Fuji FinePix AV200 had been launched along with three other series in the Easy Share compact camera category. The FinePix AV200 brightens up in many colours and is in the affordable price margin. The camera can be kept inside the pocket or purse and is useful for traveling and home based occasions.

Overview

Fujifilm FinePix AV200 Digital Camera silently delivers the best in class scene modes. The in-built scene modes are seen in several cameras and it also has scene modes which are not available in any other camera, especially the SR six scene modes automatically alters the settings to adapt to the subject. The Photo Book assist is a good addition to chronologically arrange the pictures. Even more, the camera has a fantastic image search formula which is broadly classified based on the type, media and many more. Finally the easy share enables the camera to be connected to the social networking sites with a few clicks away.

Design

FinePix AV200 Digital Camera has the dazzling looks. The front, rear and the overall structure makes it easy to be carried around anywhere. The upper part consist of essential buttons such as the power button, shutter button, flash and self timer.

The front part consists of the lens and the lens cover and tiny blink indicating the microphone location. On pressing the power button, the lens cover opens and projects the lens forward. The shutter button can be pressed and is located right next to the power button. Chances of accidental press are averted because the shutter button has a rounded and more solid feel and the power button lies an inch beneath the cavity. The auto power off can be selected from up to 2 minutes, so that during inactive phase, the camera turns off automatically.

The flash sits beneath the power button. Amazingly the flash is categorised as suppressed flash, forced flash, auto flash and slow synchro. Suppressed flash refers to the condition wherein it recommends usage of tripod under very poorly lit condition. The slow synchro flash feature captures the subject and the surrounding even under poor light conditions.

However the condition of overexposure is inevitable. The auto flash is highly beneficial for amateurs as it is known as intelligent flash and handles the scene perfectly. The flash output and the level of sensitivity are evenly balanced. It ensures that the subject is appropriately exposed. We liked the flash symbol’s yellow blinking indication as it notifies that flash is being charged. Besides this, there are no buttons arranged on the front floor and gives enough room to hold the camera over that region.

The downside of consists of Fuji FinePix AV200 the battery chamber, memory card slot, tripod mount and the speaker. The battery chamber and the memory card compartment lies next to each other. The area enclosing the battery is slightly bulged, thereby giving some hand rest while taking pictures.

The rear part is occupied by the 2.7 inch LCD monitor. The area encompassing other navigation and zoom control gains a closely packed look, but it is not cumbersome to be handled. The zoom in and zoom out selector is religiously designed as a bar which can be pressed at the sides to get the respective function.

The alphabet inscribed as T indicates zoom in whereas the W indicates zoom out. The zoom function can be deactivated only by pressing the display/ back button. For aesthetic reasons, two rows of white dots are placed. The playback and the display button are located above the navigational wheel. The display button also acts as the reverse button.

The four way button consists of the four controls indicating the functions such as macro, exposure compensation, self timer and the flash. Menu can be accessed using the central button which also acts as the ok button. The exposure compensation is integrated with the delete operation.

Features

Scene Modes

Fujifilm FinePix AV200 Camera has good range of scene modes; especially the six scene SR auto recognition mode is user-friendly. Most of the typical complicated situations are handled by the camera by applying the scene modes appropriately. Modes such as portrait, night portrait, backlit portrait, night and landscape can be used for any occasion. Besides this there are several point and shoot modes. The different and notable ones are natural light and with flash, program AE and the text mode.

The natural light and with flash mode allows the user to capture two shoots, one with flash assisted and the other without it. Deciding on the print quality, one can decide on the better one. The Program AE modes are usually seated in the mode dial. As FinePix AV200 is point and shoot camera, one need to pick it from the scene modes. However in the AE mode, aperture and the shutter speed are the two main exposure settings. When the program AE mode is activated, the focus and the white balance ought to be taken care of. The text mode can be used to capture posters, notices or drawings.

The most notable one is the panorama scene modes. One can take up to three pictures and collage to become in one frame. The pictures are technically stitch together by adopting a procedure. The frames are overlapped by super imposing, and the camera releases the shutter automatically. Panorama mode cannot be completely applied for any shooting setting. A few typical setting such as the moving objects, waterfalls, and contrast brightness shoots cannot be overlapped. Pictures taken can be printed and preserved and if taken under the proper conditions, it looks good to be put in a frame.

Face detection

The intelligent face detection applies the accurate focus and exposure leaving the backlit environment as it is. The detected face is notified with a green border in the LCD monitor. Under occasions of couple of people in the focus, the camera detects the one which is in the centre and applies the white border notification. The camera can detect up to ten faces. In addition to this, blink detection comes handy in group photos. This is very useful for people who blink at the flash of the camera. Blink detection automatically detects the blink and notifies the user for a re-shoot.

Photo Book Assist

Photo book Assist, an in-built photo archiving approach in the point and shoot camera is appreciable. Numerous folders can be named and respective images can be uploaded. In addition to this, the pictures can be easily retrieved and shared on the web. Each book can hold up to 300 images; the ones which do not contain any image are automatically deleted.

Easy Share

Similar to that of Kodak’s easy share concept, FinePix has evolved to bring the photo sharing in sophisticated mode in the mid range easy to share cameras. The computer needs to be uploaded with the My FinePix studio software. Once the camera is connected, the pictures are automatically transferred to the sites such as the You tube and the Facebook.

In-built image search

The image search is thoroughly amazing in the FinePix AV200. There are numerous and thrilling search options such as by date, by media type, by face, by favourite rank, by scene type and by upload mark. Ranking pictures with star ratings and the favourite ones are assorted neatly.

The pictures are shot in the Scene Recognition mode. It is possible to retrieve by applying the respective scene setting such as the portrait, landscape and many more. The ones which have been tagged can be picked by searching using the upload mark search. The micro thumbnail also host up to 100 pictures for ready play back, however the picture size is shrunk too small.

Video Recording

Movies can be recorded in the 16:9 format, high definition, standard definition and the lowest resolution. Depending on the resolution and clarity, the recording time varies. Recording time also depends on the type of card used. In an 8GB card, the maximum time limit for HD movie is 37 minutes, whereas the same is reduced to 9 minutes in 2GB card.

Battery

The camera supports the AA battery types. Though it is useful for a section of people, the constant battery depletion could deject the user while handling an interesting shoot. The battery performance is below average, a feature which Fujifilm needs to fix in the easy share camera line-ups.

Memory capacity

The storage media includes SD/ SDHC card type.

Performance

Image quality is assured and the picture looks bright and tidy. Thanks to the 14-meag pixel sensor. It is claimed by Fuji film to produce picture quality best even in the A3 print. The zoom level is kept to 3x optical zoom. It is equivalent to the zoom range of 32-96 mm zoom used in a DSLR camera. Needless to say, the performance of Fujinon lens. Chromatic aberration is controlled in the Fujinon lens, which are also of high precision.

For a compact camera, it handles the ISO sensitivity range well. Up to ISO level 3200 is possible, but under low light conditions, the pictures look terrible. At faster shutter speed, one can take wild life photography. The digital image stabiliser betters up the image quality. Automatic camera shake is determined and it increases the shutter speed correspondingly to compensate the blur.

Verdict

There are plenty of easy share cameras in the market and this one contains good range of features. The film quality is appreciable. It is because the camera automatically handles the scene modes. The 14 mega pixel resolution is good. The colour contrast level is decent and delivers good performance even for out door shots. Small tinkering such as forced flash in very low light conditions are good as it prevents over exposure in the pictures taken.

The only down side is the time lag taken to swap between the scene modes. It is not recommended for quick shots. The variety of scene modes can be accessed through the menu and requires patience to pick the appropriate one. The panorama mode is good addition for the compact camera facility, but sometimes it can be confused when there is no leveled horizon.

The menus are intuitive but take some time to get used to it. Battery life is a matter of debate in this camera. Continuous face detection can deplete the battery power and can drain as easily within 2 days. The best aspect is the image search option and instant social network uploading capacity.

The screen sizes available are 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. The amount of frame varies from 778 to 4797; this depends on the screen size and the file size. Overall, FinePix AV200 is a decent performer for the price invested and could deliver timely shots had the battery type has been replaced.

Fuji FinePix AV200 14MP Digital Camera – Technical Specification Table

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