Digital Camera buying advice ( fuji F700 )

[StraightPipe]

I've been looking at fuji F700

seems it take great pics, has best video mode, and is really fast. continuous shooting modes are really slick too. the docking station is also a huge plus (my last camera ran on rechargable batteries, but you had to remove the 3 AA's every time, load into charger, wait... reload into camera)

does anybody have this camera?

is it a good one?

currently the best deal i've found is newegg. $330 shipped.
it only comes with 16MB memory, so i'll probly be forking out another $93 to get a 256MB dX card.

anybody got any other camera recommendations? Hot deals? (yes i've been to the forum)

 

[kuk]

Originally posted by: StraightPipe

anybody got any other camera recommendations?

A simply love my Canon A70. The link on my sig is a gallery of my best photos.

 

[StraightPipe]

the a-70 and a-80 are sweet, but my two biggest complaints about them are:

1. really slow picture taking

2. all video is recorded in quick time (damn I hate quicktime)

 

[myocardia]

The Sony DSC series take awesome pictures, and does that Fuji take videos at 640x480 resolution? My new Sony does, if you want them that big. They aren't all that great for using in manual mode, but they're wonderful (it seems to me) in automatic mode. Newegg has them at really good prices, too. The 3.2MP DSC-P72 is only ~$250 bucks, and even has the ability to use different lenses. And the DSC-P92 is $399, but it's 5 megapixel.

edit: Oh, and no QuickTime movies! That was the major reason I didn't get the A70, even though it also can do 640x480 video.

 

[StraightPipe]

yes it does do the high res vid (like the sony)

that along with picture taking speed where deciding factors. (and the docking bay)

it also has 3 cool "continuous shooting" modes

first 5 and last five: takes shot every .2 seconds (5fps!) and saves either 1st five or last five shots.

continuous: takes shot every half second, will record 40 shots in a row. the coolest thing is that you can record 40 shots, pause for half a second, and start taking another 40 shots (hardly any delay)

if found it on new egg for $330+ $93 for 256MB memory card. I could probly save $50 and just get 128MB, but i really wanna be able to record video, so that extra space will be needed.

I like the sony cams alot, my dad was reccomending the DSC-9 or 10
I see that the sony's also have continuous shooting modes "multi burst"


the docking bay is hot too. it recharges the batteries and connects you to the PC via USB.

I see that the sony uses rechargable AA's, do you have to take them out of the camera to recharge? (this was a maor pain with my old HP c500)

 

[DaveSimmons]

FYI there have been several recent "which camera?" threads in Off-Topic, might be worth a read (search "digi") though most have focused on image quality and other features besides shooting speed.

 

[Budmantom]

I don't care for the f700, don't get me wrong I like fuji just not that camera.

The fuji 2800/3000/3800 are all great cameras.

I just bought a Minolta Z1, I had a hard time choosing between the Z1 and the Fuji s5000 both are great, 3+mp, 10x optical zoom just add a 256mb card and 8 rechargable aa nimh batteries and your all set.

Tom

 

[StraightPipe]

thanks for the input guys, i'll see if i cant find some more info out there.

Budman, what dont you like about the f700? why do you think the other fuji's are better?

 

[optimistic]

If you want to check out the camera in person, you can go to CompUSA and try it out for yourself. The reviews says it is not a very good 6MP camera, but a decent 3MP camera. The start up time IS very fast, I've tried it (.7 sec start up). You won't miss any of those spur of the moment shots with this camera.

I ended up not buying this camera because xD not a very popular flash format. The camcorder & pda I've been eyeing at uses SD.

Other ultra compacts I'm considering.
S400 (Excellent pic quality, I have 64 CF card already, 2 sec start up)
Nikon 3700 (Excellent macro, plenty of scene selections. SD popular format (Camcorders, PDAs), 1.5 sec start up)
Also you might want to wait to purchase a DC until April, because that's when a lot of manufacturers are going to release their new cameras.

 

[StraightPipe]

well, i'm not considering the cam to be 6.2 MP as advertised. its really 2 layers of 3.1 MP. so its really closer to quality of 3-4.5 MP. (which is plenty for me, i wont be printing much bigger than 8x10, though i'll probly try some really large prints on my dad's phat printer)


I'd like to stick with Compact Flash (since we have 4-5 cards laying around the house from older cameras) but i really think I'm gonna need a 128 or 256 card to store video and pictures. if i'm gonna end up buying a 256 card anyway i figured it doesnt really matter how many 16,32,64 MB CF cards i have laying around.


also canon seems to be one of the few brands sticking with compact flash. maybe thats why the are so slow? I know that the olympus and fuji are some of the quickest and they both use xD cards.

I'll have to check out comp USA, I still havent been able to get my hands on that f700 (and i wont buy squat till i've tried it) anybody know where i can see some of the olympus cams (never mind, i think i dropped olympus cuz they use quicktime too (bastards))

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: StraightPipe
thanks for the input guys, i'll see if i cant find some more info out there.

Budman, what dont you like about the f700? why do you think the other fuji's are better?

3x optical isn't enough especially when you can get a 6-10x for that same price.

Btw the minolta z1 has very little shutter lag, but it does use quick time(is there a way to record it so I can watch it on my dvd player?)

 

[StraightPipe]

you'd probly have to convert it from crapintosh to mpeg or avi, good luck (i'm sure there are apps out there that will be up to the task, but you might have to buy something from crapple, they arent getting any of my money.)

i'm looking into the other fuji's. the camera is actually for my fiance (wife in may!) so the docking bay was a major plus (her last camera had 3 rechargable AA's, and it was always a pain to take the batts out put them in the charger, reload the cam.. )

Edit: i couldnt find the s2800 or the s3800 (maybe last years models) on the fuji website. the s3000 and s5000 are there though. the big plus there is the 6x and 10x optical zoom, but they both cut you down to low res video 320x240, and no conveinent charging solution. they also only show a regular 3.1MP vs the "effective6.2" of the f700 (though I'm really not sure how much of a difference it makes)


does anybody out there actually own a f700? i'm curious to see what people are experiencing on battery life. recharging is cool, but i might end up having to buy a 2nd battery for my backpacking trips. (i think it's about $30 for the rechagable NP-40 proprietary batt)

 

[Budmantom]

Fuji 2800/3800 (no s).

I would prefer 12aa rechargable batteries than a proprietary battery but it's a toss up.

I had the 2800 and it's only a 2.1mp and I had no problems blowing the pics upto 8x10.

Optical zoom is normally better option than MP.

Good luck,

Tom

 

[snidy1]

Originally posted by: StraightPipe
the a-70 and a-80 are sweet, but my two biggest complaints about them are:

1. really slow picture taking

2. all video is recorded in quick time (damn I hate quicktime)

I have another complaint, doesn't come with rechargable batteries

 

[StraightPipe]

yeah, people complain about the propritary batteries in the fuji cuz they cost $30 bucks, but atleast you get the first one for free.

BTW i took my woman to the store and we checked out the cam, she loves it, I love it, bought it on newegg $420 (hehe) for the cam and 256MB card. i should get it on wed. cant wait.

thanks for the help guys

 

[StraightPipe]

Got it!

this camera is great! the battery takes 2 hours to charge, and has been just enough to get us through a full 256mb memory card using the LCD all the time. It's perfect, as soon as I'm dont we drop it into the cradle, and start downloading the pics immediately, the downloading program is easy to use, and has nice naming options as well as easy controls to manage data on the mem card, rotate or delete if needed. I havent tried using the photo editing software provided, but I have photoshop for that.

the movies in high res are great. lso it has an interesting feature that allows you to attach sound files (wav) to your stills.

I havent got a complaint yet. pictures coming off it look great