Fujifilm Has A Small But Powerful Camera With FinePix AV200

Fujifilm finepix AV200
Fujifilm Finepix AV200 is a hot seller this year

Fujifilm fielded a budget camera with an impressive set of features in the FinePix AV200. Released back in January, the compact pocket camera hit the market at a sub-$80 price point.

The FinePix AV200 may be small but it sports a 14-megapixel 1/2.3 in CCD sensor behind a 3x optical zoom Fujinon f/2.9 lens. Although the camera does have autofocus, including multi, area and tracking AF, there is some confusion in the published specs on whether it has any kind of image stabilization. Some sources say it has digital image stabilization, some say it has none, some say yes and no on the same page. Okay, you have to sacrifice somewhere for the price point, even without image stabilization it’s still a pretty good deal.

The CCD chip type also means the camera performs relatively poorly in low light with an ISO rating of 100 to 3200 and not even that at all resolutions. You also don’t get much in the way of continuous shooting speeds, with the camera topping out at a stately 1.2 fps pace.

You will get video, however. 720 at 30 fps, but that it has video capability at all is pretty amazing.

On the back it has a 2.7 in TFT LCD screen and accepts either SD or SDHC storage cards.

The internal software provides some nifty features like Motion Panorama Mode, Scene Recognition, and Face Detection with Red Eye Removal. It also has the ability to search for a particular face on the pictures in your camera.

When you consider you’re getting a 14-megapixel camera for $80 that fits in your pocket, runs on AA batteries and weighs in at a thrifty 196 grams, the FinePix AV200 is a great camera to toss in the tackle box or glove compartment of your car. It’s definitely a step up from most cell phone cameras and offers a lot of features for the price.

See how the Fujifilm Finepix AV200 stacks up to some of its competitors: