Fujifilm FinePix REAL 3D W3

Review of FinePix Real 3D W3:

Functionality and shooting modes:

FinePix Real 3D W3 has a very useful feature — the ability to get two shots of an object at once after pressing the shutter button, taken with two lenses in different positions — wide-angle and body, or with different colour modes, or with different sensitivity modes.

As far as 3D photography is concerned, the main change from the W1 is the introduction of 3D Auto mode, which is very useful when you first get started with a 3D camera.

FinePix Real 3D W3 is equipped with the following shooting modes:

• Auto mode — automatic setting of shooting parameters
• Individual 3D shooting — first one shot is taken, and then the second is superimposed on the first.
• Telephoto / Wide angle — two shots at once with a wide angle and a telephoto angle
• Manual — you can change the shutter speed and aperture
• Programme 1 — manual aperture setting
• Programme 2 — cannot change shutter speed and aperture

When using Programme 1 and Programme 2, the following scenes are available:

• Anti-Blur — anti-blur mode
• Natural light with flash — 2 pictures are taken — one with flash, the second without
• Natural light — natural light shooting mode without flash
• Portrait
• Landscape
• Sport
• Night
• night tripod
• Sunset
• Snow
• Beach
• Under the water
• Party

In manual mode, you can set the following parameters:

• Aperture setting — you can change the aperture value and shutter speed
• ISO sensitivity — available values: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
• Image size — 4:3 aspect ratio, 3:2 aspect ratio, 16:9 aspect ratio
• Image quality: excellent or normal
• FinePix colour: standard, chrome, black and white
• White Balance: Auto, Sunny, Shade/Clouds, Fluorescent-1, Fluorescent-2, Fluorescent-3, Incandescent, Underwater
• Continuous shooting: first 40, disabled
• Metering: multi, spot, average
• 2D AF mode: centre, multi
• Auto Parallax Control: Enabled, Disabled

Video:

FinePix Real 3D W3 supports HD, VGA (640*480) and QVGA (320*240) video recording. Optical zoom does not work in video mode, although it was possible in the W1 version. In playback mode, there is a fast-forward video that doubles the standard speed. Removing a seven-minute clip takes about three to four seconds.

Display:

The FinePix Real 3D W3 digital 3D display uses a "Light Direction Control System" to correctly and accurately hit the right and left eyes, simulating parallax, allowing you to view 3D images on the camera's display. In the sun, the screen loses colour and brightness quite a lot, but the information is read without problems. Distortion of colours in the photographs of the display is a feature of the 3D technology in the absence of stereo glasses.

Control:

FinePix Real 3D W3, unlike the previous model W1, has a one-sided layout of controls with buttons and a "joystick", which makes the W3 more convenient and compact model. Only the parallax adjustment lever is retracted to the left side and placed on the upper plane of the case. Switching between 2D and 3D modes occurs using a separate button, which significantly speeds up the work between shooting modes.

Software:

The camera comes with MyFinePix Studio software. It is similar in function to FinePixViewer with a module for processing MPO and AVI 3D files.

Memory:

A one-minute video is 185 megabytes. Based on these values, an hour of video will take more than 11 gigabytes. At maximum image quality, a 2D photo takes about 3.5 megabytes, while a 3D one takes 9.5 megabytes.

Working hours:

In surround video mode, a full charge of the battery is enough for 40 minutes of recording. In photo mode, you can expect 150 photos in 3D and 200 photos in 2D. The battery charging time is approximately two hours.

Equipment:

• FinePix Real 3D W3
• Li-ion battery NP-50
• Charger BC-45W
• Hand strap
• USB cable