Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Fuji

Fuji

Check Out Fujifilm FinePix AX200 12 MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Black) for $79.99

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 10:53 PM PDT

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

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

  • 12-megapixel resolution for large, photo-quality prints
  • Fujinon 5x wide-angle optical zoom lens
  • Capture 720p HD movies with sound and still shots in 16:9 that can be played back on any HD-ready television (or a home PC)
  • Panoramic Shooting mode; Picture Search
  • 2-AA Batteries

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

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.

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

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Customer Reviews

Great Spec for a camera in this price range! But you get what you paid for… –

I decided to get a new camera after I realized how bulky my Canon A40 has become. I started to research as my primary concern about the new camera will have to have 5x optical, minimum 28mm wide angle, and uses AA battery. This camera was a dream come true: with all of the above features, plus all the extras.

When I first received this camera, I was amazed how small it is even though it uses AA battery. The body feels quite plastic-ish but sturdy, as long as you don’t drop it, it shouldn’t break that easily. The grip is comfortable for one hand operation, but my hand is smaller than average, so for those with larger hands, you might want to get a feel of the camera before ordering. The silver edition does not seem to have the finger print smudge issue as of the black edition.

I received the camera and start to take random photos. I realized the supposedly best feature of this camera SR AUTO is causing the lens to constantly making a buzzing noise. I guess that’s ok when you are out door, but can be annoying when you are in a class, or quiet environment. All the photos turn out ok on the camera LCD. I also played with the zoom and settings. The menus are really simple and easy to navigate. The thumbnail viewing function is the best I’ve seen.

After I loaded the photos into the PC, I found a major issue with this camera, which is supposedly its best feature – wide angle lens. I notice severe bending on the edge of the images. It’s not as obvious in a scenery view, but you can still see that. However, for MACRO shots, you will feel like you are using a fish eye lens.

The sharpness of the image is average, not the best, but not the worst either. The main quality problem with this camera is the ISO, once you pass 800, the noise level is unbearable. However, if you use the SR AUTO, you cannot adjust ISO (hopefully there will be firmware update fixing this). Thus, I recommend users to manually set ISO when in low light; when you are out door or with abundant lighting, then use the SR AUTO to fully utilize this camera.

The video recording is great! Remember to use Class 6 or above speed if you like to make mini HD movies, else the camera will be really slow. The video quality is fantastic for a camera this price range.

After all, I returned this camera as I did not like the fish eye effect, also the ISO noise level. But this doesn’t mean this camera is bad, you are definitely getting whole lot features with this price for such a small camera. If you want a cheap HD video recorder, not taking close up shots, and always in places with enough lighting, I would definitely recommend this camera.

PRO:

- Pocket sized

- AA battery powered

- Wide angle lens

- SR AUTO mode

- Great photo viewing function

- FANTASTIC HD video recording

- The only camera with AA + wide angle lens in this size

- REALLY inexpensive

CONS:

- Plastic body

- Image are bent on the side due to the wide angle, creates a “fish eye” effect

- Cannot adjust ISO in SR AUTO

- Buzzing noise when using SR AUTO

Versatile camera, great pix for the price –

10/27/10 Update: When you buy an SD memory card, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS CLASS 4 OR HIGHER. Lower class (lower read/write speed) cards will cause the camera to freeze when taking HD video. I just experienced this problem with a lower class card and see from reading other reviews that other people are having the same problem, not realizing you MUST HAVE CLASS 4 or higher memory in order to shoot HD video. I also see from the Amazon page that “other people frequently bought” a 4 GB SanDisk Class 2 card along with this camera. That Class 2 card WILL NOT support HD video, according to the Fuji manual. I have ordered a Class 4 card and will report back when it arrives.

10/28/10 Update: Kingston 4 GB Class 4 SD card arrived today. I tried taking HD video clips outdoors this afternoon, and later this evening indoors. In the outdoor test, in bright afternoon conditions, using alkaline batteries, I took a total of 21 short HD videos. Of the first 10 videos, 2 caused the camera to freeze while it was shooting. Of the last 11 videos, 7 caused a freeze. Pretty bad, right? Well…this evening after dinner, I tried again, this time indoors. I took 16 more short HD videos in low indoor night light conditions, and NONE of them froze. Using the same alkaline batteries as before. No freezing. I tried switching to NiMH batteries…no freezing. I tried running the alkaline batteries until the camera shut down…no freezing. It’s working perfectly now. Go figure… *****end of update*****

I read all the other Amazon reviews for this camera, and read the specs on the Fuji website before buying the camera. After using it for a day, I’m pleased to say that it has exceeded my expectations.

The menus are well laid out, and the modes and settings are very easy to change. I’ve read the manual fairly carefully and have experimented a good deal with some of the “shooting modes” and have the following suggestions and observations for those (few) who have complained of poor picture quality. (I’ve gotten outstanding results so far).

First, be aware that this camera has a WIDE ANGLE lens, which means that it’s designed to capture a wider field of view than a “normal” 35 mm equivalent lens. This makes it good for close quarters (e.g. indoor photography where you’re trying to get as much of a room as possible, or as many people as possible, into the frame). I just spent this afternoon photographing the interior of a small 17th century post-and-beam house, and the wide angle lens captured more of the interior than a 35 mm equivalent lens would have. The downside of the wide angle lens is that you will see some “fisheye” bending at the edges of the frame, but the bending does disappear as you zoom out to a longer focal length. The wide angle also means that, even with full zoom, subjects will appear farther away than with a “normal” zoom lens. So if you want maximum zoom magnification of distant objects, a wide angle lens probably isn’t your best choice. On the other hand, if you want maximum field of view for nearby scenes and people, wide angle is the way to go. (This lens can also do “macro” closeups, but I haven’t tried that yet).

Second, it helps if you read up on ISO settings and understand that some unavoidable digital “noise” creeps into digital photos at higher ISO settings. The higher the ISO setting, the more unwanted “noise” you’re going to get. Therefore, you get the best quality shots at the lowest ISO setting (100 for this camera). Read the manual and learn how to either set the ISO manually to 100 (in shooting mode “Program AE”) and/or use the other modes in such a way as to induce it to choose the lowest ISO possible. This camera seems to have very low noise at ISO 100, some at ISO 400, and is marginal at ISO 800. Try to avoid ISOs above 400.

Third, change the “Image Quality” setting from Normal to Fine. The camera comes set to Normal, which means that your photos will be digitally compressed to save storage space. However, the compression process loses some image quality. To get the best image quality, change to Fine, which will save photos without compression and thus give the best image quality. If you want more storage space and don’t care so much about image quality, you can change back to Normal.

Fourth, read the manual and experiment with the different shooting modes, which make this camera quite versatile. I just shot the interior of the historic house I mentioned above using a tripod and the “Night (Tripod)” shooting mode, and the photos came out great even though there was little interior light and I chose not to use a flash. The Night (Tripod) mode gives up to 4 seconds of shutter open time for very low light conditions, at low ISO settings (like 100) for great quality shots.

Fifth, experiment with the “White Balance” adjustment in shooting mode “Program AE”. White balance can make a big difference in the color of your shots.

Sixth, learn how to read the info shown on the screen as you set up for a shot. The shooting mode, ISO, image quality (Normal or Fine), White Balance, and flash status are all shown on the screen and are important things to be aware of. Depress the shutter button half way and see the shutter speed and f-stop displayed in the lower left corner. If the ISO and shutter speed aren’t going to be satisfactory, make the needed adjustments to the shooting program or flash before taking the shot. Also learn how the auto focus works, how it signals that the auto focus has locked in(beep and steady green light) and how the red AF! indicator means that the camera is unable to auto focus, due to low light or some other condition. No focus=blurry photo.

Seventh, avoid the “SR Auto” mode. All it does is choose one of the other shooting modes automatically, which you should be able to do for yourself based on what/where you’re shooting. According to the manual, the “SR Auto” mode is apparently a battery hog, because the manual recommends that, if your batteries are draining too quickly, you not use the SR Auto mode. And some of the other reviews here have complained about buzzing noises in the SR Auto mode (though I haven’t experienced it). Don’t bother using SR Auto. Problem solved.

In short, this camera gives you a lot of ways to take great pictures, but it can’t do its best work until you help it out by setting it up right and learning how to understand what it’s telling you. If you take the time to follow the above steps you’ll be shooting great photos in one day. (And, to be fair, other reviewers have reported good results right out of the box without bothering to read the manual. Just saying…if you’re getting bad results, don’t blame the camera…unless it’s obviously broken.)

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Mar 14, 2011 22:55:16

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Posted by Mira Green at 11:30 PM

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