RUN...Don't walk away from this one!!! (Fujifilm Finepix 50i)

Member Name: profplumb

Product:	Fujifilm Finepix 50i
Date:	23/02/05 (134 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: can be handy and fun if it is working at the time of need

Disadvantages: picture quality and reliability. Reliability of internal circuitry. Reliabilty of remote control. Reliability of power switch. , Absolutely no reliability whatsoever within any resonable conceivable confines of imagination

Firstly, I should mention that Fuji was rather pioneering and creative in a fun way to come up with this 2 Megapixel gadget. It didn't do anything particularly better than their unipurpose competitors (namely: MP3 players, "real" digital cameras, video cameras, and digital voice recorders) however it did them all together in one relatively small package.
I owned first the 30i model and only had repeated batter cover breakage due to a poorly designed nearly microsopic outcrop of plastic meant to withstand an approximate 3 foot-pounds of outward pressure. But afer watching a few episodes of MacGuyver, I went to my hardware shop and solved the problem with some industrial strength, ultra-sticky velcro. I just returned from a 3 week vacation in a dodgy country and the thing actually held together!! Yeah!
Now onto the 50i model. I used to think I was a lucky guy until this camera entered my life. It worked absolutely perfectly for about 15 months and then all hell broke loose. The apocolypse began with some purple psychadelic coloring on the pictures. Then the bloody camera would not turn off until I removed the batteries which magically reset whatever circuit was confused. Then the slider button to turn the camera on would slide freely without achieving anything other than perpetuating my need for Codeine enhanced Advil. Finally, the remote control also worked intermittantly which, in the end, leaves me no choice but to give this camera a big, huge, fat, Siskel and Ebert, THUMBS DOWN!!! I was forced into giving this camera one star as the rating for sub-abysmal is missing from the "overall rating" box. Best of luck to everyone

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