Model Design / Appearance (7.0)
At first glance, the Fuji FinePix A330 appears flashier than some of its competitors. It’s cast in gleaming silver plastic and metal, with a front dominated by a chrome sliding lens cover. Fortunately, the back of the camera is somewhat less gaudy and more practical, containing well-labeled buttons in a simple arrangement; positioned within thumb’s reach. A user can navigate the six buttons by touch, without fumbling or pressing multiple controls at once. Those who are used to a larger bodied camera with a substantial frame might find the A330 awkwardly small to grasp, although its long, narrow design makes it ideal for a child’s hands. Yet, despite its shiny plastic front and minimal size, the camera doesn’t feel like a toy. The FinePix A330’s solid construction and user-friendly navigation make it an attractive and affordably priced point-and-shoot camera for digital newcomers.
Size / Portability (7.0)
Weighing in at 6.8 ounces, the FinePix A330 is on the lighter side for its class, considering its size of 4.1 x 2.4 x 1.2 inches. While small and light enough to take on vacation, the FinePix A330 is more likely to fit in a purse or backpack than in your pocket. For those who want the kind of camera you can carry around effortlessly to capture spontaneous moments, or take to the bar in a coat pocket, this camera isn’t it; however, for the majority of users, who don’t wish to be bothered with a camera bag yet don’t need something itty-bitty, this camera will certainly do.
Handling Ability (6.5)
The Fuji FinePix A330 is compact and feels solid in the user’s hands. With practical placement of the buttons, the camera can be easily managed with one thumb. While this well-conceived layout is much appreciated and useful, one must also take into consideration that the FinePix A330 user will probably hold the camera in both hands, using the LCD screen to compose and control shooting. In fact, the viewfinder is so small and poorly placed that it is difficult to imagine anyone actually navigating the buttons while shooting, as you would with an SLR. The light weight of the camera is substantial enough, helped out by its textured surface and small ridge on the far right side to help give its flat shape a better grip. I do wish however that it had a little bit more height and depth on the right side to rest more securely in my hand as some of the Kodak EasyShare and Canon PowerShot series do. Overall, the Fuji FinePix A330 is a compact and maneuverable point-and-shoot camera and should provide comfortable handling and more than adequate control.
Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (7.5)
Fuji has made navigating the controls a breeze. Keeping in mind that the user would never be pressing buttons with the camera up to their face, three elevated buttons for controlling framing are located in the upper right, near the viewfinder. The center button, which can be pushed upwards or downwards, and the left and right buttons are used for scrolling through menus rapidly. Within thumb’s reach are three more buttons near the LCD screen that control menu and playback features. These have slight ridges on each, allowing the user to find them easily by touch, and are clearly and logically labeled. The buttons are large enough and far enough apart that even the thick thumb won’t depress all the buttons at once, nor fumble to find things. My only disappointment was the sliding lens cover, which acts to turn the camera on and off. In addition to its rather flaky plastic feel, whenever the camera goes into PowerSave mode and turns itself off, which can be as quick as after two minutes of inactivity, the only way to turn the camera back on is to close it and reopen it. This gets old pretty quick. Fortunately, this is my only complaint about the controls, and the camera redeems itself with its simplistic and intuitive navigation.
Menu (7.0)
The menu button on the FinePix A330 plays a dual role, controlling options both while shooting and during playback. When the menu button is selected in shooting mode, a string of icons will pop up in a layout similar to the “dock” for Macintosh users. One can scroll from left to right along the icons and, when one is selected, it is magnified on the bottom, and a box pops up with the relevant options. Using the three buttons in the upper right-hand corner, one can quickly and logically navigate from left to right and up and down these lists without ever getting lost in layers of subcategories. The menu options that come up are: quality settings, self-timer, shooting mode, and set-up. Even the set-up section is laid out in pages that are simple to navigate: Image Display, Power Save, Format, Beep, Date/Time, Time Difference, LCD, Frame Number, USB mode, Language, Video system, Discharge, and Reset.
I have only two small complaints. With each change you make in the menu mode, you are brought automatically back to the shooting mode, so if you want to make multiple changes, you need to keep returning to the menu. This can become time consuming and is quite frustrating. Fortunately, it is not as multi-layered as many digital camera options are, so it’s not hard to get back to where you want to be.
When using the Playback Mode, the menu button gives you the options of erase, DPOF (which allows you to specify print options for each frame), protect (which allows you to ‘lock’ frames from being accidentally erased), automatic playback (which allows you to choose from four different ways of presenting photos in slide show format), and trimming (which allows you to crop photos in the LCD viewfinder and save them separately). Overall, I found the icon presentation and layout to be amazingly intuitive and easy to navigate.
Ease of use (7.0)
This camera’s charm lies in its simplicity. With only six buttons on the back of the camera, each clearly labeled and all within thumb’s reach, there is no unnecessary fumbling or searching. Because there aren’t many fringe features, the organized menu ensures that the FinePix A330 is a simplistic relief for any level user.
