Film-Camera Reviews

Firstly let me just say, that I'm slightly confused as to all the different 35mm Fuji 'quicksnap' cameras out there. The 2 that I used were like the one shown here, but a slightly different color. Anyway, on to the review:
The Flash indicator took a while to light up, but we got it going after some persistance. The photos were ok, nothing great though. The results produced fairly natural looking colors, but many of the indoor/nightime shots were slightly blurry and grainy. Many photos appeared under-exposed, like the Flash wasn't bright enough. 3/5 stars.

Recently I bought 2 One Time Use Cameras. The Kodak Max HQ Camera and a Fuji Quicksnap Flash Camera. After finishing both Camera's I had the Kodak Camera/Film Developed at a Kodak Express, then the Fuji Camera/Film developed at a Fuji Lab. The Results were very different to each other. The Fuji Quicksnap Flash is clearly the Superior Film/Camera. While the Kodak Prints came back slightly blurry with not much color, the Fuji Prints were Crystal Clear with exceptional Clarity and Bright Colors. The Fuji Camera was also cheaper than the Kodak HQ!

I work in the photo processing world, I am a manager of a high volume photo lab and I must say that Fuji film has taken very large steps to over take Kodak in the film world. From their minilabs, to their digital kiosks, to their one time use 35mm cameras, Fuji film is the way to go. From truer colors, more real film grains, to the obvious less blur, this camera is a wise decision for a one time use camera.

This is a 'beautiful' design and takes reasonably good pics. (It IS a point & shoot) but unlike all other APS cameras, it only takes pics in the "C" mode (the traditional size prints) NOT in the "H" mode (slightly wider) or the Panoramic. Why Fuji left this choice off Boggles the mind. The main reason I use APS is for the "H" size prints. I'm dissapointed this feature was left off.
Steve Dirkx
Dallas, tx

This is a 'beautiful' design and takes reasonably good pics. (It IS a point & shoot) but unlike all other APS cameras, it only takes pics in the "C" mode (the traditional size prints) NOT in the "H" mode (slightly wider) or the Panoramic. Why Fuji left this choice off Boggles the mind. The main reason I use APS is for the "H" size prints. I'm dissapointed this feature was left off.
Steve Dirkx
Dallas, tx

I find this camera to take adequate photos, but the camera is made of poor quality. It has scratches on it everywhere, and in under a year, the flash cover keeps falling off. It always gets me noticed, and I might have to buy a new one because I love the size and the shape. It goes everywhere with me, I just wish that the body was stronger.

We bought this camera for my 10 year old daughter at Christmas, and have been nothing but pleased with the quality of the pictures. We chose it for it's size and ease of use for a child with the use of only one hand. I've been known to grab it, though, for quick pics around the house!

We have compensated for the additional cost of developign APS film by only getting our pics developed at Sam's or Wal-Mart...

I purchased this camera for my husband who doesn't use a camera much. We ended up using this camera all the time, as I misplaced my 35MM camera. It takes great pictures for the price. Sometimes, I have noticed red eye (it is supposed to have red reduction) and some the pictures indoors are darker in the background than outside, but overall this ...camera has out performed itself in my opinion.
I highly recommend it.

My daughter has wanted a camera since she was 2 years old. I bought her this camera (the pink flower edition) just before she turned 3. She loves it. The size is great for little hands. For the most part I don't need to adjust her fingers to keep them away from the lens.

She also has a Chicco Smile Camera. That was is very easy to use, and slightly cheaper since it uses regular 35mm film. However, given a choice she'll go for the Nexia every time. I know she's drawn to the design, but I think she likes the size of it too.

If you have your own little budding photographer let them give this camera a try. I don't think you'll go wrong.

This is the first major camera purchase I have made since I bought the Canon AE-1 many years ago. I have taken and printed several pictures with it and am very pleased. Since I'm new to digital cameras, I'm not sure what all the hype is about concerning mega pixels. From what I can tell you can only squeeze so many pixels into a 3x5 rectangle anyway. I have printed an 8x10 with my HP812 and I am stunned by the quality. I just can't see why I would need anything more than this camera has. Dittos to other posts: buy at least a 32M card to replace the 8M one; you need at least 1 extra battery and the BC-80 quick charger (1 hour vs 8). A word of warning here -- though I live in a large metropolitan area, neither the battery nor the charger was available locally through camera specialty stores or huge discount stores. The specialist battery store doesn't even stock them. A call to Fujifilm resulted in a recommendation to a webstore that specializes in digital gear. Be prepared to spend [more money] for the charger and the battery. The point is that, evidently, Fuji has not made a significant impact on the market here in the U.S. for digital cameras. Anything you need may have to be ordered. After you're set up though, you may not need much else. Easy to use, super USB connection, lightweight, compact, nice features, and a quality product. AE-1 has been retired!

There are many good things to say about this package but one of the best is that it works so much like a regular camera that most first time users will never become confused. In addition, for the more advanced user, it has almost all of the manual settings that you would ever use. You may see cameras at a lower price but then you have to add everything on. This comes with a recharger built in and unlike other comments, I found that I could take about 30 pictures and delete all but 15 without running the battery down at all. The key I think is to not use the LCD display unless you have to. The pictures in "Normal" mode are excellent for e-mail or e-bay and print out very well. The detachable flash is a real lifesaver (battery life that is) and works well. Having the AC adapter is a real bonus if you take a lot of pictures in a controled setting (such as for on-line auctions) or for when you are reviewing pictures on the TV or PC. I did have some difficulty loading the USB Card Reader but I think it was more "user error" than anything. I couldn't use the CD provided because it won't work with auto-run and my PC kept trying to open it as an audio CD. I then went to fujifilmsupport.com but it took me a long time to find the correct download. When I did get it, something about the program disabled my modem and I had to delete and re-load it again. Once I figured it out, it worked great. Again, I may have missed a step so I wouldn't make this a deciding point in purchasing this package. The zoom is excellent but I wouldn't count on the digital zoom being much help; the resolution goes down quick and you end up with a pretty low resolution pic. We spent a great deal of time researching cameras and this is by far the best for the money. I have to say one more thing: Amazon's service is incomparable. We ordered this camera on Saturday, regular mail. They sent it UPS on Sunday and we recieved it at 3:00 on Tuesday. We were able to charge it, play with it and then take it on our Vacation which started Wednesday. It was also great to be able to track the package on line. By the way, the best price we found around town (Sacramento) would have been over $700.00 with the accessories. If you have any questions e-mail me at moandlo@jps.net. Morris B

I bought my brand new MX2900 camera (including the same"freebies") at an online auction last May 2000 for similar price... It's a GREAT camera, and this is a good enough price for this package (although you'll agree that it will continue getting cheaper with time). The package includes all the basics you'll need. However, I recommend buying the following extras: extra rechargeable battery (NP-80), a quick charger (BC-80)and a few more smartmedia cards (32MB or more). I also found useful to have a wide conversion lens (WL-MX29).

A spare battery is useful because the camera drains the battery really fast (especially when you always use the LCD monitor). A quick charger (BC-80) is really handy because it only takes an hour to recharge the battery (the AC adapter takes 8 hours). A few smartmedia cards are necessary because the 8MB smartmedia card that's included in the package doesn't hold much photos. For example, 1 picture taken at the "hi" setting (uncompressed file) and "1800x1200" pixel setting will use up 8MB of space already. Without the extra memory cards, you'll find yourself always running to your computer so you can move your picture files from your smartmedia card. By the way, unlike what the other reviewer said (5 photos at "fine" setting with 32MB smartmedia card), a 32MB smartmedia card will actually store up to 36 photos taken with the "fine" and "1800x1200" pixel settings. You can even verify this at Fujifilm's website... I suggest you visit that website to learn more about the camera's features and specifications.

The camera has both automatic and full manual modes. It even has a self-timer. There are so many features so make sure you read the manual... As of today (July 27,2000), this camera rates as #2 in the 2-3 megapixel range (second only to Olympus C2020).

I have not found much use for the "high" setting (uncompressed ".tiff" images). Like what the other reviewer said, this format is nonstandard. Most online photo sharing/printing services accept only the ".jpeg" format (available with the "fine," "normal," and "basic" settings for this camera). If you plan to print your photos, the "fine" and 1800x1200 pixel settings will produce 4"x6" prints that are comparable in quality to photos taken from a 35mm camera (I have not tried printing larger prints). Otherwise, for web sharing, the lower settings will do the job just fine...

I have no regrets about buying this camera. Yes, there are cameras with 3+ megapixels out there, but I do not yet see the need to upgrade. This camera is worth the price that Amazon.com is selling it for (I would not pay more).

Before I end this review, let me just say a few basic things: 1.)Cost: it's a good value 2.)Strengths: looks impressive (like those 35mm Nikons); auto/manual modes; photos show good colors; crisp images on LCD monitor 3.)Weaknesses: internal flash can be weak (make sure you always have your external flash at reach); the lens cap just dangles on the side; kind of slow (takes too long between shots) unless you use "continuous shooting" mode (in which case, you're automatically fixed at only 640x480 pixels)

Besides the lag problem mentioned in another review, I've had an issue with the camera not staying on when switched. I miss about 80% of the shots I'm trying to take because I have to keep turning it back on, taking out the memory card and/or batteries and replacing them etc. Bad frame errors are haunting. Once it starts working, I can usually take many pictures in a row, but in the beginning it's horrible. This is all probably my fault for trying to snap a picture when the dial was turned to the viewing mode. But that shouldn't have harmed the electronics! One can't always remember to get the dial in the right position.

This camera is inexpensive (and a bit outdated at this point) but still manages to take great pictures. Sure, you could spend a lot more for a camera that is a lot more high-tech, but if you just want a camera to learn on and experiment with or just take fun family snaps, then this camera would be great.

My husband actually won a photo contest with a 5x7 photo taken on this camera (printed on an HP printer).

Pros: low cost, easy to use, easy to figure out how to take good photos, takes good enough quality photos to replace your film camera (if you're ready for that... I'm not quite there).

Cons: memory card pretty small if you want to take high quality pics (We got a 64MB memory card--available on costco.com--so we could take many pictures at high quality settings: about 100 pictures on the highest quality settings.), slow upload to your computer using serial cable (we got a SmartMedia drive that hooks up to our USB port and is lightning quick), lower picture quality capability than many (more expensive) cameras on the market.

These days, most digital cameras really aren't that horrible , and this camera is lightyears better than the ($) cameras that were out 4 years ago. This camera would be great for someone who wants a camera for casual use, or for pictures for their website, or even regular pictures that won't be blown up much larger than 5x7.

We take pictures with abandon now, not worrying about how much film we have left, not worrying if a shot is going to be a throw-away (you can delete it right on the camera, anyway), and we have gotten some truly beautiful and priceless shots just using this camera.

If you're not a professional photographer, why spend thousands when you can get this camera at a great price?

Don't even bother unless you plan to get an upgrade SM card (4mb is worthless) and rechargable batteries. Highly recommend a USB card reader - even using TWAIN/Photoshop 5.5 it takes FOREVER to download 1280 x 820 res pictures (the camera's middle setting). All my complaints are minor - this is a great camera overall. The mode select knob can stop in between modes, but look like it's pointing to a mode. This makes you think something is wrong until you move the switch the 1mm it's off so you are not between modes. Not a show stopper, just takes getting used to. I guess all camers mow batteries, but I bought 8 NiMh rechargables and that seems to work. Get a cord to plug in when you're downloading pix - will save batteries, especially if you are using the serial cable. The optical viewfinder is way off for anything closer than about 10 feet, so I almost always use the LCD - another battery killer. Camera won't auto shut off when in PC mode, I've drained lots of batteries when forgetting to switch the camera off after retrieving photos. These are really nit-pick items, most cameras would have same or similar. Overall I'm happy with this camera, it's well made and user friendly. For the money and 1.3 Megpixel is plenty for general use. Safe bet you will feel your money was well spent.