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August 14, 2006
[ FUJIFILM FINEPIX A500 digital camera ]
Price: $230
Recommended
The low-down: The Fujifilm Finepix A500 is a 5 megapixel camera with a 38–114mm zoom (film equivalent). The A500 uses Fujifilm’s unique Super CCD sensor.
While the RRP of the camera is $230 the realistic street price is around $200. To that the customer must add the cost of rechargeable batteries and charger and an XD memory card, which means the bill will be more like $300.
For that price you get a camera with excellent resolution and colour with good auto focus and white balance. In other words a capable photographic tool. You also get a good optical viewfinder and a fairly well made camera.
Cost-cutting is most obvious in the small LCD screen (approx 45mm) and the occasionally crude feel to controls, particularly the operation of the zoom button and the plastic metal-look body.
While there are manual over rides for some of the camera functions this is really a point-and-shoot camera for a person who takes the occasional picture. Its special virtue is its ability to produce very good photos on those occasions when it is used.
Like this: The Fujifilm Super CCD does live up to its claims to produce detailed, naturally coloured images. This particular 5.1 megapixel sensor offers a lot for the money.
Dislike that: Any quibbles about the A500 have to read against the background of the price. And this camera is a lesson in what money buys in digital cameras. The fundamentals of the camera are good and it can take excellent photos but the difference between an entry camera and a more expensive one from the same company is always the difference between rough and smooth and quick and slow. More money buys a smoother, quieter zoom with a nicer feel to the controls and faster responses.
Parting shot: The Fujifilm Finepix A500 is excellent value for money. It will produce prints to A4 size with plenty of detail and fidelity. The Fujifilm Finepix A400 is a 4 megapixel alternative that is so similar to the A500 that they share the one instruction manual.
Posted by terry at August 14, 2006 12:30 AM
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Comments
Nice comprehensive summary on the Finepix A500
Posted by: Zoe Hellar at October 10, 2008 11:54 AM
Hello Terry,
I enjoy your articles in the Green Guide, keep up the good work. I have a couple of issues to raise and would be grateful for your comments. I will also try to be brief.
I recently attended a native plant seminar and one of the workshops dealt with digital photography. The leader was a natural history photographer but as the session was only for 45 minutes, he was not able ro cover a lot of territory. However, almost the first thing he said echoed your pleas, "get out of automatic functions and try aperture priority - it puts you in control over things such as depth of field". I made the point that my camera, an Olympus SP-500 UZ, was limited to an aperture of f8, and I thought that he then said something like "f8 in a digital camera is not the same as f8 in a film camera; it could be as much as f22 equivalent". This was news to me and it seems that my education is lacking. Could you please suggest a couple of books that might deal with digital photographic fundamentals so I can catch up.
It also got me thinking. I suspect that many users of digital cameras have not come to photography via the traditional film camera route so that statements such as " equivalent to 38 to 380 mm on a 35 mm camera" might not mean too much. Could you perhaps look at running a series of articles in the Green Guide (even irregularly) on some of the photographic basics especially comparison between film and digital and how they differ. For example I am unsure how the lens in my camera can serve all the functions of wide angle, normal, telephoto and super macro and still take excellent photos. I am also puzzled about the new 4:3 format. What are its pros and cons and how will it affect printing of conventional 6 by 4, 8 by 10 etc photos. There are probably plenty of others but would welcome your thoughts.
The second issue for me at the moment is my difficulty in taking satisfactorilly sharp pictures on my camera in aperture priority mode. The other day I took about 50 pictures around my garden of plants and flowers that I had previously photographed in auto mode, generally in super macro. It was a lightly overcast day and I adjusted the aperture to ensure exposure times no slower than 1/30 of a second. Camera was hand held, as it had been when I took photos in auto. These pictures were distinguished by the fact that nearly every one was not sharp, despite my best endeavours with spot metering and trying to ensure that the flower was in focus when viewed through the viewfinder. It was noticeable that I had a lot more problems with trying to ensure the focus was right in AP as compared with auto, almost as if auto used a "different system" to focus. If you can give me an email address, I can send a few examples of pictures (low res) from both exercises as attachments. At the moment I conclude that my camera can take perfectly good super macro pictures in auto mode, better than when I try to impose my will on it. Any suggestions?
Many thanks
Tony
Posted by: Tony Cavanagh at November 11, 2008 11:22 AM