Fujifilm Z5fd Optics

Zoom
An average 3x optical zoom, good overall performance. About average digital zoom performance as well.

The Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd's optical zoom covers the equivalent of a 36-108mm, about average compared to most consumer digital cameras. Details are reasonably sharp at full wide angle, though coma distortion is quite high. Results are much better at full telephoto, with sharp details. The camera's 6.2x digital zoom performs about average, with strong blurring and loss of resolution from digital enlargement.

Macro
A very small macro area with good detail and high resolution. Flash exposure is quite uneven, however.

The Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd's macro setting performed quite well, capturing a very small minimum area of 1.95 x 1.46 inches (50 x 37 millimeters). Detail and resolution were both very good in the center of the frame, though there's a lot of softening in the corners from the lens. (Most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode.) The Z5's flash almost throttled down for the macro area, but still managed to overexpose most of the frame. Coverage with the flash is also quite uneven. Plan on using external lighting for any macro shots with the Z5.

Distortion
Fairly low barrel distortion, and reasonably low pincushion as well.

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 FinePix Z5fd's 0.3% barrel distortion at wide angle is actually quite a bit lower than average, though still somewhat noticeable in some images. At the telephoto end, the Fuji Z5fd's 0.2% pincushion distortion is a little higher than what we typically see, but not too bad.

Chromatic aberration
High and bright at wide angle, though quite low at telephoto. Noticeable effect on wide angle images.

Chromatic aberration is high at wide angle, showing about 12+ pixels of very bright coloration on either side of the target lines. However, at telephoto, the effect is much lower, and quite dull. (This distortion is visible as a slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)

Corner Sharpness
Some blurring in the corners of the frame at wide angle, though good corner-to-corner sharpness at telephoto.

The Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd produced soft corners of the frame at full wide angle. However, at full telephoto, sharpness is consistent from corner to corner compared to the center of the frame. Good performance overall.

Coverage
A pretty accurate LCD monitor.

The Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd's LCD monitor showed about 104% coverage accuracy at wide angle, and about 100% at telephoto. Though wide angle framing is a bit loose, results are still quite good.