
due to the large, high-definition monitor. Overall, operating
the camera is simple and the interface reacts quickly to both
external controls and menus. Only when using the A or S modes
is it necessary to pay more attention to of the 4-direction
control as the functions it controls changes in these modes.
Then, the up direction serves to adjust the aperture or the
shutter speed, and settings are only registered when the MENU/OK
button is pressed to confirm the selection.
Be it in capture or playback mode, the menus, either the
standard menus or the ones displayed with the
button, are clear and concise and presented on a colour background
that enhances contrast.
The Setup menu of the F50fd is the one that
contains the most settings. It is spread out over five screens,
each identified by a tab at the top of the screen. The first
two sections contain options that are related to capture while
the last three serve to set the camera's basic configuration.
The text is very legible and navigation designed to flow from
one screen to the next.
The first two sections contain the following options:
Image Disp. serves to set the length
of time an image is displayed on the monitor immediately
after capture: 3, 1.5 seconds, zoomed so as to check sharpness,
or continuous, which leaves the image on screen until a
button is pressed.
Frame No.: decides whether frame numbers
are assigned consecutively from previous numbers or begin
again.
Dual IS Mode: decides whether image stabilization
operates continuously when the camera is set to a capture
mode, or only when the shutter release is pressed halfway.
Save Org Image: decides whether the original,
unretouched image is saved when the Red-eye removal function
is used and the process applied to a copy, or whether the
original image is used.
AF Illuminator: to decide if the AF assist
lamp automatically turns on when the ambient light is insufficient
for the auto focus to operate reliably.
Digital Zoom: controls the 8.2X
digital zoom which crops the centre of the image and
interpolates it to the currently selected image size, causing
a noticeable degradation of image quality.
Long Exposure: to activate the extended
exposure time option when the camera is set to the Night
mode.
The last three sections of the Setup menu contain:
Date/Time: to set the date and time on
the F50fd.
Operation Volume: to set the volume level
of the sounds produced by the camera while it is operated
(None, 1, 2 or 3).
Shutter Volume: to choose one of two
sounds that can be heard when the shutter is used.
Playback Volume: sets the playback volume
of voice annotations and movies (10 levels).
Blog Image size serves to select an image
size for a blog or other internet use: Standard
(640 x 480 or 768 x 512 pixels for 3:2 format images) or
Small (320 x 240 or 384 x 256 pixels for
3:2 format images).
LCD Brightness: to set the brightness
level of the LC monitor (± 5 levels).
Format: to format a memory card or the
internal memory of the F50fd.
Language serves to choose the interface
language: Japanese, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian,
Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Russian,
Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish, Czech, Hungarian, Polish or
Swedish.
Auto Power Off: to select the delay
after which the camera shuts down when it is inactive (5,
2 minutes or off).
Time Difference: to set the time difference
between Home and a Destination while travelling with the
camera.
Background Colour: allows selecting the
background colour of menus.
Guidance Display: to decide if a brief
description of functions is displayed or not.
Video System: NTSC or PAL.
IR Communication serves to select the
infrared communications protocol: standard,
or IrSS.
Reset: to return all camera settings
to their defaults, with the exception of time and date,
the time difference, the menu background colour, the interface
language and the video system.
The FinePix F50fd is supplied with a concise, printed,
reference manual. The manual is clearly written and generally
well-organized. Worth noting however, a number of basic functions
that are set in the menus are introduced at the beginning
of the manual and do not reappear later when the each menu
item is described and explained, making it necessary to use
the menu listings to locate the appropriate page numbers.
Software
Two CDs accompany the FinePix F50fd
as it is sold in North America:
One contains FinePix (version 5.4a) composed of
FinePix Viewer (v5.4 for Windows and version 3.5
for Mac), and the USB drivers to connect the camera
to a computer.
The other contains a PDF (Adobe ACrobat)
version of the manual in a variety of languages.
FinePix Viewer is an
image browser that shows either tasks that can be accomplished
with the program or the computer's folders on the left side,
while images from the selected folder are displayed on the
right side. Photos can be seen in any of three ways: as thumbnails
of adjustable size with the file name below; as thumbnails
in a film strip format that appears at the bottom of the window
while the currently selected image is presented at a larger
size; and as lists of file names with some of their details.
Although primarily an image
viewer, FinePix Viewer allows modest editing. Photos can be
cropped, rotated, resized, have text added, be readied for
e-mailing, or have red-eye corrected. Furthermore, photos
can be adjusted for sharpness, brightness, saturation, hue
and contrast manually, or be automatically adjusted, and if
desired, converted to sepia or black and white.
Moreover, when adjustments are made, the left window pane
of the program offers a guide for the tool being used, and
the steps necessary to use it.
Whatever the correction, a
before and after view is available, making it
easy to see if the change produced the expected result.
Once adjusted, the image can be saved into another format
(TIFF or BMP), or re-saved as JPEG.
Compare Prices for Fuji FinePix F50fd 12.0 MP Digital Camera - Silver
Interface & Software
button, are clear and concise and presented on a colour background
that enhances contrast.
