I prefer a "handfull" of camera. Makes handling a camera easier. I prefer a 'SLR' focus...makes bright light shooting easier. Living the the deserts of NM very handy. If you shot a film SLR you feel right at home. Easy to carry all day long...lens cap povides protection and safety.
The large lens shade gives the considerable protection to the lens from light and physical damage.

Slow shutter response.....not a problem with fixed subject material....action....is hit the shutter button and wonder what you might have....?
When you change batteries the camera requires resetting day/date and time.....not fond of such.

I own three of them all bought from ebay used none at retail never have not had an problem with any of them. For a knock about camera in good light quiet acceptable....low light shots I miss not having an anti shake feature,
Want to be a pro leave the camera at home...want something simple to use...take it.

Great picture quality
LONG zoom (6x)
Easy to use
Never a glitch or problem
Uses easily found AA batteries
Makes a great web cam
Fantastic pictures!!!
Viewfinder in addition to screen (makes lining up pictures with sun at my back easier)

Kinda slow between pushing the button and capturing the picture. This sometimes makes getting action shots a little tricky.

Larger and bulkier than pocket varieties
No sound with movies
Movie resolution is poor (but, who cares, I bought it to take pics)
Small viewing screen

Let me start by saying that, having bought the Fuji S3100 before any other digital camera has spoiled me. The few drawbacks are more than made up for by the quality of the pictures taken. If I'd never owned this camera, I'd have been perfectly satisfied with any of the other cameras I've since purchased (except the Olympus).
After owning and using the S3100 for somewhere around six or more years now I guess (since I can't find the original box or receipt and am looking back at pictures taken that long ago that I'm pretty sure I took with this camera), I can only say that it continues to impress me. With a larger lens than pocket digital cameras, that's to be expected, but to be able to take pictures with better resolution and color than ANY of the pocket cameras I've tried in the 8 to 10+ megapixel range has been a surprise to say the least.
I've spent the last three years trying to find a camera that my wife could carry in her purse and use regularly and have gone through many different pocket digital cameras (Canon, Olympus, Fuji and another that I can't remember) only to be dissappointed by each and every one of them and only because I end up comparing the end result pictures that she's taken to the ones that I've taken with my S3100 at the same time. We both attend our son's soccer games and tennis matches and both take our own cameras. Whether on the automatic settings or any of the specialized presets, mine has always taken a better quality picture than hers on the same, or similar, settings. WE'VE COMPARED!!!
Long story short, similar conditions, settings, etc., and the S3100 takes a better picture than any other camera I've been exposed to.
For what it's worth, despite being larger, bulkier and heavier than a lot of other cameras I could carry, I take the s3100 backpacking with me just to ensure the best pictures possible. I've taken my wife's smaller cameras, which take good pictures by-the-way, but have never been as happy with the color and quality of the pictures taken.

Customer Service

I'm happy to say that I've never had to test Fuji's customer service as there's never been a problem after sevenish years and who-knows-how-many pictures bumps, thumps and drops. I hope I didn't just jinx it!

Similar Products Used:

Olympus fe-170 (was replaced by retailer 3 times due to the same defect on all three. NO SATISFACTION FROM olympus even after contacting them multiple times. Will NEVER even consider an Olympus product again.

Canon Power Shot (I think it was a 2000?) - Nice camera, good quality pics, easy to use, but wife needed something with better image stabilization.

Fujifilm A820 - Wife's present camera. Good picture quality and movie quality (her primary use any more). She likes it better than the Canon.

Easy to use, lightweight, average battery life, simple controls, good results.

Limited control for more advanced operators.

I bought this as a closeout at a very good price. I have found it to be handy and quick to learn, a grab and go digital. Simple to use and have not experienced any problems with it. Battery life seems to be about average, I use Nmh rechargeable AA's. Its light and easy to handle, the controls being intuitive and well placed (for me anyway). I have others but this one seems to get the most use for just average situations and random carry. I would recommend it to the casual user.

Similar Products Used:

Fujifilm S5000