Fuji have over a decade of expertise under their belts and the Fuji ‘A’ series has, so far, been quite impressive with the range being aimed at the beginner, but the later models being furnished with a higher specification so that the professionals out there can make good use of them too. The Fuji A700 is the latest in the aforementioned series and has a generous 7 mega pixels so some fine results can be achieved. This is also the most minimalist of the range with very little manual controls to avoid confusion with the beginner. Design |
The Fuji A700 feels very solid and robust in your palm, but it still has a great air of sophistication and elegance with the trendy silver finish and minimalist appearance. The lens is centralised on the front with the flash at the top to the right, there is a self-timer light just below the lens and above it is the microphone holes in a pretty flower pattern. On the left side (right as you hold it) there is a silver grip panel that slightly protrudes from the body and all around the front edge is a sleek chrome border (be careful of scratches). On top is just the power button and shutter release. The rear is very minimal too, with the 2.4” LCD screen dominating the space. Next to the LCD at the top is the zoom and directional buttons in one panel and below is 3 shortcut buttons, playback, menu/OK, delete/back and that is it. Fuji has gone for such minimal controls to avoid confusion for the amateur/beginner. The weight is approximately 139g unloaded and with dimensions of 93mm (w) x 60mm (h) x 30.1mm (d) it is not the smallest of digicams around but is still pocket sized.
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| Features |
| The Fuji Finepix A700 boasts a generous 7.3 mega pixel CCD sensor which is plenty to produce your usual 6x4” snaps and with extra resolution you will be able to enjoy and create larger prints up to poster size. There is a 3x optical zoom and a 2.4” LCD screen to enable easy viewing and playback. The screen has a special anti-glare coating which improves viewing in bright, direct light. We took the A700 out to use in a park and even with the low, midday winter sun on the screen we were still able to view the images pretty clearly thanks to the special coating on the screen. There is an automatic ISO setting which can be accessed through the on-screen menu and you can raise the setting up to ISO 400 which highest we’d recommend for low digital noise. There are only 4 scene modes available on this model and Fuji has chosen the most popular being, Portrait, Landscape, Sport and Night and compared to other digicams having around 25 scene modes we thought this was a bit poor. However, like the other ‘A’ series models, Fuji is aiming this range at the beginner, so multiple modes may only confuse the situation. |
| Performance |
| Although it is quite a solid and sturdy camera to hold it does have its drawbacks in the way that the zoom rocker located at the top on the rear is very stiff and difficult to use with the menu buttons below and one handed shooting is definitely a no-no. The majority of digital cameras include Image Stabilisation but has been disappointingly missed off this camera and the features list is not too impressive. The start-up to shoot time was quite good at 2.7secs and only 3.1secs between shots, so not too bad in this area with the shutter release lag time being only 0.7 between shots too. There is only 12mb of internal memory and that only allowed us to get about 7 or 8 images at the highest res so you will definitely need a bigger memory card. Images produced were of quite a high standard and we did struggle to find anything major wrong with them with colours being bright and accurate. |
| What's In The Box? |
| USB (mini B) Cable, Video Cable, Hand Strap, 2 AA Alkaline Batteries (LR6) (2), CD-ROM Software for FinePix BX (FinePixViewer), Owner's Manual |
| Overall Opinion |
| The Fuji Finepix A700 is a good digital camera for the family to use and for those new to digital, however there are some flaws and we would recommend a camera such as the Olympus FE 190 instead which is easier to use and better value for money. |
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| By Hayley Malyon |