Features

5.2 Megapixels (2592 x 1944 max resolution)
3.4x Optical Zoom and 4.2x(max - more about this later) Digital Zoom
Small compact size
Built in flash (6 modes)
2 inch LCD plus small viewfinder
ISO 80/100/200/400
7 Shooting modes - Auto, manual, scene position (portrait, landscape, sports, night scene), movie

Standard Accessories:
USB cable, A/C Power adapter, Li-on rechargable battery, Docking Station (USB and power), Driver and software CD, AV cable, short hand strap. 16MB xD flash memory.


Size, Portability and body design

With measurements of 2.9(W) x 2.5(H) x 0.8(D) inches and weight of 5.3 oz excluding battery and media, the Fuji F450 is extremely portable. The body of the entire camera is made of metal. The lens of the camera is retracted and protected by a auto-cover when not in use. This camera looks and feels tough.

The power switch is a large slider on one side of the front where a right handed person holds the camera. This makes for quick and fast turning on of the camera. This presents a problem when pulling the camera out of the optional Fuji Leather case. On more than one occasion I accidentally turned on the camera before the camera is out of the case. The lens mechanism must have have a safety feature built in to stop trying. The lens stop moving and the camera remained turned off. The lens cover stayed open though. All I needed to do was turn the camera off and on again to reset it.

The optical viewfinder on the back of the camera is not flush with the opening in the front. There apparently is a small prism in the camera. The viewfinder is actually closer to the center of the LCD while the opening is to the extreme side of the camera.

The camera is also very simple in terms of button placements. There is a switch for Movie, Review and Camera mode. A button for macro (that doubles for left), a flash button (that doubles as right button), a up down lever for zoom/wide that doubles as up and down. There are 3 more function buttons, the famous Fuji "F", menu/ok and Disp/ok. Of course there is the large on/off switch and a shutter release button on top.

The battery cover on the bottom of the camera looks solid. The memory card is accessed from the same cover at the bottom of the camera.

The F450 looks really sleek/zen-like and at the same time feels tough with its metal case design. It is also very portable so you can go anywhere (dry, of course) with it.


Functions and Ease of Use

I like this camera. For a fast quick and shoot camera, the F450 is very good. The camera starts up in around 2 seconds ready to shoot. With minimal tinkering, I can shoot pictures very quickly. Controls are very intuitive. Switching flash modes, or activating macro is as simple as hitting a single button. The fuji "F" button gives you very quick access to settings like Resolution, ISO and Color mode.

Another nifty feature is a grid on the LCD image that you can activate using the Disp button to help you align your shots. The large 2inch LCD is very bright and viewable even on a bright day. It is large and very comfortable to use.

Moving out of Auto settings, it gets a little inconvenient on this camera. Unlike the Kodak LS753 where modes can be accessed very quickly using a jog-dial, the F450 requires you to enter the menu, hit right and then hit up and down to select the mode you want. This is very much more tedious than most cameras out there. The modes available are also very limited. Only Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Manual and Nite modes are offered. EV compensation can only be set using the "Manual" mode.

The Digital Zoom of this camera is disappointing. You will only get the full 4.1x at the lowest resolution (640x480). The Digital Zoom varies with other resolution settings - 1.6X (1600x1200), 1.3X (2048x1536) and NO DIGITAL ZOOM at 2592x1944 (5 Megapixel). Depending on the resolution you choose, you will see a marker on the zoom scale to show you if you are in the optical or digital zoom area.

When shooting video, you cannot use the zoom. The camera will allow you to shoot 60seconds in te 320 mode and 180 seconds in te 160 mode. The movie is stored in AVI format. The quality of the movie (with sound) is only acceptable. Movie shooting with this camera is weak overall with these limitations.


Power, Connectivity and Accesories

Battery life of this camera is impressive. I used the camera on and off regularly and it was around 2 weeks between charges.

The included power supply has International rated voltage. It can take anything from 100-240V, making it very convenient for globetrotters. The adapter looks like a small version of those laptop computer power adapters. The A/C plug has a standard 2-prong connector at the end that plugs into the "brick" (transformer). You can easily get replacement cables for the different plugs you need for different countries or if your original one breaks. The d/c jack that goes into the Camera is a different matter. It is proprietary to Fuji. My brother and myself, both engineers at heart, went through perhaps 20-30 component stores in vain looking for a tip that fits Fuji cameras. We wanted to get the D/C tip to build an external battery pack for our 3 Fuji cameras (S7000, F810 and F450). ***I was just informed of the availability of the tips from a product line called iGo. You can find it at http://www.iGo.com ***

The camera came with a "docking station" which you plug the USB cable and power adapter into. Just slide the camera in, push a button on the station and it will send all the pics to your computer. At the same time, the battery in the camera is getting charged. You can also plug the USB and/or adapter direct into the camera and bypass the docking station. One note though, for Fuji cameras with docking cradles (like F810 and F450), the USB slot on the camera is actually called a multislot. Which means it is also used by the cradle to connect to the camera and route power at the same time. Guess what? It is proprietary too. So you can forget about buying yourself another USB cable from a 3rd party if you break this one. Take my advice, buy a xD card reader as a back up!


Picture Quality and Performance

Picture quality is pretty good in general. Similar to other Fuji cameras I own, the color of this camera is very vibrant. Skin tones, Reds and Blues comes out very nicely. Colors seems much better than, say, the Kodak LS753 (my other 5MP camera). The flash of the camera is not bad at moderate distances but up closer, it overpowers and overexposes some subjects. The camera also has more difficulty focusing in darker situations compared to the Canon IXUS series.

Time between shots is also very quick, probably thanks to the use of xD flash memory (one of the faster flash memory on the market with low power consumption). The use of xD may discourage some folks, but for me it is perfect as my other camera Fuji S7000 also takes xD.I currently use 2 512MB and a 256MB cards between my 2 Fuji cameras. I heard the new 1GB card has just been released.


Overall

I think this camera is very good for what it is designed for - a portable and fast point-and-shoot camera. It has a tough but compact housing. The optical zoom is sufficient and picture quality is good and color reproduction is excellent. It is easy to use for most people. For my purpose, it is an excellent camera for times when I do not want to lug my pro-sumer camera around. More advanced users demanding more should look at other cameras like the F810 for much better quality, functionality and flexibility.

Value

I paid around US$425 and it came with many other things in the package - SanDisk 256MB xD card, extra Li-On battery, Original Fuji F450 camera case, Fuji mini tripod, Fuji Backpack, Fuji baseball cap, Memory Slot and Lens cleaning kit, Memory card holder and 9-in-1 multiformat flash card reader. I find this package to be pretty good value for money.


===========================================================

Detailed Specs (from Fuji):

Number of Effective Pixels: 5.2 Million Pixels
Max resolution: 2592 x 1944 pixels
File formats: JPEG (Still), WAV, AVI Movie (Motion JPEG)
Storage media: xD Card(512MB max, 16MB included)
Lens Focal Length: Equal to 38-130mm
Optical Zoom 3.4x
Digital Zoom 4.1X (at 640 x 480 pixel mode), 1.6X (1600 x 1200 pixels), 1.3X (2048 x 1536), No digital zoom at 2592 x 1944 pixels.
Focus Auto Focus (TTL Center Point Fixed) - Contrast Type
Focus Range Normal: 2.0 ft. to infinity, Macro: 3.6 in. - 2.6 ft.
Aperture Wide F2.8 - F7.4 (Auto Selected)
Viewfinder Real-image optical viewfinder (approx. 78% Coverage)
Exposure Control 64-zone TTL metering-multi
Exposure modes Auto/manual EV/scene position mode
Color control modes Normal, vivid (chrome), black and white
Sensitivity Auto: Equivalent to ISO 80 - 400
Manual: Equivalent to ISO 80/100/200/400
Shutter Speed 2 sec. - 1/2000 sec.
White balance Automatic, Manual (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light (Warm White), Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light)
Flash Auto flash
Flash mode: Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro, Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro
Effective range: 2.0ft - 11.8ft (W)/2.0ft. - 6.6ft (T)
LCD monitor 2.0-inch low temp polysilicon TFT (Approx. 154,000 pixels)
Camera Terminal USB, 5 volt power-input socket, video out (NTSC/PAL)
Printing Interface PictBridge, DPOF, and EXIF Print 2.2 Compatible
Power source Fujifilm NP-30 Li-ion rechargeable battery, Fujifilm AC-5V AC adapter
Dimensions 2.9 (W) x 2.5 (H) x 0.8 (D) inch
Weight 5.3 oz. excluding battery and media
Shooting modes Auto, manual, scene position (portrait, landscape, sports, night scene), movie
Movie Recording 320 x 240 pixels up to 60 sec. / 160 x 120 pixels up to 180sec.:10 fps, AVI (Motion JPEG) with sound
Video output NTSC and PAL Switchable
Playback Single frame (16.2x playback zoom), 9 multi frame
Other Voice memo (30 sec.), self-timer: approximately 10 sec., world time, 6 language menu interface

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 425
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use