Fun times with Fujifilm. (Fujifilm Finepix A201)

Member Name: Chalk

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix A201
Date:	05/04/05 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, Decent picture quality

Disadvantages: Very short battery life, Picture card provided is inadequate.

Last Christmas, I decided that a digital camera would be a sound investment, but looking around, prices were pretty high. Being in my last year at 6th form, I decided it would be a good idea to purchase a digital camera, so that I would not have to nag my friends for copies of their photos from various events and nights out. Having never owned one before, I based my purchasing decision on the basis of the models owned by my friends, as they had found their cameras durable, long lasting, and of good quality in terms of pictures. I bought my camera in the January sales for half price, having decided on the Fujifilm model A201. I went in thinking I knew exactly what I wanted, but under the advise of sales advisors, I was pointed towards a larger memory card, and ended up paying double the amount I had planned on, since said memory card cost as much as the camera! Despite this, I was happy with my purchase, and I think it was a good choice.

In terms of what I got for my money, my camera came with a 16MB card, a CD to install the camera software, two Panasonic batteries, a hand strap, a USB cable, a detailed manual, and of course the camera itself. The card held very few pictures, and so it was advised that I purchased another xD-Picture card; I chose the largest, 256MB, and have never maxed out the amount of photos; one night out I took at least 120, which wasn’t the maximum storage limit.

Problems I have with this camera are firstly the battery-life; upon purchasing my camera I was keen to try it out, and using the provided batteries, after 3 shots, they died on me. I found this frustrating, as the batteries are so easily worn out, so I use the rechargeable ones from my CD player; if I charge them before I go out, I tend to have an hour or so of picture-taking time. The picture quality is good overall, though the colours come out a little strange; for example my blonde friends and myself seem to look carrot-haired on my camera (and on my friends’, who has the same model) whereas we look a little less bright-haired on other cameras. Deleting photos is relatively quick, even with 120 or so it took a minute, and it gives you a polite notice informing you that the process could take time, which I think is a good idea, as with new technology people sometimes need reassurance.

This was a good first digital camera, as it is very easy to use. To turn on and off there is a slide switch, though I once discovered if you leave it in a cluttered bag it can slide itself on, wasting your battery life. To take photographs you press the circular button on the top right of the on/off switch, and to change from flash to daytime, there is a switch on the face of the camera, with a flower for daytime use and a jagged shape for flash. The instructions manual is extremely thorough, and it i ideal for family use as it is so user friendly. At the back of the camera is a screen that allows you to view your photographs, and perhaps delete some of the ones that you aren’t impressed with in order to make extra room. Another feature of this camera is that it allows you to take mini-movies. The downside of this is that the movies are soundless, and there is no option to make the scene brighter. For example, when my friends’ uptight boyfriend was dancing around a club at night, thinking he was MC Hammer, we could not record this interesting scene, as it was too dark. However, it would probably make a nice extra for a family making short, daytime clips.

As a whole I have found this product to be good value for money, very user-friendly, and good quality. I have only had it for four months, but I have as of yet to encounter a problem with it. My friend, who has the exact same model, has had hers for about 3 years, and she still uses it often and without problem. However, I would recommend the purchase of rechargeable batteries and a larger storage media card alongside this product, as the flash takes a lot of energy out of the batteries, and if you are taking the camera on holiday or to a special event, you will want capacity to store a lot of images.

Summary: