Fuji Digital Camera w/1280 x 960 Resolution, MX1200 (MSRP $499) for under $200

[bigbigsavings]

It's one of the top 10 PowerBuys at Mercata right now. Use your $100 credit that you get for signing up to save an additional 20% off the price, and you'll get it down to below $200. Here are some specs:

Product Specifications


Aperture: f4.5/f11
Audio Recording: No
Auto Focus: Yes
Battery Type: 4 AA
Continuous Shooting: No
Dimensions (inches): 3 H x 4.33 W x 1.3 D
Flash: Yes
Interface: Serial, PC card
LCD: 1.6-inch
Maximum Resolution: 1280 x 960
Memory Capacity: 4 MB
On-camera Editing: Yes
Other Resolution Modes: No
Platform: PC
Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Self-timer: Yes
Shutter Speed: 1/4 - 1/750 seconds
Video Out: No
Viewfinder: No
Zoom: 2x
Shipping Weight: 1.88 pounds
Manufacturer's Warranty: 1 year limited; not valid on products purchased for use in Canada

 

[fr]

I have this camera. Great camera for it's price. Good customer support.

 

[fr]

The specs are a bit off. You can continuously shoot. It uses SmartMedia cards, up to 32MB I think. You can do either 640x480 or 1280x960 in basic, normal, or fine quality. There is both a LCD and visual viewfinder and the 2X zoom is digital zoom, not optical.

 

[Floyd]

Yes, for its price range, this is indeed a good digital camera. I bought one from Mercata presumably the first time it was placed in a buy cycle. One of my more memorable hot deals...$50 off of the purchase price plus a $20 rebate (which wasn't included in package but Mercata honored anyway), and a free USB SmartMedia reader. Total price less than $200 which was even more remarkable at the time considering the typical pricing of technology. I snapped this little gem with the Fuji (closeup macro mode) a few months back: http://orca.st.usm.edu/~jmneal/art/flower.jpg. Not bad for a complete amateur if I do say so myself . It does occasionally leave "waterspots" in the image where the flash illuminates a speck of dust near the lens aperture, but other than that it has proven itself a fine camera.

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[zacadee]

Floyd, That is a great pic!
I got one of these cameras in late Dec.'99.
I think it was $199 with free USB Smartmedia Reader.
Great camera for the price.

 

[Adios]

This is a very nice camera. One thing that I noticed is that if you take a picture with normal compression, the center of the picture is not as sharply focus as the outer portion of the picture. If you put the compression into fine mode you will get a spectacular picture. I take all my picture in this mode now.

I got in on the mercata deal back in december. Definitely get the usb smartreader. It feels like it is a 100 times faster than that serial cable that comes with the camera.

Also, consider getting some AA NIMH batteries. That will save you lots of money in batteries. This camera will use them up at a pace you may not be used to. The camera does not use up batteries as rapidly as some other models and manufacturers but it will surprise you at how often you will need to replace them. This is especially true if you use the video display screen alot. I shoot through the view window for my regular pictures, but you will need to use the video screen if you use the zoom function. The picture will not be centered if you use the view window with zoom mode.

 

[wkc]

Floyd, it is a great picture indeed. I have a lesser grade digital camera that also does 1280x960 and I get good pictures from it ONLY when it wants to. A little too much light, everything is a white blob. Outdoor pictures are okay half of the time. Indoor, forget it. What's your experience with this Fuji camera? Are you having good results with it in different lighting situations? How would you compare it to a regular camera? I want to hear from you (and others) because I like the convenience of digital and would like to jump in for one, but my current digital camera is kind of telling me not to. Thanks in advance.

Edited: About battery consumption, yeah, I was scared at first at how fast my battery ran out.

 

[TheBigZ]

I'm gonna hold out for one of those Sony's with the mini cdr in it. By the time I can afford it, they should be cheap enough

 

[bjassin]

The price at buy.com is $250 w/ a charger and batteries....I don't think this is such an AWESOME deal at Mercata...nice but nothing really big...

http://www.us.buy.com/comp/product.asp?sku=10249349


BJ

 

[Floyd]

WKC, with regard to lighting conditions, the Fuji is no more temperamental than a decent grade film camera. It's autoexposure feature works fine for most situations. I've never encountered any images which were totally wiped out by too much or too little light, but I still prefer to set the EV and white balance manually when I need to take pictures under specific conditions (i.e. sharply contrasting foreground/background lighting and natural & synthetic light). And it is really remarkable what can be accomplished with a digital picture in an image editor...even with my meager image editing skills. The picture I linked to is completely un-retouched, but in situtations where the picture doesn't turn out just right, I load it into PaintShop Pro or IrfanView and tinker with the gamma, contrast, brightness, and color balance.

Oh, and to reiterate to anyone considering buying any digital camera, Ni-MH batteries are not optional

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[wkc]

Onvia.com also sells this camera for $250 with free shipping--and no tax outside of Washington state. I think there is also a $20 (or is it $25?) rebate off $200 purchase. Ten percent rebate through Pointclick too. So it seems that the deal at Mercata is good for first time buyers only.

 

[NoFish4U]

I got an open box one from best buy for $99.
Indoor pix are a little yellow outside the flash range.
Outdoor pix are superb!

Will one of you guys scan the instructon page for the wheel setting for me??

Mine came with no instructions..... HELP!!!!

 

[Floyd]

NoFish4U, I can scan the required pages tonight. I've had this Canon 1200x1200 SCSI for two weeks now and haven't yet had an opportunity to use it for anything worthwhile. Just let me know if by chance someone else has already offered. No point duplicating the work!

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[Floyd]

NoFish4U, check your mail.

 

[NoFish4U]

Floyd You are da man!

Thanks....the Fuji takes a good picture even if you don't have instructions.

Floyds got a scuzzy scanner and a Fuji manual.

 

[Stifko]

I have one of these cameras also and the pics always come out fuzzy and blurry. Any idea what I am doing wrong?

 

[Adios]

Change your compression/quality to fine. I have noticed that the picture is more blurry or out of focus with compression/quality at basic or normal. I now only take my pictures with compression at fine.

Don't confuse this for sharpness setting. They are not the same.

Lastly, clean your lense

 

[Stifko]

the fine setting the the little flower icon or the mountain icon on the upper right corner?

I got a 16 mb smartmedia card thing and cannot save the pics to the drive via the serial port? Should I get the usb reader? Should I take these questions to another forum? Do you have to format these cards before using?

thx

 

[GuruBob]

Just to answer fr

<< It uses SmartMedia cards, up to 32MB I think. >>

-- this camera can handle up to 64MB smartmedia cards.

 

[NoFish4U]

stifko,

goto the SETUP on the wheel thingy and select the highest resolution and fine quality. The put the mountain / flower switch to mountain, and try some more pix.

PS. Try not to jiggle the cam as u press the button. It is hard not to but try.

 

[rigor]

Good camera, Easiest control functions on any camera of its price size. I bought this at the best buy b&amp;M last december for $199 with a free additional 8mb card and free batteries.