I like my games - all shapes and sizes from Computers,Consoles,Board and RPGs. ...
I like my games - all shapes and sizes from Computers,Consoles,Board and RPGs.
Anyone know the category assistant for Games there does'nt seem to be one in the list on the website
Member since:11.07.2000
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Imagine the scene, Heathrow airport, about to jet off to South Africa on Safari, and whats the one thing we forgot to pack … a camera. Oh well, time to have a look around Dixons as we’ve checked in and are just waiting for the gates to open in about 3 hours time!
After about an hour of mulling it over, probably to the amusement of the staff I settled on the Finepix 2800 and never looked back.
The camera itself is very old school in its look, just miniaturised for the modern generation. Due to a slight bulge on the front of the camera it is very easy to hold one handed, although if you are doing this I would recommend wrapping the included carry strap around your wrist just in case. Its silver design is very pleasing and aesthetically I don’t think many improvements could have been made.
The supplied documentation
is very clear and well laid out, in a small pocket sized book that is very easy to carry around, while your still learning how to use the camera.
As for taking pictures….
The Finepix 2800 has many camera settings for picture quality and resolution, each taking up varying amount of memory. There are three resolutions to choose from, 1600x1200, 1280x960 and 640x480 and three choices of image quality, Fine, Normal and Basic. Which combination you choose will determine the overall quality of your pictures and how much space they take on the memory card.
Speaking of memory cards, the camera comes bundled with a 16 MB card, which if you taking the highest quality pictures, will hold about 20 images (I generally use high resolution, normal quality) which brings the image count up to 39. However at the time I did buy a 128MB card as well which could store another 319 images at my chosen resolution. One useful feature is that the camera knows how much space is left on that card and depending on your chosen settings on the camera will tell you how many shots you have left. Its quite fun having a camera that tells you that you have 300 shots left before you change film (card)!
Taking the pictures themselves couldn’t be easier, you can use it like a normal camera, and use the viewfinder, or you can do the awkward way (or I found it to be so) and use the LCD screen on the back of the camera. The one annoying thing I found is that there is a slight delay on pressing the button and the image being captured, but one you get use to ‘leading’ a moving target you can get good motion shots. I managed to get some great one of cheetah cubs playing .
One thing that would probably annoy more experienced photographers is the lack of a manual focus, when you press the button, the camera focuses at the central point of the image and takes the shot, which contributes to the delay mentioned above. However, if you only half depress the button, you can focus on an object and the move the camera and take the shot, maintaining the focus on the original target, however this can take a bit of practice.
The camera has a very respectable 6x Optical zoom, which can appear to get you very close to your subject, and on top of this holds enough data in the picture for a 2x Digital zoom as well, which can be applied before or after the picture is taken.
Obviously as the holiday progressed, especially being on safari, the memory cards both were rapidly filling up, however this was not a problem. The camera can display the photos on its LCD screen, and you can also decide to delete any unwanted pictures.
Connecting the camera to the computer, couldn’t be easier (especially if you have a USB port on the front of your PC), just connect the cable to the computer, and the other end to the PC. And the computer sorts all the rest out. The just install the software and hey presto your away. When we got back from holiday I had the pictures off the memory cards and onto the PC within an hour, most of which was the transfer from the card to the PC.
The software bundled with the camera is pretty good, even if there is advertising embedded in it, but its not too obtrusive. Basically it’s a very pretty slideshow maker, very good for showing off your holiday photos.
I’ve not tried to print any photos off yet, so I can’t say anything about the quality of that, but that’s more down to the printer than the camera anyway.
As well as photos, the camera is capable of taking video footage, in 1 minute blocks, this is a nice feature but, the resolution is that low (320x240) you won’t use it that often, and it does take up a fair chunk of space on your memory card.
Hmm what else can I say, the battery life on the camera is reasonably good, a set of 4 Duracell Ultra M3 lasted about a day and a half and that included a good session reviewing pictures n the power hungry LCD screen each evening. If your going to be using it a lot, it might be worth investing in rechargeable batteries, although I have yet to find a rechargeable that can out last an M3, if anyone knows of one please let me know.
All in all…. A very good camera at a fairly reasonable price (£300 ish)
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Sep 27th, 2002
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