I bought my first digital camera about two years ago. Around $350 was the price for a camera with 3.0 mega pixels or more at that time. Since then, prices for all electronics have gone down a lot, while the number of mega pixels has gone up. I went with the Fujifilm A303 digital camera, which has worked out well for me, so let me explain why.
When my web business took off, I needed a digital camera like I needed a hole in the head. I had to use a 35mm camera many times when I wanted to take a picture of a person, place, or thing. I wasn't very good at taking pictures, though. Most of the time, my subject was out of focus or the picture needed to be cropped. Yes, getting pictures printed on a disc would have solved the second problem, but the first problem — blurry pictures — was what was giving me the most trouble. I wish I could see how my picture turned out right away. If it didn't turn out well, I could try again. Obviously, a digital camera gave me something that a 35mm camera couldn't. I bought a Fujifilm 3.2 mega pixel camera after doing a lot of research and reading online reviews.
The A303 has a tough grey shell, but it is small and light enough to fit in your pants pockets. The camera's controls are easy to use and include a Menu/OK button, a Back button, a viewfinder, a viewfinder lamp, a display button, and an LCD monitor that lets you look at pictures without looking through the viewfinder. The camera has a self-timer mode that you can set with a round dial on the back. After ten seconds, the picture will be taken. Great for when you want to take a picture of the whole family but nobody is around to do it. There are also zoom modes, playback modes, and movie modes. Even though the movie mode makes a short, choppy movie, it is still a cool feature to have.
A 16mb picture card comes with the standard camera. Most people will think that's not enough, so I spent a little more and got the 64mb upgrade. I also bought two rechargeable AA batteries and a way to charge them. Taking 30–40 pictures at once will quickly drain your batteries, so the recharger makes sense. I bought the Fujifilm carrying case that came with the camera to hold my other gear.
The pictures are clear, and I haven't had a single problem with the camera in the two years I've been using it. At 3.2 mega pixels, the pictures are more than enough for me, since I post almost everything I do online. It's said that you don't need more mega pixels when you post or look at pictures online. With the USB cable and HP software that come with the printer, you can quickly upload pictures to the internet.
If the A303 has any flaws, there is only one, and it is a big one: the time between shots can seem like an eternity. I guess it's only about ten seconds, but compared to 35mm cameras, it seems like a very long time. Newer models are much closer in terms of technology, but if you need to take a lot of pictures quickly, this camera won't work for you.
The A303 is a very good camera overall. I give it four stars for how easy it is to use, how much it costs, and how reliable it is.
