Digital Cameras - Picky Details of the Fujifilm FinePix A350 Digital Camera

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"Picky Details" for the Fujifilm FinePix A350 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)

Timing

When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Fujifilm FinePix A350:

Fujifilm FinePix A350 Timings
Operation	Time (secs)	Notes
Power On -> First shot	3.1	LCD turns on and lens extends forward.
Shutdown	2.1 - 11	First time is time to retract lens, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time.
Play to Record, first shot	0.8 / 2.5	Time until first shot is captured. After 8 seconds in playback mode, lens retracts, and time to switch back to record mode increases to 2.5 seconds.
Record to play	4.6 / 1.3	First time is that required to display a large/fine file immediately after capture, second time is that needed to display a large/fine file that has already been processed and stored on the memory card.
Shutter lag, full autofocus	0.92 / 1.64	First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto.
Shutter lag, prefocus	0.300	Time to capture, after half-pressing shutter button.
Cycle Time, max/min resolution	3.57 / 3.33	First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for "TV" mode (640x480) images. Times are averages. Buffer clears after each shot.
Cycle Time, Flash exposures	7	Flash at maximum power output
Cycle Time, continuous mode, max/min resolution	0.88 (1.13 fps)	Times are averages. Shoots a burst of 5 frames this fast in large/fine mode, clears the buffer in about 9 seconds and shoots another burst. In TV mode, shoots at this pace seemingly indefinitely, clearing the buffer after each shot.

Power

The Fujifilm FinePix A350 uses a two AA batteries for power, and ordinary alkaline batteries are included with the camera. The table below shows the power drain I measured in various operating modes, and the corresponding run times to be expected from a standard set of 1600 mAh NiMH cells.

Operating Mode	Power (@3.3 volts on the external power terminal)	Est. Minutes (two 1600 mA cells)
Capture Mode, w/LCD	458 mA	125
Capture Mode, no LCD	417 mA	168
Half-pressed shutter w/LCD	510 mA	137
Half-pressed w/o LCD	417 mA	168
Memory Write (transient)	510 mA	n/a
Flash Recharge (transient)	1280 mA	n/a
Image Playback	188 mA	372

Storage Capacity

The Fujifilm FinePix A350 stores its photos on xD memory cards, and a 16 MB card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying at least a 64 MB card, preferably a 128 MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on the included 16 MB card at each size/quality setting.

Image Capacity vs Resolution/Quality 16 MB Memory Card		Fine	Normal
2592 x 1944	Images (Avg size)	6 2.5 MB	12 1.3 MB
2592 x 1944	Approx. Compression	6:1	12:1
2048 x 1536	Images (Avg size)	-	20 788 KB
2048 x 1536	Approx. Compression	-	12:1
1600 x 1200	Images (Avg size)	-	25 626 KB
1600 x 1200	Approx. Compression	-	9:1
640 x 480	Images (Avg size)	-	124 128 KB
640 x 480	Approx. Compression	-	7:1

Download Speed

The Fujifilm FinePix A350 connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), I clocked it at 828 KBytes/second. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)

A350 Review
A350 Test Images
A350 Specifications
A350 "Picky Details"
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