Kyocera Finecam SL400R 4MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom

by Kyocera

Product Details

• Item Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0001LUI5A
• Item model number: SL400R
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,844 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 2, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Think fast. Shoot faster. You won’t believe all the pictures you’ve been missing. Our exclusive RTUNE technology lets you start and shoot faster than any digital camera before. With RTUNE, you’ll capture beautiful, virtually noise-free pictures of moments other digital cameras are too slow to capture at all. And all this freedom is packed into a sleek swivel design that folds flat and goes almost anywhere in any pocket.

Ultra-Compact, Stylish Design
Twist it open to get the shot, then twist it closed and slide it right back into your pocket. Its sleek all-metal exterior is sophisticated enough for your upscale cocktail parties and durable enough for your weekends at the beach.

Exclusive RTUNE Technology
Faster start-up. Faster shutter response. Faster shot-to-shot times. Continuous shooting at 3.3 pictures per second until your card is full (this feature requires a seperately sold high-speed SD memory card). And beautiful, virtually noise-free pictures.

4.0 Megapixel CCD
Crop tight or turn your favorite shots into sharp colorful 11" x 14" prints.

High-Quality 3x Optical/9.6x Total Zoom
A bright, brilliant Kyocera f/2.8 3x zoom lens gets you close to deliver the fullest shot possible. And for added flexibility, a 3.2x digital zoom combines to give you the power of a 9.6x total zoom.

1.5" DayFine LCD
Our exclusive DayFine display/viewfinder makes it easy to shoot and review your images in even the brightest sunlight.

30 or 15 fps Movies With Sound
Our revolutionary RTUNE technology also lets you shoot longer, higher-quality movies, limited in length only by the size of your memory.

Easy Scene Modes
Select portrait mode for enhanced skin tones. Sports mode for crisp action shots. Six custom scene modes make it easy to take the perfect picture.

Quick Control
An intuitive menu system and quick-access buttons make it easy to take advantage of every innovative feature.

Image Options
Sepia and black and white modes. Custom white balance. Sharpness and saturation adjustment. Exposure compensation. The SL400R lets you customize any picture a thousand ways.

Easy to Email
An integrated Image Resizing Mode creates a duplicate of an image, but in a smaller file size that’s ready to e-mail.

Customizable Start-Up Screen
Choose your favorite photograph as your start-up screen.

Product Description

2/8/200615-19-32...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Swivel body, ultra-compact camera with very good image and v, April 21, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Kyocera Finecam SL400R 4MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Image quality:
Daytime images: Excellent image quality, that fully meets expectations of a 4M pixel camera.
Flashimages: There is a built in flash, that allows taking pictures over reasonable distances (2 to 4 m). Unfortunately the autofocus works poorly under dim light conditions and there is no built in light assist autofocus. Fortunately the camera comes with a built in manual focus so that you can always use the camera.

A major adavantge of the camera over any other ultracompact is the swivel body. Thanks to the swivel body you will be able to put the camera on any flat surface or hold it onto a poll etc so that you can take night time images and self timer images without a tripod. I like this, because I seldom carry a tripod with me - in particular when I go out with a compact camera.

Another major advantage of the camera is the optional filter thread. This way you finally have a compact camera that permits you to add polarizer filters etc that used to be the privilege of larger cameras. (Polarizer filters are used to filter white glares from the sun that take away quite a bit of the colors).

Video quality: The quality of the videos you can take with this camera will suprise you (30 fps with 640x480 dots). You may take video clips of any length - of course this takes memory. The only thing I found is the somehow grainy video quality under dim light conditions. Yet, all of my other cameras have the same issue to some extent.

To refill the battery you only need to attach the power cord to the camera without extracting the battery or needing a cradle. The camera has the standard small USB connector, which makes directly downloading images without card reader very convenient. Kyocera provides the USB to small USB converter cable within the package.

All the features are easily accessible and conveniently located.

It is hard to say which of the two cameras, the Sony DSC-T1 or the Kyocera Finecam SL400R is any better without performing a in-depth test series.From what I have read and from what I see now from the Kyocera, I tend to believe that the Kyocera can keep up or exceed the image quality. However, the swivel body and the optional lens makes this camera way more versatile then the Sony.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What do you really want the camera for?, June 22, 2004

By 

J.J. "paxtonpony" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kyocera Finecam SL400R 4MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom (Electronics)

First off, I'm extremely pleased with this little camera. Does it have shortfalls? Yes, but not many. I bought this camera for specific reasons and it performs 100% of what I want it to do.
I'm in the military and on the go quite a bit so I needed something small and easy to use.
One of the biggest pluses (to me) is not needing a tripod. The swivel body is perfect for setting about anywhere and getting the shot (of myself) wherever I am. No more balancing my camera on a pile of rocks till I get the lens angle to where it doesn't cut my head off in the picture.
The instant on feature is awesome. Turn it on and it's ready to shoot a picture.
The fast shoot is the best thing ever. I can't tell you how many pictures I've missed with my other camera because it's focusing and processing whatever information. Push the button and it takes a picture, not "takes a picture 2 seconds from now."
WIth a high speed card you can take really great 640 x (whatever) movies. The movies are good quality and full motion. Not a camcorder replacement but fun for taking action movies at the drag races or whatever.
I haven't had problems with battery life. I think for the size and intended use it's fine. I turn the camera on, take a pic and turn it off. If you leave it on constantly, yeah, it's going to drain the battery. With the instant on and fast shooting, you can turn it on, take a pic and turn it off before most cameras can take a pic with it already on.
With the camera being so small, I don't mind taking my camera everywhere with me. It's nice because I'm taking pictures of a lot of things I never felt like lugging a camera around to take pictures of.
I've got Windows XP and there have been no problems (as stated earlier). Give your battery a full charge before you first start playing with it. I bought an extra battery but I don't think it's going to get much use. Don't forget to buy a high speed SD card. I got a 512m 32x speed and I think it will work for about anything I need. You could probably get away with a 256m no prob though.
Overall, I think it's an awesome little camera. If it had a little bit better zoom it would be perfect. It's an everyday camera. Fun to use.
It's not a replacement for my other camera though and I didn't buy it with those intentions. Keep that in mind and you will be extremely pleased.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Money, Better Choices Available, February 25, 2005

By 

Joshua E. Young (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kyocera Finecam SL400R 4MP Digital Camera with 3X Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I've owned several digital cameras in the last few years, from a Kodak DC to a Canon Elph, to now, a Kyocera. While the Kyocera is certainly the fastest in terms of turning on and shooting, it lacks in the most important areas: battery life and picture quality. After reading the reviews here, you will see that everyone complains about the battery life. It is in one word, pitiful. I've owned my Kyocera now for 1 year and I'm lucky to get 15 total minutes out of a charged battery. That is down from the 30 min. total that I got out of the battery freshly charged out of the box. That is simply unacceptable. The picture quality is fair, but for the price, I expect better. I would not recommend this product and I advise looking elsewhere. Don't make the mistake of dropping $300 - $400 on this camera only to be dissatisfied and already shopping for a replacement within 1 year.