Fujifilm FinePix A350 Digital Camera Review

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.