Fujifilm FinePix AX200 12 MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Honestly, I purchased this camera solely for the HD recording feature.It's a bonus in that it takes pretty darn good pictures, too.I trust the Fuji name and I should have known this camera would deliver on both counts.My first digital camera was a Fuji A205, and even today it takes quality photos as good as it did almost 7 years ago.

Pictures are sharp and the colors are right on target.Response time after taking a picture without using the flash was just about 1 second or even slightly under a second, which is great considering this camera uses AA batteries; response time between pictures with the flash firing was around 2 seconds before ready to take another flash shot...a lot better than some other brands I've tried recently. (Specifically the Canon A495 and the Nikon L20, which I tried and eventually returned for a refund.This Fuji AX200 leaves these two cameras behind in the dust.)

A minor complaint I have with the AX200 is the shiny black plastic it is made of - it shows every fingerprint.It looks nice but I wish they would make these cameras with a matte black finish instead.The tripod mount is plastic also and is located in the center bottom, which is good for stability if using a mini-tripod.

The optical wide angle zoom on this camera is 5X (a majority of cameras at this price point have 3X).It uses readily-available AA batteries.The camera comes with 2 alkaline batteries; I was able to shoot around 125 pictures and some short movies with these batteries before they expired.I recommend buying rechargeable batteries; I got double the amount of shots with rechargeables.You also need an SD card, this camera has some internal memory, but not enough to do anything other than take a few pictures.

This camera is so easy to use, anyone from a young child to older people should have no trouble.I handed it off to my 5 year old nephew to use and even he could figure out how to take a picture.It's larger than an ultra-compact, and easier to hold onto.The measurements are 3.7" wide x 2.4" high x 1.1" thick.It's thicker on the end where the batteries and SD card are inserted.

You can take the camera out of the box and be taking pictures in no time flat.SR-Auto (the default) automatically senses the scene and adjusts itself accordingly:Portrait, Landscape, Night, Macro, Backlit Portrait, or Night Portrait.

There is no dial to change settings, everything is accessed thorough menu navigation.It's easy to select the right shooting mode as there is a full description on the screen as you scroll through the settings.For example:on the Portrait Scene, the description underneath says "Portrait with soft overall tone and beautiful skin tones".

In additional to having Face Detection, this camera has the following Scenes to choose from: Scene Recognition (SR Auto), Auto, P Program AE - where you can change ISO (100 to 3200), white balance and exposure.Natural - no flash - and flash - takes 2 pictures, 1 with flash, 1 without.Natural Light, Portrait, Baby Mode, Landscape, Panorama, Sport (I use this with pets that don't want to hold still).Night, Night with Tripod, Fireworks, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Party, Flower, and Text.

This camera has Picture Stabilization (somehow built into the camera's software), but it is NOT optical image stabilization.

Next, you have your movie modes - 3 to choose from - HD at 720p, and also 640 and 320 in the AVI format.

This is IMPORTANT: You can use the optical zoom while recording movies, however, sounds will not be recorded AT ALL during the ENTIRE time the lens is zoomed out......But if you leave the movie zoom setting on digital, not optical, you will record sound the entire time it is on digital zoom.**This is a major complaint of mine for this camera.**I did keep my rating at 5 stars, though, mainly because I won't be using zoom that often on my movies, and the digital zoom isn't as bad "quality-wise" as I thought it would be.

If you want to play the movies back on your TV, you will need to purchase an additional A/V cable (AV-C1) if you don't already own one.If you want to play an HD movie back on your HDTV, you will need to purchase an additional HDMI cable.There is also an optional Model HDP-L1 player available on Fujifilm's web site, which includes an HD card reader and a remote.Since I don't have an HDTV myself, I didn't purchase this so I can't comment on it.

The AX200 also comes with very basic Fuji MyFinepixViewer photo editing software.It's compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP and Mac.This is one area where Fuji lags behind the rest; I wish they could come up with software as good as the Canon ZoomBrowser.The Finepix software was finally upgraded from the 2003 version with this camera, but it still doesn't impress me.Using XP requires a minimum 512 RAM and Vista requires a minimum of 1 GB RAM.Just download Picasa, it's better - and a free download.

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Product Description:
Fujifilm FinePix AX200 - 12MP, Fujinon 5x Wide Angle Optical Zoom (28-140mm), 2.7" LCD. Other features include: Face Detection w/ Red Eye Removal, Picture Stabilization, High Sensitivity 3200 ISO, 6 Scene - SR Auto Automatic Scene Recognition, HD Movie 720p w/ Sound, Panorama Mode, 2 AA Batteries.

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