A good "point and click" budget camera (Fujifilm Finepix A800)

Member Name: frenchboy88

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix A800
Date:	12/09/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, easy to use, good brand

Disadvantages: Lack of rechargable battery, some reliability niggles

I bought this camera as a gift for my girlfriend after she gave birth to our beautiful daughter in August 2007. I bought it as a gift pack with the case from Pixmania. It is still going to this day and she is still taking new pictures of our daughter all the time.

The quality of the pictures is about what you would come to expect of a camera in this price range. They aren't works of art, but are certainly good enough to post on the internet, print off at standard sizes and show off to family and friends. I find the 6MP "FINE" setting (top setting) is the only one worth bothering with.

It has a variety of picture modes, including night, baby, and sport (which gets the most use with our daughter now 2!). The flash is very powerful, and can sometimes make photos too bright, but is perfect for low-light shots. The red-eye reduction mode works effectively.

The LCD screen is quite a low resolution, so pictures look worse on it than they look when uploaded to the computer - this is easily done as the camera uses a standard size SD Card.

The lack of a rechargeable lithium battery is a downer. As commented in another review, this camera hates cheap AA batteries, and will not even turn on for some. We found the best to be Energiser Lithium's, although about £5 for 4, using 2 of these we were able to take well over 500 photos and they lasted for months.

The lense is also prone to getting stuck, and it has to be turned on and off to make it retract fully. It is also quite bulky, and the casing feels quite cheap and plasticky.

Overall, a decent camera for the price, but its fairly bulky and getting a bit dated now. I have had better experience with Panasonic Lumix's.

Summary: Decent camera, but probably better options elsewhere now

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