Customer Reviews

Fujifilm FinePix 3800 3MP Digital Camera w/ 6x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

I've been using the Fuji Finepix 3800 for 10 days and I am extremely pleased with all aspects of this camera. Back in July, I had read an excellent magazine review of the Finepix 2800, and, after further research (including user reviews on Amazon.com), I had almost decided to purchase it. However, I was a little reluctant to buy a 2-megapixel camera, as consumer cameras were already getting to 4 megapixels. I decided to wait, hoping Fuji would update this model. A few days later they announced the 3800, and six weeks later I ordered mine....

In addition to increasing the resolution to 3 megapixels, Fuji has added several features that give you more picture-taking control, such as an aperture priority mode, sharpness adjustment, flash intensity, exposure adjustment, and several white balance options. Also new is the media card type. It's called xD Picture Card, and it's quite small, about the size of a postage stamp. The camera includes one 16 MB xD card, which holds about 26 pictures at the setting I use most (3 MP / normal). The other settings are 3 MP / fine (12 pictures), 2 MP (39), and 1 MP (49). You really need a larger capacity card if you're going to be away from your computer for any length of time, such as a vacation. (I plan to get a 128 MB xD card... as soon as they are available.)

The camera comes with a USB cable and various PC/Mac software applications for managing your photos. I haven't used their software; I have an iMac with iPhoto (free) for photo management (and a whole lot more) and PixelNhance (free) for photo editing. After taking a few pictures, I connected the cable to the camera and the iMac, and turned on the camera. iPhoto started up; I clicked one button and my pictures were downloaded. It was literally seconds from connecting cables to viewing my pictures. No configuration of software nor drivers nor anything else was required (thanks, Apple). The first thing I noticed was the picture quality. It is superb. The colors, the detail, everything, is quite amazing.

Taking pictures is easy, once you get used to the quirks of digital photography. Press the shutter release halfway and the camera focuses (after a brief image freeze). Keeping the button down, you can reframe the picture if necessary. Press down all the way to take the picture. There is a momentary delay while the picture is stored into memory, and then your picture is shown for about 2 seconds. This lets you know if you got the picture you wanted without having to change the camera mode to view your pictures. The 6x optical zoom (equivalent to a 200 mm lens on a 35 mm camera) was a big selling point for me. I like being able to quickly frame a picture, especially from a fair distance.

The electronic viewfinder (EVF) takes a little getting used to (compared to an SLR). I only use it when I have to, such as in bright sunlight. Otherwise I use the small LCD screen on the back of the camera. If you've read reviews of the 2800, you know that low light situations can be a problem for this camera. Not having used the 2800, I can't say whether Fuji has made improvements in this area for the 3800. However, it is still true that if there's not enough light, you won't see anything in the EVF or LCD. You can still take pictures in low light; you just have to set it for the widest angle, aim as best you can, and then check the result. If you missed the subject, re-aim and try again. You can always crop the picture when you get it on your computer. This camera, by the way, takes excellent pictures with the built-in flash, even when there's little or no other light.

The 3800 has a movie mode which allows you take a minute of 320x240 pixel video (or 3 minutes of 160x120) at 10 frames per second. This works great for those moments when you want a quick video but don't have the video camera. You can view the video on the camera, just like you view photos. And it's easy to download and view on your computer.

Photos stored on the camera can be easily viewed and deleted if you don't want them. (You can also mark photos as "protected" to prevent accidental deletion.) The buttons on the camera back are laid out well and easy to use. The menus for changing the camera settings and viewing/deleting photos are intuitive and easy to learn.

Like most digital cameras, this one goes through batteries very quickly. The four AA batteries included won't last very long. Better to invest in a good charger for AA NiMH batteries (the Mahi MH-C240F works great).

Also included is an adapter for optional zoom or wide angle lenses. The manual actually recommends leaving the adapter on the camera at all times (presumably to protect the telescoping lens housing) though you never see any photos of this camera with the adapter on it. I don't use the adapter because the lens cap doesn't fit on it very well (pops off too easily). The lens cap works fine on the camera without the adapter.

The bottom line: Fuji took an excellent, widely praised, highly regarded camera and made it better. I took a chance and bought this camera before all the reviews were in, just based on reviews of the 2800 and the additional features announced by Fuji. I have not been disappointed in the least.

Prices always change, but it's obvious that in the spring of 2003, Fujifilm positioned this camera to move off the shelves, and make a good impression.

Some of the bad reviews touch on problems with this camera, but you're not going to find a perfect, or even a professional grade camera with these features in it's price range. None of the problems are fatal flaws, in my opinion.

The worst flaw is that neither the LCD screen or the EVF are bright enough when the light is very low. There are other digital cameras that do this better, but if you're going to be doing a lot of low-light shooting, and you want your framing and focus to be right every time, don't get a digital camera. Get a 35mm film camera.

If you're just taking snapshots at an indoor event, this can be annoying, but you can always reframe things when you edit the digital pictures. Let's face it. You're not going to have a perfect picture every time no matter what camera you use, so you're going to be doing some editting anyway.

There were a couple of other issues brought up in some of the reviews I read. For example, in anything but bright sunlight, when you have the zoom fully extended to 6x, you're not going to be able to hold the camera steady enough. That would be true with any camera, digital or film. The longer the zoom, the more your minute shaking will affect the final result.

Also, each time you erase the memory card, the numbering on the filenames starts over again at 1. If there is an option to change this (as I had in the Fujifilm 1300 I replaced), I have not found it yet. That means when you store your originals you'll either have to change the filenames, or store them in seperate folders.

As for battery life, the first 200 pictures I took were inside shots, many using flash. Because I wear glasses, I find it easier to use the big LCD. I was able to take almost 200 pictures before the original batteries started to die. Still, I pop 4 AA alkaline batteries into my pocket when I take the camera with me.

The 16MB card is too small. It's inclusion is similar to the half-full ink cartridge included with new printers, or the 10 test strips included with a blood glucosse meter. Your first purchase after deciding to keep the camera should be a 128MB card. A 128MB card will hold 90-100 pictures at the finest resolution.

The camera fits perfectly in my average sized hand, but it may not fit in your hand. Of course if you have very big or very small or oddly shaped hands, you already know to check it out by holding it in your hand at a local store. The weight is quite low, and it's balanced fairly well. For most people there won't be any ergonomic issues.

Three people I work with also purchased digital cameras in the same price range as the Fujifilm 3800 about the same time I did. As we compared notes, and passed our cameras around, the other three wished they would have considered the Fujifilm 3800. And while a couple of those other cameras had some neat features mine didn't, I was still satisfied with my choice.

Is it a professional camera? No. Is it a perfect camera? No. Is it a great value? At the time of my purchase, and even now at the time of this review, yes it is. I have no regrets about choosing the Fujifilm 3800.

I've owned this camera for about six weeks and have taken several hundred pictures in many different situations and environments. The Fuji Finepix 3800 has excellent picture quality with great color, detail, balance, and sharpness with a minimum of digital artifacing (I haven't observed any). The picture quality with this camera surpasses what you might expect from a digital camera. However, it has one very significant and major flaw that cannot be overcome. In considering whether to purchase this camera, you must decide if you can live with it. The flaw is that it must have a great deal of light to take the high quality pictures of which it's capable. It is permanently set for an equivalent of ISO 100 film. This means that you cannot take indoor pictures without a flash, and many outdoor settings in the PNW are too dark for it as well. Without using a flash indoors, your pictures will be blurred. I have been quite frustrated by this because there are many situations where it would be preferable in a brightly lit room to NOT use a flash, yet you must do so. With the Canon Rebel I sold to pay for this camera, I used ISO 100 film only once, finding that the graininess of higher speed film was worth the trade-off of needing summer brightness outdoor sunlight. It is astounding that a digital camera would have such a requirement when the technology for lower light capture is available and of good quality.

This camera has the ability to change settings as you might on an SLR, but you will unlikely find yourself able to use any aperature setting above 2.8 in normal situations due to the light requirements.

I decided to keep my camera because in spite of the frustrations, I found myself using it regularly, and it does take excellent pictures. I do not think there is an alternative to this camera in this price range with these features. The Canon that is similar to this camera has digital artifacing problems (purple fringes at contrast areas) that are more unacceptable to me than the high light requirements of the 3800.

Did my homework. Weighed the arguments for and against. Was very careful about selecting this camera but have yet to be disappointed. Very impressed. Very satisfied.
1) 6x optical zoom... only thing really keeping me latched to my SLR. Anything less is wasting my time. Digital zoom is a marketing gimmick.
2) 55mm lens attachments! wide angle, circular polarized, red & blue filters. (be careful, this is still a dumb auto-focus with no manual override. Have not tried, but I would expect issues with diffusion filters) Not sure if the Fuji wide angle lens is most cost effective option. With the 55mm adapter, I would think you could shop around for a better deal. I bought the Fuji because I thought the 55mm adapter came with the lens, but it comes with the camera.
3) Auto focus... no issue with the shot delay noted in other reviews. You can half push the shutter to go into dynamic auto-focus mode and never miss the 'perfect' shot with system delay. Critical with my active 4mo and 3yr subjects! The people that complained about the 1/2 second shot delay and missed shots are using this thing like a disposable 35mm. They need to read the manual.
4) Power... have taken 2-300 pictures so far using LCD & flash and still on the AA alkaline that came with the unit (I don't use the USB connection, I transfer using an XD/PCMIA adapter so that is probably where I am saving power). On the reviews I expected a battery killer. Using the high capacity NmHi, power consumption may be a rare concern. My only complaint, and it may only be that I haven't found it yet, is a battery meter like I have on my cam-corder.
5) LCD, I agree the display is unusually dark prior to taking the picture, but entirely usable to set up just about every shot. The low light conditions where the display is too dark to see the subject adequately is your first indication the auto focus will have a problem. Have not yet tried setting the focus on infinity and taking the shot with flash anyway. I would expect that to be a simple work around in a pinch.
6) XD Picture card... the storage specs are misleading. The unit comes with a 16MB card and the specs say it will hold one 3.2mp shot. I now think that is a typo. I bought two 128MB cards in anticipation of needing more storage. To my surprise, 128MB will hold a couple hundred 3.2mp shots. I probably could have saved myself $70 and only got one card.
7) Accessories... get the accessory kit for the 3800. You will spend more buying the included items individually. Fuji and Olympus seem to be sharing a lot of technology these days. Same company? or strategic alliance? My advise is to price both Fuji and Olympus stuff to find the lowest price. The Olympus PCMIA XD card reader was less than Fuji's. The Fuji XD cards are less than Olympus'.
8) Image quality... camera to inkjet, printed 8x10 with no color adjustments gave incredible pictures. Add photo paper and you may not be able to tell it isn't processed film. White balance, skin tones, CYMK color saturation, pixel clarity all on the money. This 3.2mp fits my needs. Glad I didn't get drawn into spending $2-300 more for 4-5mp.
9) Macro shots... tried locking on to a jumping spider on the patio screen door, but couldn't get the shot before my subject took off. Not sure if I had the setting right or not. Will be pulling out the manual so I don't miss another opportunity through ignorance.
10) Low light... touch and go. Took many pictures at a party in a dimly lit basement. Some came out fine, others not completely in focus. I would expect similar difficulty with 1000 speed film in an SLR.
Most bang for the buck IMO.

I've had this camera for two months and I love it. It takes beautiful pictures. I've had no problems with it all. For those who are getting "fuzzy" indoor pictures, I can offer three explanations (all of which have happened to me):

1) If you forget to pop open the flash before taking the picture, you'll get a picture with good exposure that may even look okay on the LCD screen. But when you load it onto your computer, it's obviously out of focus. This is the result of not being able to hold the camera steady for the relatively long exposure time required when not using a flash. This problem is not unique to this camera nor to digital cameras in general. In fact, if you use a tripod, this camera will take gorgeous indoor pictures without a flash.

2) As instructed in the manual, you should push the shutter release down halfway (and hold it there) to allow the camera the focus. Frame your picture, and then push down all the way. If you don't do this, it's possible to get pictures out of focus.

3) In very low light conditions, the camera's auto-focus mechanism may not have enough light to focus. There is an indicator in the viewfinder to let you know when this happens. However, this is generally not a problem with normal room lighting. (Note that all auto-focus cameras have this limitation in varying degrees.)

Just got this camera as a birthday gift and I am thorougly enjoying it. I was hesitant to switch over to a digital camera, but now I know I made a great choice. The camera is so small, but produces excellent quality pictures. It is very easy to use and includes some nice photograhy features. I got the 64MB xD card which holds 50 top quality or 107 really good quality pictures on it. The sound movie feature is fun too. I have had no battery issues yet, although I plan to get some rechargeables. This camera has some power saving features, so I don't think it is as much of a "pig" on the batteries. I will probably invest in the xD card reader as well. In low light the viewer is not the greatest, but the camera still delivers a beautiful night shot and you can make out what you are photographing, no problem. I was between the 2800 and the 3800. I am glad I went for the 3800 for the 3.2 megapixels.

I bought the camera a few weeks ago, went to Fuji because usually whatever they make is not overpriced and works really well, the3800 is no exception, photo output is ecellent, although is doesnt look it in grainy viewfinder, works easily, menus are not difficult to navigate, Battery life, mine came with four alkalines, they were Panasonic, Alkalines for digital, I have been fooling with it now for days, must have fooled with it with what you could equate to hundreds of exposures, they still work, took some NiMh, charged them, I have not idea how many exposures I took with them, its enormous, have been shooting pictures all week long, they,re still going.
Love this camera,love the look too, it uses the little XD cards, a bit expensive now, but, they download to the buffer in a flash, even at top resolution, I think the long battery life and quick load to the buffer is due to this new XD card.
My only negative is, unless you spend a fortune on a digital camera, they all get balky in focusing in dim light, the Fuji does too, but not as much as the pack, even if it tells you it may not focus right, shoot the pictures, will probably come out just fine, a really great camera, cannot praise it enough

I just bought this camera as a replacement for my Nikon 775 which I really liked, but its battery housing broke. This camera, nearly a year later, is the same price I paid last year for a 2.1 MP camera (ah, technology) and takes fabulous photos. I had read about its difficulties in indoor or low light situations, so this weekend I took it on a pretty good test of lighting conditions: a trip to the Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico, where I shot in bright outdoor, dark indoor (cave interiors), from within caves facing outward, and all variety of different situations. I found that it performed magnificently in all but the very lowest of lighting, and in these instances would have been fine if I had used a tripod. I used both auto and manual settings and played around a lot to see how it would perform (and in doing so, whether I would keep the camera) and I was quite impressed. My only dissatisfaction about this camera is that the lens cap is extremely inadequate and I would not consider transporting the camera anywhere without my bag because it simply will not stay in place. Otherwise, it is compact and sturdy, uses standard AAs (nice if my rechargables die on a trip where I didn't pack the charger), and the 128 MG card I bought will take over 200 images on the highest resolution settings. Overall, a great buy for the price.

My question was: Which is the best camera for my wife, if MY favorite is the Canon D60? To explain this question these were my preferences: good zooming objective + good picture resolution + ease of use + low power consumption + consistent image quality + affordable price. My first two winners were Canon G2 and Fuji S602. Now I am happy that this new camera came out before buying one of the other ones. All my expectations met with the features of the FinePix 3800. The xD card is really astonishing, but definitely buy a larger one (my advice: buy the largest available!).
Addendum after the first 10 days:
Definitely buy a 55 mm circular polarizer and a UV filter. These two will boost the picture quality even further.
Addendum after the first 3 weeks:
The first set of batteries (supplied with the camera) were disappointing. They went down after 30 pictures. Then I have bought Energizers (Alkaline), but I have left the camera attached to my PC for a night and it was out of power in the morning. Avoid doing this, because the external led is turned on during downloading... Finally I have bought Duracell Ultra batteries (immediately two sets). Surpizingly the first set keeps working after 200+ pictures.

Bottom line(s) after 3 months:
1. Buy rechargeable batteries.
2. The machine has problems with autofocus in low light conditions (indoor pix)
3. Otherwise it is still very good for the price.

My husband and I just purchased this camera after reading all the reviews from above. I have always wanted to learn how to use a manual camera but am too impatient to wait for film to be developed. This camera is very simple to use and the instruction book is very easy to read with over 100 pages all in English. After learning about all the features on the camera, my husband and I were ready to play. We took our camera with us to an outside market place to take pictures. The LCD helps view your pics but we were incredibly suprised when we got home and transferred our pictures from our camera to the computer. The colors and clarity are unbelievable! You can read signs clearly that are at least 20 feet away in the shot. Our pictures almost have that professional quality look to them. We also took pictures inside in very low light, and they came out perfect. My husband also took some pictures of animals through a glass screen door and you can't tell there was a screen door there. The pictures look as if we were standing outside. I recommend this camera to anyone wanting to switch from a regular camera to digital. Although we don't have a great printer to print the pictures, I was told ... that I could save my photos onto a CD and take them there to be printed on photo paper. The FUJU 3800 is worth every dollar!