The Design: Fuji FinePix A330
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The front of the Fuji FinePix A330 features a 3x optical zoom lens that extends from the body on startup. Just above the lens are the self-timer lamp and viewfinder window. To the left of the self-timer lamp is the built-in flash with a working range of 2 - 11.5 feet in wide angle and 2 - 9.8 feet at telephoto. The sliding door on the front of the camera acts to protect the lens and to power the unit on and off.
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A 1.5" LCD monitor with 60K pixels can be found on the back of the camera. Just above this are the viewfinder and viewfinder indicator lamp. To the right of the LCD monitor are 3 buttons: On (Playback), Menu/OK, and Disp/Back. The On button can be used to toggle between Record and Playback modes and to power on the camera in Playback mode without extending the lens. At the upper-right corner are three buttons. The button on the left serves to move back an image in review mode and to toggle the macro option on and off. The middle button is the zoom controller and can be pushed forward/up to zoom in and back/down to zoom out. Finally, the right button allows you to move to the next picture in review mode and to toggle the flash mode.
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The top of the camera is very straightforward with just the shutter button at the right side.
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 Click to enlarge. |
On the bottom of the camera is a plastic tripod mount as well as a sliding hinged door that conceals the battery compartment and xD-Picture Card slot. The camera requires either 2-AA alkaline/NiMH batteries or an NH-10 rechargeable battery. Although the camera is packaged with alkalines, we recommend picking up some NiMH batteries for longer battery life.
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The only thing on the right side is a post for the included wrist strap.
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On the left side are 3 ports: video-out, USB, and a DC port for the optional 3V AC adapter.
The body of the A330 is constructed mainly of plastic except for a metal strip that runs along the sides and top of the camera. Overall, the camera is fairly light and well-balanced. Although it is not the smallest camera around, it is small enough to fit into one's pocket for on-the-go shooting.
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akaristos2 - Tuesday, February 8, 2005 - link
Any sources in Europe where it could be had for 129 euros? Much appreciated a reply. Thanksakaristos2 - Tuesday, February 8, 2005 - link
Where can I gt a Ricoh Caplio RX and at what price point. Thanks for a reply.cryptonomicon - Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - link
the a340 will probably enter the price point soon too, i got it for $161 at ritz's / wolf's.tmim16 - Monday, January 3, 2005 - link
I got the Fuji A330 for my wife back in May for her birthday not knowing that much about it, but man were we impressed! I got it as a mother's day newegg special for $180 including a 128MB xd card.Even though I'm not in the market for another camera, I would have liked to see a couple more compared.
orenb - Monday, January 3, 2005 - link
Zepper, the Ricoh Caplio RX can be had for €129 in Europe, which is not that far off $150.As for not having it in the US, well, that's a bummer. Having to settle for plastic toys that take almost a whole second to actually shoot sucks, especially when one has to pay roughly the same price as the RX.
Both Ricoh and American residents are losing big time from this, the former loses a huge market, the latter loses some really cool and innovative cameras, but since Ricoh can't handle the demand in Europe (at least in the UK and Germany they can't), I bet they have a good reason to wait with a US launch.
unclebud - Monday, January 3, 2005 - link
"Nice article... would have been nice to see it BEFORE the holidays though ;) "what i was thinking (although i have 6 or 7 digicams and ain't gone buy another one for more than a hundred)
Zepper - Monday, January 3, 2005 - link
Almost no Ricoh product is available in the USA as Ricoh has chosen not to compete here in the consumer market (perhaps you weren't aware that AT was an American web site). I guess it's not too hard to get their copiers here though.. Not to mention that the price of the few Caplio RXs I've found such as on eBay is about twice that of the units under test - apples and oranges...
.bh.
spug1 - Sunday, January 2, 2005 - link
...geez everyone!! Get off their back. It would be an impossible job to do all of the cameras at this price point! Kodak, fuji and olympus are big names, which people will often go to straight away....so its allowing the customer to make an educated choice on popular brands. I sell a large range of cameras at my shop, and I most always recomend the a330. Its a beautiful little camera, and IMO the best bang 4 buck at this price!!Souka - Sunday, January 2, 2005 - link
Title should be "Three $150 digi-cams compared"Z80 - Saturday, January 1, 2005 - link
I'm on my third Fuji digital camera and they have all been great performers! They all still work too! The latest model I purchased last year just before Christmas was the FinePix S5000 with 10x optical zoom. I've found that the xD-Picture Card memory helps lengthen battery life to where I can shoot well over 100 photos without recharging the batteries. Also, the Fuji cameras all appear to have better jpeg compression that other cameras because my photo files at 3.1 or 4.2 Megapixel take less space than other cameras. When my family got together and compared photos after our Christmas party last weekend, my Fuji consistently took better photos than the other cameras. Even the Canon Digital Rebel that my nephew didn't really know how to use.