Overview
The Fuji Finepix F450 is a five megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens. It is relatively small and slim and is the right size to slip into a pocket. Its strength is the outdoor shots that it takes and you will find it copes well with various social photography opportunities (family album shots, social gatherings and holiday pictures etc.).
It has a fairly standard set of features and is easy to use. Therefore the Finepix F450 is most likely to appeal to someone looking for a digital camera that is straightforward, can be taken anywhere and has a touch of style as well.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
5
3x
2 inches
74.5 X 62.3 X 21.3mm
150g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
9cm
No
No
Lithium-ion Rechargeable
xD Picture
Image Quality
In my view the Finepix F450 performs much better outdoors rather than indoors. Although this is a common feature with digital cameras it is more pronounced in this case than normal. The outdoor pictures come out well in fact. Detail is retained even in the darker areas of each shot. The colours are reproduced to a high standard and the colour test itself produced a very pleasing result.
The indoor portrait is in line with most of the digital cameras I have tested. There is a slight loss of detail in the darker areas of the hair and a touch of red eye also creeps into the shot. These are fairly standard problems with digital cameras.
The camera did struggle in very poor light and produced shots that I would describe as below average. In dark conditions the camera has problems focusing and this leads to a lack of clarity in the picture. It is quite possible that you will never use the Finepix F450 in quite such dark conditions, but it is an indication of how the camera will perform indoors in low light.
The macro shot is clear enough but there is a blue colour caste to the picture. This may or may not be important to you as for the majority of people likely to buy this type of camera macro photography is probably not an area of prime importance.
Shutter Lag
Shutter lag is the time it takes to take each picture. A constant criticism of digital cameras is the delay in between clicking the shutter button, the picture being taken and also the camera being ready to take the next picture. With the Fuji Finepix F450 I was able to take five pictures in the space of 18.30 seconds. That works out at a rate of 3.66 seconds per picture. I am not claiming that this is the most scientific tests, but it should give you an indication of the recycling speed of the camera. At the time of writing this is a new test I have added for my reviews. Early indications are that this is a slower than average speed. My test is carried out indoors under standard conditions and it is possible that you would see better results outside.
Features
To get started you can turn the camera on and start by taking pictures in automatic mode. This is where the camera makes all the key decisions for you relating to the exposure. All you need to do is point the camera and shoot. There are times when you can help the camera to take the best possible shots in different conditions. To do this there are a number of scene modes available with the Finepix F450. These are for Portrait, Landscape, Sports and Night Scene shots.
When you are composing a shot you can choose between the optical viewfinder or you can use the 2" LCD screen. The screen on this camera is a good size, larger than average.
For taking pictures in poor light there is a built in flash unit with a maximum range of 3.6m. The range decreases when the zoom lens is in use. The flash modes available to you are Automatic - where the camera decides if the flash is need or not, Red-eye Reduction, Always on, Always off, Slow Synchro and Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro. Slow synchro is normally used for night shots where you would like the background illuminated as well as the subject.
To help take good close up shots there is a dedicated macro mode that allows you to focus from 9cms away. As well as the 3x optical zoom lens there is also a 3.6x digital zoom feature. If you would like to appear in a picture there is a self timer with a ten second delay. You can also add up to thirty second of voice memo to a picture after you have taken it. This can help you to preserve the memory. Additional features include a function to take pictures in black and white or with a chrome effect.
You can shoot movies with the Finepix F450 as well. To be honest the movies are a bit limited with a maximum resolution of 320x240 and at a rate of ten frames per second. The maximum length of a movie is one minute at this resolution or you can choose three minutes duration at a lower resolution of 160x120.
More advanced features give you access to ISO equivalents between 80 and 400. Exposure compensation is also available as are white balance settings of Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light(Warm White), Fluorescent light (Cool White) and Incandescent light.
All the necessary cables and software are supplied by Fuji to connect the Finepix F450 to a television set and a computer.
Ease of Use
One of the most positive points about the Finepix F450 is it is very easy to use. On the back of the camera you will find a set of simple controls for flash, zoom, macro and camera mode, plus buttons to access the menu system and main camera functions. Everything is well laid out. The menu system itself is typical of Fuji digital cameras and is one of the easiest you will find.
Cost
You can pick up a Finepix F450 for around £230. That is a similar price to the Canon IXUS 40, a slim and stylish, four megapixel digital camera. It is also around £60 more expensive then the Fuji Finepix F440, a very similar model to this one, but with only four megapixels.
Style
The Finepix F450 is a small, slim digital camera that will fit easily into your pocket. It has a squarer shape than many digital cameras and has dimensions of 74.5 X 62.3 X 21.3mm. It weighs in at 150g. Very small digital cameras can be difficult to get a proper hold of when you are taking a shot. In this case, perhaps because of the shape I didn't encounter any problems and it fits the hand well.
Batteries and Memory Cards
Power is supplied to the Finepix F450 by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Fuji supply one with the camera together with a charger. Buying a spare lithium ion battery is an option, but it will increase the cost, so make sure the battery is fully charged before you set off to take some important shots.
xD Picture cards are used to store images. Fuji supplies a 16mb as part of the package. That is a very low capacity card for a five megapixel camera and I would recommend that you consider buying a high capacity card to go with your camera. Click here to compare xD card prices
Points I like:
Well designed
Good build quality
The price is right
Good outdoor photos
Where it is not so hot:
Macro shots have a blue caste
Below average speed in capturing shots
Indoor shots only average
Summary
The Fuji Finepix F450 may not be the ultimate digital camera and there are areas where I feel it could be improved, but overall I liked the camera. If there was one area I would select for improvement it would be for the shutter delay times to be reduced. The areas that impressed me were the design and ease of use. When comparing the price against other models such as the Canon IXUS 40 I would say that the Finepix F450 offers good value for money.
Fuji Finepix F450 Front View
Fuji Finepix F450 Back View
Sample Menus
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