Rating: Summary: A Great Product For the Price Review: I have had this camera for several months and really enjoy using it. The picture quality is excellent and the controls are easy to use. You will definitely want to heed the other reviewers' advice and get a card reader to speed up the transfer of the pictures to your hard drive. I use this camera indoors and out to take pictures of my orchids and have no complaints in either situation. If you are looking for a low-cost digital camera, give this one a try.
Rating: Summary: FUJI MX1200 Review: I like this camera a lot. It is very easy to use takes great pictures. After using it for about three months, I think I should have bought a better camera. I only say that because I would have liked to have an optical zoon lens rather than digital. I have been in situations where I would have liked to zoom in but was limited by the digital zoom. Digital zoom also reduces the quality of the picture. This camera is a great buy for the money. I have seen it on the web for as low as $179. As a first camera and for a novice, it is an excellent choice.
Rating: Summary: Owned it for 6 month now - good for the money, minor issues Review: I purchased the Fuji MX-1200 as my first digital camera about three months ago and am more than happy with it. It's compact, very easy to use and takes good quality pictures. Sure, there are other models out there with more bells and whistles, but for this price range, this is an excellent choice. It doesn't come with an instruction manual for the Picture Shuttle and editing software (well, mine didn't arrive with any software manual), but it was easy to figure out and I had my second batch of pictures loaded, cropped and sent out in emails within 30 minutes. As others here have pointed out, it IS a good idea to purchase a USB Flash Memory Reader for transfering the photos from camera to hard drive (although I didn't find the serial port download time as incredibly slow as I thought it would be). Two or three sets of batteries or better yet, rechargable batteries, are a MUST. Every digital camera (not just this one) eats them quickly if you use the LCD display constantly. Also a must...a SmartMedia card. The MX-1200 comes with only a 4meg, which only allows taking 12 pictures on the lowest setting. With a 16meg card, you can hold over 60 pictures.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Camera Review: I purchased the Fuji MX-1200 as my first digital camera about three months ago and am more than happy with it. It's compact, very easy to use and takes good quality pictures. Sure, there are other models out there with more bells and whistles, but for this price range, this is an excellent choice. It doesn't come with an instruction manual for the Picture Shuttle and editing software (well, mine didn't arrive with any software manual), but it was easy to figure out and I had my second batch of pictures loaded, cropped and sent out in emails within 30 minutes. As others here have pointed out, it IS a good idea to purchase a USB Flash Memory Reader for transfering the photos from camera to hard drive (although I didn't find the serial port download time as incredibly slow as I thought it would be). Two or three sets of batteries or better yet, rechargable batteries, are a MUST. Every digital camera (not just this one) eats them quickly if you use the LCD display constantly. Also a must...a SmartMedia card. The MX-1200 comes with only a 4meg, which only allows taking 12 pictures on the lowest setting. With a 16meg card, you can hold over 60 pictures.
Rating: Summary: Slow transfers, slow picture-taking, and no space Review: I've been using my Fujifilm for about 3 months now, and the bad things are starting to outweigh the good as I'm seeing the vast array of digital cameras on the market. I didn't have much time to choose between cameras when I bought this one, but it looked like a good deal. Looks can be deceiving though. I'm not saying it's a bad camera, and it may turn out to be excellent... for a beginner. First of all, the camera comes with a serial cable. No matter how much juice you try to pump through the cable, you only wind up getting about 1 picture per minute transfer time. That might be ok if you download your pictures once a day, but most people won't. Secondly, the picture-taking is much too slow if you're trying to capture something within a small time frame. There's a slight lag when pressing the button, about 1/2 to 1 second, which might sound unimportant in text, but it seems like a lot more when you're the one taking the picture. Not to mention the camera doesn't actually "snap" until you fully release the button, unlike most cameras usually snapping when you press the button. This makes it EXTREMELY hard to explain to someone if you want someone else to take a picture for you, like when you're on vacation. Besides the lag in the initial snap, you have to wait a good 6-7 seconds before you can take another picture. That's just unacceptable if you're trying to take a picture of something passing and you took the picture just a second too soon and want to get another try. There's no second chances. And lastly, the problem of storage. The Fujifilm comes with a 4 meg memory capacity. This only holds 13 pictures when the camera is set normally. If you want to get any decent space out of it, you'd have to purchase the 32 meg storage card, which costs 110 bucks. By this time, you've (I've) spent over 300 dollars and have a camera that's not as good as other 300+ dollar cameras. In summary, the only way I would recommend this camera is if a) You have plenty of time on your hands to download pictures b) You are taking pictures of lifeless objects c) You plan on downloading your pictures very often Take it for what it's worth.
Rating: Summary: Amazing bargain Review: I've owned a Fuji MX-1200 for about 8 months, it is the third digital camera I've purchased over the years. Despite its fixed-focus lens (or perhaps because of the simplicity of it!), I've captured some great candid moments with it. It is easy to use, has almost no lag in capturing images, and uses the relatively inexpensive and quickly swappable SmartMedia cards. It's also the first digital camera I've owned built tough enough for me to be willing to carry around shoved in a pocket. The macro mode is very useful for "capturing" little bits of nature. The flash works well, though, like any camera-mounted flash, "red eye" is a problem only partly solved. The 1280 X 960 pixel image size is just right for computer monitor screen-filling display and adequate snapshot-sized printouts. I do recommend investing in a USB-connected SmartMedia card reader, though. In addition to the greater downloading speed, you can also access the images directly from any (Windows 98 in my case) graphics applications instead of having to transfer via the Fuji interface software. Downloading images with the serial interface built into the camera itself is a dreadfully slow process, and the only reason I gave this camera only 4 stars. I'm currently researching the digital cameras that have arrived since I bought the MX-1200, to help a family member who is in the market for one. Although the pixel counts are slowly creeping up with newer models, the value and utility have not.
Rating: Summary: Inexpensive model that delivers the goods Review: This camera is inexpensive (and a bit outdated at this point) but still manages to take great pictures. Sure, you could spend a lot more for a camera that is a lot more high-tech, but if you just want a camera to learn on and experiment with or just take fun family snaps, then this camera would be great. My husband actually won a photo contest with a 5x7 photo taken on this camera (printed on an HP printer). Pros: low cost, easy to use, easy to figure out how to take good photos, takes good enough quality photos to replace your film camera (if you're ready for that... I'm not quite there). Cons: memory card pretty small if you want to take high quality pics (We got a 64MB memory card--available on costco.com--so we could take many pictures at high quality settings: about 100 pictures on the highest quality settings.), slow upload to your computer using serial cable (we got a SmartMedia drive that hooks up to our USB port and is lightning quick), lower picture quality capability than many (more expensive) cameras on the market. These days, most digital cameras really aren't that horrible , and this camera is lightyears better than the ($) cameras that were out 4 years ago. This camera would be great for someone who wants a camera for casual use, or for pictures for their website, or even regular pictures that won't be blown up much larger than 5x7. We take pictures with abandon now, not worrying about how much film we have left, not worrying if a shot is going to be a throw-away (you can delete it right on the camera, anyway), and we have gotten some truly beautiful and priceless shots just using this camera. If you're not a professional photographer, why spend thousands when you can get this camera at a great price?
Rating: Summary: Inexpensive model that delivers the goods Review: This camera is inexpensive (and a bit outdated at this point) but still manages to take great pictures. Sure, you could spend a lot more for a camera that is a lot more high-tech, but if you just want a camera to learn on and experiment with or just take fun family snaps, then this camera would be great. My husband actually won a photo contest with a 5x7 photo taken on this camera (printed on an HP printer). Pros: low cost, easy to use, easy to figure out how to take good photos, takes good enough quality photos to replace your film camera (if you're ready for that... I'm not quite there). Cons: memory card pretty small if you want to take high quality pics (We got a 64MB memory card--available on costco.com--so we could take many pictures at high quality settings: about 100 pictures on the highest quality settings.), slow upload to your computer using serial cable (we got a SmartMedia drive that hooks up to our USB port and is lightning quick), lower picture quality capability than many (more expensive) cameras on the market. These days, most digital cameras really aren't that horrible , and this camera is lightyears better than the ($) cameras that were out 4 years ago. This camera would be great for someone who wants a camera for casual use, or for pictures for their website, or even regular pictures that won't be blown up much larger than 5x7. We take pictures with abandon now, not worrying about how much film we have left, not worrying if a shot is going to be a throw-away (you can delete it right on the camera, anyway), and we have gotten some truly beautiful and priceless shots just using this camera. If you're not a professional photographer, why spend thousands when you can get this camera at a great price?
Rating: Summary: Great entry camera, Great portability! Review: This is my second digital camera. The first being a much more expensive, larger SLR-type camera. Frankly, I ended up getting rid of the expensive camera and keeping the Fuji. It's small, takes great photos, is easy on batteries and easy to use. The controls are easy to use and not intimidating for beginners. The 1.3 megapix resolution is very good and better than most need for the majority of situations. This camera is so compact that I find myself taking it more places, more often. Definitely recommend a USB Smartmedia card reader to speed up transfers to the computer. I recommend NiMH batteries (2 sets of 4) and a NiMH battery charger.
Rating: Summary: A great amateur camera Review: We've owned this camera for nine months and have been very satisfied. It takes great clear pictures both indoors and out. It's compact size makes it very portable. We've used it for family photos, school projects, web postings and even an occasional portrait. Other reviewers are right about the slow download times with the serial port. But the camera should not be faulted for that because it is true for all cameras with serial connections. We got a USB card reader as a rebate item with the purchase. It has made all the difference in the world. Since most cameras with similar features and resolution are selling for 350+ you are still better off buying this camera with a USB card reader. Wealso suggest you purchase a set of recargeable NiCa batteries--they keep their charge well and work great. Also don't buy a 16 or 32 Meg card, buy two or more 8 Meg. It's easier to keep your pictures straight and you can keep one by the computer while you are working and the other one with the camera.
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