Fuji FinePix 1400A sleek design, great 1.3 megapixel picture quality, a 3x zoom lens, and a great price!<<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 6/6/2000 |
Test Results
In keeping with our standard policy, our comments here are rather condensed, summarizing our key findings: For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the FinePix 1400 Zoom's "pictures" page.
As with all Imaging Resource camera tests, we encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the devices performed: Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how well the F1400 Zoom performed, and how its images compare to other cameras you may be considering buying.
We were quite impressed with the 1400 Zoom's pictures, particularly given its low selling price and the fact that it includes an autofocus 3x optical zoom lens in the bargain. Colors were clean, bright and generally accurate, particularly when compared against cameras competing in the same price/resolution bracket. We saw a slight bias toward greenish hues under sunlight, and a mild yellowish bias under our "daylight" studio lighting, but these were both relatively minor. (We've seen greater color bias on cameras costing twice what the 1400 Zoom does.) Detail was very good as well, with crisp sharp edges and fine detail, without the over-sharpening so many cameras apply to their images in an attempt to fool you into thinking they have higher resolution than they really do.
In our laboratory resolution test, the FinePix 1400 Zoom scored about in the middle of the 1280x960 pixel pack, with a visual resolution that we called at 600 lines per picture height horizontally, and 550-600 vertically. Only slight color aliasing was observed, but gently sloping horizontal lines appeared somewhat prone to showing "jaggies." We felt this was quite a good performance in light of the rich set of features the 1400 offers at a low price point.
The F1400 Zoom also did pretty well in the macro category, capturing a minimum area of 3.56 x 2.67 inches (90.31 x 67.73 mm). Resolution, detail and color all look great, although we noticed quite a bit of barrel distortion from the lens' wide angle setting.
As excellent as the FinePix 1400 Zoom's overall performance was, and as low as its selling price is, we guess it's reasonable to expect there'd be some area where it didn't match the performance of more expensive digicams. It looks like low light shooting is that area, as the 1400 really doesn't get down very dark relative to some of the higher-priced cameras in its resolution category. In our tests, it produced bright pictures down to a light level of about 4 foot-candles (44 lux), and usable but dark ones at levels of 2 foot-candles (22 lux). For comparison, a well-lit city night scene under typical street lighting corresponds to a light level of about 1 foot-candle (11 lux). Thus, if you need to shoot pictures by moonlight, the FinePix 1400 Zoom wouldn't be your first choice. It should handle reasonably well-lit residential and office interiors just fine though.
We found the F1400 Zoom's optical viewfinder to be quite "tight", showing only about 74 percent of the final image area captured at wide angle and about 81 percent at the telephoto end. (Note that we've changed our terminology slightly in this area: Previously we would have a viewfinder showing this behavior as "loose.") Framing accuracy results were identical for both the 1280 x 960 and 640 x 480 resolution sizes. We also noticed that the framing seems to be shifted towards the upper right corner and slanted ever so slightly towards the lower left corner (this slant is possibly due to a shifted CCD on our test model). Frame accuracy was a little better with the LCD monitor, which showed approximately 87 percent at the wide angle end and about 95 percent at the telephoto end. These numbers are for the 1280 x 960 image size, which differed slightly from the 640 x 480 resolution size only on the wide angle setting, where it produced about 92 percent accuracy. (We usually like to see as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible with the LCD monitor).
Geometric distortion on the F1400 Zoom was a bit high at the wide angle end, as we measured the barrel distortion at 1.0 percent. Distortion was somewhat less at the telephoto end, with a 0.5 percent pincushion distortion. ("Barrel distortion" refers to a tendency for lines parallel to the edges of the frame to bow outward, while "pincushion" distortion is the opposite effect, with lines bowing inward in the middle.) Chromatic aberration is present but low, we caught about two pixels of faint coloration on each side of the black lines of our test target in wide angle mode, virtually none at the telephoto end of the lens' range. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target). Flash uniformity is quite good across the lens' range, with just a small amount of falloff in the corners at wide angle.
Again, as we stated at the outset, we were very impressed with the FinePix 1400 Zoom's overall image quality, particularly given its excellent feature set and aggressive pricing.
Conclusion
With its light, portable body and nice selection of exposure control, the F1400 Zoom looks like a perfect option for the consumer who doesn't want to spend a lot of money but still wants a camera that takes great pictures without too much hassle. At a very affordable price you get a 1.3 megapixel CCD, a true 3x optical zoom lens, detailed control over white balance and exposure compensation, extra features like playback zoom and three compression levels, and above all, very nice image quality. It's a smart little camera, perfectly suited for most standard shooting situations. We think Fuji has a real winner in this unit: Highly recommended!
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