Fujifilm FinePix Z30

While few look for performance and features as the foremost factor when purchasing a compact camera, the first impression’s almost always made by the way the camera looks. In that respect, the Fujifilm FinePix Z30, would be one of the first to catch your eye, with its dazzling, bright colors.

This petite camera that measures just 91 x 59 x 21 mm and weighs just 110-grams is available in four striking colors - Fuchsia Pink, Jet Black, Pure White or Tangy Orange. The one we got for review was orange in color. The body’s made of a matte-finish orange plastic, while the sliding lens cover’s made of shiny orange plastic. The entire camera’s well contoured with smooth edges all over, and buttons with a low physical profile to ensure that they never tug against the pocket of your jeans.

The minimalistic, yet striking design reflects in the camera’s button placement too, and the only button on top is the shutter-release. The camera is switched on and off via opening and closing the lens’ sliding cover. This can be a bit of a pain, since it’s not too hard to accidentally open the slider should you choose to store the camera in any cramped up space like your trouser pocket. The back of the camera’s covered in black plastic, and nests most of the buttons - zoom, preview, navigation, menu, display, and video recording buttons are neatly placed besides each other.

The screen’s pretty much like most cameras - 2.7-inch with 230,000 pixels. Overall, while the camera looks pleasing, it feels a little cheap, and has a rather shoddy paint job. Just sliding it in and out of your pocket for a while can make its paint wear out easily, leaving behind some ugly bald patches.

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The Z30 has a 10 megapixel CCD sensor that offers 3x optical and 5.7x digital zoom. The camera’s color reproduction was vivid, making it great for the lively shots, and its auto-white balance was spot-on too. Image quality on the other hand wasn’t great, but at par with other cameras in its range.