Fujifilm FinePix Z1 review

Performance
The Fujifilm FinePix Z1 offered good performance that will please snapshot photographers looking for a responsive camera. It powered up and was ready for its first shot in a decent 2.4 seconds but was outstanding thereafter, snapping off pictures every 1.2 seconds, a clip that almost made up for the complete lack of continuous-shooting modes. Flash photography slowed this ultracompact down to 4.5 seconds between shots.

A little rechargeable lithium-ion battery powers the Z1

Shutter lag was minimal, measuring just 0.5 seconds under high-contrast lighting. More challenging low-contrast illumination didn't faze this Fuji -- the brilliant white assist lamp allowed the autofocus system to lock on to a subject within a zippy 0.8 seconds.

Performance of the LCD is key in a camera that has no optical viewfinder, and the Z1's scratch-resistant panel provided a good view under a variety of lighting conditions. In direct light outdoors, we were able to brighten the screen by pressing upward on the cursor pad. Indoors, the display automatically gained up to supply comfortable viewing under the dimmest conditions. Only a little ghosting was visible.

Image quality
Image quality from the Fujifilm FinePix Z1 is quite good for anything short of huge enlargements. It captured an impressive amount of detail in the shadows, although it also blew out some highlights. This Fuji is not immune from noise problems, but our pictures were relatively speckle-free at ISO 64, showed little noise up to ISO 400, and were still usable at ISO 800. This high-ISO capability makes the Z1 more adept than many of its ultracompact competitors at capturing action in low-light conditions, since it can use a faster shutter speed when the ISO is set high.

While its photo quality is very competitive in the world of ultracompacts with internally zooming lenses, the Z1 isn't without its weaknesses. JPEG artefacts tended to obscure some details in our test shots. Chromatic aberrations also plagued an unusually high percentage of our test photos, generally showing up in the form of purple fringing. Colours sometimes looked too bright for our taste -- especially oranges and greens, which tended to accentuate the failings of the flash system's red-eye reduction. Our test subjects often had particularly brilliant red or orange pupils.

Edited by Aimee Baldridge
Additional editing by Nick Hide