FUJIFILM FinePix S700 Digital Camera

A year ago when I bought my Fuji S700 I was thrilled with the ease of use and quality of my photos.  I love this camera!  Well, I did love this camera.  After a year of use my Fuji S700 has let me down in many ways.

There was a lot to love.  Now a lot to be disgusted with!
The 7.1 MP (megapixel) was more resolution than I was used to.  It is easy to see the difference between the pictures that I took with this camera and my 5.3 MP Canon S2 IS.  The Fuji produced sharper, clearer photos even at full zoom.  Now I can't get it to produce a sharp picture without a lot of time, effort and post processing.  A thin purple line runs from top to bottom on the right side of over half the pictures I take.  Besides that it might as well be a 2 MP camera since all of the shots are somewhat blurry.  Not being a technology wizard I'm not sure how to phrase this, but it seems as if some of the pixels are missing also.  Instead of smooth outlines I can see squared off areas between things and the background when I look at the photos on my computer.  I've become extremely disappointed in my Fuji S700's photo quality.

A 10X optical zoom is a requirement for any point and shoot I own.  The Fuji S700 has the 10X optical zoom with a 4.8 MP digital zoom.  I learned early on that the digital zoom might get me closer to my subject, but it also gives me more blur.  So, I rarely use the digital zoom.  I was very happy with the 10X optical zoom though.  At full zoom it would bring me closer to the wildlife I enjoy photographing.  Now the wildlife hears me and leaves before I can focus on them.  The zoom has a clicking sound as it goes out and in.  It's not a subtle, barely there clicking either. 

The Fuji S700 is a larger camera. It definitely won't fit into a pocket.  I like the that it feels sturdy and the grip on the right side gives me a good hold on it.  I have not abused this camera by dropping, banging or hitting it.  Yet, it fails to work properly.  So "feeling" sturdy does not mean it is built that way on the inside.

One other thing that I used to love but bothers me now is the video.  It can be used in two different modes; 320 X 240 (QVGA) or 640 X 480 (VGA).  I use the higher quality 640 X 480.  Two nights ago, at a concert, I knew the video I took was going to be as disappointing as the pictures.  At times the purple line would appear, then just as mysteriously disappear.  The camera also took a lot longer to focus when I zoomed in or out than it used to.  I was right.  After looking at the video at home most of it was blurry from the slow focus time.  I will say that the video shot and left at a certain zoom was good except for the occasional line.

I can't forget the flash.  It was the first thing to break on the camera.  It is a pop-up flash on top of the camera.  It worked as it should until around Christmas of last year.  It popped up, but not to its full height.  It wouldn't work unless I pushed it all the way up and held it while I took a picture.  I did solve this problem by keeping a small, folded piece of cardboard in my camera bag.  Now when I need the flash I pop it up and place the cardboard underneath it to hold it high enough to work.


What I still love about this camera.
It takes a SD card.  They are easy to find and relatively cheap.  Looking at the specs it states that the Fuji S700 will also use XD Picture cards.  I don't have any experience with XD as I have been happy with my SD cards performance.

The function buttons and dial are well placed and easy to use.  It might be different for someone who is left-handed as all of them are placed on the right side, top and back, of the camera.  There is one push access to some of the more used functions; flash, macro, timer and brightness.  The 2.5" (230,000 pixels) LCD screen has always been a positive.  I mainly use the viewfiender for shooting photos and the screen for checking the results.   Unless it is very, very bright out I have been able to view the screen. 

This is the camera that taught me about ISO, F-stops and Apertures.  Not only are the function buttons easy to use, the manual booklet and camera are easy to understand.  I was able to figure out what each thing did for a picture with very little effort on my part.  While the pre-set settings were handy, I enjoyed the manual controls that let me adjust the pictures the way I wanted them to be.
ISO: 100 · 200 · 400 · 800 · 1600 · 64
F-Stop (Shutter speed): 4 - 1/1000 sec
Aperture: f13.6 (w) - f3.5/f3.7 (w/t)
For more specs see here

The Fuji S700 uses 4 AA batteries.  I have 2300 NI-MH rechargeable batteries that I use with this camera.  I have taken over 500 pictures in a day without changing the batteries.  This camera has always, and still does, have great battery life.

The beginning of the end...
My Fuji S700 gave me great pictures and a lot of enjoyment, but I expected it to last more than a year.  If it had been just one thing wrong with it I would have had it fixed.  I will give this camera credit for making me feel comfortable about moving on to a DSLR.  Which also means that I will be leaving my Fuji S700 behind. 

Thanks to my Fuji I have many, many great pictures.  So, even if it has become basically useless I will still give it 3 stars.  A purchase that cost me over $200 and didn't last a year does not get a recommendation though.