FUJIFILM FinePix F455 review

Fujifilm has boosted its range of compact digital cameras with the F455, a development of the F450.

Available in standard silver or, as pictured here, in chic black, it has a sophisticated appearance that's as at home in a handbag as a camera bag. Although it's about the same size as a pack of cards, the metal body is reassuringly weighty. So much so, in fact, that it's too heavy to carry comfortably in a breast pocket.

Behind the 3.4x zoom lens, which is also found in the F440 and F450 models, sits a 5.2-megapixel sensor capable of producing photos at a resolution of 2,592x1,944. This is enough detail for A4 prints either from a home printer or from your local photo lab. Using the bright 2" screen on the back is the easiest way to frame photos, but a viewfinder is included, allowing you to switch off the screen and prolong the battery life.

Despite its healthy specification, the F455 has few advanced settings. Auto mode allows access to macro, flash and scene settings through the main menu. ISO and recorded resolutions are found in the quick access menu, along with chrome colour and black and white modes. In full Manual mode, white balance and exposure can be adjusted, but only though the menu system.

It's nice to be able to make these adjustments, but it would have been better if they were more readily accessible. Also, there is only one metering system available. At this price we would expect separate spot and scene metering. Another omission is the lack of exposure compensation, and the F455 offers no shutter or aperture control beyond the scene presets.

Fujifilm's compact digital cameras tend to return contrast-rich photos with vivid colours, and the F455 is no exception. Definition is maintained in light and dark areas without ever giving way to purple fringing, while lively, saturated colours make for striking images. The F455 does a good job of choosing the correct white balance in auto mode, so you won't have much reason to use the six presets. In Macro mode the minimum focus distance is 9cm. This is reasonably distant for this level of camera, but still gives you versatility when choosing your shots.

You can use the supplied cradle, which also charges the camera, to connect to your PC through the USB Hi-Speed interface but you don't have to. If you are on holiday it's a pain to be forced to carry a cradle just to download your photos, so it's nice to know that you can leave it at home. Instead, you can plug the F455 directly into your computer to transfer photos and charge it directly using the supplied power adaptor.

Unless you buy an additional xD memory card, you'll have to connect to the PC pretty often as the 16MB card supplied holds only six photos at the highest quality. We recommend you buy at least a 128MB xD memory card, which boosts the number of high-quality photos possible to 48.

The F455 turns out excellent photos with little user input. You don't need to be a photography whiz to capture the shot you want. Enthusiasts will find the lack of advanced controls frustrating though, and we would expect more manual control from a £240 camera.