Fuji F31fd refurb available

[ywenz]

http://store.fujifilmmall.com/product.asp?sku=3675004

These gems are very hard to find nowadays... I just ordered one. knock on wood that it'll arrive.

 

[clarence]

A friend wanted to learn more about manual photography but wished to use a digital camera. I helped her purchase this camera two years ago. I must say the thumbwheel is really useful.

Clarence

 

[kuzano]

One of the BEST low light compact digitals.

One of the BEST low light compact digitals.

Showing NA on the site right now, soon available.

The BEST feature of this camera is it's lowlight capabilities. The F20, F30, and F31 kick butt on all the cameras in it's class for low light performance. That's according to Steves Digicams, DPreview, and DCresource. Also, same information found in various user forums.

 

[kipkeston]

How much was it going for? I want one!

 

[ywenz]

and one of the "fastest" to operate p&s, and not to mention one with the best battery life (600 shots) .. and manual overrides..

 

[kipkeston]

How much was the refurbed one?

 

[erikhaugsby]

$240, I think.

 

[dcsang]

Interesting.

I just sold mine - like new - on Ebay - I was wondering why it went for just about the same amount as I originally bought it for a year or so ago...

Dave

 

[ampguy]

manual override?

manual override?

I have the f30, and f31fd, but I don't think they have full manual, I use the in Av mode. I actually prefer the f30 @ 3200 b&w over the f31fd in this mode.

and one of the "fastest" to operate p&s, and not to mention one with the best battery life (600 shots) .. and manual overrides..

 

[ywenz]

refurb was for $219..

Fuji's replacement for the F31fd is much worse in low light...

 

[IGMeanwell]

I have the f30, and f31fd, but I don't think they have full manual, I use the in Av mode. I actually prefer the f30 @ 3200 b&w over the f31fd in this mode.

Its manual in the sense that you can program AP, SP, and exposure value as well as metering mode

Point being the 40FD through the 50FD have been disappointing in everything but their base ISO ... the F31FD was the pinnacle of the low-light pocket pistols

I let my best friend (not interested in photography pretty much at all) take my F30 down to Williamsburg and the various historical sites down in Virginia... he went crazy coming back with 700 photos which I processed in lightroom for him. All he could do was talk about how cool it was to take pictures in near darkness

And yes the purple fringing was alive and well, but nothing lightroom couldn't take care of

BTW, there is a couple things I didn't realize about the F30 until I recently upgraded my DSLR to the S5... which is the ability to recover shadows with the S5 is unbelievably amazing just as its ability to recover highlights... but the F30s ability to recover shadows is almost as good after processing all the outdoor shots from the plantation.

My point, when owning the F30 unless shooting over ISO400 ALWAYS expose for the highlights and recover the shadows in PP ... the only time I couldn't adequately recover shadows was at ISO800, 1600 and 3200

No other digicam can recover shadows like the F30, F31fd

 

[ampguy]

Hi Pete

Hi Pete

very interesting info.

I recall I didn't want to like this camera, even tried to sell it for awhile (the odd memroy cards, and all), but about 9K photos later between the two, with hundreds of keepers, I'm very impressed.

I recall you usually set your ev-comp to -1. Since I rarely do much pp, I like the best out of the camera image, so usually set to -3/4 except for b&w high ISO which I'll go to -1 or -2 even.

Another great thing about these, well at least the F30, haven't checked the F31 is the jpg compression on fine mode is very light, not unusual to see file sizes the same as an 8 or 10MP dslr jpg file (3.5MB).

Its manual in the sense that you can program AP, SP, and exposure value as well as metering mode

Point being the 40FD through the 50FD have been disappointing in everything but their base ISO ... the F31FD was the pinnacle of the low-light pocket pistols

I let my best friend (not interested in photography pretty much at all) take my F30 down to Williamsburg and the various historical sites down in Virginia... he went crazy coming back with 700 photos which I processed in lightroom for him. All he could do was talk about how cool it was to take pictures in near darkness

And yes the purple fringing was alive and well, but nothing lightroom couldn't take care of

BTW, there is a couple things I didn't realize about the F30 until I recently upgraded my DSLR to the S5... which is the ability to recover shadows with the S5 is unbelievably amazing just as its ability to recover highlights... but the F30s ability to recover shadows is almost as good after processing all the outdoor shots from the plantation.

My point, when owning the F30 unless shooting over ISO400 ALWAYS expose for the highlights and recover the shadows in PP ... the only time I couldn't adequately recover shadows was at ISO800, 1600 and 3200

No other digicam can recover shadows like the F30, F31fd

 

[IGMeanwell]

very interesting info.

I recall I didn't want to like this camera, even tried to sell it for awhile (the odd memroy cards, and all), but about 9K photos later between the two, with hundreds of keepers, I'm very impressed.

I recall you usually set your ev-comp to -1. Since I rarely do much pp, I like the best out of the camera image, so usually set to -3/4 except for b&w high ISO which I'll go to -1 or -2 even.

Another great thing about these, well at least the F30, haven't checked the F31 is the jpg compression on fine mode is very light, not unusual to see file sizes the same as an 8 or 10MP dslr jpg file (3.5MB).

From some of the comments I have seen via forums

The exact reason why Fuji killed the F30 and F31fd just after one year was specifically what you and I are speaking about ... you need to know the camera, work with the camera and then adapt.

most consumers don't want to have to adapt to camera performance, so the F50fd is a perfect example... it tends to underexpose, expose for the highlights, it has more megapixels for "resolution", but once at ISO400 starts to get messy that resolution goes away real quick... but on the other hand it has CCD shift image stabilization

What you get is Fuji's compromise on its top tear P&S ... I understand it, but I don't agree with it

 

[xayraa33]

why not buy a new F50 fd ?

 

[IGMeanwell]

why not buy a new F50 fd ?

Massive noise reduction from ISO400 - ISO3200

the files from the F30-F31fd are much cleaner for a point and shoot

You might say the F50fd has higher resolution, but if you look at the Popphoto tests ... due to noise reduction the resolution becomes a moot point

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/4764/camera-test-fujifilm-finepix-f50fd.html

 

[kipkeston]

does the f30 or f31 have the best high iso from a p&s pocket digi?

 

[fgianni]

Now what we really need is a hacked firmware that allows saving images in RAW format, this is the only thing that I dont like about my F31 (ok, maybe together with the too long wide end)

 

[migtex]

I have a old F11 (Still rocks up to 1600) and I'm looking for a f30 for a long time.
Low noise,no shutter lag, fast start, A and S mode!
You got what it takes to get the pictures.
Nothing beats these babies