Let’s face it we all want a decent digital camera these days, I had been using a camera with only 8 million pixels which is pretty poor in comparison to even my own mobile phone. So I thought it was about time that I looked for a new one.

Searching

Now to be honest I am no expert on digital cameras, all I do it simply get on the internet and check out the usual places such as Comet, Argos, Curry’s and John Lewis. I set myself a budget of £150 and I knew I wanted a Fuji camera as I believe that they offer easy to use cameras at affordable prices.
I then came across a Fuji Film A150 camera in Curry’s at a cost of £97.99 which I was delighted with but being a good money saver I decided to Google the camera to see if that was really a good price. So the Google result appeared and I was even happier as Argos had the camera for £67.89 which was a bargain if you ask me.

Price and availability

As I write this review you can buy the camera online and at many shopping outlets, I always choose three companies to show the prices.

Argos - £67.98 in store and online price
Curry’s - £97.99 – In store
Ebay – Buy in now price at £68.95 – Plus £6.99 Delivery
It’s always worth searching the web before buying and remember some cash back sites will get you money back when using certain retailers.

What made me choose this one

There are many reasons as to why I chose this one over many others, but being honest the main reasons was the fantastic price, not to forget it is also manufactured by Fuji and that’s a company I trust and have used many times before. The camera was also available in black, and has many added features, in addition to its 10 million pixel resolution.

What’s in the box

As I bought the camera brand new the phone was wrapped in cellophane which ensures me that all the contents are all within.

• The camera is well wrapped up and protected from being damaged.

• Two AA batteries which aint worth the paper they are wrapped in. I would
suggest you buy a decent back of AA batteries or even buy a rechargeable set.

• Instruction manual, written in every language and very easy to follow.

• Usb cable- small and something that you will need unless you have a card reader.

• Hand strap, I have never used that as I bought myself a case for it.

• Cd-Rom, I once again never found any use for that as my picture just easily
transfer and I can edit them within the photo shop programme I have.

You may notice that the memory card has not been mentioned above, that’s due to the fact that Fuji do not supply you with a memory card. Instead the camera has an internal memory of 16mb. That’s was not enough for me so I bought a new SD memory card, I can’t remember the actual price but it was very inexpensive.

Camera Design

This camera is a typical Fuji layout in my opinion, what I mean by that is basic and idiot proof so it means its ideal for me. All the buttons you require to use are clearly marked and if you do press the wrong button you can easily return to the previous screen. The buttons are very easily pressed even with big fat fingers too. Its small sleek silver appearance appeals to me as it looks the part. It’s not bulky despite what it offers. It will easily fit in most jacket pockets or in any women’s bag. Mind you a double decker bus could fit in most women’s handbags.
This camera is also available in black

Setting the camera up

When you firth get it you will need to set the time and date on the camera, it’s very easily done by accessing the menu screen, obviously the menu screen is viewable on the large LCD screen too. So the time and date are set but then you need to decide what to have the picture setting on. As this camera has a handful of different options. If I am honest what I did was left it on the setting it came on and just used that until I became more familiar with the camera. It would be ideal to attach the hand strap at this time if you require. Once again I have never installed the software that Fuji provides so I am not able to comment on the quality of any software on the disc.

Features

For its compact size the camera does have a good selection of features.
*Shooting Modes – I have to say I do use this feature often, depending on what your taking pictures of you can easily select the most appropriate setting i.e. Landscape, Portrait, etc. Selecting the necessary setting will then adjust the shutter speed. I think this is a good feature for the simple reason it helps the user take better quality pictures.

*Red Eye Reduction – I genuinely believe that all cameras should come with this feature, this camera has it built in and it really does work. So having this stops me wasting time removing red eye after I upload them to my PC.

*Stabilization – Ever tried to take picture of your wee one jumping up and down, Disaster comes to mind. Well Fuji has added a smart little feature that will stop pictures being ruined. When you’re taking a picture of something or someone moving simply switch the feature on.

*Self Timer- We all need to use it at some point for one reason or another, well you can set the camera to take a picture in 10 seconds or just 2secons. I like the delay feature especially when trying to get a family picture.

*Zoom- Now I am no expert when it comes to cameras and defiantly no expert when it comes to talking about zooms, but I can tell you the zoom is good enough for my personal use, it has a 3 x optical zoom and a 5.7x digital zoom.

Picture quality

I always have the camera set on 10MP (million pixels) which is the best quality that this small camera offers. I have taken 100s of pictures using this camera in all different settings and I have to say I have always been happy with the detail and the overall colour. I recall one picture that I had taken, it was 3am in the morning and as you can imagine it was pitch dark, I used the camera to take a picture of a broken down emergency vehicle. As it was so dark the flash on the camera lit up the side of the vehicle and it my opinion captured a fantastic picture.

I do not recommend this camera for video feature, in my opinion you should not use digital cameras to take video clips which you expect to keep forever. Unfortunately the quality is just not there.

Technical information

I have taken this information direct from either the instruction booklet of Fuji.com
Dimensions- 91.5(W) x 60.5(H) x 21.7(D)mm
Shooting Mode’s - Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Fireworks, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Museum, Party, Flower, Text, Baby, Anti-blur, Natural Light, Movie
Movie Recording - AVI (Motion JPEG ) with sound
Shutter Speed- (Auto mode) 1/4sec. to 1/2000sec., (All other modes) 8sec. to 1/2000sec.

Overall and final thoughts

I have to say once again I am delighted with this Fuji camera, I believe that Fuji has managed to fit all my requirements into this small camera. It’s a stylish little number that does not stand out from the rest. Its affordable price makes it ideal for the whole family. As I say it any camera review I do, I suggest you also buy rechargeable batteries to use. I have attached a few pictures to this review which I have taken on this camera.

Thanks for reading

Marcellep2 – Ciao 2009