Fuji A205 - Digital photography that is easy ...

Author's Rating:

Pros: Easy to use, Inexpensive, 3X Zoom, additional equipment, and Movie feature.

Cons: Eats Batteries, a little bulky, and the LCD Screen could better.

The Bottom Line: 
A great camera with lots of extras for a low price.

Author's Review
I decided to get rid of my old camera and come into the digital age. I wanted to spend around $100 for a 2 megapixel camera that was basic and easy to use. Fuji was hands down the winner for my price range. I found the A205 for sale for around $110. When I went to buy the camera, it came with an additional 32mb chip, and a carry case. The best I could find with competitors was a 8mb chip with no carry case. Also, the competition did not have a lense cover and one of the camera's I looked at had no zoom feature. It was obvious I should be buying this camera.

I took the camera home, and began to play with it. I had no instructions (I had to download them off the web), and figured out the camera in a few minutes. I am far from a photo expert, so I was impressed with how idiot proof this camera is. I took 30 pictures on the 32mb chip (50 are allowed at 2 megapixels)and reviewed them. After erasing the pictures I did not like I took more, to get the total back to 30. After about 45 total pictures the batteries died. These were not top of the line batteries, but the ones that came with the camera. I put in some fresh batteries and finished taking some more pictures.

I had problems telling if a picture was a good one based on the LCD screen, so I plugged the camera into the TV with the cord provided. I could then really tell which pictures I liked or hated. You could also zoom on the picture to tell if something looked out of place, or might make the picture a bad one.

For kicks, I removed my 32mb chip and put in the 16mb chip that came with the camera. I recorded a movie of my kids that lasted around 20 seconds. That was neat. I did not get a chance to try and download the clip on my computer, but I am sure it will be easy to do once I try it.

You can take pictures in 2, 1, or .3 megapixels. Movies can be shot in 320 x 240 pixels which can record up to 20 seconds or 160 x 120 pixels which can record up to 180 seconds. The camera also has many of the basics. Date stamp, self-timer, and flash on\off control. You can adjust the camera for close shots, and the zoom is easy to use. I did have problems seeing the LCD screen outside, but I have the same problem with my camcorder. You just have to turn your back to the sun and cover the LCD with your hand.

Over all, this is a great digital camera for novices. A professional should not buy this camera, but I think they would know that. I will be buying the 3V adaptor to save on batteries, but this is a great camera to take family pictures. I am looking forward to using it until I decide to upgrade. I would recommend this camera to anyone still using film loaded cameras.