Great Digital Camera- Never Buy Polaroid Film Again! ;-)

Author's Rating:

Pros: great pictures, 3X optical zoom, sturdy, normal battery life, usb, great price

Cons: 4mb storage card

The Bottom Line: 
Excellent camera. I am new to digital photography and this camera made it a snap. Pictures are crisp and it is easy to use, great price to boot!

Author's Review
I have always been interested in photography but I was disenchanted with the idea of always running out to a photo lab to pay someone else to develop my pictures. Besides there are some pictures that you just don't want a stranger to see! ;)

I am taking a web design class this spring and the instructor recommended picking up a digital camera. This gave me just the excuse I was looking for. My desires for a digital camera were inexpensive, under $300, good pictures, and ease of use. Everything else in my mind was secondary.

When I first started looking I looked at several under $200 cameras, namely Polaroid models. They were cheap but the pictures were either too grainy or too blurry. After several days of inspecting those cameras I decided to upgrade my search.

I first noticed the Fuji Finepix 1400 at a photography store. Its styling and sturdy feel led me to believe that it was at least a $500 camera. I played with the camera, using both the viewfinder and the LCD panel to take pictures. I then reviewed the pictures on the LCD panel, which is 1.6" - kind of small but not much smaller than the more expensive models 2.0" panels. You can easily delete individual pictures or all of the pictures at once. You can even lock in individual pictures to safeguard them from accidental deletion. To say the least I was impressed.

At the store I also looked at the Olympius 360L which was amazingly similar in styling. I liked this model but the pictures are not as crisp. The kicker, however, was that the 360L does not have optical zoom. This is a must for me. It does have a digital zoom, as does the Fuji, but that is hardly effective in most situations.

This camera has a USB port, allowing very quick picture transfers. I can download pictures faster than my mouse is capable of clicking and dragging them. It does not offer a serial download connection, meaning that if you have an much older computer, without a USB port, this camera is useless to you. Most computers in the last five years, however, have USB ports.

It does not have a video outlet, to hook up to your television for viewing pictures. Some people complain about this but I have never wanted such a function so I was not bothered.

The camera has a sliding cover that protects the lens during off time. It is a tight and sturdy fit.

There is a jack for an AC adapter, although I have not purchased one yet. This would be a useful feature only if you take lots of pictures in a small room as the power cord would hinder your movement. Some people use the adapter while downloading pictures to their computers but with the USB port the transfer is so quick that hardly any battery power is used.

Battery use is about normal for digital cameras. I did buy two sets of rechargeable batteries to use with this camera. It goes through one set every hundred twenty five plus pictures, plus the editing and downloading.

This camera has two settings, automatic and manual. You can control all kinds of technical features with manual mode, something I will not get into. I usually leave it in auto mode and the pictures turn out great.

There is also a macro mode which allows great close up pictures to be taken. Close up can be as close as 10 centimeters to the object, a nice feature.

There is a self-timer which is nice, 10 seconds. You can use auto-zoom with this feature.

There are several flash modes available: normal, no flash, extended exposure (for night pictures), red eye, and a couple of other obscure settings. Red eye is not a problem with this camera.

You can take pictures in 1024/780 or 640/480 resolutions. There is a excellent, normal, and basic detail level setting as well. All pictures are crisp, especially in excellent and normal detail levels.

The one thing I do not like about this camera is the included 4 megabyte storage (smart media) card. 4mb is tiny. I usually take pictures in 640/480 mode and I can get 26 or so pictures until I have to download. This camera can be upgraded to as high as a 64 mb card. I would highly recommend upgrading.

Deciding factors:

3X optical zoom: works perfectly
crisp pictures: I can go into resolution and megapixels, it has 1.3 megapixels, but most people do not read these opinions for technical specs. It takes excellent pictures, period.
ease of use: just point and click, the buttons are easy to understand and very functional
sturdiness: a lot of digital cameras have a very cheap feel to them, hardly confidence inspiring.
auto zoom: this feature works very well, even my young nephews can take well focused pictures.

I bought this camera online for $250 at Buy.com and received it the next day. I paid $270 total for the camera, a case and next day shipping. I am very happy with this camera. If you have any further questions please email me with them! I can go into detail on any aspects of this camera.