The A340 is a 4 MegaPixel camera from FujiFilm and is the big brother of the A330 (3MP version). The technical specification reads:
Weight - 193 grams
Height - 62 mm
Width - 104 mm
Depth - 31 mm
Storage Media -
xD Picture Card (16 MB to 512 MB)
Recorded Pixels - 2272 x 1704 / 1600 x 1200 / 1280
x 960 (depending on resolution selected)
The camera also boasts
a self timer (10 seconds)
automatic and selectable flash
six photography modes (auto, manual, portrait, scene, sport, night)
macro (0.1m to 0.8 m)
video recording (
no sound)
DPOF for printing
NTSC or PAL output
on-camera trimming
1.5 inch
TFT LCD monitor for framing that perfect picture.
Ergonomics
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The camera fits nicely into the hands, with the controls well laid out for the right-hand thumb and forefinger. The buttons have solid, tactile feedback so you know you have pressed it. The front cover slides left and right to three distinct positions and acts as the on / off switch, and again has a nice, solid feel to the 'click' as the cover sits at each position.
Zooming is controlled via a 'rocker' type switch, at the top right hand side of the rear of the camera. The camera has 3x optical zoom and 1.7x Digital Zoom (not in 4MP mode) and the lens has a smooth, quiet motion as it travels. The LCD monitor is real-time updating for the zoom function.
To the left of the zoom rocker is the macro button. This is a nice touch - to have one button to enable macro shooting is a welcome change from having to go through several menu layers. Macro mode enables close up shooting of subjects between 0.1m and 0.8 m away.
The right hand side of the zoom is occupied by the flash selector button. You can choose from auto, red-eye reduction, forced, suppressed, slow synchro and red eye + slow synchro. Hopefully, the first two are obvious as to their behaviour. The forced means the flash will always fire, in bright light as well as dark - this is good for colour balancing in bright situations, and the suppressed means that it will not fire at all. Slow synchro utilises a slow shutter speed, when taking pictures at twilight for example, that will help to light the background as well as the foreground subject. The final option, then, combines the red-eye with the slow-synchro, and its usage should be obvious.
Just below these buttons, and to the right of the
LCD panel are three menu option buttons, which I shall go into a little later. These are also comfortably positioned to be accessed with the right-hand thumb.
Finally, the all important button - the one that takes the picture - is where you would expect. Top of the camera at the right hand side, and as with the others, feels comfortable with its positioning. As with virtually all digital cameras now, a half-way down press causes the camera to focus, which it does quickly.
Operation
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So, how does the camera perform in the real world, and does it live up to expectations?
Startup is not too bad - two seconds and you are ready to go. Saving the images to the xD card is around 4 seconds which I found to be acceptable - there are quicker ones, but there are slower ones as well!
The red-eye reduction performed as expected with the additional flash before taking the image, and the results were
spot-on. I tested the camera in different lighting conditions, with different subjects and frames and I can honestly say I was not at all disappointed with its performance. Images are clear and with the automatic settings, the colour and light balance produces excellent results that you won't need to fiddle with before printing. I have had cameras before that needed the images lightening before I could print them out - not so with the A340.
In manual mode, you can modify the white balance and exposure settings to get the image you need, but unless you are in unusual situations, you are unlikely to use these options. Still, it's worth playing with and seeing the results you get - some can be very interesting!
(For those interested, exposure compensation is used to lighten ot darken the shot, while white balance is used under different lighting conditions - fluorescent, incandescent, etc)
One thing that can always be a nuisance is not having enough
memory space to store your pictures, and this results in a frantic hunt through the images
to see what can be deleted. Well, the following table will help you! It lists the number of images you will be able to save, according to the settings and card size.
4MP FINE (1.9MB Image) - 2272 x 1704
16MB Card = 8 Images
32MB Card = 16 Images
64MB Card = 33 Images
128MB Card = 66 Images
256MB Card = 134 Images
512MB Card = 268 Images
4MP NORMAL (960KB Image) - 2272 x 1704
16MB Card = 16 Images
32MB Card = 32 Images
64MB Card = 66 Images
128MB Card = 132 Images
256MB Card = 266 Images
512MB Card = 532 Images
2MP - 1600 x 1200
16MB Card = 25 Images
32MB Card = 50 Images
64MB Card = 101 Images
128MB Card = 204 Images
256MB Card = 409 Images
512MB Card = 818 Images
1MP - 1280 x 960
16MB Card = 33 Images
32MB Card = 68 Images
64MB Card = 137 Images
128MB Card = 275 Images
256MB Card = 550 Images
512MB Card = 1101 Images
[Note, you can change quality as you go, so you could get 33 images at 4MP FINE + 101 at 2MP on a 128MB card]
Of course, once you have recorded those perfect pictures, you will want to review them. On the A340, this is as easy as taking the pictures themselves. A one second press of one of the playback menu button takes you to the gallery, where you can easily browse through your pictures either one by one, or as thumbnails. You can also choose to turn off the
time / date stamp as you are viewing.
Deleting images is also easy, either the entire set of images can be deleted, or simply delete one at a time.
You can also use the A340 to record video, but it does NOT record audio. You can playback the video through the supplied
video cable connected to your
TV, and you can select either NTSC or PAL formats. Personally, I felt this was a fairly pointless option and think they could have spent the money on something else. This was one of two disadvantages I could see with this camera.
Accessing the camera's menu system is done by way of three buttons to the right of the LCD viewer.
Scrolling through the options is done via the macro, zoom and flash buttons for left, up/down and right respectively. In the options, you can set date and time, quality, mode, etc. indeed, all of the options you would expect to be able to set.
Software
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The bundled software consists of the USB
mass storage driver for the camera, the
file transfer software (FinePix Viewer) and VCD Mixer which allows you to create VCD's and
DVD's. To do anything with DVD's requires a purchase upgrade from Pixela, but the
CD functions are available. The VCD/DVD software is very
easy to use, but also very basic - don't expect too much here!
The FinePix viewer is much the same, I'm afraid. It tries to be an album creator and manager, but I found it a little clunky in its operation and not desperately user friendly.
For me, the easiest thing was to just install the drivers and navigate the camera through Windows Explorer and just move the pictures to the target folder. You can then manipulate through your chosen image
editing software.
Connecting to the computer, whilst easy, requires a unique USB cable. The camera end is a different shape to other mini-USB connectors. This is the second point that I would mark as a disadvantage, as you will need to purchase the replacement from Fuji, rather than being able to use a standard cable.
Printing
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The A340 supports DPOF, which stands for Digital Print Order Format, and basically tells the camera which frames are to be printed when connected to the
printer. You simply select which images you want printed, if you want the date printed, and that's pretty much it. Once you connect the camera to the printer, you simply tell the camera to use the DPOF selection and off it goes! If the printer is PictBridge compatible, then you can connect the camera directly to it, otherwise you will need to download the images to your computer first.
It is difficult to review an output from a printer when reviewing a camera, as the outputs will vary from printer to printer. However, in an effort to be complete, my printer is Hi-Touch 631PL and uses a process called dye sublimation for the printing process. The outputs were excellent - I think better than a shop, and at only 30p……anyway, this printer is reviewed elsewhere!
What's in the box?
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In the box, you get the camera (of course!), the software, a pair of
AA batteries, a clear plastic cradle, a 16MB xD card,
hand strap, USB cable and a video cable.
Accessories
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As with many companies now, there are a whole host of accessories for the A340, but I would highly recommend the following: AC Power Adaptor, PictureCradle, Rechargeable batteries and a bigger xD card. The PictureCradle will recharge the batteries (if using rechargeables), and allow a permanent USB connection as well.
Summary
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For me, I think this is one of the best value cameras on the market at the moment. At around £130, you could spend more on a lower quality product. I found it easy and logical to use, with solid feedback and excellent picture results. The software offering could be better, but this was not a prime consideration for me. This is one holiday essential this year!
Fujifilm FinePix A340 
