Fujifilm FinePix A205 Review

The A205 employs a Super EBC Fujinon 3x optical zoom lens, it's equivalent to 36-108mm on a 35mm camera. When the camera is powered down the lens retracts inside the camera and is covered by the sliding lens protector.

The digital zoom is 3.2x (at VGA size.) The focusing range in Normal AF is from 2.6 ft. to Infinity. When in Macro mode it covers from 0.3 to 3.3 ft. The aperture range is f/3.0-7.0 in wide angle and f/4.8-10.8 in telephoto.

The eye level optical real-image zoom viewfinder has a field of view of approx. 85% of the captured image and lacks any type of diopter adjustment.

The flash has an effective range in wide angle of 2.6 to 11.5 ft and in Telephoto a range of 2.6 to 9.8 ft. Flash modes available are: Auto, Red-eye reduction, Forced flash, Suppressed flash, Slow Syncro and Red-eye reduction + Slow Synchro.

On the back is a 1.5-inch color TFT LCD monitor for image preview, review and accessing the camera's menus. In the upper right corner is the 4-way selector, in Record mode the large center switch operates the zoom lens and digital zoom with the "Up" and "Down" positions. The "Left" button toggles the Macro focus on and off and the Flash modes are controlled with the "Right" button. In Play mode the up and down zoom control allows zoomed-in (magnified) replay mode.

To the right of the LCD monitor is the MENU/OK button which toggles the Menu on/off . While ON, the menu selections are navigated with the 4-way and the OK button makes selections. The BACK button stops any procedure when necessary. The DISPlay button in Record selects the LCD monitor ON/OFF or selects the four framing grid lines. In Playback the DISPlay button toggles between Text display ON/OFF and Index of last nine images in tiny thumbnails.

On top is the Power on/off switch, the shutter release and the Mode Dial with positions for Record, Play and Movie.

On the side is the docking cradle connector. If you don't have the optional cradle then you just plug the USB cable directly into the same port. On the same side is the 3v DC INput jack for an optional AC power adapter. The Video Out port allows connection to a TV for playback, the signal format is selectable for NTSC or PAL standard.

The A205 is equipped with a xD-Picture Card slot and is supplied with a 16MB xD card. It's compatible with any xD card from 16MB to 512MB. The batteries are also located in this compartment.

Power is supplied by a pair of standard AA type batteries, alkaline, NiMH or lithium. Also shown here is the Fuji NH-10 rechargeable NiMH battery pack that comes with the optional CP-FXA10 Picture Cradle (see below).

When the camera is placed in the optional Picture Cradle the NH-10 battery pack is rapid charged and the camera can be powered for extended periods by the AC adapter/charger. The USB connection to the computer for downloading and video conferencing is also made. And you can optionally connect the Video Out cable to a TV or VCR.

Here is the complete Fuji CP-FXA10 Picture Cradle outfit that includes the cradle, NH-10 high-capacity NiMH rechargeable battery pack and the AC power adapter.