Fujifilm FinePix F601 Zoom

Compact size Excellent resolution Convenient good quality movie mode Poor White balance indoors. Inconvenient slow menu system for manual operation Inflexible picture numbering; always starts at 1 which forces you to create new folder for each download Poor reliability Bad obsolete storage medium only 128MB max Terrible repair service

Despite commendable strengths, based on major weakness below, I will never purchase another Fuji.

Poor reliability, dreadful service

Kodak DC 4800 great camera for manual operation with dedicated Fstop and Compensation dials Nikon Coolpix 9500 solidly built

It is now 6 weeks after I sent in my F601 for repair in NJ. Just after my warranty expired, my well card for infrequently used F601 started locking up in middle of movie mode shooting. At first I was able to turn off power and regain operation. Then finally it locked up permanently. I understand from this forum that this occurs to a lot of these vertical model compact Fujis and that it probably is a design flaw. 2 weeks after sending in my camera I called up Fuji Repair in Edison NJ. A person I reached told me they still haven't even opened boxes of cameras sent a week earlier than mine. After 4 weeks i get a bill for $115 saying my camera was in fair condition even though it was in mint condition since I always carried it in a Fuji case. I reluctantly paid bill even though I knew the F601 was defective. Now 6 weeks after I sent in camera and 2 weeks after my payment, I still have no camera. No matter how attractive Fuji cameras may become, this experience will make me think twice about another Fuji which was my 4th digital camera. By contrast, I had a focus problem with my 2nd a Kodak 4800. I received a replacement in 3 days after contacting Kodak.

I've had the Fuji F601z for about 6 months. I chose it for its compact size, light weight, and excellent video capability. I've used it a lot, taken it on several long trips. I haven't had any significant problems with it. Bottom line is I love it, wouldn't swap it for any other camera I've seen in that time.

Compact and light enough to carry easily in a pocket. Takes excellent photos (although not necessarily better than other good 3 Mpixel cameras I compared to). Excellent video, best in class (640 x 480 x 15fps w. sound, unlimited length, high-ISO for low-light capture), vividly better than other cameras. Very fast in operation and playback, makes it a pleasure to use compared to other cameras Full manual controls. Up to ISO 1600 sensitivity. Good battery life. Easy to use one-handed. Controls work smoothly.

Menu system not easy to use: some options deeply buried, too many steps to access, only one selection possible at a time. Some manual controls are not well implemented, like manual focus. There are't a lot of useful extra photographic functions like histogram view or panorama assist. Small 1.5" LCD is hard to see in sunlight, has to be used for many functions. Software bundle is mediocre at best. No remote control capability. Slow battery charger. Video-out requires docking station, doesn't allow NTSC / PAL selection.

Had Olympus D-320L for 5 years. Did detailed head-to-head comparison with Canon S30 for a week.

Haven't had to use it.

I am sorry Laura had a bad experience with her camera But I have nothing but praise for my F601. I have been using my camera for almost a year. I have taken over 5000 pictures from trips to Europe, Hawaii and everyday use. I have not had a single problem with mine. The only problem I ran into was when I ask strangers to take pictures for me. The unusual layout of the camera sometimes confuses people when they first try it. But have some patience and you will be rewarded. Not only is the camera problem-free, it takes great pictures too! I have 2 128MB memory cards and it plenty. Each 128MB can take about 50 pictures at the highest resolution. For everyday use I normally have it set to the next lower resolution and can get about 110 pictures. The battery life on the camera is incredible. I have only ran out of power a few times during all day shoots while on vacation. It takes pretty videos too. I love to take night shots with this camera. All you have to do is get a tripod and set the timer so the camera is absolutely still. The night pictures I took in Paris were the envy of my friends. It does take some time to master this camera, but it is well worth the time!

Piture quality Long battery life.

strangers may not know how to use the camera on the first try.

Sony P-1

N/A

Some weeks back, I wrote the first review in this series, not realizing that it had gone too long and been cut off. What happened to the camera, you see, was mysterious, so I thought I'd better describe it in detail. Lavish detail. E-x-c-r-u-c-i-a-t-i-n-g detail. Sorry. In finishing, I'll try to be brief. About three weeks after I bought the camera, while shooting outdoors in bright sunlight, the camera froze. The LCD screen split into narrow horizontal lines, then turned to snow, after which the camera would not respond to controls. The only way to turn it off was to open it and remove the battery, which the manual explicitly advises against. Because I had thoroughly tested the camera (shooting 200+ images the previous weekend); because I had brought it as my sole camera for a family reunion/wedding; because I had no time to find a repair shop, I continued to use the Fuji as best I could. I would turn it on, try to get a few shots before the "freeze," take out the battery, then repeat the cycle. With sufficient "rest" between iterations (the camera wouldn't work at all without "rest"), I managed to take 28 pictures on my sister's wedding day, as compared with the hundreds shot by relatives with Canon, Olympus, and Pentax digital cameras. (All pictures OF me show a woman in a bridesmaid's dress scowling ferociously at a silver cigarette case.) Within a week of my return, the camera had stopped working completely. And I discovered to my horror that I had lost my receipt, so, though the camera had died within the stingy 90-day warranty period, I would have to pay for any repairs myself. I called Fuji, just on the off chance that "customer service" wasn't filed under "when hell freezes over" in the company manual (after all, I did have a bank statement showing the debit card purchase), but no luck. Too bad for me AND too bad for Fuji, as my job gives me the ear of hundreds of affluent teenaged consumers, who now believe that "fuji" is Japanese for "digital garbage." Unfortunately, I can't reveal what turned out to be wrong with the camera, because I'm too busy to take it to NYC for an appraisal. So here's the final irony: I bought the damn camera for its looks, and all I CAN do it look at it.

See below.

See below.

See below.

Bwahahahahahaha.

I have been an enthusiastic amateur photographer all my life but this was my first venture into "Digital". My mate had an older model and has taken some supurb shots, so after reading the reviews in various mags just had to get the F601. I got it a week before heading to Goa for a 2 week holiday, but after a week I had managed to learn it inside out..there are very few buttons and knobs which means a lot of time flicking through on-screen menus but you soon get used to it. The F601 screen is a quarter inch smaller that earlier models but still quite usable, then only time I use the optical viewfinder is when taking "panning" sports shots. I also really like the massive array of manual overides (if you want to) which make it a more "photographers" camera. It did die on me just before the end of my trip, the LCD started glitching and it looked like interferance unless I squeezed the body!! This could have been due to the humidity of India (a week before monsoon season!) but Fuji fixed it really quickly and it has been fine since.

Small...take anywhere. Good battery life. High quality images.

Keep catching the on/off buton on the back while in the case! Stupid 16mb card supplied with outfit (need a 128 mb for 50 images)

Fuji 4700

Quick responce when I had a problem.