Another solid camera from Fuji. (Fujifilm Finepix A202)

Member Name: superbeast5

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix A202
Date:	18/10/03 (213 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Price, Image Quality, Ease of use

Disadvantages: Build quality, Lack of features.

The two things that drew me to the A202 were it's combination of resolution (2 Megapixels) and price, (£130 about 10 months ago). Almost a year later I'm pleased with the choice I made.
The camera is nicely designed, looking like most 35mm cameras. The buttons are all well layed-out and I had no trouble operating the on screen menus. If I had one complaint about the camera, its that the buttons, and perhaps the case in general, seem a bit flimsy. Given the price I payed though I think this is acceptable with such a well rounded camera. The camera also doesnt come with a pouch of any kind, so you might want to buy one if you don't want it to get too scratched up in your pocket.
The picture quality is excellent, especially for this price bracket. The camera comes with a 16Mb XD memory card, it'll store around 40 images on good quality and 30 or so on absolute best. Taking lower quality images obviously means you'll be able to cram more on. If you're taking the camera on a trip you might want to invest in a second, larger memory card so you don't run out of space and don't want to compromise on image quality. Beware that the XD memory cards are tiny, so they may easy to misplace.
The camera runs off of two AA batteries, in the long run its much more economical to buy a recharger and some batteries to go with it. I found Ni-Mh ones give me excellent battery-life.
The camera uses a USB cable to connect to your PC. I didn't bother installing any of the bundled software. If you're using Windows XP it simply picks the camera up as a temporary drive and you can drag the files off it and onto your machine, simple.
Overall i think the A202 is an excellent choice for beginner and intermediate users. More experienced users might be dissapointed by its lack of features but its ease-of-use makes it a good option for those who have never used a digital camera before. As long as you look after it, the camera should last you
a long while and for its price its a bargain.

Summary: