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Kyocera Finecam S3 3MP Digital Camera with 2x Optical Zoom

Kyocera Finecam S3 3MP Digital Camera with 2x Optical Zoom

List Price: $599.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You can't have it all!
Review: As I use digital cameras since they came out for business and private and thus buy at least one camera a year, I have seen a lot. My conclusion: If you want it all, buy a Sony! I have an S85, but the S70/S75 is nearly as good. The DSC-P1 would be my next choice, but Sony seems to have discontinued it. Strange.

If you want small, the S3 is as good as it gets. The picture quality is EXCELLENT and nearly matches the Sony. If you like to spend full days taking photographs, this one is not for you. The battery takes several hours to charge and there is no display to tell you when it is done! The rechargable battery lasts really for half an hour. But that will allow you to fill a 64MB stick with 30-60 high quality snapshots depending on the mode. The tiny flash and only a 2x zoom say it all.

This is the ideal camera to carry around ALWAYS, for which the Sony is too big. If you go on a photo trip buy a Sony S85. The Kyocera S3 is not perfect. But there has to be a tradeoff between size and features. You can't have it all!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Small camera with all pros and cons
Review: I bought the S3 two months ago and I'm still conviced that it was a right decision. The S3 has by far the best price/performance ratio. Perfect little thing, but due to the small size it is almost impossible to avoid the red eye effect when taking pictures with the flash function. You also need at least a 32 MB card and a second battery. The battery need 6 complete charge ups to work a 100 percent.

This is the sort of camera you just put in your jeans pocket.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not worth the trouble...
Review: I bought this camera and loved it at first but after a couple of months it began to have problems. The first problem was that it just stopped charging the battery. I sent it in for service and it now charges but freezes up all of the time, I have sent it in three more times at my expense and the problem has not been corrected. The last time they blamed it on the battery but I have two and even with a fully charged battery the problem persists. I for one will never buy another Kyocera product and would recommend that you consider a different brand also.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terrible ! Buy a Canon Ixus
Review: I have found that in dark clubs and bars it is impossible to get a picture that is not blurred. Should you choose to have a picture any sharper than Normal you will be waiting between 30 secs and 1 and half minutes between taking photos while this thing tries to write to the memory card and the video has no sound. I'm taking mine back as I only bought it because was supposed to be the same as a Canon Ixus but with more megapixels. But as I have to wait over a minute to see my mega pixeled images whats the point !

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Camera with Some Drawbacks
Review: I have had one of these camera for two years, now. After carrying it around on a daily (and I do mean daily) basis, and putting about 1,000 shots through it, I still like it.
Several reviews reference the battery life - it's short. This is the number one drawback. Get either an external battery pack or a spare battery. Note: Spare batteries can be found on eBay (sorry Amazon) for under $10 US before shipping.
Most reviews will site the rugged Stainless Steel case. The battery door, alas, is plastic. After the numerous battery changes I have performed, mine has finally broken. I am currently searching for a new door. If you are looking at purchasing a used model, carefully inspect the battery door for signs of stress cracks and fatigue.
While this camera is far from perfect, it is good for something to throw in a bag or a backpack and drag along when you want to take pictures, but do not want to lug around a camera bag.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Small high resolation camera with some faults
Review: I was taken in by the fact that this is very small camera and takes high quality photos. Those qualities are very useful as far as they go, but I have paid a price for them. I think the size technology has reached the point of diminishing returns. The convenience of being able to plop the thing in your shirt pocket must be balanced by the detriments you don't find out till you start using it.

1) The battery life is ridiculously short. Minutes after a charging the little battery icon starts shortening. There is no way to get through a full day of shooting.

2) The LCD monitor is really too small to do other than loosely frame photos. Eats up battery power like a shark.

3) The 15 second movie option ludicrous. The photo quality is so jaw droppingly bad people come from miles around to laugh at it. Whoever designed it must be hiding out in Argentina.

This camera is perfect if you are so jammed up you simply can't carry it in any other than your small purse of shirt picket and you don't need many shots at one sitting. The photo quality is excellent but the battery capacity is poor and the movie option is a hoot. I was not bothered by the relatively meager telephoto capacity. Don't expect any flexibility at all.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: You can't have it all ...
Review: I wrote a review before, but it seems to be lost.
Now that I have the S3 for some time more, it makes anyway sense to update it. The S3 is neat because of its size. What is not nice is that the camera is unusable in low light. The flash works at most 8 feet and tends to badly overexpose on a normal setting. Resetting the camera sensitivity for the flash is not acceptable. As the flash, as the battery suffers from the small size. Not very usable. Where the S3 was practically unusable, the Sony DSC-S85 made perfect pictures with and without flash.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Little in size but carries a big punch!
Review: It's small enough that you will actually carry it with you, and it has a high enough mega pixel that you can print 8X10. This is not a professional camera! It is a point and shoot. (darn good point and shoot though) If you are buying this for the 15 second AVI don't, go and buy a digital camcorder. There are two accessories that I would recommend; first a 64 MB or higher MMC, second an additional battery.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic, very small, high-resolution camera!
Review: Kyocera Finecam S3
This is a fantastic camera! It is a great high-resolution, point-and-shoot, digital camera for the amateur photographer in a package so small that you WILL take it with you. This is my first digital camera. I borrowed a Kodak 1.3M camera, and after countless hours of research was about to buy the Cannon S20 when I saw a reference to the Kyocera Finecam S3. After some investigation I found that Kyocera is the parent company for Yashica/Contax. I am familiar with Contax because my first camera is a Contax 139 which I bought 20 years ago and have loved ever since. Contax has the exclusive license to distribute world renowned Carl Zeiss T* lenses. I wanted a digital camera that took very good pictures and was small enough that I would be willing to carry with me. I have found over the years that quite often I will not have even a point-and-shoot camera with me because I don't want to carry it. This camera is so small (the length and width of a credit card) that it easily fits in the pocket of my jeans.
The optics on this camera are fantastic, it takes great pictures. I bought a 64MB memory card and always shoot in the high-resolution mode because it is easy to cut a picture down later on the computer. Other than buying a larger memory card, this camera comes COMPLETE with rechargeable battery, 120/240v charger, carrying case, USB adaptor and some OK software.
The movie mode is pretty wimpy. It looks a bit like a 1960's home movie and there is no sound. But then again this is NOT A MOVIE CAMERA. My mother enjoys the short-grainy movies of her grandchildren. The viewfinder is small, but you can zoom in 2x and pan around when viewing a picture.
The con's of the camera are: 1) The battery will only last about 32-64 pictures, then you have to recharge.
2) The memory card that comes with it is too small. Buy a bigger one.
3) The flash is only good for 8-10 feet (like most point-and-shoots).
4) There is no setting to make the LCD panel default to OFF.
5) It takes about 1.5 seconds to actually take a picture. Maybe most digitals are like this.
6) The movie mode is only 320 X 240 and there is no sound. But remember, this is a STILL camera, not a camcorder.
The pro's are:
1) Great still pictures including macro mode.
2) So small that you will take it with you.
3) Nicely designed and built. Easy to use controls.
4) No nose prints on the display because it is right beneath the viewfinder.

5) Rechargeable battery included (although is it proprietary).
6) Charger is 120-240V.
7) Has automatic lens cover to keep the lens clean.
8) Options to display more or less in the LCD panel.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best camera
Review: Perfect camera. Smallest in the world. Works perfect.


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