Fujifilm F470 Optics

Zoom
A typical 3x optical zoom range, with good overall performance.

The Fuji F470 zooms over the equivalent of a 35-105mm range, which is pretty typical for its class. Details are sharp and well defined at wide angle, though some coma distortion is noticeable in the top corners of the frame, as well as some blurring in the corners. The 4.4x digital zoom takes it out to 13.2x total with some loss of quality from digital zoom, though still good detail.

Macro
A slightly large macro area, though with good detail and high resolution. Flash exposes fairly well, but with strong falloff in the corners.

The Fuji F470's macro setting performs fairly well, capturing a larger minimum area of 3.80 x 2.85 inches (97 x 72 millimeters). Detail is strong, with good definition, and resolution is high. There is some noticeable softening in the corners from the lens, though most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode. The flash throttles down a little too much for the macro area, with strong falloff in the corners of the frame, so you may need to use external lighting for your closest macro shots.

Distortion
Moderate barrel distortion at wide angle, essentially zero distortion at telephoto.

This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel--usually at wide angle) or inward (like a pincushion--usually at telephoto). The Fujifilm F470's 0.8% barrel distortion at wide angle is average among the cameras I've tested, although I personally feel that this level is too high. At the telephoto end, however, I couldn't find any visible distortion whatsoever, neither pincushion or barrel.

Chromatic aberration
Moderately high and bright, noticeable effect on images at edges.

Chromatic aberration is moderate in extent but fairly bright at wide angle, showing about 3-4 pixels of strong coloration on either side of the target lines. At telephoto, increased blurring in the corners of the frame emphasizes the distortion, greatly increasing the pixel spread. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) The Fuji F470's lens shows more chromatic aberration than average at both wide angle and telephoto focal lengths.

Corner Sharpness
Some blurring at both wide angle and telephoto, greatest effect at full telephoto.

The Fuji F470 produced soft corners in a few shots, though most notably with the lens at full telephoto. At wide angle, what blurring there is is restricted to the extreme corners of the frame, while at telephoto, the blurring extends quite a bit further into the frame.

Coverage
Very good accuracy from the LCD monitor.

The FinePix F470's LCD monitor showed a little over 100 percent frame accuracy at both zoom settings, with is pretty good.