Fujifilm FinePix A200 2MP Digital Camera

by Fuji

Product Details

Product Manual [3.21mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 1.6 x 3.9 x 2.5 inches ; 4.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006IW1A
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,804 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 14, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Designed for people who like to push one button and let the camera figure out everything else, the A200 is a fully automatic, 2-megapixel digital camera that also features a movie mode for capturing short videos and PC camera capability. It's also one of the first digital cameras to utilize the tiny XD memory card.

Featuring a CCD sensor with 2 million effective pixels, the FinePix A200 delivers a wide range of detail and color (with images up to 1,600 x 1,200 pixels) and prints up to 8 by 10 inches. Like many other entry-level digital models, the Fuji keeps the price low by using a focus-free lens with no optical zoom. A 2.5x digital zoom does bring your shooting subject closer like an optical zoom, but at the expense of image detail. The lens also has a macro setting (for shooting extreme close-ups).

For photographers who want more control over their photos, there are several options: the flash has five modes, the white balance can be adjusted to optimize colors under various lighting conditions, and exposure compensation can be set to lighten or darken your shots.

In addition to taking still photos, the A200 can also record silent movie clips of up to 20 seconds. What's more, the camera can be connected directly to your computer's USB port for use as a Webcam.

The camera is powered by two AA batteries (alkalines are provided), but we recommend that you buy a set of rechargeable batteries, as they last longer on a single charge and quickly pay for themselves. Images are stored on XD memory cards, and a 16 MB card is included, which stores approximately 25 images at fine mode and 39 images at normal mode.

This package includes the FinePix A200 digital camera, 16 MB XD memory card, two AA alkaline batteries, USB cable, hand strap, and CD-ROM with software and USB drivers for Windows and Mac.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Snapshot Camera, November 15, 2002

By 

Eric Haglund (Chippewa Falls, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fujifilm FinePix A200 2MP Digital Camera (Electronics)

Overall, I think this camera is great for a beginner or someone who wants a knock around snapshooter for a very reasonable price.
It handles certains photography aspects surprisingly well. It uses the XD picture storage card which is a new technology shared with Olympus. These cards are tiny and I mean tiny. They're almost *too* small.

Pros

- Surprisingly good pics for such a small lens.
- Excellent metering. Most images show very well formed histograms.
- Very fast start up times.
- Shutter lag not an issue.
- Great LCD for this price range, nice and bright and good detail.
- Ability to change exposure EV +/-
- Ability to select different white balances
- Surprisingly good macro shots as long as you stay at 4"
- Flash auto meters very well for macros
- Extremely simply menus
- Built-in Lens protector

Cons

- while the pictures are good, they do exhibit some noise.
- it is very small, but won't quite fit in your jean's pocket without activating the power switch.
- this camera is fixed focus. That means it's focus is preset to infinity and it stays there. This means that subjects closer than a few feet will not be very sharp. It also means the camera relies on a vast depth of field to achieve picture sharpness. Therefore, the largest aperature you get is 4.6 and that means...
1. This camera requires good lighting.
2. It is not a very good indoor camera as the flash is not particularly powerful.
3. Again because of the largest aperature being 4.6, indoor movies will suffer unless it is very bright in the room.

- No sound with the movies.
- Since it is a small camera, it uses only 2 AA batteries which means battery life isn't fantastic. But that's the tradeoff with a very small camera.

Overall, if you know what to expect and are aware of the limitations, I believe you will be pleased considering the price. The trade off here is indoor and low light performance, it just isn't there but given good lighting, the pictures are very good. With a 2mp camera, you can create decent 8 x 10 pictures and excellent 5 x 7's as well as excellent 4 x 6's.

For the price- great camera.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to use and small enough to go anywhere, December 2, 2002

By 

S. Gould "gouldpjaks" (Woodmere, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fujifilm FinePix A200 2MP Digital Camera (Electronics)

I bought this camera for my 17 year old son for chanukah. He wanted to take pictures with his friends wherever he went. The camera looked small and seemed to be well designed. It is! This camera hardly weighs anything and can fit anywhere. The controls are easy to use and the instructions are not difficult to follow. When I used the camera the screen seemed a bit dark (in a poorly lit area) but the images were excellent. The USB cable allows him to download and share with friends quickly. The lens is covered when the camera is off which is important for a teenager who takes the camera with him often. I'm also amazed by the new xd card. It is incredibly small but holds a lot of images. I recommend purchasing atleast one extra xd card and carrying extra AA batteries. So far I'm really impressed and my son is very happy with his gift.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Camera, December 28, 2002

By 

Nathan Young (The Mountains of Northern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fujifilm FinePix A200 2MP Digital Camera (Electronics)

I got this camera for a Christmas present, so I haven't had it long enough to comment on how durable it is, though it seems sturdy enough. All the parts have a nice feel, and it's light but not too light.

I went through my first set of batteries after taking more than 100 shots, many in low light with the flash.

The flash is fine for illuminating your subject but the rest of the room may remain dark, especially if the wall is far away and the room is not bright to begin with. Low light shots without the flash tend to have a reddish tinge and you have to be careful to hold the camera steady. I've been able to hold it steady by hand, having about half the shots I take that way work, and the other half come out blurry.

The controls are easy to use and intuitive. I figured almost everything out just by fooling with the camera, though I had to consult the manual for flash modes. I wish I could turn of the "are you sure you want to do this" messages for some of the functions to let me do things like lock a frame with one button push instead of two. A very minor complaint.

Colors in normal light conditions are good, and the camera does avoid the washed out or metallic looking highlights I've seen in other digital cameras. Also blessedly absent is the pause between pressing the button and getting an exposure that a friend's camera has. With this camera, you press the button and that's the image you get, not an image from a second later.

I still have just the 16MB card the camera came with, which holds 24 of the highest quality photos. That's more than it sounds, because you can throw away shots you don't like. For me this means 24 shots is equal to about 3 or 4 rolls of film, so I'm in heaven. I'm experimenting with shots that I'd never try with a film camera and having a ton of fun. When I go on a road trip I'll spring for a bigger memory card.

My main annoyance is that after you take a picture with the flash the LCD goes blank for a couple seconds. I'm also miffed that the digital zoom doesn't work in highest quality mode (you can only zoom if your picture is being taken in a lower quality mode). This makes sense, I just wish the product description had mentioned it.