If there's a faster way to boost sales of average cameras than to give them a gleaming metal housing and shave a few millimetres from their waistlines, we haven't heard about it. So it's with a certain degree of trepidation that we approach yet another slim, shiny snapper at an apparently reasonable price-point.

From its headline specifications, the F31fd has little to write home about. A 3x optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD and 6.3MP sensor are more middle of the road than a broken white line. But turn this camera on and it's clear that Fujifilm is aiming higher than most. All the metal controls feel engineered rather than merely built, from the swift, precise zoom to the neatly ridged four-way pad.

The top-mounted mode dial is somewhat cryptic, so it's worth exploring its acronyms. The Movie mode (giving gloriously saturated 30fps VGA clips) is pretty obvious, but the wobbly man icon less so. This isn't a genuine optical image stabiliser, but one of the much less useful, high-sensitivity modes that have becoming irritatingly common. The red camera icon indicates a reliable auto-everything mode, while A/S accesses aperture/shutter priority. Another disappointment: M isn't true manual exposure; just a slightly more advanced mode where you can tweak metering, white balance, focus and so on.

Scene modes are found on the N/SP setting. These include Fujifilm's useful Natural & Flash mode that shoots with and without the flash in quick succession for low-light portraits - remember to warn your subjects first! You might also want to activate the Face Detecting AF. It has its own button and can efficiently identify and track a number of faces for pin- sharp group shots.

Shooting with the F31fd is a pleasant, if not professional, experience. The LCD is sharp, very colourful and works well enough in low light. You can alter its refresh rate to optimise either responsiveness or battery life, and boost brightness with a single button push.

The FinePix's autofocus leaves something to be desired, making a little electronic chirrup when locking on - and occasionally burbling to itself for several seconds as if it's making its mind up.