The disclaimer

At the outset, let me say that I am not an am/pro photographer, nor am I involved in the industry in any way. I'm a regular SAHM who likes taking Happy Snaps of her darling offspring. What I want from a camera is probably not what the average amateur wants and certainly not what a professional needs. That said though, I need a camera that takes decent pictures and, when I point and shoot, the pictures are clear and well-focussed as I like to play about with them on the computer. This review will therefore not help you if you're looking for lots of photog-speak. It might if you are looking for a non-specialist viewpoint.

Now with that said...

When I purchased the S304 for my husband's birthday in Aug 2003, I did so on the recommendation of a friend of ours. She was a recent retiree and had taken up photography as a hobby. She had bought this camera and was very much of the opinion that it couldn't do much wrong. The cost price was the equivalent in GBP of about $550. Electronics usually do retail about double in the UK as they do here in the US.

It was bought to replace an old but perfectly serviceable 35mm Nikon and a Kodak APS. Both of us had got fed up with producing three sets of prints every time we developed a film (for us and both our mothers, what with all the shots of the first grandchild and it was only going to get worse with a new one on the way!), including any duff ones which we had to throw away. Both cameras were great snapshot takers as well as being able to go a little more in-depth with the Nikon, but there were always a few that just didn't make the grade.

The best thing about going digital is the fact that you can dump the duff ones. The worst thing about digital is that you always forget to print the hard copies...

Some stats

Firstly, if you've never heard of the S304, that's because this camera was called Finepix 3800 Zoom in the United States.

At the time that I bought it, it was one of the cheaper high end cameras. With that in mind, it has a 6x optical zoom and 3.2 million effective picture pixels.

Modes of use include:

automatic focus;
macro setting;
portrait, landscape, night-time and sport modes;
several options for picture quality;
and a video mode which includes audio.

It comes with a 16MB XD card, the software and USB cable to plug into your PC (though iPhoto on my Mac picks it up without the software), a lens shade, cap and carrying strap.

Taking pictures

Firstly, let me say that, when my husband opened it on his birthday the first thing he did was go out and buy a larger XD card. We have never used anything but the highest picture quality on the camera. The 16MB card that is included is great because it means that you can just get cracking on taking pictures immediately. However, you can only take 12 pics at the best quality. We currently have a 1GB card in the camera which we bought just before we went to California as the 128MB we had decided to go on the fritz. (I LOVE ZERO ASSUMPTION!)

This camera has been everywhere, including two delivery rooms... It has seen some very hot temps in the desert at Joshua Tree National Park and some bitter temps in Killington in Vermont. It has performed its task more than adequately in all these situations.

Having bought it for my husband in the first instance, it often fell to me to take the photos! I have taken them in all lights and at all times of day. There have been a few occasions when I have struggled to get the picture I want as I don't often 'play' with the settings. Most of what I have done with the camera has been done on the autofocus setting which is relatively easy to use but doesn't always perform at its very best in low daylight, say a dull day outside or a bright day inside. I really have to play with the shutter speed if I want to take non-flash pictures and I'm not always pleased with the results.

However, the camera is so easy to use that I have given my eldest daughter (currently 8) it on several occasions and she has always managed to take pretty decent shots.

I have used the macro setting on several occasions. While we were in the desert, I got some great 'stone' shots as well as a beautiful datura growing under a rock. The textures in the rocks came out with great clarity and I took a couple of fabulous sunset shots as we were leaving the park. Using the macro to take close up shots of my kids is great. When my son was a month old I took a set of him in the space of about 5 minutes and every member of my family has a copy of the resulting montage. It was one of those sets of photographs you can never repeat and, if it had been on film, I don't think I would have taken so many and I wouldn't have known which ones were 'good' and which ones weren't.

We like to take walks in the autumn, living in New England and it being spectacular. I have always been slightly disappointed that the camera doesn't capture the deep vividness of the colours as well as my eye does. I know that sounds kind of nuts, but I want the picture to look like it does in my head! So I have on recent walks begun to use the other modes on the camera, particularly the landscape mode, with more pleasing results, but I'm still not 100% happy with the clarity.

The last thing that I tend to do with it is try and take low-light pictures of my Christmas decorations because I'm sad like that. I always love my Christmas tree and I have pictures of my trees since I started living with my husband. The S304 has taken some cracking photos of the tree without a tripod (I like to hold the camera...yes, I am odd...).

I recently purchased the Finepix Z3 for my hubby as he expressed annoyance with the bulk of the S304 when out skiing. To be honest, I put the S304 away as the battery life on the rechargeable Z3 is so much longer than the 4AAs of the S304. However, I recently got it out again because, though the Z3 is a great little camera (look for a review on that one soon!), I struggle with the lack of viewfinder and think the shots I get with the S304 are cleaner, even with the Z3's anti-shake switched off.

I also have a problem with the Z3's smallness. The S304 is a nice size for a camera, it feels good to hold it. It's not so big that my 8 yo finds it cumbersome either; even her little hands find it easy to hold and take pictures with. She keeps putting her fingers over the lens of the Z3.

Technical Specifications

borrowed from Howard_Creech's excellent review of the 3800 Zoom

Resolution: 3.2 megapixels (2048 x 1536)
Viewfinder: EVF and 1.8” color TFT LCD
Lens: Fujinon f 2.8/4.8/38-228mm optical zoom lens
Auto Focus: TTL contrast detection
Image format: JPEG and AVI (Motion JPEG)
Storage Media: xd-Picture Card (16MB to 128MB)
Sensitivity: ISO 100 (35mm equivalent)
Shutter Speed: 3 seconds to 1/1500th of a second
Exposure: Auto, Scene (Portrait / Sports / Night scene), Movie, and Manual (Aperture priority, Exposure compensation)
Metering: TTL 64 Zone (evaluative)
White Balance: Auto and 6 presets (Fine, Shade, Daylight Fluorescent, Warm White Fluorescent, Cool White Fluorescent, and Incandescent)
Flash: Built-in multi mode (auto, red-eye reduction, forced flash, suppressed flash, slow synch)
Movie Mode: up to 60 seconds at 320 x 240 @ 10fps with audio
Voice memo: Yes---30 secs.
Video Out: No
Connectivity: USB
Power: 4-AA size batteries

Why buy this camera now when there are newer, better ones to choose from?

There are quite a few of these available used and at a reasonable price too. If you were looking to buy it for a youngster as a first camera, I don't think you could go far wrong. I just hope the newer versions of it are just as good as this one, when we come to replace it.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 550
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts