Hands-on with the Fujifilm FinePix Z20fd: Fairweather friend

The sun is out, birds are singing, and the world is once again flooded with colour after the pitiless grey misery of an English winter: our pasty white knees may even make an appearance this weekend. What better time to get our hands on the Fujifilm FinePix Z20fd, the latest in Fuji's rainbow-hued Z range of compact cameras?

The 10-megapixel Z20 follows the slidey-front template of its predecessor, the Z10. It packs a non-protruding Fujinon 3x optical zoom lens, with an aperture of f3.7-f4.2 and a 35mm equivalent focal length of 35-105mm. The screen is a 64mm (2.5-inch) LCD, showing 150,000 dots, with approximately 97 per cent coverage.

Features include face detection, assorted red-eye removal options and IrSimple/ IrSS infrared photo transfer. Playback mode offers a giant 10x10 micro-thumbnail array, slide shows and resizing for blogs or eBay.

The summer's a good time for video, and you'll be posting your frolics in the park to YouTube in no time, with the Z20fd's dedicated movie button. MPEG-4 is recorded at 640x480 or 320x240-pixel resolution at 30 frames per second. You can add new video to existing clips and edit out bits, all in-camera.

The Fujifilm FinePix Z20FD uses xD, SD and SDHC memory cards. It comes in a rainbow of colours: light green, blue, pink, red and black, and is available now for a very summery £99. -Rich Trenholm