->Purchase

Having read great reviews on some of last year's Fuji F-series models (F30, F31fd and F20), I was optimistic that this Fuji would have the same great low light performance and image quality as its predecessors. Not so. I am extremely disappointed with this camera. The pictures come out grainy at ALL ISO levels, and get worse as you increase the ISO level. The pictures also lack sharpness. I have tried all settings, and have yet to get a decent photo from this camera. It is much worse than the 3 year old Canon S400 Powershot that I have. By increasing megapixels, Fuji has drastically decreased the image quality of its camera. Not recommended.


->Deals

I was so happy with my purchase of the Fujifilm S700 two months ago (my first Fuji - I own/have owned many Canons) that I dove in again and purchased this Fujifilm F40fd two weeks ago for a trip to Alaska.

After 500 photos, this is what I like about this Fuji:

1) High Resolution LCD (With 230,000 pixals, the screen is very sharp).
2) Excellent photos in low light and in bright sunlight. 99% of my photos are very sharp with accurate color. The flash is a good, strong (intelligent) flash... I think quite strong for a small camera. This might also be the reason I have not noticed any red-eye in my flash photos.
3) Uses SD memory cards as well as XD cards (like my Fuji S700).
4) Battery life is very good and the camera has a battery-life indicator.
5) The speed in taking a photo is .6 (or 6/10) of a second without prefocus and .1 (or 1/10) of a second when prefocused - Tested the camera on shooting-digital's online test page.

The only thing I regret about this camera is the lack of an optical viewfinder. At times, it would be helpful when taking photos in bright sunlight, but this camera has so many pluses, I can live without it. The camera is also slightly larger and heavier than my Canon PowerShot SD600, but I can live with that too.

Overall, I think this is a great camera - and very easy to operate!


->Buy

Just bought this one a few weeks ago. Overall, indoor pictures look good. I like the "M" mode where I set the auto ISO to max of 800. For the regular auto mode, it may go up to 1600ISO or 2000ISO, which can make the picture very noisy.
The quoted working flash range may be over-stated. For me, any object more than 10ft away will likely be either very noisy or dark or both (indoor pictures with flash).

Outdoor pictures looks good most of the time. Nothing to complain.
Face detection is pretty fast. I have the feeling it is faster than SD800IS.
Battery life is good. I've got about 100 images so far and the battery indicator has not changed yet.

I bought mine from Amazon and it is made in China. My friend bought his from Costco and it is made in Japan... Just some info for anyone that cares about this.


->Comparison

This is my second Fuji Finepix camera. I had been using the same Fuji 2800X 2MP FinePix camera for several years because I just couldn't find a smaller camera that could take a point and shoot pic as easily and clearly as it did. I wanted a camera to carry with me. I actually bought and returned 3 other manufacturer's cameras because they didn't measure up, even at 5MP! I wanted a Fuji, but all of the new ones used the xD memory card and I wanted to use SD since most of my other electronics use that. When I found out the f40fd was coming out I waited with high hopes. I was not disappointed! This camera takes great clear photos, is easy enough for my 6 yr old to use, and it fits right in my pocket. Perfect!


->Sale

I like almost everything about it. I'm a little disappointed in the pictures I've taken without flash. They seem to come out a bit grainy and sometimes yellowish. From all the hype that Fuji cameras get about great pics in low light, maybe this is still much better than their competitors. I used to have a Cannon Elph, and I don't think I ever took any low-light pics with it without a flash, so I can't compare.


->Compare

I have only had the camera for about a month, but am very pleased. It takes great pictures and is very easy to use. Definitely recommend this camera to anyone looking for a digital camera for everyday use.


->Best Price

I read online reviews about this new model and compared it to Canons, Sonys, etc. On the basis of sample photos and those reviews I purchased it. This camera has exceeded my expectations in most areas. I am traveling to Eastern Europe this summer and wanted a small point-and-shoot I could carry on my belt. As a graphic designer I'm a stickler for picture quality. Initially the photos seemed a little soft but as I continued to use the camera, the quality got better. Maybe a bit of a break in period is necessary, but now I am very pleased with color, clarity, shadow detail and sharpness. Actually this camera takes better pictures than my $1000 Nikon, especially in low light situations without flash. Hard to believe but true. Build quality and ease of use are excellent. The only negative is shooting in the sun without a viewfinder. Although the large LCD is bright and clear, sunlight on the surface makes it very hard to see your subject.
This is a camera you can carry with you most of the time and trust to give you good to excellent on-the-fly results. I guess the bottom line is there are quality brands out there like Subaru, Onkyo and Toshiba and now Fuji. Unfortunately for consumers, the mainstream brands get the most exposure. (excuse the pun).






->Wholesale

I use to have the Fuji Finepix 700 till it broke down. I loved that camera so I decided to upgrade in the Fuji line. I bought the F40FD. The picture quality was terrible even though it had the face dedtection. I tried every setting all the pictures were coming out grainy. If your buying a camera do not buy this one.


->Sale

I have been doing research for about a month on Compact Point and Shoot cameras. This is one of the top camera that I believe was overlooked by a lot of people. Camera has a much bigger CMOS sensor than competitors and the high ISO noise ratio blows the competition away. I have field tested other cameras, such as Sd800IS, Sd1000 and Nikon P&S. Those camera simply couldn't capture good clear image at ISO 400 and up.


->

I really like this camera. It takes great pictures and it does it quick. I I like the two-pictures feature. It takes two pictures simultaneously, one with flash and one without. I also like the face detection feature. This camera is simple to use. I can't think of anything bad to say about it.


->Buy

I have had this camera for a couple weeks now and am loving it.

Pros: Great size for slipping into pocket or purse
Pictures are crisp and have great color
Once you play with menus and buttons for a while you discover they are simple to manage and I like there placement.
Quick flash recharge time. I also wanted more zoom so I tested it against the Canon 710 with a 6x zoom. There was no comparison on flash recharge time. Stick with this camera if that matters to you. With a 2 yr old it is important to be ready for a shot.
Great battery life and rechargeable

Cons: I wish it had more zoom. (not really a true con) But what can you expect from such a small camera

Overall great/fun camera! I highly recommend it.


->Buy

The camera takes great photos, in almost any lighting condition. I did not get a chance to play with the face detection since I returned it as soon as I discovered that you could not shoot with aperture or shutter priorities. I think Fuji really dropped the ball since the previous version the F30 and F31fd both have this ability.

If you want to take great snap shots and have no intention to do any interesting photography, this is the camera for you.

If like me and desire the ability to do more "artistic" photos with effects like blurred backgrounds with a sharp subject, or waterfalls with beautiful motion streaking; you have to look elsewhere. I would strongly recommend the F31fd Fujifilm Finepix F31fd 6.3MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom. The draw back is 6MP vs 8MP while this is 25% fewer pixels it is only 13% lower vertical and horizontal resolution. The added flexibility more than makes up for the fewer pixels.

A side note: I did not test this, but I suspect the F31fd may have better low light ability since it has few pixels per mm of sensor. This is generally true, but I did not notice the difference and did not test it before sending the camera back.



->Best Price

I have to agree with R. Shaffer "shmopsi". I love my F40fd. I just received it in the mail yesterday and I am having a blast! It has a lot of functions, so I felt a bit overwhelmed for just a moment. (I am not good with electronics) After about 1/2 hour of playing around I found the F40fd is very easy to use.
The F40fd works wonderful in dim lighting and no light at all. I took a photo of my Daughter sleeping and the colors were true and vivid.
All I know is, I have been shopping for a new camera since last October and I decided on the F40FD verses numerous others. I am very happy I brought the F40fd home. GREAT camera :o)


->

This a great camera among a field of choices from other manufacturers like Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus and Casio. The Fuji has a number of unique features that set it apart from this field, the CCD size being one of the main features. Fuji uses a 1/1.6 Super HR CCD which is the largest CCD in the field. The only others that come close (and they are not Super HR) is the Canon SD900 at 1/1.8 (this is 10 MP) and then Casio at 1/1.75 (also 10 MP). If you do the math you will discover that the Fuji's CCD is the largest and this provides you with sensational pictures with fine detail and richly saturated natural colors and there was no detectable difference with the number of megapixels. I had occasion to compare both the Fuji and the Canon SD900 and the differences in the photos was quite noticeable. They both produced great results, but when I compared the pictures together, the Fuji produced a much better photo with more accurate color rendition and better contrast (particularly in low light conditions). The Canon was also $100 more (it does have a titanium case and 10 MP), slightly thicker and no battery life indicator. Some of the other features are SD card AND xD card capability, it can take a flash and no flash picture at the same time, face detecction focusing (which worked faster and more accurately than the Canon SD900), fast start-up and a plethora of scene modes from which to choose. I found mine at Costco for $269.99 and I'm quite happy with it.


->Lowest Price

Having read great reviews on some of last year's Fuji F-series models (F30, F31fd and F20), I was optimistic that this Fuji would have the same great low light performance and image quality as its predecessors. Not so. I am extremely disappointed with this camera. The pictures come out grainy at ALL ISO levels, and get worse as you increase the ISO level. The pictures also lack sharpness. I have tried all settings, and have yet to get a decent photo from this camera. It is much worse than the 3 year old Canon S400 Powershot that I have. By increasing megapixels, Fuji has drastically decreased the image quality of its camera. Not recommended.


->Best Price

I was so happy with my purchase of the Fujifilm S700 two months ago (my first Fuji - I own/have owned many Canons) that I dove in again and purchased this Fujifilm F40fd two weeks ago for a trip to Alaska.

After 500 photos, this is what I like about this Fuji:

1) High Resolution LCD (With 230,000 pixals, the screen is very sharp).
2) Excellent photos in low light and in bright sunlight. 99% of my photos are very sharp with accurate color. The flash is a good, strong (intelligent) flash... I think quite strong for a small camera. This might also be the reason I have not noticed any red-eye in my flash photos.
3) Uses SD memory cards as well as XD cards (like my Fuji S700).
4) Battery life is very good and the camera has a battery-life indicator.
5) The speed in taking a photo is .6 (or 6/10) of a second without prefocus and .1 (or 1/10) of a second when prefocused - Tested the camera on shooting-digital's online test page.

The only thing I regret about this camera is the lack of an optical viewfinder. At times, it would be helpful when taking photos in bright sunlight, but this camera has so many pluses, I can live without it. The camera is also slightly larger and heavier than my Canon PowerShot SD600, but I can live with that too.

Overall, I think this is a great camera - and very easy to operate!


->Best Price

Just bought this one a few weeks ago. Overall, indoor pictures look good. I like the "M" mode where I set the auto ISO to max of 800. For the regular auto mode, it may go up to 1600ISO or 2000ISO, which can make the picture very noisy.
The quoted working flash range may be over-stated. For me, any object more than 10ft away will likely be either very noisy or dark or both (indoor pictures with flash).

Outdoor pictures looks good most of the time. Nothing to complain.
Face detection is pretty fast. I have the feeling it is faster than SD800IS.
Battery life is good. I've got about 100 images so far and the battery indicator has not changed yet.

I bought mine from Amazon and it is made in China. My friend bought his from Costco and it is made in Japan... Just some info for anyone that cares about this.


->Buy

This is my second Fuji Finepix camera. I had been using the same Fuji 2800X 2MP FinePix camera for several years because I just couldn't find a smaller camera that could take a point and shoot pic as easily and clearly as it did. I wanted a camera to carry with me. I actually bought and returned 3 other manufacturer's cameras because they didn't measure up, even at 5MP! I wanted a Fuji, but all of the new ones used the xD memory card and I wanted to use SD since most of my other electronics use that. When I found out the f40fd was coming out I waited with high hopes. I was not disappointed! This camera takes great clear photos, is easy enough for my 6 yr old to use, and it fits right in my pocket. Perfect!


->Comparison

I like almost everything about it. I'm a little disappointed in the pictures I've taken without flash. They seem to come out a bit grainy and sometimes yellowish. From all the hype that Fuji cameras get about great pics in low light, maybe this is still much better than their competitors. I used to have a Cannon Elph, and I don't think I ever took any low-light pics with it without a flash, so I can't compare.


->Price

I have only had the camera for about a month, but am very pleased. It takes great pictures and is very easy to use. Definitely recommend this camera to anyone looking for a digital camera for everyday use.


->Lowest Price

I read online reviews about this new model and compared it to Canons, Sonys, etc. On the basis of sample photos and those reviews I purchased it. This camera has exceeded my expectations in most areas. I am traveling to Eastern Europe this summer and wanted a small point-and-shoot I could carry on my belt. As a graphic designer I'm a stickler for picture quality. Initially the photos seemed a little soft but as I continued to use the camera, the quality got better. Maybe a bit of a break in period is necessary, but now I am very pleased with color, clarity, shadow detail and sharpness. Actually this camera takes better pictures than my $1000 Nikon, especially in low light situations without flash. Hard to believe but true. Build quality and ease of use are excellent. The only negative is shooting in the sun without a viewfinder. Although the large LCD is bright and clear, sunlight on the surface makes it very hard to see your subject.
This is a camera you can carry with you most of the time and trust to give you good to excellent on-the-fly results. I guess the bottom line is there are quality brands out there like Subaru, Onkyo and Toshiba and now Fuji. Unfortunately for consumers, the mainstream brands get the most exposure. (excuse the pun).






->Comparison

I use to have the Fuji Finepix 700 till it broke down. I loved that camera so I decided to upgrade in the Fuji line. I bought the F40FD. The picture quality was terrible even though it had the face dedtection. I tried every setting all the pictures were coming out grainy. If your buying a camera do not buy this one.


->Purchase

I have been doing research for about a month on Compact Point and Shoot cameras. This is one of the top camera that I believe was overlooked by a lot of people. Camera has a much bigger CMOS sensor than competitors and the high ISO noise ratio blows the competition away. I have field tested other cameras, such as Sd800IS, Sd1000 and Nikon P&S. Those camera simply couldn't capture good clear image at ISO 400 and up.


->Buy

I really like this camera. It takes great pictures and it does it quick. I I like the two-pictures feature. It takes two pictures simultaneously, one with flash and one without. I also like the face detection feature. This camera is simple to use. I can't think of anything bad to say about it.


->Affordable

I have had this camera for a couple weeks now and am loving it.

Pros: Great size for slipping into pocket or purse
Pictures are crisp and have great color
Once you play with menus and buttons for a while you discover they are simple to manage and I like there placement.
Quick flash recharge time. I also wanted more zoom so I tested it against the Canon 710 with a 6x zoom. There was no comparison on flash recharge time. Stick with this camera if that matters to you. With a 2 yr old it is important to be ready for a shot.
Great battery life and rechargeable

Cons: I wish it had more zoom. (not really a true con) But what can you expect from such a small camera

Overall great/fun camera! I highly recommend it.


->Compare

The camera takes great photos, in almost any lighting condition. I did not get a chance to play with the face detection since I returned it as soon as I discovered that you could not shoot with aperture or shutter priorities. I think Fuji really dropped the ball since the previous version the F30 and F31fd both have this ability.

If you want to take great snap shots and have no intention to do any interesting photography, this is the camera for you.

If like me and desire the ability to do more "artistic" photos with effects like blurred backgrounds with a sharp subject, or waterfalls with beautiful motion streaking; you have to look elsewhere. I would strongly recommend the F31fd Fujifilm Finepix F31fd 6.3MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom. The draw back is 6MP vs 8MP while this is 25% fewer pixels it is only 13% lower vertical and horizontal resolution. The added flexibility more than makes up for the fewer pixels.

A side note: I did not test this, but I suspect the F31fd may have better low light ability since it has few pixels per mm of sensor. This is generally true, but I did not notice the difference and did not test it before sending the camera back.



->Prices

I have to agree with R. Shaffer "shmopsi". I love my F40fd. I just received it in the mail yesterday and I am having a blast! It has a lot of functions, so I felt a bit overwhelmed for just a moment. (I am not good with electronics) After about 1/2 hour of playing around I found the F40fd is very easy to use.
The F40fd works wonderful in dim lighting and no light at all. I took a photo of my Daughter sleeping and the colors were true and vivid.
All I know is, I have been shopping for a new camera since last October and I decided on the F40FD verses numerous others. I am very happy I brought the F40fd home. GREAT camera :o)


->Deals

This a great camera among a field of choices from other manufacturers like Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus and Casio. The Fuji has a number of unique features that set it apart from this field, the CCD size being one of the main features. Fuji uses a 1/1.6 Super HR CCD which is the largest CCD in the field. The only others that come close (and they are not Super HR) is the Canon SD900 at 1/1.8 (this is 10 MP) and then Casio at 1/1.75 (also 10 MP). If you do the math you will discover that the Fuji's CCD is the largest and this provides you with sensational pictures with fine detail and richly saturated natural colors and there was no detectable difference with the number of megapixels. I had occasion to compare both the Fuji and the Canon SD900 and the differences in the photos was quite noticeable. They both produced great results, but when I compared the pictures together, the Fuji produced a much better photo with more accurate color rendition and better contrast (particularly in low light conditions). The Canon was also $100 more (it does have a titanium case and 10 MP), slightly thicker and no battery life indicator. Some of the other features are SD card AND xD card capability, it can take a flash and no flash picture at the same time, face detecction focusing (which worked faster and more accurately than the Canon SD900), fast start-up and a plethora of scene modes from which to choose. I found mine at Costco for $269.99 and I'm quite happy with it.