Home > Consumer Reviews > Fuji @xia ix-100 Digital Camera [1.3MP]

This camera is my first experience of digital photography, still being a keen 35mm SLR user. Fuji bill the Axia@100 as a "Fun" camera and so long as you bear this in mind, the results are very good AT THIS PRICE POINT.

The lens is "fixed focus" and renders everything from around 1m to infinity reasonably sharp with good colour rendition. There is also a macro mode for objects in the 20-30cm range. (Note the gap between 30cm and 100cm). Whilst you will not get the pin sharp subject with the out of focus background loved by portrait photographers, you will not have a problem with an autofocus system that cannot deal with low light situations either.

There appears to be a slight delay after pressing the shutter release and the picture being taken. I found I was taking pictures of feet or heads all too often, but have not had a problem since I started holding the camera steady for a couple of seconds longer.

The exposure control does well with evenly lit subjects. However the system does seem to struggle with uneven lighting situations, producing shots that have slightly over or under exposed the subject in instances where a more expensive camera might have coped better. I accidently left the flash on for a couple of outdoor pictures and these shots were very badly exposed suggesting that the exposure system cannot cope with fill-in or backlit situations using the flash.

The lack of a LCD screen means that the batteries last a very long time. Indeed rechargeables are not absolutely essential. Controls are very basic. There is a button to switch the flash on, off or to auto, a self timer and a movie mode. The movie mode produces pictures without sound in a very small window. There may be some benefit in emailing these movies to distant friends and family. Pictures can also be viewed on a TV although I have not tried this.

The camera is very small and feels robust (apart from the rubber USB port cover). It will fit in a pocket or bag without any difficulty, a real plus point. Everything that is needed is in the box, including a soft case.

The smart media card supplied will hold 14 high resolution shots or 20 at the normal compression ratio. The software is easy to load and relatively straitforward to use, although I have not worked out how to add more than one photo at a time to the album. This could be a bit tedious with a full 32mb card holding nearly 120 shots.

Prints up to 6x4 are good on photo quality paper.

For those on a budget, this Fuji is ideal, so long as you are aware of its limitations. If you can afford the extra, however, I feel you will get good results more often from a camera slightly further up the Fuji range.

I have just bought this camera, and already I can tell you it's brilliant!
The 4MB card is the only letdown really, my preference is to use the highest image quality for the best pictures, and with the card supplied you get 14 pics. I have bought a 32MB SM card for about £18 and now I can get over 100 images - so that is well worth it IMO.
A great feeature is the TV compatability, just plug in with the supplied cable and see the images and vidoes full screen on the telly! And if like me you use the highest quality setting, the pictures are outstanding for this price range.
I am more than happy with this camera, it's my first digital, although I have used other more expensive models, this is right up there with them. Amazing!

I needed a cheap & cheerful digital camera to take pictures whilst out mountain biking so that I can take reasonably good quality pictures (1.3 megapixels not bad...) 'quick & easy' then download them when I get home. The plan being to set up a web site once I've got a few good rides together for local enthusisats..etc.
I'm really impressed with the camera it performs far beyond my expectations and is really easy to use plus the software is user friendly to, its good how the software puts the camera as an extra drive on your PC for quick 'n' easy viewing.
My advice is if you want a easy to use introductory camera to digital photography so you can take reasonably good quality pictures or you are using it for an outdoor activity (is small and light) and if it gets broken in the process you haven't lost a massive fortune...then this is the one!!

I was looking for something not too hard on the budget. This was my choice. Good value for money but quite frankly you'd be better of spending the extra £100 and get something better. Picture quality was suprisingly good (set at best) but with no display on the back of the camera I was wishing I had paid the extra money. If there's a display you can delete the pictures that are no good or the one's you don't like, without having to go to a T.V. of computer every time. In low light the pictures blurred very easily, even with the flash. If you're a happy snapper who isn't looking for top quality shots go ahead.

I bought the @xia for my 6 year old son to stop him from using my Fuji Finepix 6900. It's a great camera for 6" x 4" prints. The pictures being sharp and having good colour. It's well made small and has very easy controls. The only drawbacks (small) are the rubber cover for the video/usb slot which is quite flimsy and I am not sure what use the movie mode would be for when the playback is only 10fps. This is way too slow for any useful purpose. However for someone who is wanting a budget digital camera to shoot 6" x 4" prints you won't beat this for style,cost or performance.