Testing an old Fujifilm F31fd
I like CCD sensors (nowadays, you'll find CMOS sensors almost exclusively in digital cameras of any description). I also like old cameras, which in the case of digital cameras doesn't really mean "old", it just means that the makers have issued a "new and improved" model where they managed to cram ever more pixels onto an ever smaller sensor and uses ever more software on ever more powerful processors to filter our the inevitably resulting image noise.
Fujifilm for some time fought the trend towards CMOS in its pocket digital camera lineup and invested quite a lot of brainpower into improving the CCD before they too gave up and joined the CMOS crowd. Not because CMOS is better, but because it is cheaper. One of their last CCD models, and one that was well-received, was the F31fd in 2007.
I recently obtained one and have been shooting hundreds of pictures with it. Here are some.
It's equipped with a 6 MP sensor. That was quite a lot for a compact camera in 2007. In my opinion, 6 MP is quite enough. I'd prefer six good, honest Megapixels over many of today's overwrought sensors.
So here is what I managed to squeeze out of the F31fd.
The verdict: It's not bad; I've seen worse. But:
- The images simply are not sharp. They are not sharp. That is not a matter of resolution. The camera just doesn't make sharp images .This really is my major gripe.
- There definitely is an issue with chromatic aberration (colour fringes). You see it everywhere to varying extents where there is strong contrast. That happens not to be the case in most of these examples. But it is a problem.
- I found I really have to work hard towards a decent image quality with this camera. That in itself is not a problem. Many of my cameras are like that - the ones I like most. But I do suppose that most pocket camera users have the expectation that their camera will simply produce good pictures when they point it at something and press the shutter button, but that is not the case.
Testing an old Fujifilm F31fd
I like CCD sensors (nowadays, you'll find CMOS sensors almost exclusively in digital cameras of any description). I also like old cameras, which in the case of digital cameras doesn't really mean "old", it just means that the makers have issued a "new and improved" model where they managed to cram ever more pixels onto an ever smaller sensor and uses ever more software on ever more powerful processors to filter our the inevitably resulting image noise.
Fujifilm for some time fought the trend towards CMOS in its pocket digital camera lineup and invested quite a lot of brainpower into improving the CCD before they too gave up and joined the CMOS crowd. Not because CMOS is better, but because it is cheaper. One of their last CCD models, and one that was well-received, was the F31fd in 2007.
I recently obtained one and have been shooting hundreds of pictures with it. Here are some.
It's equipped with a 6 MP sensor. That was quite a lot for a compact camera in 2007. In my opinion, 6 MP is quite enough. I'd prefer six good, honest Megapixels over many of today's overwrought sensors.
So here is what I managed to squeeze out of the F31fd.
The verdict: It's not bad; I've seen worse. But:
- The images simply are not sharp. They are not sharp. That is not a matter of resolution. The camera just doesn't make sharp images .This really is my major gripe.
- There definitely is an issue with chromatic aberration (colour fringes). You see it everywhere to varying extents where there is strong contrast. That happens not to be the case in most of these examples. But it is a problem.
- I found I really have to work hard towards a decent image quality with this camera. That in itself is not a problem. Many of my cameras are like that - the ones I like most. But I do suppose that most pocket camera users have the expectation that their camera will simply produce good pictures when they point it at something and press the shutter button, but that is not the case.