Fujifilm's 2006 5MP budget compact — 3x 38-114mm zoom, 1.8in LCD, xD card plus internal memory, AA power.
The Fujifilm FinePix A500 was an entry-level digital compact announced on 4 January 2006 at CES alongside the FinePix A400. It carried Fujifilm's budget A-series into the 5-megapixel era at a suggested list price of $179, with street prices quickly falling well below that.
It combined a 5.1-megapixel CCD with a 3x optical zoom equivalent to 38-114mm and a maximum aperture of f/3.3-8.5 depending on zoom position. A 1.8-inch LCD handled framing, sensitivity was selectable up to ISO 400, four scene modes covered common situations, and shutter speeds ran from two seconds to 1/1500. Alongside the xD-Picture Card slot it offered 12MB of internal memory, and it ran on standard AA batteries.
The A500 is a simple automatic snapshot camera whose larger screen and higher resolution make it the more practical daily shooter among the A-series compacts on this era's used market. The internal memory is a small but genuinely useful quirk, letting the camera take a handful of shots even without a card.
Used buyers should still budget for a discontinued xD-Picture Card for any real use beyond the 12MB internal store. AA power keeps running costs nil, but check the contacts for leakage. Confirm the lens extends without hesitation, the LCD is unmarked and ISO 400 files write correctly; these late-CCD A-series bodies are otherwise simple and have little to go wrong.