Fujifilm Finepix F420 Zoom
Review Date: August 21st 2004
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this
Review were taken using the default 3M 2048 x 1536 mode, which
gives an average image size of around 1Mb.
Noise
There are 4 ISO settings available on the FinePix F420 Zoom
which you can select at any time if the camera is in manual
mode. Note that the file quality setting automatically defaults
to 1M when ISO 800 is selected; ISO 800 isn't available at
the 3M and 6M settings. Here are some 100% crops which show
the noise levels for each ISO setting:
The noise levels look OK at ISO 160, with some noise starting
to appear at ISOs 200 and 400. Interestingly there doesn't
seem to be that much difference between ISO 200 and 800 -
it's a shame that ISO 800 is only available at the 1M file
quality setting.
File Quality
Fujifilm have differentiated their cameras from the competition
during the past few years by claiming that despite only having,
for example, a 3 megapixel CCD, the camera can deliver a 6
megapixel image that maintains the same quality. I'll let
you make up your own minds, so here are some 100% crops which
show the various file quality settings of the FinePix F420
Zoom:
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality
50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening
applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are sharpened
quite aggressively in-camera, although post-processing brings
out a little extra detail.
Chromatic Aberrations
As with most digital cameras, the FinePix F420 does suffer
from chromatic aberrations, especially in high-contrast photographs.
In the first sample image shown below, I was standing under
a tree with the sun positioned just to the left of the main
subject in the photograph. Consequently the edges of the leaves
and tree trunk in the frame, especially in areas of details
like the intricate branches shown below, exhibited quite a
lot of purple-fringing.
In less high-contrast situations, chromatic aberrations is
much better controlled by the FinePix F420, occasionally appearing
as a slight purple edging, as shown in the second sample image
below.
Overall Image Quality
The FinePix F420 uses the same the 4th Generation Super CCD
HR sensor as the Fujifilm
S7000 Zoom and FinePix
F610 Zoom cameras, and it delivered images of similar
quality during the review period. The 3 megapixel images were
sharp out of the camera and can be printed up to A4 in size.
Noise is well controlled at all of the different ISO settings,
although it is annoying that ISO 800 is only available for
the 1M file quality setting. Chromatic aberrations in the
form of purple fringing do appear in high-contrast scenes,
but they are largely avoided in most situations. Overall a
very good performance from the FinePix F420 Zoom.
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