Fujifilm FinePix F455 Zoom

The latest in Fujifilm's FinePix series is the compact F455 Zoom. Available in stylish silver or retro black, it is both elegant in looks and powerful in performance.

The F455 Zoom takes photographs at a maximum of 5.2 megapixels, and this resolution allows you to enlarge snaps without losing detail. However, high-resolution images will quickly fill up the supplied 16Mb xD memory card, so if you're fond of taking photos you'll need to fork out for a higher capacity card or change the camera's settings to one of the three lower resolution modes.

At the back of the camera, an optical viewfinder and a switch enables you to change between image review, video capture and shooting modes. A 3.4x optical zoom is a good addition and the two-inch screen display is crisp.

Popular shooting modes, including flash and macro, have dedicated buttons next to the zoom function, and other settings are easily accessed via the 'F' button. Other shooting modes include standard Landscape, Night, Portrait and Auto.

The sensitivity settings go down as low as ISO 80, which should produce clear images even in bright light. You can also record just under five minutes of video on the memory card. While the sound could be clearer, it is a fun feature to have.

Fujifilm's new battery system uses less energy, which means that you can snap away with the F455 Zoom for a decent amount of time before having to recharge the battery. And you don't have to remove the battery to charge it - simply dock the device in the supplied cradle.

Pictures can be transferred to a PC via the cradle's USB connection or you can cut out the PC middleman and print direct to PictBridge-enabled printers.

It's a little fiddly to operate as the buttons are small and the zoom is awkward to use when shooting portraits. Despite the niggles, however, the F455 Zoom is good value and performs very well indeed.

Contact:
Fujifilm 020 7586 1477
www.fujifilm.co.uk/di

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