Fujifilm FinePix S4800 Bridge Camera

First of all, let me tell you what’s included in the package. Apart from the camera, USB cable, lens cap and pouch and a 4 GB memory card, there are 4 alkaline non-rechargeable batteries along with 4 rechargeable Ni-MH batteries with the supplied battery charger. So that’s a good deal provided the rechargeable batteries are in good condition. Also, for those of you who think Fujifilm is inferior, let me tell you that this company is an excellent performer in the Advanced P&S market. Fujinion lenses are reputed worldwide. Do check out professional photography forums on bridge cameras before labelling Fujifilm an inferior company just because it’s less-known to the general Indian population. I got this for 9.3 k, and I feel I have made a wise choice. This is my first so can’t really compare with others. CONS: Aperture Priority: There is not so much as aperture priority in this camera as there are only 2-3 aperture levels available. So there’s not much of a choice. Always try to keep the maximum aperture for a nice exposure (unless you are overexposed, of course) and decrease the shutter speed for a blur-free shot. So the aperture priority mode is just not as you might think it is. Camera shake at night: It’s not that the camera shakes more at night. During the day, you can ramp up the ISO levels and decrease the shutter speed for a good image. But in the night, you have to use a longer exposure, especially at telephoto range since your maximum aperture is reduced (f/5.9) compared to wide-angle range (f/3.1). And everyone knows that camera shake is aggravated at increasing zoom levels. If you are a wide angle,ok. But at 30X optical zoom, even at the widest aperture available at that zoom, you still have to use a longer shutter speed to expose. And the problem starts here. The pictures can get extremely blurry when camera is hand-held at speeds above 1/1.3 sec. And the camera allows up to an awesome 8 secs shutter speed. Advice: NEVER TAKE A NIGHT SHOT AT 30X ZOOM HAND-HELD WITH A LONGER SHUTTER SPEED. How to avoid this? Well, get a tripod. If the camera is not hand held and put somewhere, the pictures are amazing and no blur is seen at all. And you would obviously want a tripod if you are going above 2 secs. Honestly, i feel the camera's anti-shake CCD shift image stabilisation method does not perform too well. It's just ok. Point is, I have not compared with other cameras of this range, so can't say on a relative basis. PROS: I would not say as much about pros since everything except the above two is incredibly fine with the camera. Zoom is good at this price. Shutter speed range (1/2000 secs to 8 secs) is awesome, panorama mode works fine. Interface and menu is good and user-friendly. Lots (and I mean really lots) of modes and options are available. Modes like Shutter priority which are not available on other cameras in this range are available. About EVF, you won’t need in this specification. And don’t worry about that 460k vs 230k dots thing on the LCD, 230k’s just fine. Build is good. The grip on the right feels leathery and holds on nicely. The buttons are all comfortably within reach. Red eye is not seen in pics when using the flash. Noise is not seen appreciably even in ISO-800 unless you want to print it at full resolution. Let’s admit it, most of us store our pics only on computers (and online) and hardly print, that too at full res. Bokeh shots are wonderful in the Macro and Supermacro modes. Plus, battery drainage is ok. I get 300 shots on an average per cycle. That’s fair enough. You would love this camera for it’s user-friendliness. Who is it for? If you are a newbie and wanna learn photography (like me) get this. It is for you and won’t disappoint you at all. If you are a pro or a DSLR user, perhaps you should not be here. If you are a confused person who does not have to learn photography and want a camera just for some casual shots, buy a cheaper simple P&S camera instead. This camera has a lot to learn about and you would have to learn basic photography concepts to use the manual mode. You can find sample shots at my flickr page: Abhijit Nayak (enefron) http://www.flickr.com/photos/113108885@N07/ Finally, all in all this is a nice camera. I am satisfied with the features and quality. It’s a good camera in this range. Go for it. Dos: Learn basic exposure concepts online. Read manual carefully. Don’t put fingerprints on the lens. And NEVER NEVER NEVER take night shots at 30X zoom with long shutter speeds while HAND-HELD. Get a tripod. I am getting one soon. ??? I have given 4 just for the aperture thing and the 'not-so-appreciable' quality of image stabilisation used in this camera. Not that other cameras in this range are very good in that aperture respect, (I have not compared the shake stuff) but giving 5 is like saying this product could not have been better. Haha. I would recommend this to you and am satisfied with it.

I've used 4 P&S cameras before and nothing comes closer when we compare the image quality and Optical zoom ratio to mega pixels of S4800, think you already know an optical zoom is much more important. A point and shoot camera only has one lens and you should get the most out of it. Megapixels is basically a myth. All modern cameras have more than enough mega pixels. Too many megapixels on the tiny sensor of point and shoot cameras can actually be bad. Small pixels packed tightly together on a small sensor generate a lot of heat. To much heat and your photos become very noisy. Especially at higher ISO settings. Bottom line is go with the camera with the most zoom. This offers 30x optical zoom which is 'the most' a P&S can offer in this range. It has 4 AA rechargeable batteries so doesn't run out of power. Flash is good for night-mode medium range photos, however you need to be careful with night mode settings. Cons: You'll get to know optimum power only if you can tweak settings, although auto-mode is capable of handling your general needs.