Home > Consumer Reviews > Fuji FinePix 2800 Zoom Digital Camera With Free 32MB SmartMedia Card [2MP 6xOptical]

The most important thing about a camera is the quality of the images it takes, and I was not disappointed. Being new to digital photography I was concerned about whether the quality of printouts could match the results I was used to using a 35mm SLR, or whether 2 megapixels was simply not enough. Well, A5 printouts are incredibly sharp with no visible pixelation at all, and even A4 is fine for many purposes. Also, the camera captures subtle shades of colour beautifully. Obviously the paper used makes a big difference as does the way one uses the camera, eg, I found many scenes look better when the camera is set to underexpose a little giving deeper colour and preventing highlights from being washed out.

Being used to manual and semi-auto SLRs I was a little apprehensive about the lack of manual adjustments possible, but the white-balance and exposure controls as well as the focus-lock allow the user considerable influence over the images produced. Having said that, just point-and-clicking on automatic it does a good job too.

The quality of the LCD screen was a surprise to me - it allows one to get much more than just a rough indication of the pictures taken. Also, the menus are visually and functionally pleasing. You quickly get used to navigating them. I was afraid the interface might be non-intuitive like, eg, those of many mobile phones are, but it is well laid out and a pleasure to use. The documentation was also generally well thought out which is rare nowadays, allowing the manuals to be quickly read despite their length.

In low light the viewfinder does get very dark, and the autofocus cannot cope and locks onto a default distance. I don't consider this a fault: if you don't give the camera the light it needs to function what can you expect? On a more positive note I was surprised at how camera shake in low light seems to be less of a problem than with conventional cameras. Many low light telephoto shots I took should not have come out but were fine.

The software seems to work OK (on my Mac) but I personally prefer not to use it and to stick to my familiar image editor etc. I found that when connected, the camera mounts as a disk on the desktop in both OS 9 and OS X with no need to install anything at all.

The zoom lens is excellent. It produces crisp images at all focal lengths. The macro gets fairly close and again, images are really sharp with a surprisingly deep depth of field. Considerable barrel distortion was evident in macro mode however, but this is a great lens and really fun to use. Due to the loss of pixels I was not really interested in the digital zoom, but for some shots that does not matter and the combined optical plus digital zoom effect is just amazing. I had my doubts about paying this much when other 2MP cameras can be had cheaper, but that lens is well worth the extra cost.

I had read horror stories about battery life with digital cameras so was prepared for the worse. OK, battery drain is high, but it was several days and many SmartMedia cards worth of images before they went flat. I did invest in 2 sets of NiMH batteries and a charger however. Keep a fully charged set with you as when those in the camera go they do so with little warning.

The 2800 Zoom does look like a “proper camera” unlike many digicams. I found it to be smaller than it seems online; it really is a little gem. Despite the small size it can be comfortably gripped with 1 or 2 hands.

The sound quality when recording movies isn’t great. While I do not consider this in itself a bad point as I assume it is normal with the level of compression necessary for the media the movies are stored on, I do wish the recording volume was set a little louder. Similarly, it is understandable that the pixel dimensions and image quality are lower for movies, but a shame the optical zoom and focus lock are not available. These are minor drawbacks however, because I bought this camera for stills, and any movie capability is just a welcome extra.

To those new to digital photography, as I was, I would like to point out how nice it is to be able to take many different pictures of something without thinking about the cost, and then just keeping the best ones. Being able to see the results immediately in the LCD display (including zooming in on a section) is great and many things are possible which one could not do with a conventional camera, eg using the LCD instead of the viewfinder one can take pictures from places which would otherwise be difficult to photograph from.

What I cannot judge is how well it will last, eg. will those little buttons survive being pushed thousands of times, and how about that tiny USB plug and socket? Perhaps more importantly, what kind of service would I get from the manufacturer should there be a problem? These are major considerations but hopefully I will never experience any problem in this regard.

If I could have my money back and pick any digital camera in that price bracket, I would, without hesitation, choose the same one again.

I had been looking an affordable Digital camera which took both high quality stills and small videos. This camera fits the bill exactly, with the added value of using standard batteries.( bought rechargables, which I also recommend having) with a back up of standard 4 AA batteries as a back up for emergencies. The batteries do last for long enough when the save power is engaged. I bought the 64meg Smart card as an upgrade which matched the battery life quite well.
The Camera is a basic point and shoot with the intellegence to sort the light out for you if required. The software on the camera is menu driven and easy to use. There is a 6x optical zoom which very handy in previewing on the camera, as access to what you have taken is quick.
The supplied software is also good requiring Windows 2000 to get the most out of all the features. You do get the choice of viewer and the abiltiy to edit your own show as well. This can be fun, as I am still experimenting at the moment.

Overall I am very pleased with the camera as I did reject 2 others prior to buying the Fuji finepix 2800.

Just received my 2800Z yesterday and already at home with it. The menus are easy to use and the picture quality with the defaul settings is excellent. The 6x Optical zoom is one of this cameras selling points for me and so far (after photographing anything and everything insight) more than lives up to it's expectations. You can't really go wrong with this camera.

At last, an affordable digicam resembling an SLR. This reminds me a lot of the Nikon Pronea S, from the ancient days of APS. Unlike a true SLR, the image in the viewfinder is a somewhat blurry LCD, rather than the actual image that the lens is seeing. The controls are simple and easy to navigate and the image quality is good for a 2 MB CCD. An ideal back-up camera or a dream introduction to the exciting world of digital image making!

This camera is great for any sort of user. It has features which allow short 60secs burst of movie time and 2.0 mega pixles which is great for the price. Great value for money and well worth considering for a v.decent camera.