Fujifilm Finepix A170 10.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD

by Fuji

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.7 x 0.9 x 2.4 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002HEWA1E
• Item model number: FinePix A170
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,430 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 21, 2009

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The 10-megapixel Finepix A170 encompasses all the necessary features essential for great pictures. These include the SR Auto Mode (Automatic Scene Recognition), Panoramic Shooting Mode, Face Detection technology and a slim 21.9mm body for quick, convenient, photography on the go.

The A170 features a 3.0x optical zoom lens that was developed specifically for the A-series by Fujinon and large, 2.7-inch, 230k-pixel resolution LCD. It also offers Fujifilm’s Picture Stabilization with ISO levels of up to 1600 that automatically chooses the correct light sensitivity and compatible shutter speed, producing the highest quality digital pictures without blur and noise.

Finepix A170 Highlights

Auto Scene Recognition In SR Auto (Auto Scene Recognition) mode, the A170 intelligently recognizes 6 different scene types and optimizes the camera settings to capture beautiful pictures automatically.

Panorama Mode
Capture panoramic photos easily.* Panorama mode lets you capture consecutive shots and automatically combines them into beautiful panoramic images that are automatically saved.
_{*Use a tripod or monopod for best results. Only the panoramic picture is saved; individual photos are not. Exposure and white balance are set with the first picture and flash is suppressed. Number of recorded pixels is limited to 3 megapixels.}

Picture Stabilization/Anti-blur Mode
Picture Stabilization/Anti-blur Mode automatically corrects for camera shake and subject blur, helping you to capture fleeting moments in crisp stop-action with background detail intact.

Micro Thumbnail View
Up to 100 pictures can be viewed at a time in a 10x10 array of micro thumbnails. Convenient for smooth and easy playback.

AA Battery Powered
Never miss a photo opportunity with the convenience of AA battery power.

What's in the Box
AA type alkaline batteries (×2), Hand Strap, USB cable, FinePix software (CD-ROM),Owner's manual(CD-ROM) User's Guide.

Product Description

Just because these cameras are affordable, this doesn't mean that compromises have been made on functionality or quality. As with other A series models, the cameras are packed full of the technology you need to take a good picture. The 10 megapixel sensor on the A170 produces bright, detailed pictures of extraordinary high resolution and clarity, shooting at up to ISO 1600. So if it's dull and dark, the smiles on your friends and families' faces will still dazzle!

Fantastic Good Looks
Remarkably thin at 21.9 mm, the new A170 is finished with a double coated veneer to give it outstanding good looks.

Panorama Mode
It is often difficult to capture the full beauty of a sweeping landscape or a picture of a large group of people, at a wedding for example. Now in the A170 you can easily create impressive panoramic photos. Panorama Mode captures and combines up to 3 consecutive shots seamlessly, making one large panoramic shot.

Automatic Scene Recognition
To make taking great images as easy as possible, the A170 has Scene Recognition AUTO, which is a first for A-series models. SR AUTO cleverly detects a scene without needing to pre-select the mode on the camera. Fujifilm has developed proprietary technology which intelligently identifies and recognizes 6 different scenes ā?" Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Backlit Portrait, Night and Night Portrait. Once the scene in the frame has been detected, the camera will optimize the settings to capture the most stunning photo of your chosen subject. Portrait Mode works in conjunction with Face Detection technology to get the best possible portraits.

Picture Stabilization Mode
Also featuring Fujifilm's Picture Stabilization Mode, the A-series cameras both allow you to wave goodbye to blurry pictures; this technology will produce pin-sharp pictures, time after time.

Power is Easy
Remembering to charge your batteries need never be a p

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars appreciable little workhorse, October 6, 2009

By 

YSC "ciac" (Mamaroneck, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix A170 10.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

Pros: good build quality, decent lens, quiet zoom motor, uses NiMH AA, small size for AA battery cameras, large screen with decent resolution, fast lens at f2.9, slightly wider than average 32mm lens, many fool-proof features, auto scene selection (very nice for "dummies"), panoramic mode that works well, simple to use, very portable, long battery life.

Cons: battery meter fluctuates in accurate response to the NiMH voltage, and has the unintended effect of making the "dummy" user nervous. Image is highly compressed and shows in smeared up details. ISO higher than 400 are very noisy with flattened colors and details, though higher iso are often selected automatically to prevent blur (which is understandable from an average consumer point of view). Video files are too big for the resolution relative to even the average, can use better compression methods. No orientation sensor. Without face detection only center point AF is available.

Notes: Got this camera for my dad, who can't ever figure out how to operate anything other than the shutter button. The automatic scene selection was the reason why I got this, along with the ability to use rechargeable AA and its small size (smallest among the AA cameras?).

The automatic scene selection works very well. It actively detects lighting, faces, and subject distance (thus uses more battery power as it continuously focuses and meters the scene); it then uses the combination of these information to determine if it's portrait, backlight, macro, landscape, night modes, etc. Scenes are manually selectable too, especially ones that are not auto-detectable (e.g. long shutter requires tripod, and wouldn't be selected automatically since it'll not be fool-proof. ;)). There's a "manual" which lets you configure all the features other than shutter speed and aperture, as well as a regular "auto" mode.

Build quality on the two cameras we got were excellent. It's a budget camera so it was made of a piano-like finish silver plastic with chrome trims. It felt solid in the hand with no squeaks and loose bits, and all buttons were tight and responsive, especially the shutter button. The zoom motor was very smooth and quiet (can't say that about many of the canons), and the LCD screen was big enough and had sufficient resolution and brightness to look satisfactory.

Images, even at the highest resolution and best quality show significant compression artifacts (smeared details and loss of color depth). Higher ISO than 400 shows significant noise. Lens is probably on the soft side though I haven't really done serious comparisons, but nothing extraordinary for this price level. The field resolution is fairly even though, and corner blurriness didn't bleed too much into the image, which is good. Lens is fairly quick at f2.9, impressive for this size camera, and also slightly wide at 32mm equivalent. Video files seems bigger than average: a 640x480 movie can only record for about 30 minutes on a 8gb card; the quality of the videos didn't seem to justify the very large size. Images at lower ISO have decent color reproduction, even at long shutter speeds (tripod night scene mode). The longest shutter time I was able to get out of this thing is 4", but am not sure if it can go longer.

Battery life is excellent: we used it heavily (flash photos, active scene selection, lots of video tests) for quite a bit more than 2 hours (i don't want to say 3 hours but it's close if not more) before the two Eneloops (around 2000mA each) ran out completely. DO get rechargeable low discharge NiMH batteries, as alkalines are not meant for high current draw of digital cameras and will be wasted in a short order. The battery meter fluctuates quite a bit though, as it seems to depend directly on the instant voltage of the battery; e.g. it will dip slightly after a flash photo, but recover over time as the battery chemistry catches up and shows full again in seconds/minutes. It did get my dad a little nervous though; but to me it is better than some other brands who don't even show the battery meter at all until nearly depleted (e.g. canon A series), probably due to the difficulty in tracking the NiMH voltage?

Fuji made a point of making this camera easy to use and fool-proof. The auto scene selection is a testament of that, and I appreciate this feature very much, particularly for elderly or people who aren't tech savvy and don't know when to use fill flash/slow shutter/slow sync, etc. Fuji seems to automatically manage most situations pretty well. While the auto scene mode's hiking up ISOs in low light situations isn't my cup of tea (done at the sacrifice of image quality) it does make sense in that it will at least GET the image (and not some blur). It's thoughtful in trying to satisfy the less knowledgeable users, even at slight sacrifice in absolute quality.

It's a good camera for "dummies"--with its innovative auto scene selection feature, compact size, universally available and long lasting batteries-- if you can tolerate the apparently mediocre image quality. At this price range you probably shouldn't expect much better. Portability, build quality, ease of use, and affordability are all covered very well by this little package. I think it's worth a look if you are in for an economical pocket camera with decent performance and true point-and-shoot ease.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Buy, January 25, 2010

By 

J. Wilson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix A170 10.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

It is cheap, makes good photos, and is easy to use. Wah lah.. perfect gift for a mother in law who is not so savy with new technology and controlling SLR's so to speak. So at the end of the day it was well worth the buy and has held up well!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the non-professional, January 31, 2010

By 

K. Kaderka - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix A170 10.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

Good quality, easy to use, professional photographer rates it great for the non-professional who wants to click and shoot, and get good close up shots.