This time I got a strange Fuji HD-M camera to test. Why "strange"? Because every brand likes to experiment with the appearance of the appearance, and often this experiment proves to be a failure. In this review you will make your own conclusions about Fuji HD-M - is it a failure or not.
Let's start with the specs.
The camera is of the school type of focusing, that is, with manual setting. The lens has 6 distance setting modes, which you'll have to figure out by eye (from 1m to 5m), and you can also track three distance setting modes in the viewfinder, where you'll see a picture of one person on top, for close up, three people for medium distance and a landscape (mountains) for general plans. The lens is Fujinon Lens with an aperture of 1:2.8 and a focal length of 38mm. The camera is waterproof, which means that the body is protected against moisture. Two flash modes (on/off). Self timer. Release button lock. ISO speed adjustment. Mechanical frame counter. Two standard "finger" batteries that lock with a coin.
Now, I will run through each of these items, noting the pros and cons.
The camera was installed Fujifilm superia 100 (expired), which I was advised by the guys at this online-store. It was to be expected that you should shoot in daylight, but the fast aperture of 2.8 should sometimes help, but it was not much helpful. The whole problem is the two flash modes, okay no "red-eye" mode, but "auto" mode is something that's really missing. As a result, I myself chose where to turn on the flash and where to try without it.
Speaking of focus, we didn't understand each other. The thing is, this is my first scale camera. Sometimes, I would just forget to adjust the focal length. When the camera was handed over to take a picture of me, I forgot to re-set the settings again, so a lot of the shots turned out to be misses. For example, the photo of us as a family had the infinity scale and we were standing about three meters away. Distance adjustable from 1m to 5m plus the infinity scale.
A huge disadvantage of this camera is the size and weight. The back cover alone is worth a lot. When you open it, there is a feeling that you don't put the film in, but pick up your stash. Yes, everything is made firmly, reliably, from very high quality plastic, but why all this? So you can only shoot underwater? What about taking pictures on land? It's not like we're in the movie "Waterworld". Also, all the buttons on the body are more like toggle switches.
The mechanical frame counter automatically relegates the Fuji to the budget segment. Yes, you hardly need an electronic display underwater.
Standard finger batteries are a big plus, of course. Saving money after all. But again, the compartment that closes with a coin is more of a minus than a plus, especially for those who pay only by card.
In this sample, there was a slight problem with the viewfinder as it was either fogged up or just worn out by time. The viewfinder itself is small and I will take that as a minus.
This is not a case where two minuses make a plus. The Fuji HD-M did not live up to my expectations. The best thing I got out of the test was the expired provision 100 film. Other than the appearance, the camera, did not evoke any emotion. On simpler automatic cameras with an aperture of 5.6 and below you can get more interesting shots. Dimensions, lack of auto flash mode, mechanical focusing - these are weighty minuses for me.
According to my rating scale, which is fixed in the actual ones in my profile, the Fuji HD-M gets a "Low -" level.
