The Fujifilm FinePix F30 is a beautifully crafted digital camera with low-light capability that most closely matches that of a digital SLR. This is one digital camera that is easy to recommend.

This is a nice camera likely to be a camera suitable for an intermediate user, someone who has progressed beyond point and shoot but still with things to learn, maybe as a stepping stone to an more expensive offering.

The F30 won TIPA’s Best Compact Digital Camera in Europe award and on this performance I can see why. Neat handling, design and specification further enhance a World first in terms of that high ISO capability.

Positives: Excellent image quality. Very little noise up to 400 ISO. Aperture and Shutter priority modes. Very responsive camera. High definition 2.5-inch LCD monitor. Negatives: Sensitivity gain up to 800 ISO with auto mode and flash. Not enough compression choices. No fully manual mode that allows control over both aperture and shutter speed. 1600 to 3200 ISO useable, but noisy.

As you probably gathered, I really like the Fuji FinePix F30. It offers low light performance that approaches (but doesn’t match) digital SLRs, and it’s pretty good at the other stuff too. The F30 is absolutely worth a look—I highly recommend it.

So while the F30 may not be the slimmest or sexiest compact, nor offer anything as glamorous as a touch-sensitive or flip-out screen, it does deliver great-looking photos under the kind of conditions most rivals would struggle. Its low light capabilities still lead the market whether you’re shooting with or without the flash, and there’s sufficient quality and creative control to keep most enthusiasts happy. We can confidently recommend it to anyone.

Despite some inconsistencies, the Fujifilm Finepix F30 offers the latest bold leap into high ISO shooting in a stylish compact digital camera.

The F30 is the best low-light compact camera we’ve seen. Of course, it’s not the perfect compact camera – in particular, the unreliable exposure choices in automatic mode count against it. But learn how to use the camera properly in manual mode and it’s an absolute bargain.

Like Lily Allen, although you like it, you can’t help wishing it was a little more attractive. OK, it’s tough and well built… but that’s just a polite way of saying it’s too big and the styling is drab.

To sum up, the F30 is far and away the best low light compact camera on the market today, bar none. It’s the perfect ‘social’ camera for the DSLR owner who doesn’t want to lug all his or her gear to parties, and it is – in expert hands – capable of superb results in any light.

Perhaps I’m getting jaded but in year since I reviewed the F10, Fujifilm’s Natural Night alone didn’t do the trick for me. With NL and Flash, it’s a much better result. All in all, the FinePix F30 is a decent but not great point-and-shoot camera.

If your photographic needs gravitate toward low-light situations, the Fujifilm FinePix F30 is worth a look. However, those advantages are somewhat offset by some inflexibility in the camera’s Manual mode as well as its use of an unpopular memory card format. And, it’s a bit expensive for a 6-megapixel camera with a 3X optical zoom.