Customer Reviews

Fujifilm Finepix A500 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is a fantastic camera! I really can't say enough great things about it. I just upgraded my digital camera fortress with a Minolta 5D (SLR) and with this tiny baby. I had an Olympus Stylus 300, 3.2 mp for about 3 years now. The indoor pictures were always grainy and blurred, but outdoor pictures were beautiful. However, I felt that I needed more bang for my buck and began researching for a new digi cam. I came across this Fuji and noticed 1.) 5MP, 2.) Less than $200!!!, and 3.) Xd card compatible (i already had about 512 mb of xd cards for my Olympus camera).

So, I began testing out this new baby and found that: it is very tiny and light, every single picture is bright and crisp, and the LCD screen is big, bright and noticeable even in bright outdoor light!

The LCD screen is one of the best features. I always had trouble viewing pictures in outdoor light with my other camera, so my next camera purchase HAD to have a viewfinder. But I find I don't need the viewfinder option with the camera because the LCD screen is perfect in all lights...that is one of the best features, and for the price, you can't beat it!

I can't recommend this camera enough. But I would highly recommend purchasing rechargable AA batteries. Regular Alkaline AA batteries drain very quickly!

I bought this Finepix A500 as a budget replacement for a digital camera that was recently stolen from me. I think its fair to say that you get quite a bit of camera for the money spent here (you can find this camera at several places on the internet for less than $120 , I bought my for 118.99 brand new with free shipping included), it has a 5 megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom and takes great pictures , in a comparison of picture quality with a friend who has a Nikon that was about 4 times the price of this camera when we took the same pictures in identical situations with same picture settings this camera performed just as well with color and clarity just as vivid. Ok his camera has bells and whistles this one doesn't and more preset picture modes but for the average picture taker this is definitely a winner, great macro shots too and professional-looking clarity and resolution on 8X10 photos as well. The software wasn't quite as elaborate as my other camera's (an HP Photosmart) but I do my general photo editing with either Picasa or the basic Adobe Photoshop (both free downloads on the web) so I can't really see this as a downside either, definitely a satisfied buyer and user here.

I bought the Fujifilm Finepix A500 as a camera to pack in my PC case on business travel. I use it mainly to get candid snapshots in business meetings and conferences. It is small, discrete, and works well for the purpose intended. The 5MP resolution allows me to get quick shots without much care for composition, background clutter, etc. since I use a photo editor to take care of those tasks later-on. When buying this camera note that it does not have a case or much on-board storage. An XD memory card and a case are necessary. I also recommend getting a NiMH battery charger to keep battery replacement costs low.

Overall I am very happy with this camera. I got it last month and have already taken 400+ pictures. Here's what I see as its pros and cons:

Pros:
1. Small and lightwieght (I can fit it into the back pocket of my jeans)
2. Easy to use (I haven't opened the manual once)
3. 5.1 MP (more than you need for an 8 x 10)
4. Price
5. Battery Life (runs on 2 AA) I have taken 180 pictures at the highest setting and done a download before having to change them.

Cons:
1. Slow response time - takes awhile between pictures, hard to get candids
2. All my zoomed in pictures turn out badly (possibly because I don't hold the camera steady enough)
3. USB and power ports on the side are exposed (a case solves this rather easily)

I got mine today and have been testing it out. It is small, barely bigger than a credit card (though thicker) and reasonably light.

It was easy to figure out how to use, except for how to get into the picture viewing mode. Turns out there is a special button for it. But that is the only thing I've had to consult the manual about and I'm not a digital camera expert. I had one camera before, a Kodak DX3700, and I must say that not only did I pay less for this camera, it is a much better camera to boot. My old camera only took decent pictures in bright sunlight, and many pictures were blurry.

This camera I have only tested inside, so far, but the pictures look great. The LCD screen is bright and easy to see, and a pleasure to use. The zoom lens works wonderfully. Taking pictures is easy and I was favorably impressed by the quality.

This camera can also make short movies without sound. And unlike my old Kodak, the LCD screen is in real-time so it shows exactly what you are seeing through the viewfinder.

I don't know what happened to the other reviewer - maybe he got a defective camera? For me the Finepix A500 works beautifully and I'm very glad I bought it. It is excellent value for money. I bought it after reading on a digital camera site that it was highly recommended for its price range, and I can understand why. It's inexpensive, compact, has a great LCD screen, and takes good-looking pictures. What more could you ask for?

I bought this camera for my teen age daughter for general use as it was time for a new camera. I wasn't expecting much for $130, however; this camera has far exceeded expectations. Pictures are clear with great color. Battery life is better than average, the camera is easy to use and we haven't experienced any problems with indoor shots. The camera is very compact. Its amazing how something so small can have a generous display and take such high quality photos. I agree with the previous review, you need an extra XD Picture Card (I ordered the 512 mb) and rechargeable batteries. Overall - we are very happy with this camera.

I picked this up after much hesitation (I didn't like the idea of dropping over 100 bucks on a camera), but as an open box at a nearby store. I wanted a camera with at least 3x optical zoom, and a decent resolution, for casual/semi-artistic use and this delivers to meet my needs.

The pictures in daylight with a flash are quite crisp, although the same can NOT be said about dark or moving pictures, as mentioned in an earlier review. The camera has a very hard time focusing in low light situations, and when an object is moving, it gets a lot of motion blur. It was rather hard to get a nice shot of some jack-o-lanterns this Halloween, for instance- most came out obsenely blurry when taken in the dark (no flash of course).

I heavily recommend purchasing a set of rechargeable AA batteries. The battery life on this camera is not half bad, but it ends up cheaper in the long run.

Startup time is about 2.5 seconds, for those of you who want to take more spontaneous photos.

In my opinion, this is one of the best cameras in its price range. Go for it.

I got burned in the past trying to get away with buying my kids sub-1.0 megapixel cameras, which really were a waste of money and disappointed everyone in terms of quality.

I am happy so far with this model. I got two for my sons at about $85 USD each. It's a perfect size for them. Controls are simple. The quality of the photos has been good. It runs on a pair of AA batteries which makes it easy to replace without hunting down a special, expensive size.

The only thing that annoyed me was the internal memory is about 12 MB. The default setting allows you to save about 10 photos. You can change the resolution down to 1600x1200 to double the number of photos. But still, for kids running around taking pictures of everything, they fill that up the internal memory real quick.

This camera uses an uncommon media format - xD-Picture Card Type M. So now in addition to SD cards and Compact Flash cards I own for other devices, I have to buy XD cards. If I had realized that, I would never have purchased this model camera.

I went to the local box stores, and a hard to find 1 GB xD-Picture Card costs $80 -- about the price I spent for the camera. Absolutely ridiculous, considering in the same store they sell 1 GB SD cards for $15-25!

Shopping on Amazon, I settled on buying 512 MB xD-Picture Card Type M for about $16+5 S&H each - the cheapest I could find. If I keep the resolution down to 1600x1200, The specs say 818 photos can fit on a 512 MB card.

In summary, be sure you want to start buying xD-Picture Card Type M flash media before you buy this camera. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

I hope you found this helpful.

I got this camera a little over a year ago and was instantly amazed by how easy it was to learn. It doesn't do anything fancy, but I didn't need anything more than a good "point and click" camera to carry around. The delay between clicking and the camera actually taking the picture was a bit off, which makes action shots difficult, but still life photos and portrait type photos are great! The only major downside is how quickly it goes through batteries. Yikes! Rechargables are a good solution, but you better NEVER forget to take an extra pair of fully charged if you're going out for an evening of picture snapping. If you're going on vacation, take a lot.

I'd give this camera a higher rating if not for the way it died on me. The day after I took some pictures, the camera developed a Focus Error and the zoom lense wouldn't retract, even after replacing the batteries. I emailed Fuji about it and they suggested some things that didn't work, or I could send it in for repair that would probably ultimately cost more than the camera itself did. Why bother?

My advice -- shell out a little extra for something better. You'll be glad you did in the long run. If you just want something cheap, this camera is decent, but remember what they say about getting what you pay for...

The other reviewers speak the truth, so I will not parrot them. Why do that? But I would like to bring one little flaw to your attention. The on-off button is recessed and so miniscule that if you have anything approaching a beefy paw you will have trouble turning this baby on. Yes, you will. Ditto for turning it off.

Other than that, it is a nice camera for what it is. I bought it because I wanted an upgrade. My other camera is the Fujifilm A101, now an antique. The A101 is still a sweetheart. And the on-off button is far better.