Fuji Finepix 3800

Overall my Finepix 3800 has been brilliant.

The Fuji Finepix 3800 is a good digital camera for the money, if you can cope with having to use the flash a lot. Being able to use my polarizing and UV filters from my 35mm is a real plus. The movies have been great fun with the kids, but have to shoot in plenty of light. The FinePix Viewer software is excellent. Returned camera when it quit after 5-6 months. Fuji sent me a replacement, but it took 5 weeks. It has some drawbacks, but the 6x zoom for shooting wildlife is a real plus. Fairly well satisfied for the money spent. Are there better cameras? Yeah, now, but not so much when I bought this.

The Fuji Finepix 3800 digital camera has alot of excellent points but it takes a little getting used to for example the shutter lag is slow and you have to compensate by depressing the shutter half way focusing the camera then waiting for the right shot then completely depressing the shutter release. It takes excellent video with sound and I personally like the scene positon. You can set the camera for several auto scene set ups: portrait, sports, scene etc. which regulate the shutter speeds. It also has white balance controls and shutter priority settings. It would of been nice if Fuji invested another feature like the ability to plug your camera directly into your tv, vcr and dvd player for recording and viewing simplicity but if you absolutely need those functions Fuji just came out with a new S5000 on August 14th 2003 which is a hybrid between the 3800 and the S602 and it has an impressive 10x optical zoom and boasts of 6 mp. The 3800 is an excellent camera but I wish I would have waited 2 more weeks till the S5000 came out because it is well worth the extra 100 dollars before you buy this camera check out the S5000. It also has alot of the features the higher end cameras have. If you have no use for the extra features of the S5000 then the 3800 is a very good camera for the money.