The Fuji Finepix A610 offers one worthwhile upgrade on earlier digital cameras in the Fuji A range. Although these cameras were already very easy to use further improvements have been made to the menus of the Finepix A610. Help text has been added. This makes this camera the easiest digital camera to use out of all the current models.

Obviously ease of use is the camera's strength and I expect it to appeal to anyone who is looking for a simple to use camera with a relatively low price tag. It has six megapixels and a three times zoom lens.

Picture quality from the Finepix A610 is roughly in line with other entry level models. The same problems arise such as the camera finds it difficult to focus well when the light gets low.

Running through my outdoor test photos the results are about average. Sharpness levels are good without being exceptional. There is a small fall off in sharpness as you move towards the edges of the photos. Lighter areas of the photos are handled fairly well, but there is a loss of detail where the sun falls on the body of the boats in the first outdoor shot. Another point to note is that some of the blue lines on the boats have a purple tinge to them.

With the lens zoomed out as in the second test shot focusing holds up quite well. There is a very small amount of purple fringing added around the edges of the windows of the boat on the left hand side of the photo as well.

Next is the test with the lens fully zoomed in. Once again the Finepix A610 produces a photo in line with expectations. It is certainly better than some competing cameras.

Aside from the issue of blue lines having a tinge of purple added colours are impressive. I especially like the skies in the outdoor shots. In general the colours have a warm feel to them in my opinion. The dedicated test for colours confirms my views.

I find the outside portrait a bit dull. There is little warmth in the shot and it makes the photo seem flat.

Indoors in lower light for the portrait shot the Finepix A610 starts to find it harder to focus. This shot is certainly pretty soft and I would like to have seen a sharper attempt.

In very low light (my test photo of beer bottles) the camera is unable to focus. Like many entry level models it does not have an auto focus illuminator. This is a small beam of light emitted by the camera on to the subject. This beam lights up the subject and helps the camera to focus. Its omission makes it very hard to achieve sharp focus as the light gets low.

The macro shot is good. I had no problem achieving a sharp and clear image. You do need to take into account though that the Finepix A610 can only focus from 10cm away from the subject. This stops you getting in as close as you can with most other digital cameras.

The photo I took to test higher ISO worked well. At ISO 400 this camera holds up better than most of its rivals. Although the photo is not perfect there is less deterioration in quality than you find with most digital cameras.

Taking single photos with the Finepix A610 is pretty speedy. I managed to take a single shot in 0.24 seconds and one with flash in 0.33 seconds. I did find a problem though when I wanted to take more than one shot. Five shots took 19.76 seconds and five shots with flash took 23.04 seconds.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length of 39 -117mm in 35mm format. The lens aperture works in the range F3.0 - F8. A 6.2 digital zoom is also available.

There is no viewfinder available, so shots are composed via the 2.5 inch LCD screen. This is made up of around 115,000 pixels.

The built in flash unit works up to 3.5m. This falls to 1.9m when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes are: Auto, Red-eye Reduction, ForcedFlash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro.

A small number of scene modes are available (Baby mode, Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, Sunset, Underwater, Flower, Party, Museum, Text). By selecting a scene mode the camera recognises the type of photo you are about to take and changes its settings accordingly.

There are a small number of other features worth getting to know. There is a self timer with a two or ten second delay. You may also find the 3:2 mode useful. This lets you take photos that do not need to be trimmed for 6 x 4" prints.

As you get to know the camera and the effects it controls have you may wish to experiment with white balance (Automatic scene recognition Preset (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light( Warm White) Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light )), ISO (AUTO 100/200/400) and exposure compensation (+/- 2 in 0.3 steps). Shutter speeds are controlled by the camera. These work in the range 4 sec. to 1/1500 seconds.

As usual you will find cables and software in the box to connect the Finepix A610 to a computer, compatible printer and a television set.

When shooting movies the maximum resolution is 320 x 240 with a top speed of 30 frames per second. You can zoom in and out before a movie starts, but not while shooting is in progress.

As I have already mentioned ease of use is a major selling point. There are few buttons and the menu system is easy to use.

You can pick up the Fuji Finepix A610 for around £99. Other similar cameras you may wish to compare with are the Sony DSC S650 (£100), Kodak Easyshare C653 (£85) and Panasonic DMC LS60 (£90).

The build quality of the camera appears to be good. It has a solid feel in the hand, more so than many of the less expensive cameras. With dimensions of 97.5 x 61.9 x 31mm you can get a good grip of the camera when you are taking a photo. It weighs 145g.

I also like the way the camera is laid out with plenty of room to rest your thumb on the back of the camera. This helps you to hold the camera steady.

Two AA batteries are used for power. Fuji do not supply any battery life estimates.

Fuji have come up with a good idea for memory cards. You can choose between xD cards and the more popular SD cards. There is also 10mb of storage built into the camera. I was able to take only six photos before the card was full. Therefore you will need to pick up a memory card before you can really start to use the Finepix A610.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Ease of use
Solid design

Slow to take more than one photo
Lowlight photos

The Fuji Finepix A610 is a typical entry level camera. I was quite impressed with the outdoor shots in good light, but lower light is a lot harder for the camera. The upside is that it is so easy to use and I also think it has a good solid feel.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menus

Description:	6 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens
Ease of Use:	10
Features:	7
Colour:	8
Macro:	8
Indoors:	6
Value for Money:	8
Style:	7
Movie Mode:	6
Image Quality:	7
Build Quality:	8
Total:	75
Verdict:	The big selling point of the Fuji Finepix A610 is its ease of use. In fact you will find it hard to find a digital camera that is easier to use. Taking its price tag into account it also has a solid design and build quality.
Review Date:	April 2007
Click for:	Sample Images

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Panasonic DMC LS75	79
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Panasonic DMC LS80	79
Sony DSC S730	77
Sony DSC S650	74
Sony DSC S500	72

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Fuji Finepix A610