The Fuji Finepix 3800Z A Solid performer with Unique Features, but...
Written: Nov 17 '02 (Updated Dec 13 '02)
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Pros: Easy to use, great pictures, 6x zoom, Light weight, AA batteries, and intuitive menus
Cons: No focus aid light, limited manual capabilities, and poorly designed macro mode
The Bottom Line: The Fuji Finepix 3800Z is a great camera with a super feature set and lots of nifty capabilities but there are better products available in the same price range.
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| Howard_Creech's Full Review: FUJIFILM FinePix 3800 Digital Camera |
The Fujifilm Corporation has been a leading manufacturer of film, cameras, and lenses for more than half a century. The company is well known for their superb film products (especially popular E6 slide films like Velvia, Provia, and Sensia and their B&W Neopan films) and their innovative medium format film cameras. Fuji’s lenses are world famous for their accurate color transmission (due in large part to the company’s proprietary Electron Beam Coating technology) and the company has been a consistent leader in the development of digital photography. Fuji’s excellent S2 Pro and S602 models continue to set industry standards for accurate digital color, super sharp resolution, and solid value.
While Fuji digital cameras are seldom mentioned in the same breath as Nikon and Canon models, the Fujifilm corporation has been a consistent competitor in the digital camera wars. Fuji’s newest offering, the FinePix 3800 is an update of the company’s very popular FinePix 2800 Zoom. During last year’s Christmas season the Fuji Finepix 2800Z was a surprise hit and this Christmas Fuji is trying to pull off another hat trick with the 2800Z’s update. The new 3800Z sports a monster 6X zoom and a host of “one of a kind features”. The camera provides three-megapixel resolution, point-and-shoot simplicity, and a manual mode with aperture control and exposure compensation. The 3800 also records video clips at 10fps (with audio), voice memos (up to 30 seconds) and the camera can even be used for video conferencing (the necessary software is included). Not bad for a digital camera that sells for about three hundred dollars, uses cheap readily available AA size batteries and only weighs ten ounces. How does the 3800Z measure up?
What’s New?
Fuji’s new 3800Z retains the 6X zoom that made the 2800Z so popular, boosts the resolution to 3.2 Megapixels, adds support for conversion lenses (with a nifty included adapter that doubles as a lens shade), and switches from SmartMedia to the new xD Picture Card format.
Features
The Fuji 3800 Z’s most obvious feature is the precision retractable Fujinon 6X optical zoom lens----one of the widest zoom ranges available in any 3 megapixel digital camera.
Video clips with audio – AVI digital video with sound.
Voice notation – Users can add 30-second voice notes to each photo, a really useful feature.
PC-Cam/Video conferencing – The 3800Z’s PC camera and video conferencing features make the camera useful for users who want to stretch their investment and use the camera as a multi-functional device.
Viewfinder/LCD
The 3800 provides a 1.8" LCD display. I seldom complain about LCD monitors but the low resolution (62,000 pixels) LCD images make the LCD especially grainy in low light situations. The colors are good and the LCD screen will work fine for composition, but critical focus may suffer a bit.
The 3800Z’s TTL electronic viewfinder (with 110,000 pixels) is much sharper than the LCD and the large rubber eye-cup (which makes critical focusing much easier by eliminating glare and stray light) improves performance significantly. The EVF has no diopter correction and it dims miserably in low light. Increasing the brightness level doesn’t help.
Exposure
Auto Mode
In auto the 3800Z functions as a point & shoot auto everything digital camera with. Auto, Scene (Portrait / Sports / Night scene), and Movie modes.
Manual Mode
The 3800Z’s manual mode provides five settings – exposure compensation, white-balance, flash brightness, sharpness, and limited lens aperture settings
Lens
The FinePix 3800Z features an excellent Fujinon f2.8-4.8/38-228mm (35mm equivalent) optical zoom lens. Mount up the included AR-FX3 lens adapter and you can add (optional) wide angle and telephoto conversion lenses and use inexpensive 55 mm filters.
Macro
The Macro mode allows focus as close as 3.9 inches. The images are sharp and the colors true, but in macro mode (accessible only via the mode dial) the lens is locked at the wide-angle setting -- you can only use the digital zoom to change perspective (degrading macro image resolution) Fuji’s engineers must have been sleeping at the switch.
Flash
The 3800Z’s flash is a built-in multi mode pop up unit with Auto, Red-eye reduction, forced flash, suppressed flash or Slow syncro. It is a manual type popup flash that is activated by the user.
Controls, Design, & Ergonomics
The 3800Z is a well-built light-weight polycarbonate bodied digital camera. If you liked the way Fuji’s 2800Z looked and handled, then you’ll like the style of the 3800Z. The controls are well laid out, operation is easy, and the large grip makes the 3800Z stable and secure in operation.
Memory
The 2800Z used Smart Media cards for digital image storage—the 3800Z switches to the new xD Picture Card format. I’ve heard and read a lot that says the xD cards are faster in operation than SM, CF, or Sony Memory Stick formats, and from what I’ve seen myself the claims are true---but the difference is negligible. Four memory card formats was already two too many and with the addition of xD that makes five different memory storage formats, which is ludicrous.
Power
The 3800Z is powered by four AA size batteries (alkaline, NiMH or lithium may be used). NiMH rechargeables are your best bet. Fuji claims the 3800Z (with four fully charged NiMH’s loaded) is good for more than 300 exposures with constant LCD and heavy flash use. That seems pretty accurate, based on my experience.
Technical Specifications
Resolution: 3.2 megapixels (2048 x 1536)
Viewfinder: EVF and 1.8” color TFT LCD
Lens: Fujinon f 2.8/4.8/38-228mm optical zoom lens
Auto Focus: TTL contrast detection
Image format: JPEG and AVI (Motion JPEG)
Storage Media: xd-Picture Card (16MB to 128MB)
Sensitivity: ISO 100 (35mm equivalent)
Shutter Speed: 3 seconds to 1/1500th of a second
Exposure: Auto, Scene (Portrait / Sports / Night scene), Movie, and Manual (Aperture priority, Exposure compensation)
Metering: TTL 64 Zone (evaluative)
White Balance: Auto and 6 presets (Fine, Shade, Daylight Fluorescent, Warm White Fluorescent, Cool White Fluorescent, and Incandescent)
Flash: Built-in multi mode (auto, red-eye reduction, forced flash, suppressed flash, slow synch)
Movie Mode: up to 60 seconds at 320 x 240 @ 10fps with audio
Voice memo: Yes---30 secs.
Video Out: No
Connectivity: USB
Power: 4-AA size batteries
MSRP: $449.00----Street Price $289.00--$349.00
Included
16MB xD Picture Card
4 AA alkaline batteries
AR-FX3 lens adapter
Lens cap w/strap
Neck strap
USB cable
CD-ROM w/Fuji software
134 page (printed) manual
Optional
Wide Conversion Lens WL-FX9, Tele Conversion Lens TL-FX9, AC Power Adapter AC-5VH/AC-5VHS, PC Card Adapter DPC-AD, Image Memory Card Reader DPC-R1, and Soft case SC-FX304
In the Field/Handling & Operation
My friend (who sells digital and traditional cameras and photographic equipment) has been checking out a lot of digital cameras because of the fast approaching holidays. The Christmas buying season is very important to high tech retailers who make almost half their annual income during the Christmas season. Deciding which cameras are likely to be “hot” sellers is part science and part crap-shoot, so I wasn’t too surprised when my friend turned up recently with the new Fuji Finepix 3800Z and asked me if I would go along and help him give it a shakedown run.
It was a cold rainy Saturday and we didn’t want to wander too far off the beaten path. We decided that the Springs Station Center on Breckenridge Lane presented a couple of good photo opportunities without having to get too cold (and if it started to rain we could get inside pretty quickly) The weather here in north central Kentucky has really turned cold the last few days (we are getting snow predictions---which usually doesn’t happen around here until late December or early January) the temperature was hovering at just above freezing and the sky was dark and overcast.
The city of Louisville has grown rapidly over the last twenty years and old cemeteries turn up in some of the strangest places, like the pioneer cemetery in the parking lot of the Springs Station “Books-A-Million” store. Springs Station was an early pioneer community that was a full days journey from Louisville (downtown Louisville is a 15 minute trip---if traffic is light). The old family burial plot is surrounded by a chest high wall of huge blocks of hand cut native Kentucky limestone, set into the wall without mortar. A small arched limestone gateway with a very old wrought iron gate (hanging precariously from one hinge) adds a picturesque frame for the half dozen “country” style monuments. Two larger and more elaborate marble tombstones (a long forgotten Patriarch and Matriarch) complete the picture of the tiny cemetery.
The limestone walls and most of the markers are a pale gray color, the marble tombstones a creamy yellowish white, and ground between the markers filled with mostly brown windblown leaves. The sky was a dark grayish “snow sky” without much color. We both figured it would be a very good test of the Fuji Finepix 3800Z’s auto mode to see if it could do much with the dull scene and flat lighting. The old cemetery had an almost gothic look in the images we shot and the 3800Z did a great job of balancing the flat sky without losing the subtle color differences between the limestone walls, and marble markers.
Just across the parking lot is a branch of Beargrass Creek that runs along the northern edge of property (to the right of Home Depot). It makes a great place to test cameras because you can park your car, walk down the steep banks of the creek and discover a hidden world in the middle of the city. We’ve had a lot of rain recently so the creek was running pretty high. Large trees line both banks of the creek, effectively blocking out everything except traffic noise. Willows close to the water’s edge are especially pretty in the spring and summer. Beargrass Creek narrows just after the bridge over Breckenridge Lane, creating a small rapids and a tiny waterfall.
The pool below this small waterfall is always smooth as glass. The creek is home to ducks and Canada Geese and by carefully framing your shots (a zoom lens is really required here) it is possible to shoot images that appear totally natural looking. The ducks and geese are relatively tame and will allow a fairly close approach (10-12 feet) so it is easy to get some good shots. The year round resident birds don’t seem to mind the freezing water. We were able to use the 3800Z’s 6X zoom to effectively frame our compositions of the ducks paddling about in the frigid waters of the creek.
Behind Home Depot the creek makes a classic “S” shaped curve (which runs almost due west) and as the afternoon progressed it gradually cleared up and the sky turned blue. We were both frozen stiff by this time so we adjourned to the McDonald’s on the Dutchman’s Lane side of the shopping center to get a cup of coffee and warm up. The weather didn’t get any warmer but the light got better and within thirty minutes the sky was blue and filled with huge puffy white clouds. We had been about ready to call it a day and head for home but with sunset just thirty minutes away (and the western horizon lined with clouds) we decided to brave the freezing weather one more time and set up the 3800Z (mounted on a sturdy SLIK 444 Sport compact tripod) on the creek bank. When the sun goes down the winter trees along the creek are backlit and the still water reflects the colors of the sunset. If there are nice clouds the sunset will photograph like a Chinese Landscape, with backlit trees, silhouetted ducks, and beautiful colors in the clouds, sky, and water.
Springs Station is a favorite sunset spot for my friend and I because the setting is almost perfect, images (film or digital) look like they were shot in a state park, and because It is easy to shoot your sunset---walk fifty feet to your car and drive home in fifteen minutes.
Image Quality
The 3800Z’s images are sharp with Fuji's trademark color accuracy. We didn’t print any 8x10 enlargements but we did print a series of 4x6 inch images and all were outstanding. Be warned that dark low contrast images will appear grainy and show some noise.
A Few Concerns
The 3800Z’s 6x Fujinon zoom is very good. There is some (typical) distortion at the wide-angle end of the zoom and some noticeable distortion at the telephoto end of the zoom's range. Digital noise levels are a bit higher than average but chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is completely absent. The 3800Z is a solid performer, but I would have liked to see a more comprehensive manual mode and more user input. The 1.8" LCD monitor is a low resolution (62,000 pixels) unit and that makes everything a bit grainy, especially in low light situations. In bright outdoor light the LCD is very difficult to use. The colors are good and the LCD screen will work fine for composition, but critical focus will be a bit tougher due to the poor resolution of the LCD monitor.
Shutter Lag/Timing
Start-up is very quick and the 3800Z’s 6X zoom is surprisingly fast, traveling through the entire zoom range in about two seconds. Shot to shot times are also quick. Shutter lag and write to card times are faster than average.
Conclusion
Overall, I was disappointed in the Fuji Finepix 3800 Zoom. The camera features a 6X zoom, but how useful will the wide range zoom be in a camera that is optimized for full auto operation. The 3800Z has very limited slate of manual options. The macro mode is acceptable but it could have been exceptional. Factor in the new xD card format and the mediocre movie mode and I am reluctant to recommend the Fuji Finepix 3800Z. The images are very good, but unless you really need a 6X zoom and video teleconferencing capability, I would suggest buying the similarly priced four megapixel Olympus C4000.
Check out my reviews of a pair of bargain priced and very capable photo quality ink-jet printers.
Epson Stylus Photo 785 EPX ink-jet printer
http://www.epinions.com/content_60776812164
Epson Stylus Photo 780 ink-jet Printer
http://www.epinions.com/content_54223670916
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Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 329.00
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
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Howard_Creech
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Member: Howard Creech
Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 333
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About Me:
Photographer/Writer fascinated by Movies, Music, Books, American Diner Food, History, "Popular Culture", and Travel.
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