Fujifilm Q1 DIGITAL

...☼ ☼ FUJIFILM FINEPIX DIGITAL Q1 ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Manufacturer’s description: “The Q1 Digital is perfect for the newcomer to digital photography, or if you're looking for a digital camera to take everywhere with you. Featuring everything you'd want from an entry-level model, including a movie mode, the Q1 Digital offers both style and substance. Its beauty is not just skin-deep; the 2 megapixel Q1 ...
...camera was a brief description: Fujifilm Finepix Digital Q1. 8MB memory plus 16MB xD Memory card. The price? £59.99 Well, that was within my budget... In the case next to it there was a similar camera, for £39.99. What was the difference? Ah - the more expensive camera was Digital. The cheaper one was an APS camera - compact and dainty.

I spoke to a Boots sales assistant who searched for the camera box in the cupboard under the supply ... more

Anyone who has noticed the new photographic additions to my reviews (both old and new) could not fail to notice that I have had an addition to my technological arsenal - to wit - a new digital camera!

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ FUJIFILM FINEPIX DIGITAL Q1 ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Manufacturer’s description: “The Q1 Digital is perfect for the newcomer to digital photography, or if you're looking for a digital camera to take everywhere with you. Featuring everything you'd want from an entry-level model, including a movie mode, the Q1 Digital offers both style and substance. Its beauty is not just skin-deep; the 2 megapixel Q1 Digital offers a great deal of functionality. Features include 3 flash modes, QVGA movie mode and a TFT LCD screen for easy review and playback of your still images and movies. Its 8MB internal memory means you're ready to go straight out of the box, and if you want to carry on taking more shots, you can insert an xD-Picture Card for additional memory.”

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☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ THE PAST ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

I had been happy with my APS camera ever since I began using it. When the initial development costs dropped to mean that it cost the same to develop all of your pre-set prints (although the reprint costs were stepped to reflect the additional paper involved in the print) I started taking all my photos in the panoramic mode - cutting down the prints to fit the albums, and only making a "classic" reprint if the original managed to cut off a significant portion of the original picture.

However, when I started to write reviews on Ciao! I discovered that you could upload your own pictures, providing they were in an uploadable format. APS was not an "uploadable" format.

Although you could get a Picture CD - in fact, I had HAD one film developed along with a Picture-CD - with the hope that I could then use the pictures - the CD insisted that you wanted ITS software to modify and view the pictures - and my computer didn't like being ordered around and just flatly refused to be dictated to.

I decided that my need was for a digital camera or a camera-phone.

I am eligible for an upgrade on my handset for my contract with T-Mobile, so my first question should be what CAMERA PHONES were available on my network. This was further complicated by the requirement to get a phone I could also use as a mobile phone. I prefer Siemens' menus for the phone - but I suspected that Siemens camera phones are rare.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ NOW WHAT? ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

There were NO Siemens camera phones available on my tariff and network.

In frustration, I tried to ascertain what the cost would be for an appropriate camera phone, full stop, pay-as-you-go. The cheapest was about £90. And I would still have to pay for calls to e-mail the pictures to myself.

Hang on! I could probably get a straightforward digital camera for that price, now that my new PC and laptop both have USB ports.

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☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

1) My upward limit on the cost was £90 (the cost of a camera-phone) - but I wanted the least expensive that fit the criteria.

2) It needed a LCD picture screen display so I can plan the picture properly.

3) It must be small enough for me to carry easily, lightweight and easy to use, reasonably inconspicuous.

4) It must be reasonably robust - not for nothing is dyspraxia often called "clumsy child syndrome" - and with arthritis, I sometimes cannot grip as well as I used to.

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☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ WHAT I FOUND ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

It was in the display case. The curves caught my eyes first - and then the silver casing and small size. Beneath the camera was a brief description: Fujifilm Finepix Digital Q1. 8MB memory plus 16MB xD Memory card. The price? £59.99 Well, that was within my budget... In the case next to it there was a similar camera, for £39.99. What was the difference? Ah - the more expensive camera was Digital. The cheaper one was an APS camera - compact and dainty.

I spoke to a Boots sales assistant who searched for the camera box in the cupboard under the supply case. Eventually it was determined that the camera on display was the "last in stock" so I had an additional 10% discount for buying the display model.

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☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ USING THE CAMERA ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

At 2 megapixels, with an LCD screen to preview and review the shots taken - 2x, 3x and 4x digital zoom (both in taking the shot and later reviewing the resultant image), this nifty little curvaceous model just suits me perfectly. Included were both the resident 8MB memory and a 16MB xD Memory card; I purchased an additional 128MB xD card on eBay. The camera weighs a mere 132g as it has a robust silver plastic casing. The software CD also included a full down-loadable manual, but there was an A2 sized Quick Start Guide with illustrated instructions on both sides in eight languages. You can change the display language on the camera using the setup function in the menu.

It is an un-self-conscious model - and was just as happy taking a self-portrait (see below) as both close-up and distance shots. Some ingenuity was required to determine the best way to take certain types of shots, both indoor and out.

For instance, who would ever have thought that the best indoor pictures at night would be taken WITHOUT a FLASH - instead of WITH!

The resultant photo image had a reddish tint, but the detail was clearer to a much greater distance than with the flash. This was because they were taken in a large hall, and the optimum flash distance is a mere 1.2 metres to maximum 2 metres.

The "close-up" setting gathers in more light over a larger area, whereas the normal "flash" setting only illuminates the local area - everything outside the one and a half metre area is plunged into darkness. As many of my evening photographs are taken of baptisms - at a greater distance than one and a half metres - this was an important lesson to learn early.

I am still learning new ways of optimizing my pictures taken, nearly three months later.

I also found out that the best action pictures were also taken without a flash, as there is an even longer delay while the camera calculates the amount of light required; the resultant photo is taken several seconds beyond the point where you press the button! The shutter speed is automatic and can range from 1/2000th to 1/15th second – and I haven’t yet worked out all variations.

[If most of your shots are action pictures, however, a camera with a faster shutter speed (preferably adjustable) is recommended, or an "old fashioned" film camera.]

I took a picture of myself by watching the LCD in the mirror, with the camera facing me. Another picture was taken by using the camera as a webcam, but this was more difficult to judge the resultant picture, as the minute you looked at the computer screen you were no longer looking directly at the webcam.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ RETRIEVING THE PICTURES ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

I used the included software to install the camera onto my husband’s Dell Latitude CPx Laptop, which has Windows XP Operating system and Office 2003. To download the pictures once taken, I turn the camera on, plug in the included USB cable to the computer and the camera and select Disk Drive [If you select PC Camera, you get a webcam instead].

The wizard prompts you to download your pictures. When you see the next screen, you have all the possible pictures on the Flash Memory card visible – you can “select all” or “clear all” – then go through all the pictures to choose which you want to download – you then save them in a folder and are prompted to finish, upload to a website or do something further. You can press “next” to finish or “back” to choose some more pictures to download. You also have the option to delete the pictures from the camera after downloading as part of the download process. Thus you can download your worst pictures and delete from the camera, and download the best (without deleting) and they remain on the memory card for printing at an instant machine later if you wish. You can also delete pictures you do not want directly from the camera MENU as well.

To take pictures straight onto the camera, and to download these pictures stored on the integrated 8MB, you need to open the battery compartment (unlock the cap at the base of the round column; then twist the side lever to pop the lid open) and remove the xD Flash Memory card from its slot [Please see diagram from quick start guide pictured below]. Now the camera internal memory itself is being accessed. As you only have one of the memories accessible at once, you cannot transfer the pictures from the camera to the flash card, so it is probably best to use the xD Memory card to take pictures you wish to print unless you have a photo-printer attached to your computer.

I took my first photos the first week in November, and on the Saturday used a Kodak Instant Printing machine to print 67 prints for under £20 in the local Boots the Chemist.. These were 6” x 4” prints which I cropped, edited, auto corrected and printed differing numbers of each print chosen. I did not print all the pictures on the memory card. The entire editing process from start to finish was about an hour or so. If their own card-reading machine (and printer) had been working, I could have had 50+ prints directly from the Memory Card (unedited) for 10p each. I am fairly artistic, so I actually preferred being able to edit my own pictures, and was pleased to have the equivalent of enlargements (cut down to album size) without the hassle of using scissors, and without the initial development cost, at about 29p each. I was able to display the pictures taken Friday, in a large frame montage, on the Sunday morning.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ MY CONCLUSIONS? ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

I like this camera a lot. It gives clear pictures with plenty of definition. I am learning to edit the pictures to give optimum presentation and to compress the pictures from the original size (depending on complexity of image) for quicker uploading using my Picture Manager. It has made it far easier to upload pictures for my reviews.

I will say though, that I am photographing a wedding in July. I will take some pictures with my Fujifilm Finepix Digital Q1, but I will also be using my faithful APS camera to take panoramic photos. As I like to take spontaneous photos, the delay discovered between pressing the shutter and the picture being actually taken would miss some of the loveliest memories for the couple.

Four stars out of five, then.

© jesi 2005 ……………………………………………………. ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{:::{||||||<

ps: I am only on my third set of batteries in three months - but I have used the camera a lot, to take pictures with and without flash, to review pictures and download. I think this is pretty good battery life, as I have taken hundreds of photos in that time. Rechargeable batteries are a good option - one set to use, one to carry as a spare, and a third to be re-charging. 

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