Fujifilm Finepix S1800 Review

. New camera! I got it at Fred Meyer for a measly $159. The first time I saw it I was dumbstruck by its price and immediately dismissed it as a cheap gimmicky camera that would ultimately fail (epically) in the real world. You know what they say about cats and curiosity, but I got it anyway. Its a rough economy these days and after having spent a good deal of time without a camera after my Canon S2 IS petered out (2004 - 2009 may it rest in peace) I felt I needed a new one and couldn't pass up the opportunity. I must say, in comparison to my initial reaction, I am quite impressed with this little beast.

The Bads:

1) A bit smallish in the hand as compared to most SuperZoom cameras on the market. I have medium sized dude hands so any bigger and the camera grip won't hold all three fingers. It's also lighter than the rest, especially when compared to the Canon SX 20 or SX 30.

2) Face Recognition and Blink Detection are not nearly as useful on this camera as they are on most Sony or Canon models for example. every so often a random face will appear where there is none (I tell others it can see invisible spirits to smooth it over), and it has a hard time finding the faces that ARE in the frame.

3) The LCD screen is extremely noisy. This is even noticeable in medium light scenarios. Don't expect to be blown away by the screen or the user interface for that matter. Its all about function. it doesn't make cool sounds, or have pretty, high-resolution menu screens.

4) Colors from the camera are often very dull. To correct for this, I almost always have the "Chrome" color setting enabled which increases saturation and contrast. Only in high contrast or dark (or reddish) skin tone scenarios do I disable it. Also, noise reduction at high ISO settings is much less effective than on most other SuperZoom cameras.

5) 720p video gives par image quality with mono sound which sounds a bit tinny. Nothing impressive here.

The Goods:

1) FULL manual controls. I love to be in control, though with this camera you kind of have to be. Auto mode will produce very noisy and often dull photos. Shutter speeds only go up to 8 seconds and there are only two aperture settings available.

2) I was able to produce very acceptable and even great images after understanding what the does well and not so well, even in low light. Full manual controls help adjust for not-so- desirable factory settings. Compression doesn't seem to be an issue (there are two modes normal and fine), and at low ISO (64-(about) 400) I was able to capture great detail in things such as hair or leaves.

3) The camera is solidly built. The large LCD screen does serve for better photo composition, and with the single press of a button (the erase button in playback mode) you can brighten the screen for sunny days. There are more than enough dedicated buttons in convenient places to keep me happy, and shot to shot, and power up times are reasonably quick (though not particularly impressive). The menu system is simple and most functions are just a couple button presses away. Also, live shutter speed and aperture updates in program mode let you know what the camera is doing, and when you press the exposure adjust button a live histogram pops up which is very convenient. Love this!

4) Very quick continuous shooting mode at medium resolutions, and even faster at smaller resolutions.

. It was a long shot, but this cat ain't dead! Overall I'm glad I got it. No, its not the best at anything it does, but the fact is that it can be compared to cameras which fall in the $250-$500 price range, for such a low price ($159) this camera has great value. Sure, intense photographers will be frustrated by its "almost-good-enough" approach to almost everything it does (when compared to its pricier competition), but beginners and enthusiasts such as myself will do well with it on a low budget. It would also make a great step-up camera from compact point-and-shoots.