Fujifilm's UK retail special — 2.1MP SuperCCD with 4MP output, 3x zoom, Dixons exclusive, 2003
The FinePix A405 was a UK retail-exclusive digital compact that Fujifilm supplied to the Dixons, Currys and PC World store group from the autumn of 2003, launching at £199 and heavily discounted to £99 in the run-up to Christmas that year. It followed the similar A403 as a store-special derivative of Fujifilm's regular A-series line.
Under the skin it is essentially a FinePix A205S with the standard 2-megapixel CCD swapped for a 2.1-megapixel SuperCCD, which interpolates in-camera to a maximum 4-megapixel output. Unlike the fixed-lens A403 it carries a genuine Fujinon 3x optical zoom. Operation is simple point-and-shoot with selectable resolution and white balance, storage is xD-Picture Card, and power comes from AA batteries.
Today the A405 is mostly a curiosity for collectors of early-2000s digicams and UK retail-variant oddities. Period and retrospective reviews note that its colour rendition falls short of Fujifilm's dedicated SuperCCD models — the processing was not fully tuned to the sensor — though close-up work and lower-resolution output can produce pleasing results.
Buy used only at pocket-money prices. The interpolated 4MP setting flatters the spec sheet, so judge image quality at lower resolutions. As with all xD-based FinePix compacts, a bundled card matters because the format is discontinued. Check the zoom extends cleanly, the AA compartment is corrosion-free and the flash still charges.