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Fujifilm FinePix 3800 3MP Digital Camera w/ 6x Optical Zoom

Fujifilm FinePix 3800 3MP Digital Camera w/ 6x Optical Zoom

List Price: $499.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Excellent deal--Well worth the price!!!!
Review: I bought this camera brand new at the store last week and was facinated by its sleek body design. I liked the fact that it is slightly bulkier than other digital cameras. The salesman told me that although it has 3.2 mp, you are able to print at 6 megapixels. After printing some pictures, I found out that if you enlarge the pictures to "poster" size the quality doesn't degrade. Luckily I have a photo printer. Like you, I read through all the reviews before finally deciding on a product. I don't know why there are people out there that give this camera a negative review. Of course there are pros and cons to any electronics product you buy so to help you out I have included some that I have experienced myself.

Pros:

- Extremely user-friendly!
- Both the LCD display and the viewfinder are in color.
- The zoom feature is decent.
- It has a pop-up flash and the brightness can be adjusted.
- As far as digital cameras go, this one does not consume batteries as bad as other ones.
- You can add date-stamp to your printed pictures
- Set at 0.3 Megapixels you can take up to 100 pictures with just your 16 MB memory card. (Can only handle 18 pics at its megapixel maximum-- But really.. who wants to print poster-size pictures of their vacations unless you happen to be a paparazzi?

Cons:

- The video is grainy, and needs to be utilized in well lit areas in order to be viewed better.
- The software it comes with is not all gravy but it is somewhat helpful. That's it.

If I weighed the good against the bad of this camera, then i would say that I made a wise decision in choosing this model.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent camera and an exceptional value
Review: I've been using the Fuji Finepix 3800 for 10 days and I am extremely pleased with all aspects of this camera. Back in July, I had read an excellent magazine review of the Finepix 2800, and, after further research (including user reviews on Amazon.com), I had almost decided to purchase it. However, I was a little reluctant to buy a 2-megapixel camera, as consumer cameras were already getting to 4 megapixels. I decided to wait, hoping Fuji would update this model. A few days later they announced the 3800, and six weeks later I ordered mine....

In addition to increasing the resolution to 3 megapixels, Fuji has added several features that give you more picture-taking control, such as an aperture priority mode, sharpness adjustment, flash intensity, exposure adjustment, and several white balance options. Also new is the media card type. It's called xD Picture Card, and it's quite small, about the size of a postage stamp. The camera includes one 16 MB xD card, which holds about 26 pictures at the setting I use most (3 MP / normal). The other settings are 3 MP / fine (12 pictures), 2 MP (39), and 1 MP (49). You really need a larger capacity card if you're going to be away from your computer for any length of time, such as a vacation. (I plan to get a 128 MB xD card... as soon as they are available.)

The camera comes with a USB cable and various PC/Mac software applications for managing your photos. I haven't used their software; I have an iMac with iPhoto (free) for photo management (and a whole lot more) and PixelNhance (free) for photo editing. After taking a few pictures, I connected the cable to the camera and the iMac, and turned on the camera. iPhoto started up; I clicked one button and my pictures were downloaded. It was literally seconds from connecting cables to viewing my pictures. No configuration of software nor drivers nor anything else was required (thanks, Apple). The first thing I noticed was the picture quality. It is superb. The colors, the detail, everything, is quite amazing.

Taking pictures is easy, once you get used to the quirks of digital photography. Press the shutter release halfway and the camera focuses (after a brief image freeze). Keeping the button down, you can reframe the picture if necessary. Press down all the way to take the picture. There is a momentary delay while the picture is stored into memory, and then your picture is shown for about 2 seconds. This lets you know if you got the picture you wanted without having to change the camera mode to view your pictures. The 6x optical zoom (equivalent to a 200 mm lens on a 35 mm camera) was a big selling point for me. I like being able to quickly frame a picture, especially from a fair distance.

The electronic viewfinder (EVF) takes a little getting used to (compared to an SLR). I only use it when I have to, such as in bright sunlight. Otherwise I use the small LCD screen on the back of the camera. If you've read reviews of the 2800, you know that low light situations can be a problem for this camera. Not having used the 2800, I can't say whether Fuji has made improvements in this area for the 3800. However, it is still true that if there's not enough light, you won't see anything in the EVF or LCD. You can still take pictures in low light; you just have to set it for the widest angle, aim as best you can, and then check the result. If you missed the subject, re-aim and try again. You can always crop the picture when you get it on your computer. This camera, by the way, takes excellent pictures with the built-in flash, even when there's little or no other light.

The 3800 has a movie mode which allows you take a minute of 320x240 pixel video (or 3 minutes of 160x120) at 10 frames per second. This works great for those moments when you want a quick video but don't have the video camera. You can view the video on the camera, just like you view photos. And it's easy to download and view on your computer.

Photos stored on the camera can be easily viewed and deleted if you don't want them. (You can also mark photos as "protected" to prevent accidental deletion.) The buttons on the camera back are laid out well and easy to use. The menus for changing the camera settings and viewing/deleting photos are intuitive and easy to learn.

Like most digital cameras, this one goes through batteries very quickly. The four AA batteries included won't last very long. Better to invest in a good charger for AA NiMH batteries (the Mahi MH-C240F works great).

Also included is an adapter for optional zoom or wide angle lenses. The manual actually recommends leaving the adapter on the camera at all times (presumably to protect the telescoping lens housing) though you never see any photos of this camera with the adapter on it. I don't use the adapter because the lens cap doesn't fit on it very well (pops off too easily). The lens cap works fine on the camera without the adapter.

The bottom line: Fuji took an excellent, widely praised, highly regarded camera and made it better. I took a chance and bought this camera before all the reviews were in, just based on reviews of the 2800 and the additional features announced by Fuji. I have not been disappointed in the least.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera, Good Price
Review: This is my second digital camera, and it is by far the best I have ever used. The 6x optical zoom is nothing short of incredible, and the ability to work with XP is great. Outdoors in decent daylight, this camera takes beautiful, colorful pictures. I have two very small complaints. One is that if there is not much light outdoors or indoors, the video mode will not work too well. The other is that there is no sound on this camera, which doesn't matter too much. Besides these tiny problems, this is an incredible camera at a decent price. (Also, extra memory will help to store pictures and videos a lot.)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Very disappointed...
Review: I bought this camera about a week ago, and will be returning mine as soon as the stores open tomorrow. My old digital camera is a Kodak (1 megapixel). The Kodak's indoor pictures are much better than the Fuji. The auto flash indoor pictures I took with the Fuji came out looking fuzzy about 65% of the time. I kept thinking that I must be doing something wrong which is why I kept the camera for a week. I read the manual backwards and forwards, I tried all the possible settings...but the end result was fuzzy indoor pictures (outdoor pictures looked fine). The camera salesman at Best Buy tried to talk me out of buying the Fuji 3800. He told me that for a new camera he's never seen so many returned. I thought maybe he was just trying to get me to buy a more expensive camera (or something that wasn't selling well). Now I think he was just telling me the truth.

The software isn't that great either. It takes up quite a bit of disk space and is not very user friendly.

I'm not sure what camera I'll buy now. I'm a little gun shy after purchasing the Fuji 3800 (I thought I'd done my research). I've heard good things about Olympus...maybe that's the camera I'll purchase.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A well worth digital camera
Review: This is my first digital camera and I bought it after talking to a lot of people and reading online comments. I am not disappointed. It performs really good. Pictures are sharp, high resolution. It takes good photos in almost every condition. You may not take good shots with it at first use, but when you learn to control your hand and know how to adjust in different lights, then you are on it. Still I wouldn't say this is a professional camera; use it for your vacation, home or family use. The battery consumption is reasonable. My only thing against it is the size. You need to carry it in hand or on your shoulder all the time which may be annoying sometimes (it doesn't fit in pocket). But that's the price you pay for a moving lens and great zoom. Also you should learn how to use flash settings in the dark with this camera, or your photos may turn out dim.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: After a couple of years...still a great camera!
Review: I bought this camera a year or two ago. I still love it. The batteries last a long time with flash, and longer without. With a 128mb XD card, I can take about 100 pics in the highest res, and best compression. I have printed pics out as 8x10s, and they look great, and would probably still look great printed larger. It does ALMOST everything I want to do. The only limitations I have found are when taking pics in subdued lighting, the image in the finder is too dark, and hard to compose the photo; the image looks great when actually taken though. Another thing is that when taking action (e.g. sports) shots indoors, without a flash, the pics tend to be motion-blurred. Another minor annoyance is that it seems to have a minor draw on the batteries when not in use, so that if you have put the camera down for a couple months, and then pull it out, the batteries are likely to be dead, or close to dead. Overall, it is a great camera if you can live within these minor limitations.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible Digital Camera
Review: The camera I bought from this seller had a button broken on it and two seconds after I turned on the camera the camera turned off and it now smells like it's burnt. Something might have happened through the shipping proccess, but I talked to the seller and he is not working with me to refund the product.

I'll never buy another camera from here again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Camera
Review: I bought this camera approximately 18 months ago and have been totally and completely satisified with its performance and picture quality. This is my first digital camera. When I was looking to dive into the digital world, I wanted a camera that would give me all of the features my SLR camera had (zoom, picture quality, etc.). I absolutely cannot say enough good things about my Fuji. It takes great pictures with little or no effort on my part. The battery life is long; consumption is at a minimum. I am able to take close to 100 pictures before I need to change batteries. I keep two sets of rechargables. One in the camera and one fully charged in the bag. So all I have to do is switch them out when necessary. I immediately bought additional XD cards. With the 128mb card, at normal resolution, you can store just over 200 pictures. I love to take pictures... My idea is take 10 pics and you'll probably get at least one really good one. My husband used to cringe at the sound of each picture, thinking about costly film developing. Now, he doesn't care. I take 10 pics, and delete nine. Only print out the one that is good. :-) The long and short of it is, I love this camera. It is a good purchase and well worth the money if you are looking to transition over from film to digital without giving up any features.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very good camera for outdoor use
Review: I have this camera for 6 month now and never regreted I got it.
Optics is really good, zoom works great. Has some problems focusing in low light but I just point and shoot with a flash and in 80% of cases get a good picture. Never needed more resolution as well.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Will replace your 35 mm film camera
Review: This is my second digital. This is by far the best. This takes pictures that look like a 35 mm. It is easy on batteries. In two months with moderate use, I have replaced the batteries only once. After seeing the quality of prints, I have finally sold my 35 mm which I loved dearly. The only downside is that the display is all digital. Through the viewfinder it is digital. Otherwise, easy to use and understand and works with XP. Love it!


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