Fuji FInepix

[RAYK47]

OK, firstly I am not sure if this is the right forum but I cannot find a relevant one.

I will start by letting you know that I no nothing about photography but am looking for a new digital camera.

I have the following criteria: -

-optical zoom minimum 3x
-small and compact size
-decent battery life
-easy to use

My budget is around the £130 mark so I am obviously not looking for the top of the range SLR's etc

I have seen three that I like, in order of preference

1)Fuji Finepix F31fd - this has had good reviews and is on AMazon for £125 (downside is that it uses XD cards and they are a bit mopre expensive and max 2Gb capacity
2)Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX3 - looks good and available for £99 from empire direct
3)Samsung V3 - no real reason but it just looks fantastic about £130

Any recommendations please

[Bobster]

try fuji's site, the do referbs..

[RAYK47]

try fuji's site, the do referbs..

Cheers Bobster, is that your recommendation out of the ones I listed???

[jamena]

some good reviews on www.dpreview.com

My personal preference is the f31 but that's to do with the low light capabilities more than anything else It apparently has "class-leading battery life" (quote from the reviewer not the manual!) and I'd have thought 2Gb would be more than enough! (I agree the XD speed might be a bugger but the higher speed (H I think?) will probably be okay) Probably 500+ high-detail photos at maximum res/quality? ...recalls the days of 36 exposure limits...

[RAYK47]

some good reviews on www.dpreview.com

My personal preference is the f31 but that's to do with the low light capabilities more than anything else It apparently has "class-leading battery life" (quote from the reviewer not the manual!) and I'd have thought 2Gb would be more than enough! (I agree the XD speed might be a bugger but the higher speed (H I think?) will probably be okay) Probably 500+ high-detail photos at maximum res/quality? ...recalls the days of 36 exposure limits...

Your right of course on all fronts and at the moment the F31 is hot favourite for me (again down to the battery life and low light quality. Also got good review on here.

Thanks i didnt know there was a differnce between xd types. Didnt know which one to get out of these apart from the price i knew nothing about them. Your right 2Gb is plenty but when you see the 4GB SD cards so cheap you just want a piece of it.

I have headr of the limitations in speed of the XD cards, is this something I should be weary of? As opposed to a camera using SD.

[shiato storm]

my dad has the fuji f30, fore-runner to the 31. as digital compacts go its excellent.

[jamena]

my dad has the fuji f30, fore-runner to the 31. as digital compacts go its excellent.

is it true that there's no manual zoom settings at all on it? I find the manual settings on my current compact quite handy even if they are only 0.5, 1, 3, 7, infinity or something. Or does the f31 focus quickly/accurately even in, for example, a poorly-lit restaurant. My current camera cannot see to focus in poor light without the (very bright) auto-focus led which tends to take ages and makes people squint ...even more than usual

[Lee H]

The Fuji Finepix S5600 is a cracking camera for the price and that can be picked up in the 130 price range due to the release of the 5700 which has higher MP and facial recognition.

Only problem is it's not small and compact so I expect that would put you off but the Fuji Finepix F31fd is a very nice camera as well.

In regards to the XD media - JFYI I've the 9500 zoom and I've been shooting a fair few days images at the highest MP setting.

A 1 Gb card has enough space for over 220 images and the 2 Gb card has enough for double that.

I tend to have my 1 Gb card in mine and a 2 Gb CF card in the slot and switch if I need to.

[RAYK47]

OK thanks for the advice all. I went into the local Jessops today to have a look at the F31fd (which they have for £139) and in all honesty it looks good and if it is as good as the reviews should suit me well.

Looks like we have a winner.

[schmunk]

I had a Fuji F30, which was great until I dropped it...

Luckily the insurance money, even after the excess deduction, was easily enough to buy a Fuji F31fd!

I haven't used it very much yet, but it appears to be pretty much the same as the F30, i.e. very good indeed.

xD cards are not really v expensive - I got a 2GB card for ~£21, from a Jessops shop pricematching Dabs online.


p.s. I bought my F31fd from Tecno.co.uk for ~£122 inc. VAT and delivery, using a couple of codes I found with a google search. It arrived quickly, no problems.

[Lee H]

F31fd...

Nice choice - I've seen some very good reviews and some excellent demo shots from that camera floating on the web.

[g8ina]

It's also a favourite for digiscoping... If I hadn't gone and bought the Nikon P5000 (big mistake) I might well have got the Fuji.

[Lee H]

Digiscoping ?

<runs to google to check what that is>

Oh... thats a good idea, and thats the something new that I've learnt today if I don't count the new AMD naming convention system

[RAYK47]

Great advice all, I will be ordering the Fuji this weekend (as its bonus time here at work )