Kodak Got The Sack -Finepix Does The Tricks. (Fujifilm Finepix 2600 Zoom)

Member Name: King Leopold

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix 2600 Zoom
Date:	28/07/02 (877 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Image Quality, Design, Looks

Disadvantages: No Case, Not Much Else

For my first Dooyoo opinion, I wrote about my ownership of the Kodak DX3215. It was my first foray into the world of digital photography. Sadly, due to a severe docking station malfunction, it was not a very happy or a long partnership. Hence, I sent the Kodak back and in its place, I've got the Fuji Finepix 2600, with 3x digital, 2.5x optical zoom and 2M effective pixels, which to date, I'm rather chuffed with.

Opening the John Lewis.com cardboard box, I found my Fuji package. Fuji's was a much smaller and more sombre box than the Kodak had been presented in. Still, it's not all about the size, so I pressed on to the goodies within.

What I found inside pleased me immensely. First, I discovered the Finepix 2600 itself. I thought it was a very attractive camera. More chunkier-looking and a lot more substantial-feeling than the Kodak, it just had an overall feel and look of quality and well-thought-out, meticulous Japanese design. In actual dimension, despite the chunkiness factor, the Fuji is beautifully compact and would fit comfortably in most adult hands. I was also immediately struck (not literally) by the in-built sliding lens cover - not a crude and black plastic one that kept falling off the lens, when I removed the camera from my glove box or bag, like my Kodak DX3215 had been given. Turning the Fuji around, I was equally impressed by the 1.8-inch LCD monitor. The remainder of the contents of the Fuji box, included a proper paper camera instruction book (unlike the DX3215), a Finepix software guide, battery charger and two Ni-MH batteries (alkaline batteries not recommended), an adaptor to plug the charger into the mains, strap, plus, the Finepix software itself and a 16 Mb Smart Media card. On the downside, like Kodak, Fuji includes no case. I'd have rather had the cost of a case built into the camera price and found one in the box, rather than have to go to the hassle of buying one later. This 'caselessness' sa
ddens me, as I think one should be standard with an expensive piece of equipment like this, and NOT an optional extra!

I prepared the batteries. They were ready to serve in about half-an-hour (according to charger's light), not the manual's, "5 hours," Loading the batteries and the Smart Media card into the camera was reasonably straightforward. I switched on Fuji and Fuji and I were ready to shoot. We shot. Simple. Point and shoot. Of course, if you want to be more hands-on and involved in how the picture turns out, you can select Manual Mode and play with the White Balance (lighting) and Exposure Compensation, instead of my choice, Luddite, Auto Mode, with Auto Flash and 'Fine Quality' engaged.

I was generally delighted with the ease-of-use and range of helpful and comprehensive features the Finepix 2600 offered me. Functions like the self-timer, Framing Guideline (for main subject positioning) and Macro (close-up shots), I found very useful. In Playback Mode, I found LCD screen viewing of my pictures was quicker, clearer and easier than with my previous camera, as was deleting those I didn't require for uploading. The Playback Zoom option (helps for focus checking) and Multi-Frame Playback (see all your shots at once/delete all at once) are impressive options to have. The Fuji even offered a Movie Mode, allowing you to film up to 20 silent seconds of JPEG footage, which when uploaded to your PC allows some basic editing on the Video Impression software supplied by Fuji.

Camera battery life has been reasonable to date. About an hour, I've found, if you rely upon the LCD screen. More if you limit the LCD use, rely more on the viewfinder and select Power Save mode which will helps reduce overall power consumption.

At 2M Pixel Mode, the Smart Card can store 20 'Fine Quality' shots, 39 'Normal Quality', and 75 'Basic Quality' images. Selecting 1 Million Pixels, allows, 25
at 'Fine' and 39 at 'Normal'. VGA Resolution allows 122 shots, mainly suitable as e-mail attachments.

Now I was ready to upload, would the docking-station-free Fuji be as simple to use for a duffer like me as the Kodak had been? I had my doubts...

I was wrong. It is as easy to use as Kodak's docking station route. I simply connected the camera to my PC via the USB lead, switched it on, and in seconds, my photos and movie, uploaded to the Finepix viewer - uploading to PC is a fair strain on the camera's batteries, so it may be worth purchasing the optional 3V-AC Fuji adaptor (£28) to use when you perform this regular task. I chose to send my images to Kodak's software for album storing and printing, but the Finepix software is more than adequate, if not a little basic, so it's really a matter of personal choice in that department.

I was hugely impressed with the computer screen image depth and quality of the Fuji. Compared to the Kodak (only £35 cheaper) the improvement was absolutely staggering.

The finished and printed article was equally impressive. I'd found the Kodak digital prints a little uninspiring and generally lacking in the depth, colour and clarity my old APS camera provides. The Fuji's were the total opposite. I'd found a digital camera that to a non-expert like me, produced images comparable to its non-digital rivals. I was finally glad, I'd made the step-up to the world of digital.

On my experiences (one week) so far with Fuji FinePix 2600, I would wholeheartedly recommend it to other Dooyoo members and readers. If you can pick it up around the £200 to £230 mark, I think it represents excellent value for money. My only real moan is the lack of supplied case. I've now remedied this by forking out £12 for a Fuji one. Now named Frank, my Fuji has a compact and bijou leather (ette) roof over his head. I hope Frank and I have a long and happy relationship
together.

Summary: