The Fuji Finepix Z35 is a fun camera. It comes in a variety of bright colours and is very easy to use. The Finepix Z35 is a point and shoot digital camera. When it comes to features this is about as basic as a digital camera gets towards the end of 2009, but as well as keeping the camera simple it also helps to keep the price down.

Reading through the Fuji press release that accompanied the launch of the camera they are targeting teenagers and twenty somethings who like to party with this camera.

Standard features include 10 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens. There is a 2.5 inch LCD screen and a standard definition movie mode.

This is a fun camera and it is also very easy to use.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
As long as you do not get over adventurous with print sizes the Finepix Z35 can take an o.k. snapshot. There are a few issues with this camera and some of them can be seen in my first test shot. To start with darkness is inclined to creep into the corners of the photos. Next up the sky can take on a grainy look. This can be kept in check by smaller print sizes.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
Sharpness is not up to that produced by most digital cameras. On top of that areas of this photo are quite dark and lacking in detail.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
This is another shot were areas are darker than I would like to see. Again there is a grainy look to the sky and darkness creeps into the corners of the photo.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
The Finepix Z35 rounds of my outdoor scenic shot with another photo that is on the dark side. Detail levels are similar to my previous test shots.

Outdoor Portrait
All of my portrait shots are better than the more distant scenic shots. In this example the face lacks a bit of colour, but otherwise there are no problems.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
A lot of digital cameras find it difficult to produce enough light to penetrate the darker areas of the hair. That is what happens here. There burst of light illuminates the face, but it appears to be concentrated in that area rather than being evenly spread.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
This is not a bad effort. There is some noise showing in the shot, but the Finepix Z35 does a reasonable job in the conditions.

Colours
The colours work well enough for me. I have more of a problem with the darkness of some of the photos.

Macro
My macro shot is the surprise photo of the group. It is of quite a high quality, so if you like the idea of the occasional close up then the Finepix Z35 should be able to cope.

Overall
If you are looking for a camera based purely on picture quality it is best to look elsewhere. The emphasis for this camera is on fun and simplicity and picture quality is likely to be of less relevance than if you were shopping for a more advanced camera.

Shutter lag times were surprisingly good. A single shot was timed at 0.26 seconds and five photos took 6.72 seconds. With flash on times were 0.3 seconds for a single photo and 10 seconds for five photos.

The camera was also fast to turn on and take the first photo at 2.36 seconds.

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

The front of the camera has a sliding lens cover and a slightly sculpted look. Fuji has also rounded off the corners.

89 x 57.9 x 23.9mm

115g

Lithium ion (NP-45A).

Fuji has built 18mb of data into the camera. This is enough for roughly 8 photos. The camera is also compatible with SD and SDHC memory cards.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Excellent. I had no problems at all operating this camera.

Ease of use -shutter lag times

Dark LCD screen - picture quality

The Finepix Z35 really stands alone when it comes to size, shape and design, so I am scratching my head to come up with an alternative. You may wish to take a look at the Olympus FE-5020. It doesn't have the same style and design as the Finepix Z35, but it is small and relatively cheap.

As you would expect picture quality is not great, but this camera just about gets away with it. My guess is that picture quality is unlikely to be the main driver for anyone buying this camera. As a fun camera there are not too many alternatives, especially at this price. The Fuji Finepix Z35 fills a gap in the market and does it reasonably well.

Front View

Back View

Top View

Sample Menu

Description:	10 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom
Ease of Use:	10
Features:	7
Colour:	8
Macro:	9
Indoors:	8
Value for Money:	8
Style:	9
Movie Mode:	8
Image Quality:	7
Build Quality:	8
Total:	82
Verdict:	This is a simple fun camera. It is aimed at younger people who like to party. The price tag is low and the design is bright and colourful. Picture is not great, but then again this camera is aimed at people looking for fun snapshots rather than technically top draw photography.
Review Date:	November 2009
Related Pages:	Fuji Finepix Z35 Specification Fuji Finepix Z35 Sample Images Fuji Finepix Z35 Features

	GBP 79
	GBP 79.99
	GBP 90.27
	GBP 103.4
Click a flag for prices from other countries:

Camera	Rating
Panasonic DMC FP1	86
Panasonic DMC FP3	86
Canon IXUS 105	86
Canon IXUS 210	86
Sony DSC TX7	86
Panasonic DMC FX60	86
Canon IXUS 120 IS	86
Sony DSC TX1	86

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 Z35