Digital Cameras

Reviews

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1CDW5WB40BHFW I rarely write reviews BUT this is the best $129 I have ever spent. I was in Hawaii in January and used the underwater capabilities of this cute LITTLE, amazingly easy to use camera. I was surprised to hear the footage of the whales underwater BETTER than I heard them in real life, AWESOME. Please watch and listen to the turtle with the whales screaming in the background, I didn't think underwater was so noisy!!! I also caught some pretty amazing photos of rainbows, even far away ones. This camera is as sweet as the price!

I don't know why some complained about the battery life because i went two days straight on my cruise using this camera at eh beach, snorkling, sitting around the pool, and used it at night and it barely was on half of a battery after that. I used it everyday of my cruise in all situations and this camera was excellent in any condition. It took GREAT underwater photos, never leaked, and was easy to operate underwater. We brought our $300 Canon with also, and never ended up using it at all because this camera took great pics on land and the ship as well. It has really easy modes for those who don't understand cameras for instance it has and Underwater mode, a Beach mode, a Night mode, Landscape, and even a Party mode. This was a great camera and super cheap for what it does!

It is pretty handy little camera and takes pretty decent pictures overall. It just really stinks that you have to take the battery out to charge it. The flash works great but sometimes is a little over powering and it's hard to find the right setting where you can see with out it being to dark or to washed out. but overall a really good little camera.

For the current amazon price ($106 USD), this item is a steal! I bought this camera because I wanted to take underwater pictures for a vacation in Hawaii. Since I was experimenting with underwater photography, I did't want to spend too much - just in case, this didn't work out. But it turns out, I had nothing to worry about! I just returned from Hawaii. Most of my trip (1 week long) was spent by the beach or in the water. This camera was so durable and easy to use. I took over 600 pictures (using a separately purchased 8 GB memory card) and the camera battery only needed recharging 1x the whole trip! All of my friends were awed by the camera and are planning to get one for themselves. I looked at some of the other reviews on here. A small number commented that they did not like the picture quality. I personally find it fanatastic. The picture quality setting can be changed from 10 MB down to much less, as needed. I kept my setting at 10 MB. The pictures when transferred onto my computer looked great and were comparable to other camera pictures of the same type but different brand (Nikkon, Sony, Cannon). (My house owns a lot of cameras.) The waters in Maui were generally very clear, but even so it was necessary to hold the camera close in order to get good shots under water. I would estimate the camera has a 3 ft visibility range under regular salt water. Even with this range, I was able to get clear shots as long as I held the camera close to the subject matter. I bet visibility would improve in pool water or truly clear water. (I'm a little jet lagged now so I may upload my pics at a later date.) I also noticed that a few people claimed the camera did not work and broke. I can only comment according to my personal experience. According to the instructions, you have to make sure that the battery slot & memory card slot clicks closed. Just slide the slot until you hear a faint noise. The inside of the camera obviously is not waterproof, just the outside is coated with some material to help keep water out. The casing must be closed tight to prevent water from seaping into the electronics. Also, a few people mentioned the shutter delay. There is a fraction of a second delay, but I find that unless you get a SLR you will probably experience delay in most handheld digital point and shoots. The delay is comparable to other cameras of a similiar type, and in general, I would say somewhat better if not on the same level with most other point and shoots. This is overall a great light weight little camera, especially given the price. If you want to take fun vacation photos and not have to worry too much about theft or water damage, I would buy and have bought this camera. I LOVE IT! (As you can see from my star rating).

I just received my camera. It's a lot smaller then what i was expecting. So far I really like it took a few pictures around the house and so far so good. Taking the pictures looking at the display they look a little grainy but the pictures weren't. I filled up the sink and tried it worked great! Great camera for the money.

Reviews

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1CDW5WB40BHFW I rarely write reviews BUT this is the best $129 I have ever spent. I was in Hawaii in January and used the underwater capabilities of this cute LITTLE, amazingly easy to use camera. I was surprised to hear the footage of the whales underwater BETTER than I heard them in real life, AWESOME. Please watch and listen to the turtle with the whales screaming in the background, I didn't think underwater was so noisy!!! I also caught some pretty amazing photos of rainbows, even far away ones. This camera is as sweet as the price!

I don't know why some complained about the battery life because i went two days straight on my cruise using this camera at eh beach, snorkling, sitting around the pool, and used it at night and it barely was on half of a battery after that. I used it everyday of my cruise in all situations and this camera was excellent in any condition. It took GREAT underwater photos, never leaked, and was easy to operate underwater. We brought our $300 Canon with also, and never ended up using it at all because this camera took great pics on land and the ship as well. It has really easy modes for those who don't understand cameras for instance it has and Underwater mode, a Beach mode, a Night mode, Landscape, and even a Party mode. This was a great camera and super cheap for what it does!

It is pretty handy little camera and takes pretty decent pictures overall. It just really stinks that you have to take the battery out to charge it. The flash works great but sometimes is a little over powering and it's hard to find the right setting where you can see with out it being to dark or to washed out. but overall a really good little camera.

For the current amazon price ($106 USD), this item is a steal! I bought this camera because I wanted to take underwater pictures for a vacation in Hawaii. Since I was experimenting with underwater photography, I did't want to spend too much - just in case, this didn't work out. But it turns out, I had nothing to worry about! I just returned from Hawaii. Most of my trip (1 week long) was spent by the beach or in the water. This camera was so durable and easy to use. I took over 600 pictures (using a separately purchased 8 GB memory card) and the camera battery only needed recharging 1x the whole trip! All of my friends were awed by the camera and are planning to get one for themselves. I looked at some of the other reviews on here. A small number commented that they did not like the picture quality. I personally find it fanatastic. The picture quality setting can be changed from 10 MB down to much less, as needed. I kept my setting at 10 MB. The pictures when transferred onto my computer looked great and were comparable to other camera pictures of the same type but different brand (Nikkon, Sony, Cannon). (My house owns a lot of cameras.) The waters in Maui were generally very clear, but even so it was necessary to hold the camera close in order to get good shots under water. I would estimate the camera has a 3 ft visibility range under regular salt water. Even with this range, I was able to get clear shots as long as I held the camera close to the subject matter. I bet visibility would improve in pool water or truly clear water. (I'm a little jet lagged now so I may upload my pics at a later date.) I also noticed that a few people claimed the camera did not work and broke. I can only comment according to my personal experience. According to the instructions, you have to make sure that the battery slot & memory card slot clicks closed. Just slide the slot until you hear a faint noise. The inside of the camera obviously is not waterproof, just the outside is coated with some material to help keep water out. The casing must be closed tight to prevent water from seaping into the electronics. Also, a few people mentioned the shutter delay. There is a fraction of a second delay, but I find that unless you get a SLR you will probably experience delay in most handheld digital point and shoots. The delay is comparable to other cameras of a similiar type, and in general, I would say somewhat better if not on the same level with most other point and shoots. This is overall a great light weight little camera, especially given the price. If you want to take fun vacation photos and not have to worry too much about theft or water damage, I would buy and have bought this camera. I LOVE IT! (As you can see from my star rating).

I just received my camera. It's a lot smaller then what i was expecting. So far I really like it took a few pictures around the house and so far so good. Taking the pictures looking at the display they look a little grainy but the pictures weren't. I filled up the sink and tried it worked great! Great camera for the money.

Reviews

Camera is easy to use and takes great pictures. It is easy to switch from still pictures to video.

This is a fantastic camera for the price, and even beginner photogs can leverage the advanced features in this camera. This is the first crossover DSLR/pocket digital camera I have ever owned, and it has produced the best pictures of any digital camera I have purchased. (When I say "crossover", I mean that it is not really a DSLR camera but it has numerous features found on, and produces pictures as good as, many of the entry-level DSLR cameras.) At 10mp, it gives you as much detail as you will ever need for everyday pictures. The LCD screen on the back is big, and works well even in sunlight. You can also use the viewfinder if the sun is so bright that the LCD is not usable, which is an option you won't find in many of the pocket digital cameras these days. The image stabilization is fantastic, especially if you find yourself shooting most of your pictures freehand as I do. The shooting modes give you a lot of flexibility. The auto mode will do everything for you...all you need to do is focus and shoot. Now there is not really a "focus" per-se, but when you find the center of your shot and hold the shutter button halfway down, it allows the camera to perfectly adjust and lock-in the autofocus before you click down the shutter button to execute the picture. There is also a panoramic mode, a movie mode, a fully manual mode, as well as other pre-programmed modes. The zoom on this camera is excellent. It allows you to get great close-ups when you are fairly far away from your subject. I have found it to be excellent when shooting sports pictures from the sidelines, allowing me to get close enough to see facial expressions of the players on the field. Although the camera does come with software that will assist you in downloading the pictures from the camera to your computer, I have found it is much easier to just pop out the SD card and have my computer read the SD card directly. This brings up what I consider to be the only shortcoming of this camera, which is the battery placement. The SD card slot and the battery compartment, in the same location, are under a small access door on the bottom of the camera. To get at the SD card or the batteries, you will need to have a flat stable surface to set the camera onto. That being said, it's not that big a deal. I have changed the batteries twice in the field, and if you have everything at hand (or if you have someone that will lend you a hand for a moment) you can change the batteries without setting the camera down. It's just a little awkward. Overall this is a superb camera. For the price I do not believe you will find a better camera. To get better pictures and more features, you would have to jump to a true DSLR. A note about the S1500's replacement, the S1800...the S1800 is due out in a few weeks, and it may be worth the wait. The S1800 will cost about $50 more than the S1500, but you will get a lot of bang for that $50. Better zoom, larger LCD, 12mp instead of 10mp, 720p HD movie capture, as well as many more new features. If the S1500 is this good, I can hardly wait for the S1800!

This camera is all that I expected it to be and more. I have owned a Fuji camera before and had it for several years. I was pleased with the old one and even more pleased with the new one. The auto scene recognition feature is a plus for me .I am not that familiar with different scene settings ,so having the camera adjust itself is a good feature for an amatuer.

Although it took very good pictures, without a diopter the S1500 was useless to this reading glasses wearer. The default was very blurry.

We were looking for an upgrade to the various point and shoot pocket format cameras that we have in 10-12 MP. The major problem with all of them was how and where they worked. Some took fabulous day shots, but now so good at night. Others took good day shots and would have taken good night shots except the flash washed everything out. SO we opted for a Optical zoom, and a big objective lens, for the light gathering. indoors under normal lighting the flash is not necessary for most things. As a camera it fits nicely in between the DSLR and the pocket point and shoots. Price wise it fits nicely in the pocket point and shoot range where most of it's competition is closer to the DSLR's. The only thing that comes close is the Nikon, and Nikon cheaped out on the lensing and made up for it in the software. The only two complaints I have with it are: 1. having to read the manual. You can take good pictures without having done so, but if you read it you can take great pictures, there are allot of options and settings and it really matters that you pick the right mode for the shots you are taking. 2. I wish Fuji would have allowed the attachment of some kind of filter. Attaching a UV filter for overcast days would have been a big boon or even a polarizer. And as an added benefit you'd get that extra level of protection for your lens. Other than that It does what we bought it for flawlessly, which is take fantastic pictures of a perpetual motion toddler who has only one speed Dead-Run. (and usually coming straight at you when you try to take a portrait.)