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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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!

I used this camera mostly for in-door pictures. Most of the pictures looks very nice at 4x6 size (the size that I print most). At full resolution on computer screen, I will definitely see noise. However, not much noticeable at 4x6. Comparing this one to SD800IS, I think F40FD can give slightly better looking in-door pictures. However, out-door, when no flash needed, I can't really say which one is better (I'm no expert... So can't say much).
With F40FD, I can see the shutter speed before fully pressing the button and after that, I can see the ISO value of the picture taken when playing back.
With F40FD, I can set the auto-ISO to various max (like auto400/auto800/auto1600). I think I won't use iso1600 much. However, iso800 still looks good most of the time.
The Face-detection works pretty fast for me. I have the feeling that F40FD recognizes faces a little faster than SD800IS.
One think I was a little disappointed is that, my friend bought this F40FD from local Costco and it is made in Japan. I bought mine from Amazon and it is made in China. I did not realize that until someone spotted that for me. However, my camera performs as well as my friend's and I don't notice any difference at all.

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.

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!

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.

I read so many amazing reviews about this camera I just had to have one. Unfortunately, it did not live up to all the hype and I just returned it.
8.3MP? Where are they?

Biggest problem:

The photos are definitely not sharp, my old 2.1MP Fujifilm F401 took photos with better exposure, better color, and seemingly better resolution. So what gives? I have absolutely no idea. I've read reviews saying how sharp the photos are from this camera. I definitely do not see it. Even with the camera on a flat surface taking a photo in the timer mode with flash, so you know the camera is not moving and has enough light.

The F-series apparently has some special type of dithering it does to the photos (If you zoom in you can see this) that makes it where you can't sharpen them after the fact, because when you try, the sharpening doesn't make any difference, and actually makes the photos worse.

With the old F401 it worked great, cuz it made sharp 2.1MP photos and the dithering didn't matter because you didn't have to sharpen the photos. Unfortunately with the F40fd, not only are the 8.3MP photos not as sharp as the old 2.1MP F401 photos, they still have that same dithering pattern so you can't sharpen them. You just get lots of extra pixels of useless data. I wonder if there are just serious problems with this new high-megapixel sensors. They are lower quality, but Fuji has no choice since nobody would buy a camera with the better, lower megapixel sensor??

Yeah, I guess this camera has great sensitivity for low-light photos, but if the flash and outdoor photos are horrible; what's the point unless you feel like lugging around two cameras!

The old F401 exposed perfectly and the color always looked great. Flash photos on the F40fd have a yellowish hue and are always overexposed. (At a relatively close distance -- say 6 ft away which is for me a normal distance for flash photos of people). Yeah, I tried putting it in manual and lowering exposure compensation; then they were too dark and grainy! My old 2.1MP F401 never had any problems like this.

The highly touted "face-detection" doesn't work most of the time; it seemed relatively useless to me. If the face is well lit and looking right at you it MIGHT work, but since it is so unreliable, 90% of the time it's useless!

In trying to solve the problem of over and underexposed photos, I tried the manual mode with the spot setting for exposure; it did nothing as if it was still on the non-working multi exposure mode.

Also, you can't zoom while making a video and the M-JPEG makes larger files than cameras offering MP4 videos.

Lots of hype, but nothing delivered. Why can't we get high-resolution photos that are sharp? I think the people reviewing this camera have never used one of the older lower resolution cameras that took such better photos.

The other day I was looking at some old 1930's photos that were taken on slides and converted to JPG files. It blew my mind how much better these old photos looked compared to photos taken on the Fujifilm Finepix F40fd. You'd think photo quality would have come along in 75 years, but I have to honestly say, the photo quality of the 1930's photos BLOWS away any from this camera.
What a disappointment. Bye-Bye F40fd.

I have owned many digital cameras over the years, and this one is by far the best compact! The picture quality is stunning, and colors are vibrant and sharp. I don't really use the face detection feature that much, but when I do it works well. One major selling point of this camera for me was the the Natural/Flash function that takes two pictures in a row. I must say this feature is fantastic! I do miss the extra durable cover on the screen that was on the Fuji Z1, but otherwise this camera is the best. This camera also supports SD and XD memory cards which is handy, why aren't other camera companies doing this?

This is one of the most fustrating cameras I've ever owned. Having owned quite a few other P&S digital cameras before, I looked fwd to seeing what the F40fd could do.

At times the pictures produced are absolutly brillant. Colors are alive and the picture is as sharp as a tack. These photos typically happen outdoor. The flash pictures are also great. . .if the subject is close enough for the flash to be effective.

However, at other times, in low to medium lighting, the pictures are a touch grainy. Probably better than most cameras this size, but still not as good as I hoped or expected (probably the Fuji F31fd would be a better choice). Since many of my pictures are taken indoor, a lot of photos came out must less crisp than I would have liked.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend it unless you plan to use it mostly outdoors.

Terry

Bought camera before touring the Grand Canyon and was please by the great photos taken. Camera is small enough to place in shorts pocket and safe to do so with auto lens cover. Photo option that takes two photos, one with flash and one without is the best as you can choose which photo you like best. Love the camera!

As advertised, this camera is great for low light conditions and as far as I can tell, most all other conditions as well. I can take almost 500 pictures on one battery charge. The only negative thing I can say is that there is now a F50fd which I wish I had.

I originally went with the Canon SD1000 and returned it because of all my son's pictures inside an auditorium didn't turn out. I've only owned Canons before (S400, G5) and was skeptical about the Finepix F40fd (even with all the good low-light quality reviews). But when I put my best picture with the SD1000 next to my favorite picture with the F40, amazingly, the Canon was beat! I compared other pictures too, and the Fuji's was much clearer. Since then, I've taken pictures inside an aquarium at night and was very please with the results especially with the picture stabilization turned on.

I'm really pleased with this camera. I've shot about 1500 shots (plus some videos) and have only had to charge the battery twice! A far cry from my last camera. The picture quality is excellent. The only thing I have to complain about is that I haven't figured out how to take close-up photos of flowers. Maybe it wont do it. But the face detection feature is lovely and the options on the little quick wheel are great. I also like how easy it is to switch from picture mode to viewing mode. And when you turn off the camera it automatically covers the lens.

When I was looking to get a new Point and Shoot digital camera I went into the store looking for a Fuji F30/F31 for its manual controls, low light and seemingly infinite battery life. They didn't have the F31 but the salesman convinced me to get the F40fd instead. So far I would have to say "wow" this is an amazing little camera. From standards of performance its not quite an SLR of the 6-8mp generation but its closer to those than other PNS.

Over a year ago I bought an Olympus Stylus 720SW. Amazingly durable, can go where other cameras fear to tread but I was not impressed with its other aspects. It still had three shortcomings of other PNS cameras I've used. Slow, low light issues and poor battery life. I could live with that for fact that you can go swimming with it. But for those times when a dip in the pool wasn't on the agenda but the SLR was overkill I wanted something more. So that left me going home from the camera store with the Fuji.

Overview
Its got tech specs out the wazoo, so lets focus on the highlights. Its an 8 mp camera, you can reduce image size to 4mp and .3MP (VGA). At the 8MP setting it has two compression settings for its JPGS, the higher setting (more compression, more pictures) seems just fine. That gives you somewhere in the neighborhood of 500/shots per Gig of card space.

Its got a number of different shooting modes, most of them access from a command wheel in the upper right hand corner. There is a lot here to choose from and its nice because it mostly eliminates the need to go menu diving to get what you want.

So lets take a trip around the dial. It starts with Auto which is the classic don't think, just shoot. It has the "image stabilization" mode which is just and ISO boost. It decreases shutter speed but at a cost of picture quality.

Then there is the Natural Light function. This is nice because it's a quick means of turning off the flash and bumping up the ISO to the appropriate levels that you would have to do to get a good ambient light photo.

Then there is SP1, SP2 which are similar to the "scene" modes found on other cameras. Once you've got into SP1/2 you'll do a little menu diving to get the "scene" you want (night shot/landscape/fireworks etc). But once its done it remembers and with two SP settings you can switch back and forth between them.

Then there is the natural light with flash. I cute feature takes two shots in rapid succession, one with flash one without. Not sure if it looks better with flash or ambient? Use this and take both.

Then there is the "Manual" setting. On this you can set your ISO and white balance to fine tune your look if you know what your doing.

There is the Movie mode 640x480 at 30FPS. Eats a Gig in about 15 minutes, it's a .AVI file. Can't zoom while shooting the movie. Decent quality though.

Other controls include the play button and the usual 4 way rocker pad. There is also the "Fuji" button that gives you access to the a couple of controls in manual mode as well as the "IRSimple" which lets you exchange data via IR with other equipped Fuji cameras. Maybe in camera photo sharing is big in Japan but it left me asking "why".

There is a button to enable/disable face detection. Kind of cool feature, it detects faces and locks onto them as the focal point. When it works it looks like you've locked a missile onto your target. It works ok as long as there pretty much looking straight at you. Off angle it isn't much help.

Finally there is a disp button that controls what info goes up on the LCD and a few other things.

Overall the controls seem reasonably well laid out, a lot of real estate goes to some not commonly used functions but the command wheel makes up for it.

The F40fd can take either XD memory cards or SD memory cards. That's great because XD is proprietary format used by Fuji/Olympus and it sucks compared to other formats (its slow and expensive). But there is a gotcha. It can only handle SD cards up to 2 gigs in size. Still an SD card is half to 2/3 the cost of an XD. I still use XD because of my Olympus. I use a Type M 2G card and it works fine, full video, no hangups.

The screen (2.5 inch LCD) is really nice. Its got excellent off angle viewing. You can be off to the side and still frame your shot. The pictures look in play mode. One gripe with that is that the zoom in play mode (where you zoom up to see detail) is rather slow.

Ok, enough of that, how does it shoot. For a point and shoot its amazing. To be fair I shoot most of my stuff with a Nikon D-70 and I have not extensively used with current generation Nikon/Canon PNS cameras. But from what I have seen the Fuji is in another class.

One of the dreaded features of a PNS camera is the shutter lag. You push the button and then wait, and wait, and wait for it to take the picture. By then the kids moved and the shot is wasted. The Fuji is a LOT faster than others I've used. Not quite SLR speed but in the same neighborhood. It very quickly focuses (or not). The AF system is reasonably accurate. Its not perfect, expect some out of focus shots, but with the faster speed you'll have a higher % of keepers. Switching to the continuous autofocus may help, haven't tried that yet. But the speed is amazing for that class of camera.

Another big claim to fame for this is its ablility to handle low(er) light conditions than others of its class. It does this by increasing the ISO. This makes the sensor more sensitive but also adds "noise" which degrades image quality. The Fuji can go from ISO 100 to ISO 2000. ISO 2000 is insane for little cameras. Of course just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Generally speaking its pretty good up to ISO 800. 100-200-400 are fine, no real gripes in image quality. I've seen some ISO 100-200 images that are "wow" quality. Sharp, smooth and looking as good as they would have out of my SLR. ISO 400 for the most part is pretty good, if you look you'll find flaws but not at a glance. ISO 800 is Ok. When used in combination with the flash (which it does frequently) they look great. By themselves in natural light things can start to de-rez. At ISO 1600 things start to fall apart. A good chunk of those images are "well I guess its better than nothing". At ISO 2000 it falls off a cliff. They suck. Its an image.

Something unique (that I've seen) to the Fuji is the character of the noise. Normally noise looks like TV static that congeals into ugly blotches. The noise on the Fuji is different. When the noise builds its like the picture De-rezzes into some impressionistic watercolor. Its more of a dithering pattern than static. It some ways it makes the image more pleasing (or rather less objectionable) but it also makes the image softer, faster.

Still for a camera of this class the ISO performance is phenomenal. Most PNS cameras are pretty ugly at ISO 400.

So to recap

Pro's-
Fast - Fasted picture taker I've ever seen in this class
Good Low Light - Best in class performance
Image Quality - A cut above what I'd expect
Battery Life - Rated at 300, I got about 350 with a lot of playing around.

Cons -
Image stabilization - Really just an ISO boost, costs quality, doesn't help when your already at high ISO.
Slow Zoom in Playback mode - No real biggie
2G limit on memory cards - That's still 1000+ pictures but video can chew it up pretty fast.

Conclusion-
This is a GREAT point and shoot camera. Its got a lot going for it and no serious issues for a camera of this class. It really is an advancement in terms of speed and image quality at a very reasonable price. If your looking for a something to capture life's little moments this is an excellent choice.

After considering various options in the compact camera market, and then narrowing it down to this or the F31fd, I am happy with the F40fd. Our preference is for less complexity and automation and this is a feature of the F40. I understand that the F31 has manual options that allow better shots in low light conditions. However, the photos we have taken in low light in auto mode and in natural light mode appear outstanding.
The image quality seems excellent for a relatively low priced camera, and it has a number of useful scene modes without it being too many to cause confusion.

For an average consumer who wants a point and shoot with little complexity and with high image quality in both day and low light situations, it appears to have been a very good choice.

I purchased this camera based on reviews of older models (31d) because it used SD cards and I wanted a pocket sized camera for low light situations. Perhaps the older models were sharper in low light but this camera is very disappointing with grainy, blurry results. I am also extremely disappointed in Fuji's decision to misrepresent some of the features on this camera. It advertises Image Stabilization, but in reality all this feature does is boost the ISO enabling a higher shutter speed. This is not true chip based Image Stabilization. Also the mode dial has a large M for Manual setting. But when you read the instruction book you find out (and this is a quote) "M - Manual: this is an automatic mode to specify the settings except for the shutter speed and aperture" WHAT!
I would have given three stars as it takes fine, color rich, photos under bright conditions, but this was not the selling point of the camera, the low light aspect was. This coupled with what I think is deliberate misrepresentation of the above features ranks it a maximum two. I will never purchase another one of their products.

I bough this camera for my boyfriend and he loved it. It has many features including face detection and motion picture technology. I have a fuji finepix w 5.1 megapixels and i love it so i bought him this camera and it didn't disappoint. The battery seemed to last a long time. I would highly recommend it. The kingston memory card works great with it also.

After endless research, both online and in stores, I purchased this camera after test driving a Fuji F45fd. The features were incredible, more than I thought I could afford. Came home and after doing a little digging found out that the P40fd and P45fd were the same camera, just packaged for different markets. The P40fd has so many great features such as face recognition that truly helps make your pics better. The flower setting has helped me take pics of my garden that will be even more appreciated in Jan and Feb. And, even though the dogs run away when they see me with the camera, I can still get great shots of them! There is a setting that takes 2 pics at once, one with flash and one without. You make the call as to which is the best. You can change ISO settings, which I learned thru another review can make a big difference in how your pics turn out. The instruction manual looks intimidating at first (it's chunky), but everything is laid out so that even the "instruction challenged" can follow along easily (there are illustrations, too). Ordering on Amazon was, as usual, awesome. I got a free 2G SD card when I ordered, and I saved over $80 on this purchase (price of camera, no tax, no shipping, free SD card) I would recommend this camera to anyone looking for great value, a great camera, and lots of good times taking pictures. Was always a Nikon girl, but am now a Fuji fan!

It's ok for a point and shoot should be ok for most users the one feature I like is N flash it take one natural and one with holdig the release button.

The camera Fuji Finepix is a very good camera. I am soooo happy to have purchased it. Thank you very much.

This is my 5th pocket camera but my first choice to carry with me due to its phenomenal light sensitivity. It fits snugly in my old elph case. With proper use in poor light this device will resolve beautiful images that I would expect only from something with a much larger lens and price tag. FUJI: please meet or excel Canon's responsiveness, usability, elegance and customer service. Thank you.

The prior reviews are VERY informative, and worth reading through. I just wanted to add that I received this camera in TWO days, using Amazon's normal super saver shipping...a true record!
I paid $205.xx for this, and currently, until I believe March, 2008, there is a $50 rebate from Fujifilm for this camera (if you pay over $200). Too bad I'm still waiting for my 2 Gb SD card from Amazon... Oh well, the F40's internal memory is just enough for me to play around with while waiting for the card.

Unfortunately this does not seem to be a very reliable camera. After less that 7 months of limited use the lens will no longer open.

This was a gift for my wife to replace her aging canon, this was camera is small and fits easy into her purse, has great battery life and with face detection and auto-fill flash takes great pictures with little effort.

love it; if it only could zoom more in; it definately would be 5 stars for the price.

Powerful flash. Good photos in low ligt condition. Batteries lasts longer than any other camera I have had.

We made our first jump into digital cameras with an f10 based on a Consumer Reports article a few years back. We abandoned a Canon Rebel film camera to move to something more convenient. When the f40 came out, we thought the addition of the SD card, higher pixels, and a sleeker design would be an improvement. After ordering the camera, we stumbled across a returned Sony Alpha camera from another store and ordered it as well. So, I was able to compare function and print quality between the f10, f40, and Alpha. All pictures were uploaded and printed at Sony's ImageStation. After receiving the pictures, we didn't see much difference. The Sony gave you more creativity options (especially soft, up close photos) while the f40 was easy to pull out of your pocket and snap photos at a museum with one hand while holding all of the stuff your kids put in your other hand. However, we were most satisfied with the overall quality of our old f10. Battery life is also great lasting close to 500 photos at highest resolution before the battery starts to weaken. The f40 had a better display, but the face detection function didn't work that well for us. So, we'll keep using our f10. I will add that Amazon (and Crutchfield) are outstanding for support and returns, and we will only order these types of items from them.

Great quality photos and convenient pocket size -- but a big downer is an LCD screen that is impossible to see in bright sunlight (even when I added a pop-up shade). Sometimes I could only GUESS at what I was taking! I sure miss having a viewfinder! Another major negative is the touchy zoom -- which zips from one extreme to the other and is hard to control with any finesse. Another issue: I also miss the economy and universality of AA batteries; this camera uses a very specialized battery.

Although I still haven't figured out all of the features of this camera, the ones that I have figured out are great. Its compact, lightweight size makes it very portable. The picture quality is even better than I expected. A very good camera for the price. I highly recommend it.

I did a lot of research on this camera before the purchase and was not sure which is better between Canon SD1000 and this one. Finally, got Fuji F40fd a few months ago and already produced tons of lovely pictures. Multi-language menu, auto focus on face, saturated color and good quality video capture are all better than my previous old Kodak. The size is just small enough to carry in pocket but big enough to hold tightly in my hands.

Only thing I don't feel good is: no OEM camera case coming with its package. I guess it costs Fuji less than 3$ to order them in a bulk.

Many people who gave negative reviews on this camera have unrealistic expectations - this is a $190 camera which will NOT perform miracle in dim light situation without flash. Its DOES NOT have wide angle, IS, manual aperture or shutter speed adjustment, or super zoom. However, it is compact and takes very sharp, colorful, and detailed pictures with usable ISO up to 800. It also takes excellent MACRO shots. It will give you better pictures than most other $190 cameras on the market as long as you learn how to use this camera and know its limitations.

PROS
- Takes colorful, very sharp, and detailed pictures - if your picture is not sharp you probably have a defective camera.
- Fast focus with minimal shutter lag
- Usable ISO up to 800 - at ISO 800 it beats most of the small compact cameras on the market except Fuji's own F20/30/31FD. Turn on the Flash if your dim light pictures are blurry !! The flash on F40FD throttles back according to ISO setting - at ISO 800 the flash throttles down enough to lit your subject w/o drowning out the surrounding ambient lights - this is unique to the Fuji F series cameras.
- ISO 1600 and ISO 2000 are reserved for emergency use only but I have a few shots that are usable even at those ISO settings
- Takes EXCELLENT macro shots, even with flash - I have not found any Canon that can take flash macro as good as this one. Great for taking pictures for Ebay.
- Beautiful 2.5 inch high resolution LCD, usable even under bright sunny days (you can temporarily brighten up the LCD by hitting the up button (with trash icon on it) on the direction pad)
- In contrast to some other reviewers, for me the Face Detection works very well and really optimizes the exposure on human faces (not animals)
- Compact in size yet easy to hold steady with two hands, unlike some smaller SONY cameras I have tried.

CONS
- No real image stabilization (IS) - then again there are many cameras under $200 do not have IS either. Fortunately this camera is easy to hold steady.
- DO NOT TRUST THE AUTO MODE - it has the tendency to push ISO past ISO800, resulting in noisy shots. Instead, use the M mode, set Auto ISO at 400 or 800, picture quality at 8MP FINE. Or use the PORTRAIT mode which automatically sets Auto ISO at 400.
- Little slow writing to SD card.
- Limits to 2 pictures continuously
- Some tendency to underexpose at times - learn to dial +1/3 exposure compensation at times
- No live histogram
- Some very faint noise at low ISO especially when you blow up the picture to view at 1:1 pixel level - then again why would you want to view your picture at pixel level anyway?

Overall, for the price of $190 this is a very good camera especially for social settings because of its face detection optimizes exposure to human faces - for optimal result use the M mode (set Auto ISO at 400/800) or just use the Portrait Mode, and set picture quality at 8MP FINE.

I bought one of these cameras and so did my mom and friend, Im suprised there were not more reviews about the blurry pictures, you can take 50 pictures but atleast half of them will be blurry and no good, and its not just me my mother and friend have the same problem, and also you cannot use night time mode its almost impossible to get a picture that is not blurry in that mode, we all got these cameras last christmas because they sounded so great and were supposed to take great pictures, we were all dissapointed, it does take nice pics when you acutally get one thats not blurry, but to me its really annoying when ever I take a picture of the kids or something I have to take 4 of them atleast to get 1 or 2 to not be blurry!

I bought f40fd based on great reviews of f30 and f31. The main reason to go with f40 was low light capability. I regret I bought this camera. It doesn't mean that it awfully bad, but it is not up to any my expectations.

The Good:
Camera is light and relatively small. Image quality at first time looks OK. Battery life is OK. Speed is just OK. Low light performance is better that other small cameras, but not significant.

The Bad:
At low light picture quality became really bad, starting at ISO800, do not expect any miracles here. So basically this camera give me advantage of one stop over other cameras via ISO, but if you would use competitor's camera with good Image Stabilizing (3 stop for instance in Canon systems) you will get advantage in 2 stops over f40fd at low light. So one stop advantage of F40FD benefit me only in case of shooting sport event only, when high speed is needed and extra step in ISO can help.
But what is really bad in this camera it is processing artifacts. If you look at picture at good quality monitor, you will see that colors are not smooth at all. The sky looks dirty. If you magnify picture you will understand why. Color is not smooth, but has multiple angular artifacts. If you apply any sharpening, picture became just plain ugly. Sharpening makes artifacts really sharp, and they pop up. If you print only small pictures, it will not be a problem for you, but if you are watching pictures on monitor, it is a big issue.
Another huge issue (for me) it is dust on sensor. I already had dust on sensor and it was fixed under warranty. I have it again. I keep my camera in a pocket (this is pocket camera by definition) and small dust particles get inside of camera via power and USB port (even they closed by robber). The camera has open gaps over these ports, so any dust gets here easily. What is stupid design and total disaster for me. I think I will get rid of this camera on EBay.

Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote: "Truth goes through 3 stages: First it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third it is accepted as self-evident truth."

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
- Francois Voltaire

UNLIKE YOUR AA BATTERIES, THE PROPRIETARY BATTERY MUST BE RECHARGED EVERY NIGHT OR YOU WILL END UP WITH .....A DEAD CAMERA!


What you'll read below is more than merely my opinion. What you'll read are factual statements about this camera.



This camera has no wide angle lens, no optical viewfinder and it uses a proprietary expensive and hard to find battery. A better choice is The Nikon Coolpix P50.

So, why give it one star, you ask? I give it one star because, for me, I would NOT buy this camera in preference to the Nikon P50. Because I would not buy this camera, for me it only rates one star. That does not say that it is a "bad" camera regarding its picture taking capabilities. You may love the camera and if it was the only camera on the market I might also. But, for me and possibly for you, The Nikon P50 is a better choice, in my opinion. If you wanna see some photos I took with the Nikon P50 email: boland7214@aol

Regarding the proprietary battery as compared with AA batteries, when you are out on safari in Africa living in a thatched hut or tent and your proprietary battery runs out of power, do you want to be running all over the jungle at night in a fruitless attempt to find a battery at a local "sari-sari" store while you hear lions and hei-enas roaring and sounding off all around you? With the Nikon P50, you can easily carry enough AA batteries with you on your trip so you won't have to risk your life searching for the proprietary battery all over the jungle on those cold nights with wild animals searching for YOU! Got it? :o)

So, you ask, "who needs a 28mm lens?" You do! Most people concern themselves with how LONG is their telephoto lens. But, most people who "know" know that it is the WIDE ANGLE lens that is most important---most of the "best shots" are made with a WIDE ANGLE lens. For example, you're in Europe and you are trying to "get a shot" of that Cathedral of Notre Dame over there. You NEED a WIDE ANGLE lens. You are in the California Poppy Fields and you want to get the expanse of the golden-yellow poppy flowers with the huge blue sky filled with white clouds above---you need a WIDE ANGLE lens. You are sitting at thanksgiving dinner and you want to take a photo from the foot of the table with everyone sitting on the left and right---you NEED a WIDE ANGLE lens. You are in the garden of the California Mission and you want to take a photo of the ENTIRE garden surrounded by the mission walls---you NEED a WIDE ANGLE lens. It's Christmas day and you want a photo of the ENTIRE GROUP of visitors in front of the Christmas Tree---you NEED a WIDE ANGLE lens. This is where the 28mm lens (or 23mm on this camera) comes in! So, you NEED THIS CAMERA! Otherwise you'll be cutting off heads and leaving Aunt Sylvia out of the "Christmas Group Photo" this year---and she'll disinherit you and you'll live a life of poverty and misery everafter! :o) If you agree or disagree or know of ANY other digital point and shoot camera that has a WIDE ANGLE lens please write, Email:boland7214@aol.

PS: There is also a Canon SD800 which has a wide angle lens and an optical viewfinder. I like that one also. But the "killer" for me on that one is the proprietary battery necessary to operate the Canon SD800 over the use of AA batteries used in The Nikon P50 that are very cheap and you can find in almost any store in the world.

PPS: Why do you need an optical viewfinder when you have an LCD screen? The simple reason is that the LCD's SOMETIMES get "washed out" in bright sunlight. And, another reason, I think, is that the optical viewfinder is "faster to use" under "pressure circumstances" like when you want to "grab" that smile on your kids face. Why not have both is my opinion. If you disagree fine, but two ways to view and take photos seems better than one. It's just common sense. (Plus, some people are "far sighted" and have difficulty clearly viewing a small LCD screen a few inches from their eyes.)

One more reason having an optical viewfinder is a good feature is that: If you don't have an optical viewfinder you'll have to use the LCD Screen ALL the time....thus using up more precious battery power--but with an optical viewfinder you can turn the LCD off and conserve battery power so you won't run out of electricity to power the camera.

I purchased this camera solely for a research trip and thanks to its museum function I have 3-4 pictures that were easily worth the cost of this camera alone. Enhanced text capability photos were also a wonderful addition for a researcher unable to make copies due to various reasons. The face capturing function was also helpful in taking pictures of multiple statues and it even did a decent job in capturing close to true colors on frescoes and mosaics although I always preferred Fuji film for color over Kodak anyway for its red/green saturation emphasis. Seems as though this preference has been transferred to its digital world.

Other reviewers have commented on the difficulty of working/learning the camera. I actually found it to be quite intuitive and didn't mind the lack of a view finder. My main fear was that it's so slim I was afraid of accidentally dropping it so I made sure the strap was securely on my wrist before taking it out of the case. Battery is pretty strong and lasted for a whole day of shooting. As a precaution I brought a spare and simply recharged at nite.

I would not recommend this camera for outdoor shots (although enough experience allowed me to take a few decent ones with it but I still missed my Canon) and certainly not distance shots (obviously). Take another camera with you that can handle those because after all, there's only so much that can be crammed into small packages regardless of the adage of how it's used vs size. However, if you must only take one camera due to weight/packing considerations, I'd suggest a possible compensation by maxing out the quality for photos taken which seemed to help me even though it decreased my 2 gig memory card capability to only 800 some odd photos.

I'd advise a purchasing not only a spare battery but a spare memory card in this case.

Overall, I'm really glad I got this. An absolute jewel for what I needed.

I'm a total hobbiest, point and shoot, photographer. In my opinion this is a very good camera for under $200. Generally I have had excellent photo quality from the device. It has a good compact size and LCD screen. It's menus are easy to use and it has a "F" button to get to common settings quickly. Cons The flash position is really easy to cover with your fingers. In large groups like house parties it can be tricky to get the camera to focus and you can end up with a blurry pic or two.

Before a trip I was torn between the F40fd and a Panasonic DMC-TZ3 I ended up buying both. I was glad I did. The F40fd does much better in low light/indoor situations than the DMC-TZ3 which is super for outdoor well lit shots.

Buy an extra battery and you'll have no problem with power. They charge quickly and are slender enough to fit an extra in a small camera case (Lowepro D-Pods 20) along with the camera. I bought a ATP promax super high speed 2gig SD card and have been very pleased with the write and download speed.

I liked the F40fd so much I gave my first one to my mom and bought another for myself.

Pros: Great color on all the pics. The flesh tones and vibrate colors look better then any digi camera I have had. My first camera was a fuji film and my second was a Canon. The whole time I had my canon I missed my fuji film. I only switched before because the canon 410 was the in camera at the time and my fuji was stolen. My old fuji F4700 told pictures with amazing colors. My old pics just looked more alive. I am glad I came back to the series with the F40fd, because the pictures still look more alive and fun.
Battery life was great. I went through almost two 2GB memmory cards before I went thought one Battery change.

Cons: The one thing I miss is the view finder. I have found that it is nice sometimes when you are taking some shots. This isn't so much of a down fall with the camera, because every manufacture is taking out the veiwfinder. It makes the manufacturing cost cheaper and thus the camera price is lower. So I guess is better in the end. Not like you use the veiwfinder that often.

The Fujifilm Finepix F40fd (F45fd) is the fastest low light P&S camera I can buy at this time (Nov 20,2007). Before I review, let me say a THANK YOU, to all who do post their reviews, because I have read them ALL, and a really big THANK YOU to Steves-Digicams and the CNET staff, who test and provide shutter speeds with flash. Since October I have been researching to find the fastest (for fast moving small kids) low light (for evening indoor pictures) P&S camera. I also know 99.9% of my prints will be 4x6 or 5x7, never bigger. And I want the red-eye reduction to work! I refuse to do touch-ups.

I have visited all local stores (BestBuy, CircuitCity, Target, Sears, Frys, Wolf, Office Depot & Max, Staples) multi-times to play with all cameras. Yes, I am retired and have the time. Plus I reviewed all CNET P&S reviews from 1/25/07 to 11/15/07. I documented speeds of low contrast shutter and shot 2 shot with flash. From my research, the final candidates, based on low light speeds, were Fuji F40fd, Canon SD 800, 850, 870(*).
* Interesting the Canon SD870 specs say it should be as fast as the 850, but comparing 850 vs 870 under store lights, at 2 different BB stores, the 850s were noticeable faster. I even had the salesperson swap the batteries, between the two, just to be sure.

I purchased the Fuji F45fd and Canon SD850(later returned). I borrowed a CanonSD800 and had my Canon A610. Without question the Fuji was the fastest for evening indoors pictures. The Fuji was also the fastest for flash recharge. The Canons 800 & 850 did missed some small kids indoors action shots. All cameras had the same brand 2Gb 150x SD. After a week I printed all the shots, as 4x6s, from the same store, as different orders with different names, to ensure no pictures were mixed.

The Canon SD800 had too many red-eyes. My old A610 was to slow for evening indoor shots. For outdoor daylight shots, all 4 cameras had the same speed results.

Overall the 4x6s quality was the same between the Fuji F45 & Canon SD850. Comparing two very similar pictures, sometimes one would be a slight plus over the other, when you looked close up, then on another picture the other camera would be a slight better, but no real difference.

The Canons do have a better long range zoom, at MAX zoom. If your need is for enlarge crops, the Canon AUTO pictures are taken at lower ISO, then the Fuji, see comparison below. I also tested the Canon SD850 with different ISOs in low light conditions. It was at the manual ISO 1600, that the Canon was as fast as the Fuji AUTO(ISO800), but the Canon(1600) pictures had higher noise.

Here are the ISO results, taken with AUTO mode. I believe this to be very important to understand the results. The listed numbers will first be Fuji F40(F45) then Canon SD850.
AUTO mode:
Evening indoors F@800, C@200
Outdoors 10pm Christmas Lights F@800, C@250
Outdoors bright sun, at min zoom F@100, C@80
Outdoors bright sun, at max zoom F@100, C@160
Outdoors cloudy F@200, C@80

Conclusion:
NO one camera is perfect for all people or all conditions!!!!!
Fuji F40/F45 is for those who want a fast, low light, small simple P&S camera, whose prints will usually be normal size(4x6,5x7). It is the BEST P&S available today, to capture fast moving kids indoors. I also appreciate the battery indicator.

Canon SD850 is a great P&S choice for more outdoors(vs indoors) or indoor adults (vs kids) pictures, or if you usually print pictures bigger then normal size.

I got this camera from Amazon back in Sept - Great camera, but disappointed in Fuji service. For the first time since buying, in November I plugged the camera in via USB to a Mac and it wouldn't recognize. Tried it on an XP system and same thing. Sent it in for Warranty repair, and Fuji came back saying "USB port broken - impact damage", and would not repair under warranty. The camera has less than 40 pics on it total. Told me I would have to pay $85 and they would send me a refurb. No thanks - they are sending my old camera back broken. I can still remove the SD card and download pictures. Fuji isn't what it used to be that's all I can say(i've owned 3 Fujis, but this is my last)

I just bought one of these Fuji cameras for my daughter and son-in-law because I own one and it has been such a good camera. It not only takes great pictures, but the buttons and controls are user friendly and the battery life is excellent, which is at the top of my list. By the way, this is my 7th digital camera.

The camera is fine as long as nothing goes wrong. Fuji has the worst customer service I have ever delt with. They pass you from one person to another and do everything they can not to help you. Be prepared to deal with the worst customer service in the business. I really hope this helps you.

Works great for my purpose: Taking pics in low light levels. Great price: $179.

Good camera for all types of lighting conditions. The image is significantly better than my old Canon A520 (4 megapixel) under low light. However, the Canon produced better images under good outdoor lighting. The button interface on the Fuji camera is easy to use (I prefer it over Canon's), but Fuji' software for downloading photos from the camera to a PC is amazingly dumb. During each download, Fuji's software creates a single new folder named with the date that you are downloading the photos (by contrast, Canon's software creates multiple new folders named with the dates that the photos were taken). Fuji's software then downloads ALL photos on the camera into this single folder, regardless of whether certain photos have previously been downloaded or not. You cannot select which photos to download; it's all-or-nothing. To prevent the camera from repeatedly downloading the same photos, you must either delete these photos from the camera after each download or manually force the download into a previous folder that already contains these photos (the software will not download a picture if it sees the the same picture already exists in the download folder). After being accustomed to using Canon's software in the past, I'm amazed that Fuji's software is so backward. Although the camera produces good images, it's an irritation each time that I download these images to my PC.

I purchased the Fuji Finepix F40fd camera after my positive experience with one of their first digital cameras, the A203. I took amazing pictures with the A203 (it still works and I still use it) and recently upgraded to the F40fd after reading about it and comparing with other cameras. Long story short, the Fuji Finepix F40fd is fantastic. I've been using it for only 3 weeks now and the images are stunning. I went to Paris and took many photos and they're beautiful. Like the A203, what I really love about Fuji cameras is the simplicity of the camera's interface. I've tried other cameras, including Canon, and their interface or buttons were confusing, clunky or not intuitive. Taking photos with Fuji cameras is a snap, and the F40fd is no exception.

As great as the F40fd is there are two major annoying things about it. First, I always have to take photos set in manual mode. I rarely or never take photos in automatic mode, certainly night shots. For some bizarre reasons, every time I take photos indoor or at night, the ISO is always either 1600 or 2000. The noise level at those settings is ridiculously high. The photos are murky, extremely grainy and the colors are nothing like those in reality. I took photos of my Christmas supper/party set as automatic, thinking they would turn out as great as those of the A203 but almost all the images were horrible. I even took photos with my A203 of the same event, just so I could compare those taken with the new camera and the photos taken with the A203 blew away those of the F40fd. I was bummed out by the result and I was about to return the camera back to the store when I remembered that one of the reasons I purchased this camera was because the ISO settings could be changed manually, which is what I did and took photos set manually at ISO 800. Once I started taking photos manually, the photos were finally beautiful. Not just beautiful but stunning. The night shots I took during my recent trip to Paris are perfect.

From now on, I only take photos in manual mode, and like my 35mm camera which almost always has ISO 800 Fuji film in it, I keep the ISO of the F40fd at 800. The photos turn out great. Unless the environment is extremely bright and sunny (which doesn't happen often during these winter days) and ISO 100 or 200 would be good enough then, I'm keeping the manual settings at 800. Under automatic, ISO 1600 or 2000 for indoor or night shots are overkill.

The other annoying aspect about this fine camera, and this affects almost all digital cameras (but not 35mm cameras), is the flash. The flash is so strong, so glaring that I rarely use it, opting to suppress the flash at all times, opting to use whatever light, natural or not, that's available around instead of the built-in flash. The image come out much better this way and look more realistic and normal (when they're not out of focus). No red eye issues and no "deer caught in the headlights" look of the subjects. But like I said, this is a problem afflicting practically every digital camera I've used.

So in closing, I highly recommend this camera. It's beautifully designed and after figuring out how to use it, I'm highly pleased with it and will be taking tons of photos with it in the coming years.

Good, BUT not the overall quality and feeling of my Canon point-and-shoot cameras. The skin tone for indoor shots is not so 'natural' in automatic mode. No burst mode at all: even if there is a function for it, it takes seconds to get the second frame. But this Fuji has a special talent: ISO 400 shots ARE noise-free. This comes at the cost of a visible digital processing of the image, but with a downscaling to 2000 lines, the picture is still full of details and without any appreciable noise. ISO settings up to 1600 are usable indeed. Thanks to this, it outperforms other cameras in low light situations and can be well spent as 'specialist' camera.

There is one overriding fact: The Fuji F-series is the only compact camera series that you can use at anything over ISO 100 and expect good results. People don't realize that even ISO 200 on pretty much ANY other small camera is pretty bad. With the F40fd, ISO 400 looks quite decent and even 800 isn't too bad. This is EXTREMELY important and rare, and overshadows any other failings a camera may have - which in this case are few.

The F41fd is also quite a bargain. It is not an SLR, you are simply not going to get that kind of control and image quality in a small moderately priced camera right now. But it's about as close as you can get.

Also, at this point this lesser model may still be a better choice than the newer F51 and F100.
These newer cameras went up to a ridiculous 12 megapixels. This simply makes no sense on a camera and lens system this small and inexpensive. (My new SLR is only 10mp!) Much better to stay with a lower pixel count (larger pixel size) for better ISO performance. The F40fd hits a very good compromise with 8mp. Also, unlike the earlier F30 or F31, it takes SD cards rather than silly xD cards.

Now, don't be that tempted by the later models just because of image stabilization. I would rather just have good high ISO first and foremost. My SLR has built in IS, but guess what: people still move a little bit and get blurry, and IS is not going to help that. High ISO will allow a faster shutter speed that WILL help. So camera makers would be well advised to pour a lot more effort into high ISO performance rather than IS.

The screen is lovely, and the video mode is actually pretty usable. The battery, true, is a little lower capacity than previous F series, but it's still a big battery and much better than a lot of other compact cameras.

At this point, for me at least, I believe the F40fd is probably the best point and shoot you can buy, regardless of cost, simply because it's the best blend of resolution, high ISO performance, and good performance and features in a camera this size.

This camera has the features I wanted for a simple point & shoot camera with extra shooting settings when I needed them. The face detection (fd)feature on this camera produces outstanding skin color tones while producing vivid surrounding colors. The low light shooting feature on this camera will not disappoint you. You can count on in door pictures, under low lighting conditions, turning out with remarkable contrast not dark. I especially like the two picture setting where the camera will take a flash and non-flash picture. You can then review the results and pick the frame you like best. This eliminates taking a one time only picture, reviewing it and then wishing you had used a fill-in flash. The controls all on the back side. It takes time getting use to not pushing a button at the wrong time but once you get use to the camera you will really appreciate your setting options right at your finger tips that can be immediately adjusted and take the shot.

I would not consider myself a digital camera expert by any means, but I'm very happy with the Finepix F40fd. The numerous modes make it such that you can get a good shot in almost any environment. The simultaneous natural/flash mode is especially useful. As far as video is concerned, the sound quality in much better than I expected; it's not nearly as garbled as video I've seen taken from other digital cameras. The only sticking point is that the photo quality is merely sufficient. This camera won't get any shots that take your breath away, but for the price, the quality is about what I expected. Overall, I'm definitely satisfied with this purchase.

I haven't had much time to use the new camera, but have found that it is easy to use.

Digital camera-wise, I started with a Fuji S304 seven years ago after a couple years with a DSL camera Canon 50E. In 2005 I moved ahead with a DSLR, Fuji S2 Pro, probably because of good exprience with the Fuji colors(espeically skin tone). Since then, a number of DSLRs obtained from ebay have came and went, including Canon D30, Rebel XT, Nikon D100, D1H, D50, D40, D80, D300...You know, the gear fever for most photogs.

My purchase of a Fuji F40fd is actually an upgrade from a F20 I got a year ago. I use them as a backup that always stay in my pocket, coming handy when I see an interesting scene in the streets, but not so big a deal to take out my DSLR in my backpack. But thank goodness, it's these "backup" little cams that helped me record most of the candit street shots in the everything-can-happen New York City.

You'll have a better idea what a Fuji F40fd performans if I compare it to other cameras I've used.

Warning: Don't compare it to any DSLR, the small CCD can never be on par with its big brothers. A F40's ISO 400 is only close to a Nikon D40's iso1600. Also, don't expect much from a lens small like the pocket cameras', the worst DSLR lens (including Sigma's or Tamron's) is much better than a point-and-shoot's.

Compared with its earlier version, F20, the F40 has advanced in everything but iso performance.
1. thinner body. Now it really feels like a pocket cam, as the F20 is still a little bit too thick.

2. Larger and better LCD. I don't want to talk about numbers, but the F40 has a larger LCD. And most importantly, the number of pixels is much more than the F20's, and the view angle is much wider. Result, no more low-definition picture like that on a F20, and you can chimp from all angles now.

3. Faster response in starting, focusing and reviewing pictures. You just feel it's a lighter and swifter camera.

4. At last, the cons. ISO performance is a full stop lower than F20. I tested them side by side with the same settings, and the F40 with more mega-pixels (which I hate, I don't need that many pixels crammed into such a small CCD) just showed more grains and noises. F40's iso 800 is close to F20's iso 1600. This is the biggest disppointment for me, because at first I was exited to see F40 be equipped with Auto ISO 800 and 1600 (F20 only has Auto iso limit on either 400 or 1600, missing the 800 step that I consider the best compromising spot between speed and picture quality)

Anyway, though F40 is not as good as F20 in ISO, it's still better than many cameras of other brands, including Canon and Nikon. My friends' Canon SD870 and SD1000 show worse noises on high iso.

Conclusion: good colors consistent of Fuji taste, relatively good iso, an affordable foolproof pocket camera for candit shots. But if you are serious with photography, try any entry-level DSLR of Canon, Nikon, Olympus or Sony, you'll see a difference wider than from heaven to earth.

Can't say much more. Good images, very compact, tho low light sensitivity was not so good as I'd expected (still pretty good).

I'm not too good at the camera thing so this is perfect for me as it is so easy to use. Fits in a pocket.

Pros:
1. sturdy build
2. small, about same size as Canon SD750
3. long lasting battery
4. beautiful screen
5. takes both SD and XD cards
6. displays all relevant information but no irrelevant information when reviewing pictures
7. everything spelled out in plain English so you don't wonder what various weird icons mean

Cons: The regular Auto mode isn't good

The problem with the Fujifilm Finepix F40fd is that its automatic mode defaults to high ISO's. Indoors under normal lighting it will default to 800, when 200 or 400 will do just fine. Outdoors it'll default to 200 when 100 is fine. The higher the ISO, the less light you need, but in general the quality goes down as you get higher. It's a testament to Fuji's technology that you can still get good pictures at ISO 800 or even 1600. Most top compact cameras won't give you good pictures above ISO 200! As a result, this is a great camera to use to take indoor pictures in low light. Also, the flash recycle time is fast (*coughCanoncough*), another bonus when taking indoor shots.

What about situations when the lighting is fine? In these cases, the Auto mode produces worse pictures than you can otherwise get. In these situations, I highly recommend changing the ISO settings to Auto(400)--this means it automatically sets the ISO but doesn't go higher than 400--or 100 for outdoor settings. Then you'll get good pictures.

For those intimidated by ISO settings, don't worry. I was too, but this camera is so easy to use! You don't have to go through a gazillion menus to change settings. Really, don't be intimidated by the fact that you'll need to set the ISO yourself to get the best pictures. The camera makes it super-simple. It's also a great way to learn about ISO's and test out different ones to see what works best. When you review the pictures, it gives you the ISO information right on the screen.

The scene settings are quite good. The portrait setting, for instance, automatically lowers the default ISO and adds nice colors to your subjects' faces. It's easy to set a scene setting because they're all spelled out in plain English rather than icons. This is a good alternative for people who want to take better pictures than they would in Auto mode without fiddling around with the ISO and color settings.

Other tips:
1. If you're taking pictures of people, make sure the face detection mode is on. There's a button for it on the camera, so you don't have to go through any menus. Turning face detection on makes a big difference, in my experience.

2. I like saturated colors and slight pinkish tones when photographing people. Therefore I like to have the camera set to Chrome Color when taking pictures of people.

3. There's a setting under Power Management that lets you auto-focus more quickly (this is different from the Auto mode; all pictures on this camera use auto-focus). It uses more battery, but if you have someone take your picture for you, you should use this setting. In my experience, people tend to just press the button without waiting for it to focus. If you use this setting, it'll focus more quickly, so it's likely to be focused by the time the button goes all the way down. It's best, of course, to tell the person to press the button halfway to let it focus before pressing it all the way.

4. Choose to have your picture numbers renewed. I find it annoying for a picture number to jump from 20 to 38 when I download it on my computer because I deleted 17 pictures. With this setting, it re-numbers the pictures when you delete one after taking it.

Conclusion: If you take pictures indoors or in low light, especially without flash (such as taking pics of a baby), then this is a good camera for you. It's also a nice camera in general for indoor shots, but for well-lit indoor shots and all daytime outdoor shots, I suggest using the scene settings or setting the ISO yourself because the default will be too high. That might sound scary, but the camera is so user-friendly (everything spelled out in plain English rather than weird icons, no intimidating button-overload, no having to go through a bunch of menus to do things) that you'll get the hang of it right away!

On the 4mp setting this camera works awesome in low light conditions, such as underwater. It's cheaper than its Canon equivalent and the underwater housing to go with it costs about $100 less than any Canon underwater housing too.

It's a very simple camera to use, just point and shoot. Not a lot of settings to it, it takes care of most of it for you. If you're a serious photographer, then this might be a turn off. If you just want to take pictures of vacations, special occasions, etc. like the rest of us, then this is the perfect solution.

FYI: My camera came with outdated firmware that only allowed 2 GB memory cards. The simple flash upgrade from Fuji film (Google it) took about 10 minutes and allowed me to use 4 GB memory cards afterwards.

This Fuji F40fd impresses me all the time with the quality of its pictures. I bought this camera because of its strength in low light. The lack of manual controls was a known concern, but 99% of the time, it is a non-issue. I have another camera (big and bulky) with those controls and a big zoom and better macro. But for general use, it doesn't take pics any better than this Fuji. And the Fuji wins sometimes. This F40fd can be had for a very good price and who knows how long they will be available. Look at the prices for the used F30fd and F31fd.

I researched this camera and I have found it to be an excellent fit for me, the low light shots are very good.

This camera was recommended by online reviews when I searched for the best camera online. It is easy to use and has excellent instructions in English and Spanish and is very easy to download to your computer. Highly recommend this camera which is the best camera for taking indoor pictures.

I purchased this camera as an upgrade from a Casio 5MP digital camera. The difference is amazing. The detail and crispness of the pictures is stunning, I can't believe what I've been missing!

I did a lot of research before buying this camera, went to lots of camera shops and talked to lots of people "in the know". Everyone agreed Fuji is the leader in digital cameras.

I love the multiple picture options, there are 2 specialized setting options, which is great for quickly flipping between settings. I also love the 'N' setting - the camera takes 2 pictures a 1/2 second apart, one with flash and one without. It's great for when you're uncertain if you should use a flash or not - you get both pictures and can decide later! I also love that there is a rechargeable battery. I don't like that you have to remove the battery to charge it (versus having a stand charger) - but that isn't a huge deal as the battery lasts a looong time between charges.

I'm not thrilled with the fuji photo loading software, and instead just copy and paste directly from the camera onto my harddrive. I don't like that you can't open the pictures from the camera drive into Windows Picture Manager (or maybe you can, and I just don't know how). Either way, that's not enough to even deduct a 1/2 star from my 5-star review. That is just how great this camera is.

I got this camera in New York hoping that it would live up to fuji's reputaiton for compacts that perform well in low light.
It did indeed produce some excellent shots of the city.
Good performance at mid ISOs (400/800) meant it could take sharp prints. Also pretty decent indoors.

However in good light I was very dissapointed.
Firstly it always seemed to want to underexpose everything meaning I needed to use exposure compensation. People ended up as shadows.
Then there was the colours. Rather cold, as if I was there in winter rather than summer. Barrel distortion was poor (a friend said it was obvious) and purple fringing was often a problem.

I took the first half of holiday shots with a samsung