Fujifilm S4500 Compact Digital Camera

I have had this camera for about a month now, and am now confident in giving the most honest review. Shipping was fast--I believe there's an Amazon Distribution center somewhere in my vicinity, and may affect that.*Note--The Fujifilm s4000 series are all the same camera, with different zooms. Keep that in mind when you see different views.My Verdict, is that this is a genuine Bridge Camera--and as such, some people will hate it, and some will love it.The kind of people who will love this camera:-Myself. I'm a 22 Year old, self proclaimed Girl-With-Camera. I have had perhaps one college course on Photography, and I know the very bottom line of the technical (shutter, ISO, Aperture, Focal Range) and...quite frankly, I don't really care to worry about these things when I see something I want to shoot. I also know, about composition, lighting, and the more artistic value. Disappointed with a faithful, but still-too-slow Samsung point and Shoot, and a broken Film SLR, I decided, if the price was right, a Bridge Camera would be for me.-Nature Photographers--This Camera performs extremely well in this element. I've gotten pictures in Amish Country of Animals barely distinguishable to the naked eye. (More on this, later.)-A person with some Photography experience, but not a SLR snob.With that said, Some Pros and Cons:-This Camera is insanely faster than the few PAS I have gone through. I have fond memories of the "Oh I gotta get this picture" then waiting ten seconds for the "welcome" screen to clear. You switch on, its on. It can focus and shoot in as little as under a second. On the Contrary, it still isn't always fast, and that can be an issue from time to time. I've seen it struggle through "thinking" for well over 3-4 seconds, only for me to lose the shot.-Its ability to Focus, is still much higher than a typical Point and Shoot. Once it figures out it's "subject," you will find some of the finest details and they are naturally accentuated in the photos. While I'm still working on the "science," it also buzzes out the background, much like an SLR. The issue, is that since focus is automatic (which, is not surprising on any camera under $400), it seems to do whatever it feels like from time to time. I've taken pictures of my nephew in my living room and he is completely "highlighted" in some, and blends in the background in others.-Does the thinking for you. No matter what, focus is automatic, and, crucial to your pictures. Let me explain: I have a hard time calling this a point and shoot, because you can't tecnically do that, and expect good pictures. Why? Because the camera, at any given moment, is out of focus. It gives you a "preview" screen, but as far as what kind of light exposure, speed, and focus--it does all of this, with a half depress of the shutter (like SLRs). It takes this time to process the scene, find the subject(s), and adjust itself (you will even hear it, and see the screen "clearing up"). On a Film SLR, it probably does take about the same amount of time to adjust, and I can't say for sure with a DSLR (I've seen the worst kind of doofuses fire randomly and the pictures turn out half decent).Let me reiterate--your pictures can and WILL turn out blurry, odd, and just outright bad if you do not give the camera time to automatically adjust. If the camera indicates it did not focus properly, it will also likely turn our weird. Imagine someone yells to you "who is the president" and you yell "obama." Yes, that's correct, but a more detailed and thoughtful answer is "Barack Hussein Obama."-features, features, and more features. Again, this is a pro and con. For me, I am thrilled that there are 60 different settings toggled ten different ways. Macro in Black and White with flash? Super Macro in Chrome? HD video? What? On top of the Scenes you can select, the no less than three seperate Auto modes, a manual mode, panorama mode, a video mode and all sorts of little nuances I'm still finding--there's also Macro and Super macro. Honestly, I think its awesome--most days. But, when I actually want to be a tad artsy farsty, I have to spend a solid amount of time setting up this, setting up that, putting on macro, opening the flash, closing the flash, going into settings, turning a dial, etc.On a similar note, I would get this camera PURELY because of Macro and Super Macro. I cant exactly get into the logistics. But, what I do understand, is that Both settings, are using the focal strength of the camera in a very small space (so, very close, or very full on the screen.) It leaves a very stylish affect of NOT focusing on anything else aside from fine details of it's target. Macro, you can zoom--I find this to be slightly less detailed as Super, but also very great for shots of one object that may not be right at my nose. It does, however do a good job of focusing on one subject (say, a goose in the water.)-Performs WAY better in certain situations than typical PAS. My Boyfriend has a Canon Powershot which is probably a few months old. I recall, asking him to take a picture of me, and without further details, we will just say the room was dimly lit. They were, atrocious. I mean, like it was mostly digital grain. I thought, okay, it has a hard time in the dark. He took pictures of me during the day...and they were mediocre. blurry if you moved too much, grainy without flash, and flashy with the flash. The "night time" pictures pretty much scream "Hey this was taken with a reaaallllllyyy slow shutter speed, and the person holding the camera is not a tripod."I still have issues with motion shots--they look like I'm whirring by, my nephew will have three heads, and...its just gets weird. Also, maximum zoom is VERY unforgiving of a shaky hand. Otherwise, I am very thrilled at how well it handles odd, poor, and good light situations. You can, without a doubt, take some pictures with your own lighting and forget about the flash.In conclusion, I think this camera might just be too confusing/complex for the "snap pictures of the kids at the park" types, and too simple for the "pros." However, if you want a decent priced bridge camera with endless possibilities--from the portrait to the natural--I absolutely recommend this camera.

I own an older generation of this camera and loved it! I bought it one day and took it to Europe the next with little knowledge on how it worked. I had no problems with the older camera on that trip as it was very easy to figure out how to use the settings and it took fantastic photos! When the knob broke off days before my vacation last month I had a panic attack as I wasn't up on the latest cameras and little to no free time to go camera shopping. When I saw there was a new generation of the FujiFilm I have owned for 5 years, I decided to buy it given how happy I had been with the original FujiFilm that I owned. When I opened the box and powered it on, there was a thick white line down the middle of the display on the back of the camera so I called Fuji tech support. The person I spoke to quickly informed me there was nothing that could be done. He said it was damaged and to return it! He did me a favor with his advice. I was actually disappointed at how flimsy the new generation of this camera had become. The case is cheap plastic and I feel strongly it could easily crack without much trauma to it. My old camera was well made and held up after many trips in which I took hundreds of photos each time. I packaged the new camera up and sent it back to Amazon the next day. I ended up with a Canon PowerShot SX500 IS which operates much the same way as the FujiFilm I originally owned. It is constructed of much heavier materials and takes terrific photos. I would recommend the Cannon as it's well worth it. I was very disappointed in the FujiFilm camera. If you buy it you won't be happy. Holding it in your hands you can tell it's cheaply made and probably doesn't have much of a lifespan. I feel badly that I'm writing this review after owning the older model which I absolutely loved, but I felt I needed to so no one else makes the same mistake, especially if they are in a time crunch and need a camera quickly. This is not the camera you are looking for. I hope FujiFilm figures out that they've cheapened a great camera and make it right with the next model.

I've been into Photography since 1972. I've owned everything from a Kodak Pocket Instamatic to a Sinar 4x5 and a complete darkroom since 1976. My first digital Camera was a Fuji S602Z (10 yrs a go) This Camera can shoot some of the most amazing images, as long as you use some common sense. These types of camera's known as "Bridge" Cameras have built in Zoom lenses and for some reason the camera company's are putting in zooms that are so high power you can't even get a good photo unless you're on a Tripod that weighs 10X what your camera does (shake rattle and roll is NOT good). I've found that it's best to only use half of the zoom magnification...anymore than that and your image quality goes down. S4500 is easy to use and it can give you images that will "knock your socks off" spend a little time searching YTube for reviews and then when you buy, search again for photography tips so you can get the most from this (or any) camera.Pros:Easy to learn and useAA BatteriesISO 64 !Film Simulation (ie: Fujichrome Velvia color balance !)Easy Macro (Close up and Super Close up) with the push of a buttonGreat Auto FocusAdvanced users can set everything to your hearts desire, EXCEPT manual FocusAuto Focus has multiple settings: Average, Spot, Continuous, and a user defined spot that's easy to access and VERY accurateAuto Exposure is tied to the Auto FocusPRICE and VALUECons:No Hot Shoe for a flash (no shoe at all)Viewfinder and LCD screen aren't super high resolutionHigh zoom magnification = lesser quality imageNo lens thread...can't add filters or lens hoodVery Noisy image if under exposedNoisy image above ISO 400 but still okI HIGHLY recommend this camera.I'll post some images