Rating: 
Summary: An excellent value in a general purpose digital
Review: I've been watching the digital market waiting for interchangable lens digitals to fall below that magic thousand dollar price point for some time. Although it's probably going to happen soon, I realized I still needed a simple point and shoot digital with decent resolution that ddn't cost an arm and a leg- with casmera getting cheaper every few months I didn't want to spend too much on a camera I might be replacing in a year. Still, I wnated something with more than enough resolution for high-quality web pictures, and maybe even 4x6 prints, which meant around 1.3-1.5 megapixels.I also decided I wanted a simple, removable media with no moving parts, and some degree of manual exposure control. It looked like I couldn't find what I really wanted under $500- and then I found the Fuji. I've been shooting this marvelous package for a week now, and it's lived up to my expectations in every way. Focusing is fast and accurate, with an optional macro range for closeups. Color accuracy is first rate, contrast is superb, and the finished prints need very little, if any, correction. Battery life is the best of any of the digital cameras I've tried- turn off the LCD monitor and a st of 4 AAs will last 450 shots! That's a lot better than my Agfa, which ate a pair of AAs with every 16 shots. The supplied software includes a program to download and manage pictures directly and a copy of Adobe's Photo Deluxe, which is looking moe nad more like Photoshop all the time. It's a measure of the camera's human engineering that I used it for a full day before I opened up the instruction manual. It's just that intuitive. Turn it on, and shoot. That's it. The zoom control falls right where you need it, under your thumb, and the opticla finder zooms with the lens. No need to turn on the LCD unless you want to edit in the camera or check a precise closeup shot. (You can also zoom in, crop, and do other edits on the image while it's still in the camera). If you want to take greater control, there are menus that let you vary exposure, flash behavior and many other variables as well. The supplied 4MB SmartMedia card holds 12 high resolution, standard compression shots. You can increase or reduce image compression to get higher quality or more pictures, and you can switch to a low-resolution mode when you need to squeeze a lot of pictures onto one card. The standard compression mode gives such good images that I wouldn't hesitate using high compression for web photos in order to double the card's capacity. I'd suggest a few accessories that I found made the camera easier to use. First, another SmartMedia card. A 16MB card (available for around $30) rives you 49 high-res, standard compresion shots- enough for a whole vacation for some. Second, an accessory SmartMedia reader. While you can download directly from the camera to your computer, an accessory reader (around $50 or less) works much, much faster, and saves camera batteries, too. Last, a small well-padded case with a strap, and preferably with multiple compartments. I carry mine in a Domke bag that has room for the camera, a couple of extra media cards, a cell phone, pens, pencils, the instruction book (there's a lot this camera can do I haven't even explored yet) and a set or two of spare batteries. I'm thinking of adding yet another SmartMedia card, too; with a 32MB card I'd have a total of about 160 shots, or the equivalent of between 5 and 6 rolls of standard film. Not bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Good reliable camera
Review: I've had this camera for over 2 years now and haven't had the need to upgrade it. It takes clear pictures and the 3x optical zoom comes in handy. Memory is a steal nowadays. With a 64mb card, I can take ~150 fine pictures. I print photos at around 4" X 6" and they turn out fine. Perhaps I'll upgrade to a camera with a movie mode and tv out capability, but for a beginner that just wants a simple point-and-shoot or someone new to digital photography, I'd recommend the Finepix 1400.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera, great value!
Review: I've had this camera for over 3 months now and I love it! I have to admit I don't take pictures all that often. In fact I haven't had a camera of any sort for several years. One of the things I dislike about photography is dealing with developing film and sticking pictures in albums. If you are like me, then a digital camera may be just the thing for you. I shopped around for lower priced digital cameras including Sony, Nikon,and Kodak. I settled on the Fuji FinePix 1400 because of its excellent value and combination of features. Features of the FP 1400 that caught my eye were USB connectivity, small size camera overall, regular viewfinder (as well as LCD display), and a good sliding lens cover. The regular view finder will come in handy if the LCD screen is washed out in bright sunlight. Turning off the LCD also conserves batteries. Don't forget to buy an AC adapter. Fuji's AC adapter has a long chord which means you can even use it inside to take pictures without using up the batteries. I also use the AC adapter while viewing my photos on the LCD screen and while downloading to my computer. The AC adapter is well designed so that it can fit into a regular outlet without hogging both recepticals. The only thing that concerned me about the FP 1400 was the resolution. At just over 1 megapixel, it doesn't really measure up to the newer (and more expensive) cameras on the market. However, you must remember that the higher megapixel cameras create larger file sizes. Large file sizes can be inconvenient to email and store. Also, you will be able to fit fewer pictures on your memory card before having to upload or delete them. The pictures that I create at the higher pixel resolution with normal quality (normal is a medium setting below fine quality) are about 300k jpg images. I mainly view my pictures on my Trinitron 17" monitor and the pictures look beautiful. I don't have a high quality printer, but I have read that the FP 1400 will allow you to print excellent 5"x7" photos. The only thing I find lacking from the camera is a video out jack to connect camera directly to a television. While at home this is no problem since uploads via the USB cable to my computer just take seconds. However, I think if you are at someone eles's house and want to show everyone the pictures you just took, it would be nice to be able to view them on a TV and share them with your friends and family right away. This is my only complaint, and it a small one. One feature that came as a pleasant surprise was the macro setting. I have taken some excellent pictures of flowers in my garden by holding the camera just an inch or two from the subject. When using the macro feature, be sure to use the LCD viewfinder so that you get exactly what you expect to see in the frame. Overall if you are looking for a great camera at a great price and aren't concerned with keeping up with the Jones's as far as number of megapixels, then you can't go wrong with the FP 1400. One more important thing, I would buy at least a 32MB smart media card because the standard 4MB card will get filled up in a hurry.
Rating:
Summary: fuji finepix 1400
Review: Last fall I began to research digital cameras. I was taking a month long trip overseas, and paper box cameras no longer cut it. Digital with it's downloading capability; it's ability to "print" or erase without the costs of processing, and it's instant feedback in real time seemed the way to go. But I had many questions about "interfacing" both me and the computer! I am a Macintosh user, so I decided that a USB/Mac friendly camera was a necessity. It had to be small, (fit in the pocket), rugged (I am a downhill skier), weatherproof (I backpack when I travel), capable of 3 times zooming, and last of all, I am picky enough about photos that I wouldn't pay for a camera that didn't shoot really good pictures. As a point of reference, my favorite analogue camera of the past was my old Nikon. I compared online and in stores many cameras over a month long period. I was surprised by the quality of the pictures that could be had under $1000. I associated digital photography in the past with lack of resolution, and poor color. Things have really improved. In the end I deciced that there were two price points that provided the best bang for the buck. One was at about $700 (street) where the Sony camera with the Zeiss lens was superior in image quality to anything I've seen. The only drawback was the size of the camera, which was a little larger then what I could deal with skiing. The Toshiba at a little less money, was also very, very good. These cameras both have greater then 3000 pixel resolution. But below the $500, where camera's generally fall into the 1000 to 2000 resolution range, the best candidates seemed to be the small Canon, the Olympus and the Fuji. Of those three brands, the Fuji had the right combination of USB, AA battery power, three times zoom lens, small size, and ruggedness including a built in lens cover. Surprisingly, at 1.3 megapixel resolution, it also seemed to be better then anything I saw in the under $500 catagory. At $299, I worried a little bit that it was too good to be true...given the complex cirquitry and precision required for digital photography. On the other hand, it had received rave reviews from the online photo magazines. In the end i bought it. I took over 650 photos on my trip, from 10,000 feet to sea level, from inside the Pantheon in Rome to the back alleys of Naples. It is an absolutely reliable piece of equipment. If I made sparing use of the video screen, a good set of alkaline batteries lasted three or four days. The 4 meg smart media card is useless, but I bought a $50, 32 meg replacement at Costco, and that was media enough to shoot about 50, 1.3 megapixel shots or well over a 100 shots at JPEG resoloution. In the end two things I really appreciated were the 1.3 meg resolution -- because I could get so many more pictures on the media -- and the AA battery power supply because I could always find good batteries fast. When the smart media card was filled I was able to quickly and conveniently download through the USB port into my Mac Powerbook. I was continually impressed that I could preview or review my digital photos on a tiny video screen, under all kinds of weather and lighting conditions, and the Fuji 1400 was executing flawlessly, instantly telling me what I had framed or shot, and what I could expect in the final "print." And the final photos viewed on my Mac were terrific. A few more points. The ergonomics of the camera are homely and "instamatic" like in appearance, but it feels surprisingly good in the hand, and when you are on the road, you appreciate the turtle-like toughness of the outer shell. My two eleven-year-olds used it all the time. It got dropped, stashed, smudged, and slammed around in backpacks. It was rained on, snowed on, and eaten over. As far as I know, it was never fully submerged in water, but it spent a lot of time stuffed deep in pockets, jostling with maglites and coins and pocketools. The camera does have a few limits. The video screen really is about the size of a large postage stamp, and will "wash out" if viewed in direct sun. The flash is only good to about ten feet; there is no real time, read out on pictures remaining or battery life. There is some delay, at highest resolution, between snapping the picture and "printing" the pictures, so you can lose a few action shots with kids. If you go down to a lower resolution setting, this problem disappears. On the other hand, the menu is pretty intuitive. About half an hour is all you need in terms figuring everything out. In short, the Fuji 1400 a tough, thoughtful piece of engineering, and a powerful creative tool. I know a lot of people might underestimate the Fuji because of the price point, or the 1.3 megapixel resolution, or because, as I said, it just seemed to good to be true. It is true! I am one of the many people dazzled by the new world of digital photography, and at $299, this camera is a small miracle.
Rating:
Summary: Update to my last review
Review: Now that I've gotten some time to get acquainted with my camera, I have some other facts I feel are of mention. While the alkaline batteries the camera came with lasted less than 2 days, I have been running the camera on rechargeable NiMH batteries for at least 2 weeks now (with extensive LCD and flash usage). The paralax error in the viewfinder (what you see isn't exactly what you take) can be an annoyance, but only a minor one at that. Out of the hundreds of pictures I have taken (most of them indoors w/flash), only 2 have been bad (at fine quality 1280x960). In both cases, this was most likely due to dust in the air reflecting the flash producing small spots. Red-eye reduction works, but not consistently. The included Adobe Photodeluxe 3.0 helps here, but not under all circumstances. I bought a 32 meg card so that I can take up to 50 fine 1280x960 pictures at a time. Very good investment. I have used my camera to take pictures of my band, pictures of my car, my family, etc. I've even used a tripod and the self-timer to take an excellent picture of my family on Easter Sunday in front of a flower bush. The colors the Finepix produced were exact. The picture was sharp and clear, definitely a keeper. Although, the camera looks pretty funny sitting on a tripod, as it is rather small. I see no difference in picture quality between this and a traditional automatic film camera *at reasonable sizes (noticeable difference in 8x10s). The biggest disability of the camera, however, lies in the range of its flash (about 10-15 feet). My band is playing a concert soon. I've already arranged for someone to take pictures of us with a film SLR camera with a powerful flash. There's no way the Finepix would take good pictures from a distance in a dark setting such as a concert hall. But then again, how often do we take such pictures. Oh well, it's late and I'm bored, so hope this update helps
Rating:
Summary: Great Digital Camera for the Price and Quality
Review: The Fuji FinePix 1400 presents good quality photos at an affordable price. It has a self-timer, a zoom for the LCD when you are viewing pictures on the camera, and many other features. The ability to use both brand and non-brand name SmartMedia cards is a plus! Low-light distant pictures do not come out well. Natural lighting comes out very well. I have a this camera and would recommend it to someone who is interested in starting a digital camera experience.
Rating:
Summary: Good Value in this Entry-Level USB Digital Camera
Review: The Fujifilm FinePix 1400 Zoom digital still camera is a sleek and handsome device styled with a familiar "point-and-shoot camera" sort of design. Controls are reasonably well laid-out and fairly easy to handle, even for middle-aged hands and thick fingers like mine. For the record, this is my first digital camera. I regard myself as an "intermediate" amateur in 35mm film photography, and desktop computer operations. Though I have not yet made any prints from the digital images I have taken with this camera, I am very well satisfied with the color and sharpness in the daylight macro images taken in my rose garden as I view them on my iMac. The attempt to photograph my nephews' graduation from the bleachers of a high school gymnasium, however, revealed the limitations of the modest built-in flash, and the lens' ability to pick up "ghosts" of the overhead lighting. The camera can take pictures in your choice of three quality levels (basic, normal, or fine) and one of two pixel sizes (640x480 or 1280x960). A 320x240 file size can accomplished by editing a recorded image using the "resize" function. Indeed, any larger size can be reduced to a smaller size (to the minimum 320x240). This can save space on the SmartMedia card, or reduce transmission time over internet email, for instance. The camera comes with one 4MB SmartMedia card. According to the owners manual, the "standard" number of 1280x960 images which can be recorded in 4MB ranges from 6 "fine" to 12 "normal" to 23 "basic;" and the number of 640x480 images ranges from 23 "fine" to 44 "normal" to 69 "basic". The manual goes on to say that actual capacity "varies slightly depending on the type of subject." The highly recommended purchase of a 32MB card increases 1280x960 "standard" capacity to 50 "fine," 99 "normal," and 180 "basic" images; and 640x480 "standard" capacity to 180 "fine," 330 "normal," and 496 "basic" images. An indoor flash picture of a furnished room revealed some barely detectable "jaggies" along the edges of a lamp shade in the "normal" mode. Switching to "fine" eliminated these altogether. (BTW, in a normal-size room, the flash exposure was ample.) I must agree with the many reviewers who have written that the LCD display is a bit too small and not bright enough to see easily in full sunlight, but I have found that a "banker's visor" or "big bubba" billed cap can help. The optical viewfinder is another solution, and is especially useful because it actually "zooms" along with the lens in pseudo-SLR fashion. But unlike a true thru-the-lens viewer, the parallax error in this camera is significant. Because the "film" does not "see" exactly the same "frame" as the optical viewfinder, you might end up cutting off Aunt Mildred's head in that next photo if you don't take care. The camera manuals, though they still sound a bit "translated," are actually very informative, well organized, and well thought-out. The installation of the software drivers, and downloading over the USB interface to my iMac with MacOS 8.6 went without a hitch. Besides a larger SmartMedia card, other recommendable additions include one (or better yet, two) full sets of rechargeable batteries with recharger. And, if you plan to spend time using the in-camera editing features, consider getting the AC adapter, too. Playback functions include a nice nine-image LCD "thumbnail" display mode. And those with advanced interests might want to take advantage of the camera's ability to edit various Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) settings. My verdict on the Fujifilm FinePix 1400 Zoom is that it is a very good value as an entry-level digital camera capable (within reasonable limits) of capturing excellent images for computer viewing. In today's marketplace, there are but two or three that can directly compete with it for price and features - especially for owners of USB equipped computers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent camera!!
Review: This camera is super easy to use and operate. It took almost no time to get the drivers installed and is so easy to download pictures with the USB interface I almost felt like I was doing something wrong! Pictures are clear, and the features are useful enough to take good pictures in even the not-most-agreeable situations.
Rating:
Summary: Works For Me!
Review: This camera is the best camera that I've seen for the money. It has great resolution & is fairly simple to use. The camera will, however, suck the life out of your batteries, but if you don't use the monitor when taking all of your pictures, it's not quite as bad. If purchasing this camera, I would highly recommend buying some rechargable batteries & an AC adaptor.
Rating:
Summary: a great midrange camera
Review: this is a great little camera, slightly heavy but the picture quality, even on basic mode is good, and the interface is very good. it would have got five stars if not for i wanted an a/v output and also it eats batteries up like a donkey with strawberries. i bought the camera from the high street, from jessups where it was £160 bundled with an extra bag and 32MB smartmedia - and was great value for money. on fine mode you can get 50 images on 32MB and only 6 on the 4MB it comes with, so i strongly recommend getting more memory.
all in all a very good camera for a starting up/middle range camera.
| 
