Fuji FinePix 6800

Pixel count isn't the only factor that affects image quality, and the numbers game can be misleading, especially where Fuji's Super CCD is concerned. The octagonal-shaped CCD in the FinePix 6800 delivers an equivalent six megapixel output from its basic 3.3 megapixel CCD - according to the company - which, along with its impressive specification, should make it a serious contender for our A List crown. This is currently held by the Olympus Camedia C-3040Zoom (reviewed issue 80, p160).

The FinePix 6800 looks stylish, and this factor alone will endear it to many people. The design stems from a collaboration between Fuji and FA Porsche. Porsche has previously helped with the design of film cameras for the Contax brand, but this is its first experience with digital cameras. The aluminium outer shell oozes quality and instills confidence in the camera's robustness - an important factor for a device costing £549.

Handling, though, isn't the best, as the camera lacks any rubber grip - so the more butter-fingered among you may need to take care. This is, however, a camera that lends itself to one-handed operation due to its shape and size. The rear holds the key controls, and handling is simplified as a consequence. In addition to the main LCD is a dot-matrix display in the middle of the four main control buttons that politely greets the user and says goodbye when the camera is switched off. The buttons, operated by the thumb pad, are for paging through the various menus. This works well enough, but it isn't the easiest system to get to grips with and it can slow you down when you're in a hurry.

When you come to use the camera, the separate mode dial is the first control to set, giving you a choice between automatic, manual, movie and so on. The fully automatic exposure mode can be overridden by a compensation facility, or an exposure bracketing sequence, set for +/-0.3, 0.7 or 1EV. There are options to bias the camera for shooting portraits or night scenes and also to shoot in black and white if desired. Basic metering is from a 64-zone multipattern, but user control is possible with the optional average or spot meter. Sensitivity is rated at 100, 200 or 400 ISO, which should cater for most situations, while white balance is automatic or from a choice of six manual options. The shutter range is impressive too, ranging from 3 seconds to 1/2,000th second. And when things get a bit too dark, the flip-up integral flash is on hand, with the usual auto, red-eye reduction and slow sync facilities.

Images are created at a maximum resolution of 2,832 x 2,148, but you can also shoot at 2,048 x 1,536, 1,280 x 960 and 640 x 480, all in 24-bit colour. JPEG is the only file format available, though, with images saved onto the supplied 16Mb SmartMedia card. As is often the case with any camera, the card supplied isn't sufficient to hold many shots at the top resolution, and in this case you get an almost unusable three.

Another feature, becoming increasingly common, is the simple movie mode, which records with sound at 320 x 240 pixels, at ten frames per second for up to 160 seconds. Voice captioning (up to 30 seconds) is also available, and is a useful feature that's often overlooked.

This is all well and good, but a first-class lens with high resolution, good contrast and low distortion is a must if you're to reap the theoretical benefits of the Super CCD, as is superior software. In this case, the 3x optical zoom (equivalent to 36-108mm on a 35mm film camera) has a fast f/2.8 to f/4.5 maximum aperture and looks properly corrected. This lens is a good performer with fine sharpness and contrast characteristics. Its range makes it suited to general photography and it has a minimum focus of 0.6m in normal use and 0.2m in macro mode.