Home > Consumer Reviews > Kyocera Finecam L3V Digital Camera [3MP 3xOptical]

Having shopped around for my first digital camera I settled on the L3v. In contrast to other reviews, I consider the battery life to be fine, accepting that all digital cameras eat batteries to an extent. Having invested in rechargables there is no problem at all. Build quality is impressive and the menu and options system is easy to use, as is the included software. Image results are impressive - being difficult to distinguish from 35mm even from my humble injet printer on normal size prints, even at less than full resolution. Other 3MP cameras at a similar price often have a plastic feel (have a look at many Fuji and Nikon examples), whereas the L3v is simple to use but with plenty of options, compact and has a real quality feel. The on/off switch may be a little too 'minimalist' for some tastes, but this is only a minor niggle. The good size screen is a real help in not only deciding which images to keep, but showing them to others easily without the need to squint at a tiny 1.5" screen. An impressive and useable camera that doesn't break the bank and delivers very good results.

Don't be too excited at the size of the monitor... you will need extra powerful batteries to take more than a picture in a row. This camera works fine overall (that is, the few photos you manage to take are actually very good), but really lets you down as the already short life of the batteries for digital cameras here is brought to an extreme.
It had become a nightmare to have to carry around a bagful of batteries switching them every other minute. DO NOT BUY DISPOSABLE ONES- they are not powerful enogh to even last five minutes- honestly, I got 'battery exhausted' messages as soon as I put them in. Unfortunately, I was not told that when I bought it. Admittedly it is rather annoying to find out that after the good money you have spent you are hardly able to take half of the pictures you would have wished to remember a wonderful once-in-a-life holiday (in view of which the considerable expense had been made)!
I have since switched to another digital camera, and must say have breathed a sight of relief. I am now looking forward to my next holiday!