Fujifilm Finepix F450 5.2MP Digital Camera with 3.4x Optical Zoom
By: Fuji Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 12
More Information
 On: 2008-04-04
Im fulfilling a [forgotten] promise I made to myself to write a comment on this fine product, after I bought it two years ago for $180, a refurbished price I think. Its a great camera, or should I say it Was a great camera since I lost it, stolen but thats another story.
This is a great camera to carry around for snaps, fits easily in the pocket, and makes good videos, up to three minutes long which can then be stitched together on the computer to make a longer movie. I found it to be rugged and forgiving of abuse [it became the house-camera used by an 18 year old knucklehead] and yes the lens did stick but I just shoved it back in [luckily?] and it worked fine. And the pictures, great, or to be honest one out of five or so was great; and looking back on the rest of them they are precious because they record moments that otherwise would be lost!
Im in the search now for a new camera and I will be pleased if it works as well as this one did.
 On: 2007-09-04
i baught this camera about a year ago and i takes good pictures.. and is easy to upload, hower the zoom has broken 4 times, and my camera has had to be sent in to be repaired, it can take many months for this repair, and my camera has been replaced, but the zoom just broke again yesterday, and this time i plan on buying a new camera.
 On: 2007-01-26
I owned it and loved it, but after only a year and a half of careful and light use, the lens got stuck out. My boss also purchased one and after only ONE year of use, her lens got stuck out too! Make sure that you fill out the warranty card so your can get repaired we didnt and now we have no camara and were $200 down.
I tried to contact Fuji to no avail, I waited on the phone for 15 minutes and I never got a human being on the Tecnical Support and Repair line.
Despite the poor life span of the product and the awful costumer service from Fuji, I really loved the camera, it was compact, stylish, easy to handle and to understand, great pic quality and easy to install software, I loved the video feature(although the DVD maker never work quite right, big LCD screen, great battery life... I really miss my camera.
 On: 2006-08-07
LOOK AT IT! Its GORgeous. Im surprised Fuji doesnt have Paris Hilton modeling with it. Its unique design and the beauty of it is certainly undeniable... oh, and in case youre measuring and trying to compare and figure out how small/big this camera is.. let me clear that up; yes, its tiny. It really is tiny. One thing I like about it, though, is that even though its very compact, its not overly light. (I never worry about dropping it..... I do get scared when other people touch it though... -haha)
Whats there NOT to like about it? I cant decide whether to keep this camera because of the fact that its so fantastic looking and I really dont think Ill find anything better as far as design... or sell it and buy something maybe a bit bigger and for sure less "cool"-looking in sacrifice for CLEAR pictures, EVERY time.
What this camera will often leave you with if youre taking pictures of anything with the slightest bit of motion is about 10 pictures that are far too blurry, 3 pictures that are blurry but you really want to kill yourself because they were/wouldve been *perfect* (and at about this moment youre cursing Fuji with all youve got), and 2 pictures that are clear but YOU screwed up the picture by getting half your ear cut off or accidentally snapping the picture when Laura had her finger up her nose. Damnit. That sucks.
It all depends on what youre taking pictures of. Never take this to any kind of event thats very important to you and monumental and you want pictures for... ever... because thats when itll fail you; trust me. I took it to a graduation and first I thought it was only the lighting, so I turned the flash off, then it was making things blurry so I turned it back on and changed settings.. and it was still making things blurry. I didnt get one clear shot of that whole event. Lets just say it pissed me off and thats when Id realized Id had about enough.
I take pictures of me and my girl friends all the time for profile shots and things... were just playing around.. we have all the time in the world to get the right pose. I never have problems then because were HOLDING VERY STILL... but taking this camera to events, you know, where people MOVE; "just say no".
I did take this to a winter formal and got very clear, crisp pictures that I blew-up into 5"x7" and they turned out amazingly well so I was pleased with my F450 then, however I cant stress this enough; digital cameras anymore are all about convenience. Its not convenient to have to ask a stranger if they can "start over" and give the same reaction they did the FIRST time your friend yelled "LOOK AT MY POOPY UNDIES!" at them... no, because... that just doesnt work.
ALSO price doesnt always represent quality, okay? Oh, and neither does mega-pixels, like someone else noted. Honestly, I preferred my Sony 3.2mp over this one. "If I could tuuuuurn back tiiiime...". ((Aw, but dont think Im saying Sonys are all somethin great!!!!!! Dont buy T-ANYTHING! Theyre all really bad. Read reviews. **Some** reviews are your friend, so read many.]
On: 2006-02-17
Pros
Very Small
Big Screen
Stylish
Movie Mode is AWESOME
optical zoom 3x "ok"
Options
Great camera to carry around on belt clip with case
edit
I forgot one of the best things
It has rechargable battery, and cradle. No more running out batteries.
Cons
Quailty is not Great just average
Flash is not all that Bright
Jubril
[...]
On: 2005-11-29
I got this camera about 3 or 4 months ago. I bought it as a birthday present to myself [= (14 years old). At that time, I think that I payed about $200 for it because it was on sale since it was just coming out. Now I see that it can go up to almost $450 with any sales or any of that stuff.
As for the performance...
It works really well. Takes good pictures, and easy to use. I would strongly recommend to leave the flash on at all times (even if you dont really need it) because it keeps your pictures from being blurry--I dont know how... it just does. Its still in very good condition although it doesnt get used a whole lot. I really like the docking charger that came with it. Cameras go through batteries too fast (i know from experience) and that could cost a lot of money. With the charging thing, I Dont Have to keep buying new batteries every five seconds.
Overall, Im really glad I got it because i know (hope) that i will keep it for a long time, and I will be able to use a camera whenever I want... even if its not important [=
On: 2005-11-29
I bought this camera when it first came out in March 2005. I still love it. The main reason I purchased it was the small size and the 5 mp lens. (I was replacing an older, larger 3 mp digital camera.) In short, I wanted a compact point-and-shoot camera with a decent size (at least 5 mp) lens. For this purpose, it exceeds all expectations. I purchased a small case that fits on my belt and I can take this camera anywhere and almost anytime - it is fun to pull out a camera at parties for candid shots. I also found that this camera is sturdy enough for outdoor activities. I have taken it snow skiing (cold weather) and on a 5 day trip down the Yampa River (hot weather) and it survived and worked fine. That said, stating what should be obvious, if you are looking for professional quality pix, this camera definitely is not for you. Pictures in the 5 x 7 size look great, and 8 x 10 size still look pretty good, but I venture to guess that quality decreases measurably with any larger size pictures. Also, what should be obvious with any similar type camera, you need a larger memory card (256 or 512 mp) and a backup battery (especially if you dont have access to electric outlets). All in all, a great compact point-and-shoot camera.
On: 2005-10-13
it is very easy to buy through Amazon, particularly for those living in remote areas like me, Macomb...
the camera is perfect! its small and convenient to carry in a tiny ladies bag, not complicated to use, and at the same time has a great quality!!! (5 mg pixels, webcam, and along with a 128 Mg memory card - a huge capacity). I like it so much!!! Thank you!!!
On: 2005-07-30
I have two other digital cameras and bought this one (I think is is the same only I bought it in Germany as model F455 and its black anodized!) for my son in college. We have been taking pictues now with it - very small, portable with 3.4x zoom - thats the main reason we bought it. Small means one hand operation, and maybe some shake. Pictures are fine though. Flash works well, focus works best, of course, when you let it focus - hold down button half way to focus then shoot the pic. This black one is beautiful! We bought more memory for it though, as most photo are taken at full 5.2mp.
no regrets.
On: 2005-07-06
Ive just had one of these for a few days to play with. Its a nice looking, nicely made little camera. A little thicker than some other miniature cameras though, and the square shape wasnt particularly easy to hold on to. Still, its pretty nice looking.
I liked the speed it starts up: the lens really romps out of the body. It has a good sized screen too, but its not so great in sunlight, and very dim and grainy in poor light. Focussing in poor light was nothing special either; theres no assist lamp.
Its simple to use, despite the lack of the more usual (and better) four-way controller. You access up and down menu items with the oddly (and badly) positioned zoom controller, which has an unpleasantly short travel and `clicky feel to it.
In playback mode, you use it to zoom in to your photo, which it does extremely slowly, then enter a different mode to scroll. Rather clumsy.
Anyway, I managed to master all its functions without looking at the instruction book, so it must be quite intuitive.
I was distinctly underwhelmed by the photos the Fuji took though. They were okay for snapshots but looking closely revealed lots of noise and rather fuzzy edges to things. My 4MP Canon Ixus takes much better, sharper photos. I dont think the Fuji makes much use of that extra megapixel.
Even so, its not a bad little camera. Its cheap, looks nice, is a doddle to use despite the awkward controls, has a reasonably large and colourful screen and starts up quickly. I wasnt too impressed by its primary function though: taking good photos. If you just take snapshots and print at small sizes itll be fine. But then you wouldnt need 5 megapixels...
On: 2005-04-05
Looks like ma boy in the prev review has said it all.
I have always loved Fuji cameras. The S2800 I had before delivered astounding results for a 2MP camera convincing me to go for Fuji again, after a real bad experience with the Sony DSC-T1 (DON"T BUY THE T1!!!!- IF U GOT IT FOR FREE PLEASE TRASH IMMEDIATELY. THATS WHERE IT BELONGS). I have the F450-the 5MP version. Got it for $275 off of ebay, where else!The flash is really good for a camera this size. I bought a "perfect-fit" case with a belt loop and the camera became instantly more-portable and easy to carry around. Nice camera! Value for money. Try it out! But u need to decide what u want in a camera first. I wanted something small enough to carry around,and one that gave nice pics. This was/is definitely a good choice!
On: 2004-11-27
Nov. 27, 2004--
I just got this camera today, and due to the lack of reviews, was a bit concerned about purchasing it. However my cousin owns the F420 and I noticed the high quality of Fujifilm cameras (co-operated with Olympus in Japan- where Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus all originate). The camera is even smaller than I initially thought looking at pictures online. It literally fits right into the palm of my hand. The hugh LCD is also a great feature. I havent used the camera too much yet, but already taking test pictures I have noticed the Fujifilm quality. I have researched greatly into several compact cameras, such as the Sony T1 and the Nikon Coolpixes. Nikon lenses are very good also, but I preferred the compact square size and design of the Fuji, not to mention the larger LCD. As for the T1, my friend owns it, and at first the design of it and the huge LCD greatly impressed me, but the quality was just ughhh >:o( horrible. Besides my old digi cam was a Sony one and lets just say its safe to stick to a FILM company. The picture cradle, the tiny xd picture card, battery, and etc. are wonderful. Everything looks great..!
To sum it all up..
PROS:
*great compact, sleek design!
*large 2" LCD
*hand strap comes included (just in case [:)
*Fujifilm quality
*Trimming on the camera available. (Its like cropping/editing on your camera!)
*Pictbridge compatible (for those who love to print pics directly)
*Video recording with audio (The larger your memory card, the longer you can record! With 512 mbs. you can record up to 156.3 minutes!) Plus the audio is actually pretty clear (you can adjust volume in the playback menu).
CONS:
*I wish there was a better optical zoom, although 3.4 is pretty standard.
Finally, for accessories, must haves are a higher xD-Picture Card, higher battery, and an optional PictBridge photo printer.
I bought a 128mb card, but I recommend a 256 or even 512, of course it all depends on how many pictures you feel you are going to take. (You can adjust the mega-pixels, giving you more or less photos).
I hope this review was of some help! On a side note, I love this camera! (:
**EDIT*****Feb. 28, 2005
It has now been about 3 months with this camera and unfortunately the review ^(up) there, may have been partially a "just out-of-the-box" review.
Basically my stand is the same, although I thought I should warn buyers of these types of small cameras...
*IF YOU ARE IMAGINING TAKING PROFESSIONAL PICS with this camera, forget it.
Yes it has a 5.2 MP capability, so its good for prints, but MP is not everything.
All these types of small cameras coming out these days (e.g. Sony T1, T11, etc.)have a tendency to produce blurry pictures.
Even though a picture taken on this cameras 2" LCD may appear clear/sharp, an upload onto your computer may produce different results.
What I have noticed is that outside, pictures for the most part come out very clear.
The majority of blurry pictures occur inside, when there is not much lighting (obviously).
This camera requires a very steady hand; less so outside, but indoor pictures very much so.
Basically, the camera requires the shutter to be pressed half-way to autofocus, and the remaining half pressed to take the picture.
Im only a student, so I mostly find content with this camera, because its a nice-looking gadget.
No one has failed to express their interest in it or praise it for its beautiful design.
Nevertheless, I highly recommend shoppers to consider what they are looking for in a camera as their first priority in their perfect digital camera search.
Another important factor to keep in mind is that it is not only this camera that will be producing such results. I have taken a look at my friends Sony T1, but there is no such "perfect" camera...yet.
If you want design, the chances of sacrificing an amount of quality is quite high, and vice versa.
All small cameras will have a higher tendency to blur, because thats what they are-- small.
The larger and heavier the body of the camera, it is better able to steady itself, while smaller and lighter cameras, such as this one, will need the guidance of a steady hand to create similar photos.
I believe this camera has better photo quality than the SONY T1, because its lenses actually "zoom" out, while the SONY one, just zooms internally.
Also, my friends SONY T1s prints were uncomparable to the prints from the F450 (considering all the small different factors, e.g. where the prints were printed, etc.).
The SONYs color outside was so dead compared to the F450s vivid colors.
As for the big question..
No, I do not regret purchasing this item.
I enjoy the beauty of it, while using it and enjoy showing it off (not to appear condescending in any manner..).
|
|
