Overview
The Fuji Finepix J150w is a 10 megapixel digital camera with a 5x wide angle zoom lens. This is a budget digital camera and is one of the lowest price models with a wide angle lens.
Why Buy The Fuji Finepix J150w
The Finepix J150w scores well for ease of use and as mentioned above it is one of the cheaper digital cameras to come with a wide angle lens. The 3 inch LCD screen is also larger than standard for a camera in this price range.
Main Features
Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:
10
5x
3 inches
92 x 57.9 x 22.6mm
146g
Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:
5cm
No
No
Lithium-ion Rechargeable
SD/SDHC
Image Quality - See Sample Images Below
Outdoor Scenic Shots in Good Light
As the Finepix J150w comes with a low price tag we should not expect too many photographic masterpieces from it. There are problems and issues with the photo quality as I will describe below. On the whole these picture quality issues will not greatly affect you if you are looking to make small 6 x 4 inch prints. If you go much larger you are likely to experience at least some of the problems I encountered.
When compared to other digital cameras in the same price bracket my first test shot is no better than average. Sun glare has caused big problems and this suggests scenes with either light areas or dark areas may not show up much detail at all. The light striking the boats has also caused a number of the blue lines on the boats to take on a purple tinge.
Definition is lacking in some areas of this photo. Some of the trees appear more as blobs without a great deal of detail at all. There are also patches on water where it is quite hard to make out much detail.
My result here is similar to my other test shots. Towards the edges of the photo focusing becomes very soft. On top of this there is also some purple fringing showing in the photo. At the levels it is showing it is unlikely to be much of a problem with smaller prints.
Looking at the brickwork it is not as sharp as some other budget digital cameras have produced. As with my other outdoor scenic tests there is an overall softness to the photos.
Portraits
Even in this picture the definition levels are not great. This is because there is quite a lot of noise showing in the photo.
In this effort the Finepix J150w blasts the light from the flash out. This washes colour from the shot. More sophisticated cameras tend to do a better job when it comes to dampening the amount of light from the flash.
Focusing in this shot is better than with a number of much more expensive digital cameras I tested at the same time. The picture is let down by the amount of noise showing. This affects the overall quality of the photo.
Macro, Colours and Noise
This is a reasonable effort from a budget camera. I would also expect the Finepix J150w to produce a better macro shot when natural lighting is used.
The colours produced by the Finepix J150w are strong. This is especially true for blues. Colour preference is a matter of personal taste though and you may like the extra vividness the colours bring to the photos.
Based on my indoor portrait without flash it is no surprise to find noise at ISO 400. By the time ISO has been increased to ISO 1600 most of the picture quality has disappeared.
Summary
Obviously I have been quite critical of the Finepix J150w. It is unfair to expect too much of cameras in this price range, but I think there are other cameras available at a similar price that offer better picture quality.
Style
The Finepix J150w looks very much like a standard rectangular digital camera. It is small enough to fit into most pockets. The build quality feels so much better than many cameras in this price bracket.
Shutter Lag Times
Single Shot
Five Shots
Single Shot With Flash
Five Shots With Flash
Turn on Time
0.39 seconds
13.82 seconds
0.58 seconds
15.3 seconds
3.97 seconds
Ease of Use
With not too many features to get to grips with there should not be any major concerns with ease of use. This is a simple point and shoot camera.
Points I Like
Large LCD Screen - Easy to use - Build quality for price
Where it Could Improve
Picture quality
Verdict
The Fuji Finepix J150w is o.k. if you are looking to make small snapshot prints or to play back your photos on a television screen or computer. If you are looking to make larger prints then you are likely to come across some issues with picture quality. This camera does have some pleasing features when compared to other similar models such as the larger 3 inch LCD screen.
Product Shots
Front View
Back View
Top View
Sample Menus
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Related Pages
Fuji Finepix J150w Review Fuji Finepix J150w Specification Fuji Finepix J150w Sample Images Fuji Finepix J150w Features
Review Date
November 2008
