Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

Jun 10, 2005 - By David Vine
The Fujifilm FinePix A350 jumps into a saturated market as a camera aimed at the automatically oriented crowd. The camera takes a minimalist approach with few buttons and few options, creating a primarily automatic interface for the beginner or strictly point-and-shoot users. However, it is still a step up from last year's model, the Fujifilm FinePix A340. Fujifilm pumped a lot of money into their marketing research and found that consumers shunned the moving parts on some of the Fujifilm models for their fragility. In response, the company took out the sliding lens cover of the A340 and replaced it with a built-in snapping lens cover on the A350. Fujifilm also threw in a larger 1.7-inch LCD screen and slightly improved video capabilities - and while these aren't enormous milestones, they are certainly improvements from the earlier A340. The Fujifilm FinePix A350 also boasts 5.2 effective megapixels on its 1/2.5-inch CCD; this is a nice upgrade from the A340's 4 megapixels and 1/2.7-inch CCD. The A350's features are rounded out with a 3x optical zoom lens and affordable $299 retail price tag.
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Likes
-snapping lens cover
-lightweight
-uses AA batteries
-live white balance and exposure compensation menus
-easy to switch modes 
Dislikes
-hazy viewfinder with poor frame coverage
-inaccurate viewing methods (viewfinder and LCD screen)
-no picture effects modes
-power button too close to shutter release button

Conclusion
The Fujifilm FinePix A350 is the new flagship model of the A series and certainly looks impressive compared to its counterparts. After all, it has more megapixels and a redesigned camera body. There are 5.2 effective megapixels on the camera's 1/2.5-inch CCD. This imaging package is housed in a plastic body with an extending 3x optical zoom lens. The model's predecessor, the FinePix A340, had a lens door that slid to power the camera on and off. The A350 removes the door and instead installs a guillotine-like snapping cover to protect the lens and increase the camera's durability. Fujifilm did this to reduce the amount of parts the user has to move; it found through its marketing research that consumers were afraid of breaking such things. The A350 added an extra 0.2 inches to its LCD screen for a total of 1.7 inches; however, the size does not make up for the inaccuracy of the screen. The LCD is only 90 percent accurate. Unfortunately, the viewfinder is much worse with only 75 percent accuracy, so users are not really given any good framing options. There is no telling what the picture will really look like until it is uploaded onto a computer or printed. This is inexcusable, even for a point-and-shoot model. For $299, the A350 is a good deal that I would normally recommend for the automatically oriented point-and-shoot crowd. However, the positive part of that phrase is tainted by the inaccuracies of the framing options. Sure, I understand that when a camera doesn't include manual controls, it is aimed for true point-and-shooters, but when the camera doesn't include any good options for framing, what audience segment of the digital camera market will want it?

Overall Impressions Page 11 of 12 Specs
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