Great images but its only a snapper (Fujifilm Finepix 6800 Zoom)

Member Name: Henrythe9th

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix 6800 Zoom
Date:	02/09/01 (477 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Images, Cradle, Feature packed device

Disadvantages: very slight blurred edges, No manual settings

I have been using my 6800 for three months now. It is my first digital camera purchase although I have used several others from time to time.

First of all the controls are very well thought out with a wide range of features. There is an auto setting for general pictures and then there are a series of options. You can change the settings to adjust for the light quality (indoor or outdoor and brightness). There is also a 5 frame burst mode that is great for photgraphing kids when you want to catch that perfect expression. The movie clip mode is probably a bit of a gimmick. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has found a good use for it cause I havent. It is not the reason I bought the camera and I feel that I may have been happier with alternative functions such as manual aperture setting.

The optical zoom is useful and the resolution permits a little digital zooming before the screen image is compromised.

The flash seems quite reliable although you need to wait a few seconds for it to charge up. The metering is also very reliable. The only time i find it is a little bit of a let down is when an image is trying to include very bright sunlight and some dark shaded areas too. This is always a challenge for automatic metering systems and typical of most point and shoot cameras. I think this camera is basically a point and shoot. All be it a very good one.

The camera is packeaged with a cradle for recharging batteries and downloading images to a pc. This is a fantastic function. Anyone who is familiar with palm organisers will know how convenient and simple this is.
The bundled software is also very good allowing thumbnail previews and slide shows of any images taken.

Image quality s very good although there is a little blurring around the edges. This is not that noticeable 90% of the time but occasionaly there is a lack of sharpness. The quality of the light will also affect image quality. Most digi
tals are at their best in bright daylight. Thsi is no exception although the flash can compensat very well at times. The auto focus can get confused in poor light but this is rare.

I suppose SLR digitals are the only way to address many of these weaknesses but then you are into double the cost and much bigger units. My camera came with a 16Mb smartmedia but I soon upgraded to 64Mb. Shopping around on the web is worthwhile for these things.

Anyone who is considering buying a digital and only wants a decent compact snapper should consider this camera. serious photgraphers should look elswhere. I would say this is ideal for a parent who wishes to take a ton of pictures of children. The 5 frame burst is very useful and the image quality will produce very acceptable A4 prints. The cost saving over film cameras soon adds up. I have taken 1500 shots with my digital. This would have cost the price of this camera in film and developing costs alone. Add to this the advantage of instant playback and print outs and its a winner all round.

On a final note there is a sound function for recording clips but Ive only played with it a little. Not really my thing. This camera's true strengths lie in the quality of the image and the ease of use....especially that cradle.

Summary: