A while back I mentioned that I’d selected the FinePix F-30 as the replacement for my Casio Exilim EX-Z750. I’ve had plenty of time to use it in a variety of situations, particularly my trip to Rome in October, so now it’s time to write up a quick review.

Overall

The F30 is a decent camera, but only a decent camera. There is but one reason I chose it over the better-featured and better-designed alternatives: a very low-noise, high-ISO CCD. I take so many low-light pictures ranging from after-dark mood-lit get-togethers to after-dark outdoor shots that the motion blur of low ISO and the grainy noise of high ISO were really getting to me. The F30 offers an alternative: a middling camera that can do virtually noise-less ISO 400 shots, fairly low-noise ISO 1600, and noisy-but-better-than-nothing ISO 3200 shots. For me this was too intriguing to pass up.

After much consternation, I ordered the Fuji FinePix F30 from Amazon for ~$340. I could’ve gotten it a few bucks cheaper elsewhere, but shipping is free (or, more precisely, paid for already) w/ my Amazon Prime account, and Amazon has a more favorable return policy than most other places.

Though I continue to have reservations about the overall quality of the F30, the high-sensitivity, low-noise Super CCD sensor is compelling enough to suck up my doubts and move on. There’s something of an inheritance battle among Rebecca and Bob for my Z750, but that’s not really my problem.

Having just declared my devotion to the Canon SD700 IS, I’m already having cold feet. I’ve just learned that Fujifilm has a mediocre ultra-compact they call the FinePix F30, which is pretty middling but for one striking feature: a Super CCD sensor that delivers less noise at ISO 1600 than my Z750 does at ISO 400, and not-entirely-useless photos at an amazing ISO 3200. So, while the SD 700 IS has active image stabilization to reduce low-light blur due to camera shake, the F30 actually has significantly higher sensitivity such that higher shutter speeds are available in low light, not only reducing camera shake but also subject motion blur.

I’ve previously opined on my Casio Exilim EX-Z750 ultra-compact digital camera, which I thought well enough of to bring to Iraq for use recording my experiences there. However, in part due to my experiences with it there, and subsequent to my return, I’m growing increasingly weary of its limitations.

First, it simply cannot produce the clarity and rich color saturation of my previous camera, the Canon PowerShot SD-60. I expected this going in, of course; the SD 60 is easily twice the size of the Z750, and is a Canon to boot. However, I’m surprised how much this grates on me as time and time again I download my shots only to discover poor sharpness and washed-out colors. Post-processing in Photoshop certainly improves things, but I never had to post-process my SD60 shots for sharpness.

After I reached my Casio Exilim EX-Z750 conclusions, I began to rummage around the digital photography forums looking for insights from other Z750 users on improving its performance. I felt that the middling camera I was using was not the stellar camera favorably reviewed time and again.

Though my search for enlightenment is ongoing, I ran across some great posts to the Casio Talk forum at http://www.dpreview.com. In particular, Bart Hickman posted a great piece showcasing some nighttime photos he took with a Z750, which do not resemble anything I’ve been able to produce.

I’ve been talking about my initial impressions on the Casio Exilim EX-Z750, and have since had an opportunity to undertake a few shooting experiments.

The conclusion: I want my PowerShot S60, but in the Exilim’s package, with 7.2 MP of resolution. Of course, this doesn’t exist; the PowerShot SD550 is in no way the S60 (it lacks manual controls, has a 37mm wide angle, etc). So, I won’t be getting what I want.

I’ve conducted a more thorough analysis of noise phenomena in my Casio Exilim EX-Z750 ultracompact digital camera.

I’ve observed that noise at fast shutter speeds (1/8+) at ISO 50 or ISO 100 is minimal. Unfortunately, this leads to potentially underexposed images when shooting in low light indoor conditions.

As is typical with digital cameras, ISO 200 and 400 are rather noisy. I had previously thought that the ISO 400 mode on the Z750 was particularly bad, but empirical test shots don’t prove that out; it’s noisy, but no more so than my PowerShot S60.

The interesting observations came at slower speeds. I shot a few exposures with a 0.3 second shutter, running the ISO gamut from 50 to 400. I found that, even at ISO 50, I was seeing some noise artifacts! This makes sense to some extent, as the longer the shutter is open, the longer noise effects have to accumulate, however it is somewhat unfortunate for me, as I use slow shutters to expose portraits in low light.

I recently got the Casio Exilim EX-Z750. Over Christmas I shot about a thousand pictures with it, so I feel I have a pretty good sense of its capabilities.

My first impression is that the CCD is noisy at ISO levels above 50. Even 100 is visibly noisy, while 400 is appalling. This wouldn’t be a problem except that indoor low-light photos are my bread-and-butter, so to speak.

I hate the flash, but not for the same reason everyone else seems to. I hate it because it’s slow to charge, and even at low intensity washes out subjects alot of the time. I read elsewhere that the flash was underpowered; that may be, but it feels nuclear to me.

My new Z750 arrived today from NewEgg, complete with 1GB 66x SD card.

First impressions:

• It’s tiny!
• It’s fast!
• Auto white balance sucks in incandescent light. Exposures had yellowed look about them. Switching to the Tungsten white balance setting fixed it
• Noise at ISO 400 is appalling.
• Shutter priority mode seems rather weak. Camera selects between one of two possible aperture values, and always chooses ISO 50. Forcing ISO 200 is an improvement, but still underexposed.
• When you power off, the previous manual settings are forgotten, which I hate. I often have to re-set shutter speed, exposure correction, and ISO mode with each power cycle.

I currently use a Canon S60 digital camera, which is a 5.0 MP, relatively decent, sorta-compact digicam. I took it with me to Rome and London, and had good results in both places (the unusually wide 28mm focal length rocks), but I have a few rather significant objections:

• 5 MP. With the weak 3x optical zoom, this means I’m limited in the detail I can capture.
• Flash. The flash is really close to the lens, and almost always washes out the subject.
• Noise. I take alot of pictures inside, and the flash sucks (see above), so I’m left cranking up the ISO to the max (400) to avoid motion blur. The CCD is pretty noisy at that level of sensitivity, though that’s a common problem with digicams.