Quality results and affordable too (Fujifilm Finepix 4900 Zoom)

Member Name: deiwise

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix 4900 Zoom
Date:	21/04/02 (173 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High quality results, Vast range of options, Multiple compression rates

Disadvantages: Low battery life

I bought this camera for Christmas (2001), and it was my first Digital Camera. Having spent a lot of time researching into what I wanted, I couldn't be happier with the results.

First of all, my main criteria for a digital camera was that it could act as a standalone "point and shoot" camera, for taking snaps and family pictures quickly and easily. It wasn't going to be used just by me, so it needed to be user-friendly enough for the less experienced to use.

Secondly, I wanted some more advanced features at my disposal - full manual control of exposure etc - and I was more than happy with what this could do. I'm only a beginner in photography, so haven't yet explored all the options; but it's all there for when I need it.

Thirdly it has an excellent view-finder, which again makes it really simple to take quick pictures.

Also:

1. You can plug it into your TV to view photos you've just taken

2. You can take short videos

3. You can "upgrade" the memory storage by simply buying other cards and slotting them in

4. Connection to your PC is via USB, and is highly impressive - the camera acts like a removable drive, so you just drag-and-drop your photos to your PC

5. You can alter the compression, ISO and picture-quality of your photos

6. It has an *excellent* "Macro" mode for doing closeups

7. The auto-focus is pretty good, but if you feel it's slightly out then a small twist of the manual focus takes care of it

I've seen literally 100s of professional photos taken by others using this camera, and they're absolutely stunning. I would say this is probably slightly *too* good a camera for an absolute beginner in photography - I have some background in film-photography, which has helped a lot, but I could see others struggling to cope and use all of the features. It was reasonably expensive at about
£500.

The downside of it is the battery life (the viewfinder drains it quickly), and no case on purchase - other than that, it's stunning.

Note that few shops sell this camera anymore, due to it being replaced by the Fuji 6900. The only improvement that 6900 has over this 4900 is a greater MegaPixel size; you'll probably find some shops still selling the 4900, and at VERY low prices. Don't hesitate - buy it!

You can view some of the photos I've taken at the URL below:

http://www.localbounty.com/pingo/browse.cfm?d= Will&s=0&t=owner

Summary: