Fujifilm FinePix A345

Fujifilm's FinePix A345 doesn't feel like a particularly serious camera. It's light, and the plastic case makes it feel cheap. But don't let that put you off - once you switch it on and start snapping, it quickly becomes apparent that this camera is excellent value.

It's a 4-megapixel camera, and despite the lens being fairly small physically, the pictures it produces are very impressive. The lens is a 3x optical zoom model, and there is a 1.7in LCD screen, which is more than
adequate.

The camera takes xD memory cards and is supplied with a 16Mb card. This is only enough for around eight pictures at the highest quality setting, so it's definitely worth investing in a larger card. It takes two AA batteries, which can be annoying because it's not possible to just plug the camera into a charger. On the other hand, if they run out, it's easy to just slip in another pair of batteries and carry on shooting.

Image quality is very good, with above par colour response and detail levels. The FinePix A345 is, for the most part, easy to use - shooting and zooming are simple, for example - but the on-screen menus can be a little hard to navigate, so finding and changing the settings can be a bit fiddly.