Fujifilm Finepix J38 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD

by Fuji

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.8 x 5.8 x 7 inches ; 3.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002HEWA1Y
• Item model number: FinePix J38
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,706 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 21, 2009

Product Description

The new FinePix J38 with a durable, all metal body features a 12 megapixel sensor, a 2.7ā? LCD screen, high-quality and pin-sharp 3x optical zoom, Scene Recognition Auto and Face Detection technology with Automatic Red-eye removal. And for added functionality, there's a brand new Panorama Mode. These cameras offer point and shoot appeal packed into stylish metal bodies.

Panorama Mode
In a first for J series models, the FinePix J38 features a Panorama Mode. Get creative and capture those sweeping landscapes or large group shots at Weddings. Panorama Mode works by seamlessly stitching together three consecutive shots to produce one impressive panoramic picture. It's that easy.

Top Technology at your Fingertips
Super intelligent Scene Recognition Auto has now been rolled out to Fujifilm's entry level compacts to offer all consumers the ability to take fantastic photos at the touch of a button. Scene Recognition Auto (SR AUTO) intelligently detects a scene (Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Backlit Portrait, Night and Night Portrait) and the camera automatically adjusts the exposure, focus and white balance to reveal perfect shots, regardless of the conditions or subject. With SR AUTO all you have to do is point and shoot.

Perfect Portraits
Creating perfect people pictures is easy with Fujifilm's highly-effective Face Detection technology. Use Face Detection to find all the faces in the frame and automatically adjust the focus and exposure to reveal flawless portraits of friends and family. Automatic red-eye removal is deployed to banish devilish red-eyes whilst the photo is being taken.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For this price, it's EXCELLENT!, December 4, 2009

By 

Suzy (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix J38 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

I was looking for a camera to replace my Canon G9. I love Canon products, and my G9 has served me well. However, I mainly shoot with a big DSLR, and use the G9 only occasionally for quick snapshots. I haven't really taken advantage of its many features in a long time, so I'd rather pass it along to someone who can get better use out of it. I wanted something inexpensive for myself, that would fit in my pocket, start up quickly, focus accurately and produce sharp images with fairly correct white balance, with little (if any) input from me. Also wanted something that would shoot a quick, basic video on occasion. This may not sound like a lot, but it's hard to find cameras in this price range that will do all of that.

The J38 fits the bill perfectly. It is a beautiful little device, seems to be built rather well and starts up in just a second. Focus is faster in low light than my G9, and while the images might be a little noisier in low light, they're still clear enough to work with happily up to 8x10. Indoor shots turn out beautifully, with good white balance and no magenta or cyan color casts. It does seem to have a mind of its' own while taking macro shots in low light, but I have yet to see a $100 point-and-shoot that does this flawlessly anyway. In daylight, macro shots are much easier! Also, it doesn't ALWAYS get the white balance right, but this is a common issue with digital cameras across the board. Simply metering off a lighter object (when possible) seems to solve this.

Video quality isn't on par with say, the new Sony CyberShot cameras, but they also cost $50-$100 more. For the price, I wasn't expecting much as far as video is concerned. The size is small, at 640x480, but it's smooth and sharp, with clear (mono) sound. I don't need more than this though, so I am happy.

The menus took some getting used to, especially after using Canons for years. Canon is known for their easy menu navigation. The J38's menu system could use some tweaking, but it works! The buttons on the outside of the camera are tiny, so this might not be a great camera for bigger hands. (Even my long nails get in the way). However, everything feels sturdy and nicely finished.

If you are looking for a sleek, simple digital camera that gives great results, this may just be the camera for you. Yes, it has some drawbacks, but overall it's an excellent camera for the money.

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick take since there are no reviews yet, October 15, 2009

By 

G. Smith (Socal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix J38 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

I have little experience with this camera (just an hour or so), but wanted to put something up here since no reviews exist yet.

Pros (so far):

* Tiny. Basically the size of a deck of cards! Fits in your front pocket, back pocket, tackle box, purse, shirt pocket, whatever.
* Nice stills.
* Excellent low-light stills, even without the flash.
* Good-looking camera.
* Big display, considering the overall camera size.
* Pretty good selection of adjustments and modes for a compact, low-cost camera.

Cons (so far):

* Proprietary battery. If it dies, you're out of luck. My other camera uses AA's, so I can keep spares on hand for pretty cheap. No data on battery life yet, as I didn't charge it before I used it and I doubt it was fully charged when I received it.
* Video is 640x480 30 fps, but you cannot zoom once you start recording. The bigger bummer is that the focus is fixed when you start recording, so if your subject gets nearer to or further from the camera, it will be out of focus (this is straight from the manual, by the way, which you can find on the FujiFilm website).
* No viewfinder. Could be a problem if you're taking pictures with the sun at your back and its too bright to see the display. Also, some folks like to use the viewfinder instead of the display to save battery power.

Bottom Line (so far!): Hard to beat for just over $100, that's for sure. This is a second camera for me, mostly for my tackle box.

46 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2nd non-biased review of an excellent camera., November 7, 2009

By 

1Dub79 (Fairburn, Ga.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fujifilm Finepix J38 12MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Electronics)

After owning this camera for a month, this is my second and final review of this camera. Of course, this camera has a lot of options. Not to mention, the 2.7 inch screen is pretty big for this size camera. Some bigger cameras do not have as big of a screen. It has a great picture when focusing. The picture is not as vivid as other cameras, but it is still takes sharp photos.

Features - One feature I noticed is taken photos can be zoomed in on. After taking a picture, press the zoom button and it will zoom in on the picture. The photo can also be looked at in 360 degree angle. Also, the software can allow users to improve images of uploaded photos. This feature is called "Auto Adjust". For example, I took a few pictures, which were kind of dark. Well, clicking on "Auto Adjust" will show the taken image and an improved image. The improve image will be a little lighter and clearer than the original.

Shooting Options - The shooting options are practically idiot proof. The SR Auto does everything for the user. The camera adjusts by which type of scene the user is in. Now, I did notice the SR Auto is not as effective in darker settings. Therefore, I decided to put the camera on Auto in a pitch black setting. I pressed the shutter and had a clear and bright picture, as if I took the pictures with lights on. This is no lie. This is due to the superb flash of the camera.

The face detection is good. I tested it. If the camera sees a face, it will put a green square around the face. Heck, it will even put one around a face on a TV screen.

Another cool shooting option is the automatic shooting mode. Just press down on the clock icon on the bottom of the menu button. Choose the duration of when you want the picture taken. It will be either 10 seconds or 2 seconds. Then, press the shutter lightly and the camera will countdown and take and automatic picture of a subject. This can only be done once. Therefore, if you want to take another automatic picture, just repeat the steps.

Battery Life - The battery life is great for this camera, as well. The battery life indicator shows three bars as fully charged. At a football game, I was continuously taking pictures and turning the camera on and off. I left the football game with two bars left. That was pretty good. I cannot say that about the Kodak camera, which I previously had.

Movie Mode - The videos on the Movie Mode show very clear. Not to mention, the audio is very good on playback, as well. Some reviewers on this website and others have said the camera cannot zoom, while recording videos. Well, it can zoom, but not optical. If you zoom in from afar on the optical zoom, the picture will be pixeled up. Therefore, it is only good for zooming in on items or people that are closer.

Downloading videos - For those who are planning to download videos onto YouTube, be warned! It is not easy. I am only speaking for someone who owns a PC. With this camera, I found by using Internet Explorer, YouTube would only accept a small amount of shooting time from this camera, which is usually two minutes and under. If the user makes a video, which was longer, an unloading error would come on. This was weird. I tried to find solutions to this problem. I actually saw on YouTube, an internet program called Mozilla Firefox was supposed to be the solution, so I downloaded it.

Now, YouTube downloads my videos with extended time. It is weird, but I guess FireFox is more compatible with the FujiFilm format. Despite this, the videos do take a lot of time to download, though. For this camera, it takes YouTube 30 minutes to download a 10 minute video. That is craaaazy! I got to find out how to get a faster way of downloading. Disregard if you are not a YouTube user. The videos will still show on the software, which it came with. That takes virtually no time. The other two previously purchased cameras I had did not have this problem. Everything uploaded rather quickly.

The verdict - After having this camera for over a month, I can honestly say this is a good buy. Not to mention, the price is continuoulsy going down on this camera. With all the features this camera has, a buyer will feel as if they have a steal of a camera.