Picture quality
zooms up
Digital
cameras are no longer just second best
First published in Business
in Vancouver,
Issue #627, October 30- Nov 5, 2001: GearGuide column
by ALAN ZISMAN (c)
2001
Digital cameras
are offering picture quality and price that are closer than ever to
that
of more traditional film cameras. Technology companies such as Hewlett-Packard
and Sony have joined those with a longer
history in
the photo industry
such as Kodak, Olympus and Canon in offering a
range
of digital cameras. In this month's column I'll review models from both
the low-end and high-end from Japan's Fujifilm.
Life at the
bottom
Last year's
low-end was a 1.3-megapixel model. Now that's been replaced with the
$455
(list) Finepix 2300, taking 2.1-megapixel shots. (As with other
cameras, you can take lower-resolution pictures, allowing you to store
more at a time.) If you want an easy-to-use, basic point-and-shoot
model,
this will do fine. There's no optical zoom, though it offers a 2.5x
digital
zoom. (I can't call digital zoom a scam, but it achieves its close-up
effect
by sacrificing clarity. You can do the same in any image editing
program.)
An 8-megabyte Smartmedia storage card is included.
On the other
hand...
For about four
times as much ($1,699 list), the Finepix 6900 Zoom offers all
the
features left out of low-end models. This 3.3-megapixel model has a
true
through-the-lens viewfinder, allowing more accurate framing of shots,
just
as with an SLR film camera. And like fancy SLR models, it offers a
range
of options. Experienced photographers can manually set f-stops and
shutter
speed or choose semi-automatic aperture or shutter priority. Or they
can
ignore all this and still get good photos in automatic mode.
A generous 6x
optical zoom gives it the equivalent of 35-210 mm lens. (Of course
there's
also digital zoom.) Rechargeable batteries are included, along with an
AC adapter.
I was surprised,
though, that in order to use standard filters, users need to first buy
a wide-angle or zoom adapter.
As well, Fuji
advertises this camera as being able to take huge 6-megapixel pictures,
even though it physically only has 3.3 megapixels. Like other trick
photography,
it's not quite real. Avoid this setting: it delivers huge file sizes
for
less-than-optimum picture quality.
It's a great
3.3-megapixel camera, but it's not a 6-megapixel camera. Sorry,
Fuji.
In between
Fuji also offers
a range of models in between. The Finepix 6800 and 4800
Zoom
models are 3.3-megapixel ($1,459 list) and 2.4-megapixel ($1,119 list)
models that share a common body that Fuji boasts is "designed by F.A.
Porsche." Personally, I prefer the more compact black look of the
Finepix
6900. They're a clear step down from the top of the line, lacking the
more
expensive model's through-the-lens viewfinder and manual controls. Both
include a more modest 3x optical zoom.
Like the 6900,
the 6800 promises 6-megapixel images and, like that model, it doesn't
really
deliver the picture quality that figure promises.
What would
I buy?
Some restaurant
patrons claim that when looking over a wine list, they pick a vintage near
the bottom, but not at the bottom. That's a sound strategy with
Fuji's digital camera lineup.
As far as I'm
concerned, the best choice in Fuji's product line is their 2400-Z, a
2.1-megapixel
camera, like the low-end 2300, but adding a 3x optical zoom, mimicking
a 39-117 mm lens, while keeping the 2300's simple design philosophy. As
far as I'm concerned, a real optical zoom is a must-have feature.
While Fuji lists
it at $670, it's typically found for $599 or less, prior to a number of
rebates. After rebates, the actual price is quite a bit lower. I loved
having Fuji's high-end 6900 to play with for a month, but if it came to
spending my own money, I know what I would get.
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