FUJIFILM FinePix F460 Digital Camera

A good test of a camera is how well you can get to grips with it and find what it can do within half an hour of opening the box.

Having lots of experience with the other Fuji F Series such as the F10, F11 and F30/31 - I was expecting much from this camera and was initially a little dissapointed. However, it isn't really fair to compare it with other those other cameras in the F range because this model is around £80 less.

First impression: - The battery (Lith-ion rechargeable) had some charge in so the big 2.5" screen that dominates the back of the camera quickly sprang to life. Woah! - Nice quick updating LCD (60 fps) and a touch of the release button took my first snap (of the floor) instantly! - So far so good.

The body is metal and slim. Getting a little narrower on the right hand side to form a comfortable grip. Feels well made and layout was simple and user friendly.

Zoom is the usual 3x optical with the 4.1x digital disabled by default. Control is quite easy although it zooms a little quicker than I like.

Resolution is a genuine 5.1 Million Pixels, so prints up to 10"x8" (A4) are no problem although resolution leaves little spare for cropping if you still wish to print up to this size.

Movie mode offers up to 30fps (frames per second) up to 640x480 pixels with mono sound recording. (Stereo sound is next to useless on any camera this small!) Easy to find, the movie mode eat all the remaining space on the built in memory (13Mb) in about 15 seconds. Results were surprisingly good and better than those achieved from the Fuji A600 that has similar 'on paper' abilities.

Time to pop in an xD Picture card and take some snaps in the remaining 15 minutes. Time of day 7.00pm - Sun still out but very low. This was going to stretch it's abilities as many digital camera can't cope with this type of light mixed with the evenings haze.

Unedited* results from Fuji FinePix F460

*Images have been reduced in size and compressed from quick loading
Close up shot of image is a cropped section of 10% of original image.

These results can be found at www.toclear.com/F460.html

The camera has the added advantage of better battery life thanks to the rechargeable lith-ion battery and also from the bigger screen. The camera body is up to the usual F-Series standard too. It's only failings are it's low light taking and slow focussing abilities. In this respect it feels and produces results more like a Canon Ixus or Sony Cybershot - Passable but not great.

If you do a lot of very low light photography and don't want to use flash, I'd skip this one, spend a largish lump more and buy a F10,11,30 or 31.

If low light photography isn't your 'thing', then this is a great little comapct camera that produces top quality results with ease.

Rating: 9/10 - Price around £120