Average

This camera is good value.. probably great for somebody who wants to use it for holiday snaps and random point and click moments.

However, if you want good quality photos go for something else. I find that 9 times out of 10 the picture comes out grainy/slightly fuzzy, especially if you use the camera without the flash. I think every single picture I've ever taken in poor light using the flash has come out with poor image quality.

So if you're a budding young photographer, amature (but ambitious) photographer, or you just want to take timeless photos with great quality then go for a different camera.

A pleasure to use...

I hope this review doesn't come too late, as this camera is technically obsolete by now...

When I came to choose a digital camera, I gave a deal of thought about what I would miss in my old SLR. I concluded that one thing would be those long lens shots, with their dramatic perspective, so I looked for a camera with at least a 6x zoom (200mm 35mm equivalent), which immediately reduced the choice to about two, and I settled on the Fuji 6900. And I've been extremely pleased with it. I've had it for about 4 months, and taken 1,000's of pictures.

The first thing you notice about this camera is that while it might look a bit big and clunky in pictures, in reality it isn't at all. The second thing is the quality of construction and how comfortably it fits in the hand. It looks and feels beautiful. Every time I use it, I enjoy it and look forward to it.

OK, so now you know I like this camera. What of the gripes?

The EVF (electronic view finder) isn't as good as an optical one. The mediocre resolution sometimes makes it difficult to see if the shot is accurately focussed. There is however a neat feature that magnifies the central portion of the shot to provide greater accuracy. But the benefits of the EVF (info display, TTL view etc) far outweigh its drawbacks , so I wouldn't change it.

I miss the remote control one of my SLRs has, and that other digitals have. Invaluable for taking pictures where the camera can be closer to the subject that you can. Like all features, you have to decide if it is important for you.

An external charger is not in my view a necessity, but a second battery is. If you are well organized and recharge flat batteries in the camera overnight, then you can survive without this extra charger.

Everyone gripes about the flap over the connections sockets on the side of the camera - well, yes, it could be better placed, but really it's no big deal. If that's the biggest criticism people can find, then congratulations Fuji!

Microdrives: The 6900 doesn't support them, but I'd concluded that this wasn't something I needed. Two 128MB Smart Media cards easily lasted me two weeks on holiday - as long as you are prepared to edit out the rubbish regularly - something you're are going to do with a digital camera anyway (take lots of pictures, trash lots of pictures). Microdrives tend to be power-hungry. Also, there's an element of"all your eggs in one basket", and I'd rather trust my precious pictures to the simplest, most robust technology anyway. Some people also gripe about the 16MB card that is supplied as standard. Agreed, it's a joke, but all manufacturers do the same in providing the bare mimimum, so Fuji are no different. Just accept it and go out and buy more capacity.

Bottom line: You have to realize that all cameras have their imperfections. You just have to decide if the shortcomings are critical to you, and would they put you off buying it. For me, there are no critical shortcomings with the 6900 and I have absolutely no regrets buying this camera. I still believe it was the best purchase I could have made with the money I had.

battery life if terrible

Don't get me wrong, i really loved my little Nikon camera at first. i have had it say 4 years and I don't know if it's just because it's old or if it's the camera but after about 2 years the silly thing will only take about 2 picutres before it shows that i need to put new batteries in it. it is also VERY slow to recover from taking a picture. I used to LOVE This camera but now i am replacing it.

Fuji S304

I have owned one of these cameras for two years and have been delighted with its capabilities. Buy 2600mah NI-MH batteries & a 128mb card & you will be taking photos all day. I have amazed myself by winning a number of photography awards since buying this camera. The high optical zoom lets you get in close and the manual options let you deal with most light conditions. The only thing I can fault it on is the auto focus isn't reliable in poor light conditions. Great value for someone wanting a little more than holiday snaps!

mixed news really

Bit dissapointed with this camera.
Ok for taking static shots but pretty useless for taking action shots as it is too slow to react, by the time it does the action has moved on.
Also the display is useless in daylight and when set to auto it gets confused by reflections too easily, and fails to display what is plainly visible by eye !
Think carefully before you spend cash on this camera as an SLR is so much better.

olympus camera

I found this camera to be quite bulky. The camera speed is very slow and by the time the picture has been taken, its too late. The lighting on the camera is ok. Although in bright light, the background of the picture comes out too bright. Also, it takes XD card, which are not widely used in computers and in some printers. A usb lead needs to be used to upload pictures. I will be selling this camera as soon as i can.

Not - not the best...

Well I got this camera after selling my Sony digicam and digital camcorder (cos I didn't really use them enough)...

All in all it's a good buy...
I like...
-- HUGE screen on the back - twice the size of ANY other and the menu is easy to use
-- Quite small - fits in pocket with little trouble...
-- The film with sound is excellent - VERY impressed with this.
-- Picture quality is good
-- Style is really cool too
-- The battery it comes with lasts for a long time - unlike my Sony Camera where the battery lasted for about 10mins. and you get a 16mb card - unlike the Song 4mb
-- acts a webcam and flash is cool

Dislikes...
-- Lack of features - unlike my sony camera you cannot have B+W, Sepia, -ve etc. - however - you can change these on the computer so...
-- Cannot choose size of image (but can choose megapixel from 0.3 - upto 6fine megapixels)
-- It is hard to get pictures in focus - this really is annoying as the autofocus won't focus unless a flash is taken - maybe other digicams are like this too - but it is still annoying.

Some people have said the cradle isn't stable - I've had no worries.

All in all good for your money - lack of features and the focus problem have annoyed me... but I wouldn't take it back

OK but not flawless

I bought this camera 6 months ago and all in all it has been quite a good camera with all the pluses being stated in the other reviews. But here are some flaws that i unfortunately came across:

- Battery life: This camera EATS batteries. It uses to power from the USB and relies entirely on the batteries for both upload and webcam. I have been using recharable batteries but even these it uses up within about 10 minutes.

- Picture quality: Some of the photos i have taken with this are wonderful, but sometimes if you ever so slightly move when taking a photo, the entire photo completely blurs. This is probably due to the camera taking a second or two to actually take the photo.

Besides that, its OK, but then the above two points are really what make the camera. I'm currently looking for a new camera.

Under-rated, inexpensive, wonderful little camera.

This camera will do almost anything you ask of it. Picture quality is excellent, even when the shots are blown up to A4 size (quite an achievement for a camera with only 3.2mpx).
Like all digital cameras it eats batteries so it is best to use rechargeables. The menu system is simple and effective as being male i didn't bother reading the instruction manual.
The software included is also easy to use and install.
I would rate it above the olympus range simply because for the same money you get a larger zoom, internal memory AND an sd/mmc expansion slot, and a better looking casing.

Incredibly Impressive

I have used 35mm and APS cameras before and always found them a compromise of sorts (camera size or picure quality).
This camera is small enough to fit in my DJ pocket and produces good enough quality photos to beat many 35mm cameras.

I showed it to a professional photographer recently who has a digital camera costing ~£2,500 and he was *very* impressed - almost to the point of being envious!

The only thing I have done is upgrade from the 8Mb flash that came with it to a 64Mb one - able to hold about 40 *very* high quality photos, or nearly 1,000 low quality ones.

The only thing stopping me putting a 5 star rating is not so much the battery life, which is about what I would expect, but the cost of a spare battery. The cheapest I have been quoted is £45.

Even so, I would strongly recommend this camera.

Good, but not great . The Fuji FinePix S602Z

Pros of Fuji S602Z...

1. Quality of prints superb on higher quality (6M Fine, and above) setting for brilliant upto A4 print size,I have some magic family, wildlife and landscape pictures, but as usual do not try sending via web, eats up megabytes of storage. Just resize down with Works XP.
2. Quality of construction of camera fantastic, been dropped several times, once on concrete when wrist strap broke, but still 100% functioning. Extended lens has taken couple of side swipes that required"manual" re-aligning, but all still in full working order..impressive.
3. Menu took some getting used too as Auto mode is not all seeing all doing. Spend an evening or two messing around with it
4. Do get a 1 GB Compact Flash memory its worth the expenditure and it will store more pictures than you can be shake a stick at or be bothered to download. You will eat any Smart Media cards capacity on Highest settings.
5. Having dual storage option is great for keeping one for pictures (Compact Flash) and one for a quick movie clip ( Smart Media). Saves carting loads of little boxes around on hols. menu change over is a bit fiddly, but you do get used to it.
6. Chunky, easy to use, pro feel and looks the business, especially when all tourists pull out their trendy compacts . They all come to you for advice on framing and that sun-set shot.
I cheat occasionally and keep a little Konica Revio compact for times when I don't want to lug the Fuji around anyway, or space is a premium.
7. Macro/close up facility excellent for those posy, arty type pictures of flowers and things... shame zoom gets precluded.
8. Movie clips good standard and time only limited by memory size. ( actually shows we all take far too long a shot on a Video camera, so good for video discipline and audience boredom levels). Again, shame no zoom on video mode..

Cons of Fuji S602Z

1. Getting on a bit in terms of latest Camera generation. Clunky design, and Menu feature operation. Aperture priority and Manual mode just frustrated me for ages till I spent entire evening, and two sets of Duracells playing around.
2.Absolutely useless for sport action pictures, takes an age to take picture. Subject long gone by time it makes it mind up. Cannot even see why it has this mode??? Panning and scanning is pure guesswork, for you techy's out there.( if you can work it please let me know..)
3. Electronic viewfinder chronically pathetic for night shots and low light. To be fair this is common to any"SLR" design Digital camera.You just have to point and guess....so next camera will be a Digital SLR for a what you see is what you want to take..!#
4. Load time is slow by comparison to newer cameras, so using multi shot mode takes some organising, and I still miss out on the one shot i was looking for as the Fuji is still loading the images as I want to re-shoot, same in video mode.. The digital age is not as instant as we are lead to believe...!!
5. Do get a couple of sets of rechargeable AA size batteries and a rapid charger. It eats normal AA batteries, even Duracells, especially if you use the decent LED screen.

On balance the Fuji has proved to be a good intermediate camera on the way up the digital ladder, with some great results for a snapper, that make me look better than really I am at taking good (!!?) pictures. Just frustrating that shortcomings of Digital cameras showed up so easily.

Well built, but expensive

I bought my G1 6 months ago and am still discovering the joys of digital photography with a high end camera like this. I tripped over recently and the camera sustained a bounce on the pavement with no ill effects except for a tiny dent, it is built to last. There is also a great online community of G1 fans discussing the camera, tips and tricks, essential for someone like me coming from the old days of a manual SLR.

It's still not cheap though considering it has been on the market for a while and its looks are a bit retro, but all in all, still one of the best digicams out there... Unless you can afford a D30 :)

brilliant

well worth getting,i did a brill folder of my prints on the computer of euro disney and is very good quality,i recomend this one to all

Kodak DX 3900

The camera is excellent,there are two comments I would make:-
1)On initial charging of the battery stictly adhere to the instructions.Kodak do in fact have a Technical Information Bulletin (TIB 4324) on their website in addition to that provided on the cd-rom which comes with the camera.
2)I would not advise that a novice digital camera purchaser buy one of these at the airport on the way to the trip of a lifetime.You need a PC to be able to load the cd-rom with the manual on it in order to use the camera with confidence.

Very good starter camera

I have found the Olympus C350 a great camera for the price offered. Itdoes everything I need it to very well and and at good quality. Thebundled sofware is very fast and easy to use with some nice features. Theonly problem is that it eats the batteries up very quickly, i recomend therecharger and batteries for about £15, which in a 2hour charge will lastabout a day.
my friend has a similar quality sony camera, i think theolympus is far better.