Fujifilm FinePix Z35

Fujifilm launched the FinePix Z35 in July 2009 as a fashion-first compact built for the youth market — five saturated color options with names like Deep Purple, Apple Green, and Marshmallow White, a two-tone sliding lens cover, and Blog Mode for direct web upload in-camera. The 10-megapixel CCD and Fujifilm's characteristic color science sat underneath the styling. A proper Z-series entry from the era when digicams were unambiguously fun objects.

THE LOOKS

Deep Purple is the right choice in this lineup — a rich, saturated violet with a two-tone finish where the sliding lens cover contrasts against the main body. From the back, the large 2.5-inch LCD centered on the rounded rear looks exactly like a television from a 2000s cartoon. The camera is 90 × 58 × 24mm, 125g, with the cover sitting flush when closed. Also available in Apple Green, True Blue, Quartz Black, and Marshmallow White.

THE SPECS

The 10-megapixel CCD delivers Fujifilm's characteristic warm, saturated color output at base ISO — the look that makes Z-series images from this era immediately recognizable. The 3× zoom covers 35–105mm equivalent, no IS, so best in good light. Blog Mode resizes images to web-ready format in-camera. VGA/30fps video. ISO 100–1600. SD/SDHC + 18MB internal. Flash reaches 3.1m. 90 × 58 × 24mm, 125g.

DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS

• Two-tone sliding lens cover in Deep Purple: the cover contrasts against the main body and disappears into it when open — a detail that made the Z35 look deliberate rather than generic.
• Blog Mode resizing images for web upload in-camera: before smartphones, this was the Z35's answer to frictionless sharing — resize, connect, upload, without touching a computer.
• Five colors with proper names: Deep Purple, Apple Green, True Blue, Quartz Black, Marshmallow White — Fujifilm treated color as seriously here as they did in the Z100fd.

THE VERDICT

The Z35 was honest about what it was: a fashion object for people who wanted their camera to match their aesthetic, with enough image quality underneath to make it worth using. The Deep Purple two-tone finish is one of the better-looking options in the Z-series lineup, the CCD output has Fujifilm's characteristic warmth, and the sliding cover gives it a tactile quality that basic compacts from the same era couldn't match.