| A | is outstanding and exceptional, rated in the top 10% of digital cameras. |
| B | means they are good, with some standout features. |
| C | means they are mediocre, and probably more trouble than they are worth. |
| D & F | mean they are absolutely awful or old. Avoid at all costs. |
- 4 out of 5
- 4 out of 5
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- 17th of 92 in Point and Shoot
- 4th of 52 in 7 Megapixel
- 9th of 41 in Fuji
- 22nd of 88 in $350 - $600
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- 4 out of 5
Good bang for your buck
(Josy - 2/16/08)Pros:
- The supermacro mode can be TOUCHING the subject... and it'll be in focus. I love it.
- 10x optical zoom... and it's all internal. No external moving parts. Come on.
- Threaded lens, so you can attach 46mm filters.
- It uses 4 AAs (none of those expensive Lithium things), and the battery life is (to me) FANTASTIC. I figured I'd need to charge my batteries every week or two, as I did on my little Nikon Coolpix 3200, but I can go MONTHS without changing the batteries in the Fuji S700.
- If you're concerned about image (admit it, you are), it looks pretty sharp.
- The power switch, which I thought was in a perfect position to always be accidentally switched on, has only once (in 9 months of throwing it in my purse without the protection of a camera bag) been accidentally switched on.
- On that note: I am fairly brutal with my cameras. I take them out in the rain, I put them on the dirty ground, I don't protect them with camera bags, I drop them. After nine months of abusing this little camera, it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to show for it. Aside from some minor cosmetic scuffing, it's perfect. So for everyone who thought the plastic battery/adapter/memory card flaps were flimsy... they're sturdier than you'd think.
*However: this is a digital camera. Don't use it for batting practice.
Cons:
- The image quality is pretty bad above ISO 200. If you have noise reduction software, then ISO 400 should be fine... but the ISO 1600 that this camera boasts is essentially useless.
- The maximum shutter speed is 4 seconds, and the maximum aperture is 3.5. It's more aggravating than you'd think... I can't do any decent light trails in 4 seconds, and 3.5 is just not wide enough to let in enough light for the kind of low-light conditions I generally shoot in.
- The notorious purple fringe is, by all accounts, pretty notable in this camera, particularly in bright light.
- The "image stabilization" mode doesn't actually stabilize anything; it just boosts the ISO. And, as I mentioned, the image quality is pretty noisy at boosted ISOs.
- While I like the fact that the camera does offer a manual focus setting, it's a royal pain to use. But—on the plus side—the shutter lag is almost nonexistent when you focus manually.
Bottom line: it's a good value for the money. The cons on this camera, which I didn't initially think would bother me, have irked me on several occasions. On the other hand, I have seen cameras that cost an extra $100-300 but didn't impress me any more.
