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Digital Photography Blog reader, 74 year old Bob Dutru from Ontario Canada has submitted this review of the 3.2 Megapixel FujiFilm A303 as part of our tell us about your camera for a chance to win $100US gift voucher promotion (catchy name hey!).
The Fujifilm A303 is a 3.2 megapixel (CCD)camera that weighs just 5.1 ounces and measures 3.8 x 1.3 x2.5 inches. It has a 3x Optical Zoom lens, 1.5inch LCD, takes xD cards and has an in built flash.
Fuji A303 camera (3.2 megapixels)
I’ve had this camera more than a year now and find it great fun, which is what Photography should be.
To give you a little of my background. I’d been a reporter and then become a still photographer on a newspaper and then switched to TV and became a cinematographer. Traveling around the world for various networks I clocked assignments in over 90 countries including making a film for Frank Sinatra.
I’d bought a Pentax Spotamatic in Hongkong, added lenses from Pakistan, bought a fisheye lenses in Tokyo and gradually bult up a massive and very expensive 35mm outfit. The trouble is I hardly ever had time to take any pictures because I was carrying so much film and later video equipment- we normally traveled with about 20 cases of camera and sound equipment-
I finally ended buying myself a cheap $20 half frame 35mm camera and giving it to my drivers or guides and told them to take loads of pictures when I was talking to a world leader or someone important. I got a lot of pictures-far more than with my full size 35mm Pentax but of course a lot of them were out of focus or showed movement because of the people taking them but it sold me on small simple cameras like the Fuji A303.
When digital camera first came out and I’d retired from my constant traveling for television I bought the Fuji A303 and have been carrying it around with me and snapping with it constantly.
It’s quite wonderful for someone like me to be able to stick it in my shirt pocket and take it everywhere.
I use it at new restaurants, or when I go to a store and want to take back a picture of something I’m planning to buy, it helps me remember what people look like and their names (I’m 74 )
Now about the Fuji A303 camera.
My first impression of it was how small and how light it was. I won’t bother to give it’s actual size but it goes in a shirt pocket with lots of room to spare.
There a a few things that I had to get used to, one is the delay that occurs between taking one short and having the flash charge up and be ready for another.
Not really a problem, you learn to live with it and with the Fuji it doesn’t seem to take too long.
Battery life seems excellent, I use Ni HM 's AA cells and carry a couple of spare aa ones in my pocket and I’ve never run out.
The controls are pretty simple to use.
I take all my pictures at the highest digital setting ( 3 M-F (fine) and when I put them on my computer I duplicate them and resize them to 640 x480 for emailing.
That way if I get a really good shot it’s ready to have a large print made without any loss of quality. So far I’ve had printed and printed myself several 11 x 8’s.
Looks pretty good too.
I bought one of those tiny table tripods which is easy to slip into my pocket and is great for putting yourself in a picture with friends using the timer delay.
Layout of the camera is pretty good - One thing that’s bad is the optical viewfinder is back of-or lower on the camera than the digital screen which means it’s quite hard to use if you wear glasses which I do. The screen sticks out and gets in the way of your glasses.
My hands tend to be a little shaky now I'm old so if I have to use the digital screen which I do now most times I made
myself a simple handgrip out of a garden pot hanger (see picture left).
That also slips in my pocket and is wonderful for steadying telephoto shots.
Value for money pretty good- of course the price has dropped since I bought it a year ago. But I sold my old 35mm outfit and that more than paid for the Fuji.
Rating out of 10 - I don’t really know, it suits me but of course I’ve been taking pictures all my life which helps. I'd give it a rating of 7 out of 10.
Here’s a couple of “Happy snaps” (click to enlarge)
Get more Fujifilm A303 Reviews at:
- Steve's Digicams - Fujifilm A303 User Review
- PC World - Fujifilm A303 Review
Posted by Darren in our Fuji category on October 07, 2004