My Personal Best Buy In Digital Cameras!
Written: Aug 02 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
| Photo Quality: |
|
|
|
Pros: Price! Lightweight, decent battery life.
Cons: Camera shape a bit awkward, some pictures come out too dark.
The Bottom Line: A great camera for beginner and intermediate photographers. Perfect for taking pictures for the web. A great price, too!
|
|
|
| esoteric's Full Review: FUJIFILM FinePix 2300 Digital Camera |
Easily bought online shipped for under $250, this camera takes the cake for best value in digital photography. Lets start out by looking at the features of this camera:
- 2.11 Million Pixel (megapixels)
- 2.5X Digital Zoom
- 7 White Balance Modes
- ½ - 1/1000 Sec. AE Shutter Speeds
- 64 Zone TTL Scene Metering
- Flash Modes – Auto, Red-Eye, Forced, Suppressed, Slow Sync
- ISO 100
- Uses AA Alkaline batteries
- Uses SmartMedia Memory Cards
Now I don't pretend to be a professional photographer, but i've owned a few digital cameras and had my hands on a few more. When it was time for me to purchase a new camera, I looked at what I could get for the roughly $250 I wanted to spend. I take all sorts of photos, from outdoor scenes in the sunlight, to wedding pictures inside, so needed a camera that was versatile.
The cameras I was looking at were the Olympus D460, the Kodak DX3500, the Fuji FinePix 2300 and the Sony DSC-P30. Since they were all at a similar price, I looked at the features.
The biggest thing for me was resolution, which is directly correlated to the megapixel rating of the cameras sensor. With the exception of the Kodak DX3500 and the Fuji FinePix 2300, all the rest of the cameras had only only a 1.3 megapixel sensor. This is quickly becoming outdated technology, so I figured I would only consider the two with a 2.2 megapixel sensor.
One of the things that I didn't really look for was optical zoom capabilities. Although it is a nice feature, I wanted my money to go to better image quality. Personally I am the type that doesn't get a lot of mileage out of a cameras zoom feature, so I didn't consider this in my search. Please take note of this if zoom is important to you.
On the note of zoom, let me clarify the difference between an optical and digital zoom. Optical zoom is done with the camera lens, and allows you to zoom in and out before you take your picture. Digital zoom is done AFTER the picture is taken, so it is not a pure zoom but rather just making the image closer to you. You are better off using a program on your computer to zoom in then your cameras digital zoom, in most cases.
Quality is also an issue with digital cameras. Fuji is a very well-known camera manufacturer, and they have their hands in pretty much everything that happens in digital camera technology these days. I felt that I could trust Fuji in making a product I could rely on.
Needless to say, I decided to purchase the FinePix 2300 and give it a whirl.
Here are some comments I have after using it for a month or so:
The camera is very light and easy to hold, although sometimes my fingers like to end up in front of the lense because of the way it is located to the far left of the camera. I'm not a big fan of the narrow rectangular shape of the camera, but have gotten used to it. The camera feels sturdy and well-built.
Image quality on this camera is excellent for the money, I couldn't ask for more. Resolutions up to 1600x1200, down to 640x480. A few times pictures i've taken in clear daylight have come out too dark, but there is a good chance i'm simply doing something wrong. I can be contacted for sample images, or simply view some of the pictures I take on my webpage since I use this camera.
Storage of images onto SmartMedia cards is convenient. The camera comes with a 8mb card, although I reccomend you upgrade to a 64mb card. You can pick up a good quality one for $40, and it will really let you take all the pictures you want at the highest quality you desire. The software that comes with the camera to interface with the USB port and get your pictures is very easy to use and works wonderfully. It even pops up automagically when you plug your camera in and turn the power on.
As with all digital cameras, batteries don't last forever. They do, however, last longer in this camera than in many others I have used. It uses 4 AA batteries. I reccomend you pick up some Nickle Metal Hydride rechargable batteries, they really last a long time in this camera. You can get the four batteries and a charger for $25 anywhere.
Overall I am VERY pleased with this camera for the under $250 price tag. You will be too!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 210
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
esoteric
|
|
Member: Josh S
Location: New York
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 8 members
About Me:
Thanks
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.