Japan on a Fujifilm FinePix Z70: Sample Photos

Released in 2010, the Fujifilm FinePix Z70 is an ultra-compact 12-megapixel digital camera with a 5x optical zoom, a sliding front cover that doubles as the power switch, and a 2.7-inch screen on the back. It was built for a pocket, a party, and a trip, in that order. Fifteen years on, this is what it does with Tokyo.

Cameras like this were everywhere in 2010 and nowhere five years later, replaced by phones. The reason to pick one up again is that it looks nothing like a phone. The sensor is small, the lens is slow, and the in-camera JPEG does most of the work: colours are punchy, highlights clip early, and there is a softness at the edges that no filter quite reproduces. What follows are straight-out-of-camera frames, resized and nothing else.

Nakamise-dori, Asakusa

A dense crowd on Nakamise shopping street in Asakusa, with red lanterns and the Senso-ji gate ahead

The shopping street that leads to Senso-ji, on a weekend. The Z70 has no trouble with a scene like this at the wide end of the zoom.

Two trains at a platform

Two JR commuter trains with orange stripes waiting at a station platform

Flat overcast light suits this sensor. The platform markings and the train fronts are as sharp as the camera gets.

Birds on a railing

Three birds silhouetted on a metal railing against a pale grey sky

Exposed for the sky, so the birds and the rail go to pure black. The Z70 has no raw mode, so you get one chance at the exposure.

A crosswalk under a willow

Two people waiting at a crosswalk beneath a willow tree outside an old shop

Zoomed in from across the street. At the long end the lens loses contrast, which here works in its favour.

Melon pan

A melon pan stall near the temple. The warm tungsten light inside the stall and the daylight outside are both in frame, and the camera splits the difference.

Blue

The Z70’s blue sky. This is the colour the small Fujifilm CCDs of this era were known for, and it is not something you can dial in afterwards.

A boat on a canal

A small fishing boat moored beside a wooden boathouse on a canal, with the buildings reflected in the water

A wooden boathouse and a fishing boat on a canal between apartment blocks. The reflection is the picture.

Rickshaw

The rickshaw pullers of Asakusa work the streets around the temple. The camera’s shutter lag is noticeable; this took more than one attempt.

Kimono at Senso-ji

Two women in kimono talking beside the red pillars of Senso-ji temple

The red of the temple pillars is exactly the kind of saturated colour the Z70 reaches for.

Is the FinePix Z70 worth buying?

If you want a camera that makes photos look like 2010, yes. It is tiny, it switches on in a second, and the files have a look you would otherwise have to fake. What it cannot do is low light, fast action, or anything that needs the highlights preserved. The battery is a small Fujifilm NP-45, which is still easy to find, and the camera takes ordinary SD cards. Z70s turn up secondhand for very little, often with the original box.