Fujifilm FinePix V10

Jacks, Ports, Plugs (4.5)
There are tiny rubber covers on each side of the camera that hide one port each. On the right side is the A/V / USB multi-port. The left side has a DC in jack. Both covers are flimsy and held on by a single fragile rubber tether. There are no finger divots in the rubber, so users must wedge a fingernail between the cover and the metal camera body to access the ports. The A/V out function is NTSC and PAL selectable, so users can view their images on the big screen whether they’re in Europe or North America. The USB mode must be set to DSC or PictBridge within the setup menu; this is an annoyance as some cameras automatically make the selection. The DC in jack will be handy, as the Fuji V10’s battery is charged within the camera body via the power adaptor.

Direct Print Options (6.5)
When in playback mode, the ‘F’ button acts as the DPOF print order button. When a picture is selected, the button brings up a menu that lets users choose how many prints to make. Because this menu only works for individual pictures, there isn’t a good way to choose lots of pictures – without selecting them all – for printing. Users must scroll through them one by one.

The Fujifilm FinePix V10 is PictBridge compatible. To connect to a printer, users must select the PictBridge option from the USB Mode setting in the setup menu. Then the USB cable must be connected and the ‘F’ button pressed.

Battery (5.25)
The Fujifilm FinePix V10 uses a NP-40 lithium-ion battery that can be charged within the camera body. The V10 comes with a power adaptor to charge it with, but does not come with a wall-mount charger. The camera will have to be tethered to the wall frequently, as it only gets 170 shots per charge. This is a big step down from the older F10, which got 500 shots per charge with its NP-120 battery. The new V10 does have a much larger LCD screen; it darkens after a few seconds to preserve some battery power. In the setup menu, the V10 has another feature to preserve what little power it has: the Auto Power Off function turns the camera off after 2 or 5 minutes of inactivity. That function can also be turned off completely so the camera never powers down.

Memory (3.0)
Most compact digital cameras are coming with 32 MB of internal memory now, but the V10 doesn’t include any at all. Instead, a skimpy 16MB xD-Picture card is included in the box. This is enough for a measly 6 full-resolution images. So if you’re planning on taking more than 6 pictures or 13 seconds of VGA video, you’d better invest in a larger card.

Other Features (8.0)
Video Games – If ever a feature was destined for the "other features" section, this is it. Including video games on a digital camera is an odd move that some will love and others will hate. Purists won’t ever use the video games and find them quite gimmicky. Those trying to endure a long car trip with the kids will appreciate the video games far more. The games are located in the recording menu, but are so incongruously far down on the list that they are hardly there. There are four available: Picture Puzzle, Maze, Block Buster and Shooting Game.

The Picture Puzzle scrambles the picture that was on the screen when the user entered the game mode. Each piece of the puzzle is numbered and users must shift the tiles around to arrive at the original image. This is harder than a Rubik’s cube. I couldn’t even get through this one. The Maze was a little more fun. The first maze was small and had a photo randomly placed in it. The user navigates a chick trying to get back to its mother hen. The chick must get through the maze while avoiding an evil ghost that floats around; the photo is the only safe place where the chick can rest without the ghost crashing into it and ending the game. Once the chick gets to the hen, the mode enters another "phase" and a larger maze appears. The mazes get larger, the ghosts get faster, and more enemies appear.

The Block Buster game consists of a ball that bounces around in the frame, a bunch of blocks that cover a photo, and a smiley face (the user) that must rebound the ball before it goes off the bottom of the frame. The ball must bounce off the face up to the blocks and uncover the entire photo. This game has easy, normal and hard levels; the ball gets faster and faster in this game, so users must have their thumbs on the ready on the right and left scrolling buttons. The Shooting Game has easy, normal and hard levels too. Shooting Game has its pros and cons. The pros are that the user’s space ship is small and lithe and has unlimited ammo via the Menu/OK button. The cons are that it’s hard to shoot all that ammo while weaving in and out of enemy fire with the navigational controls. The other con is that once users are past all the smaller battleships, the mothership comes out at the end and destroys what’s left of you. There’s no way past that one as far as I can see; it sends out ammo and missiles in every direction.

Perhaps the biggest con is that the games aren’t saved. There are no high scores to gloat about and show off. When the game is over, it’s over. That is true not only for Shooting Game, but for all of the games on the V10. This FinePix digital camera certainly isn’t going to put a dent in the video gaming industry, and most users will probably never use these. But as stated, this little feature is invaluable on a long car trip with young kids or an endless wait in the doctor’s office. They’ll spend hours trying to get past that mothership instead of annoying their mother.

Voice Memo – If users want to save audio with an image, it is possible to do so from the playback menu. Buried in the second tab of the menu, the voice memo option lets users save up to 30 seconds with each picture.