Fuji Finepix F601

The Fuji Finepix F601 is a good camera with many features for the amateur and more experienced. However, the instruction manual needs to be read many times and practised - the problem is having to find these features by going into different menus and sub menus. For its size I recommend it - not having to carry it around in your hand. Batteries soon run out especially when you want to experiment with different settings with the need to keep the screen on to see the settings and menus. It's a real pain!

I bought this Fuji Finepix F601 camera mid 2002 and my first thought was at £550 (as it was then) it was very cheap of them to supply just a 16mb memory card. I immediately bought a larger card - after reading reviews that fuji's own cards often caused camera to lock up i bought 2 cheap 64mb cards that have worked with no problem at all.

Features are excellent with easy pc connection and very user friendly software to download the pictures.

Picture quality is very good. However, landscape pictures showed the horizon to have a definite curve to it no matter what level of zoom i used (including setting camera at maximum wide angle).

The macro feature produces good results but pretty hopeless without a tripod or monopod no matter how steady my hands feel!

I have never managed to remove this problem except by retouching with paint shop pro 8 (very easily done) though at the price paid I really shouldnt have to do this.

The buttons are organised ok, but are a little fiddly for my hammer fingers! The joystick-type control on the back is a brilliant idea but its easy to move it the wrong way as it is very small.

I do like NOT having to change batteries, and the easy charge docking system means i dont have to as does the plug in charger - excellent feature!

I am now moving on to another camera as my partner is very taken with the fuji, and whilst the camera has been excellent, i still have a yearning for an slr-style shape, with more defined , larger buttons, more suited to larger fingers.

Its original price of over £500 I paid as it seemed the best available at the time for the maximum i was willing to pay. However times change and not only is the camera down to around 1/2 that price now, but better cameras are available still cheaper than its original price.

I am looking at another fuji - but should i decide to buy the S5000 - at the first sign of curved horizontal lines its going back!

I have had the Fuji Finepix F601 for about 9 months now and I am impressed.

Where to start?....the design is first rate, it makes handling the unit a dream so much so that I have only droped it once ( I was on a mountain bike at the time so no fault of the camera!)

The image quality is so good that I have even started using it in 1 meg mode for none print shots.

the zoom function is also pretty good (My son took some good shots of the recent close pass of mars and I was amazed by the results!)

The magnesium case seems to be very resiliant as I do not treat things with kidd gloves and it has stood up to a cycling tour of italy with only 1 slight mak from when I dropped it.

The battery however could do with a bit more life as I was coulght out on a couple of occasions and its not as if you can just pop a couple of AAA bats in!

Also the small LCD screen is a touch on the small side.

Overall I must say I am very happy with this item and would recomend it to anyone

This is the best camera I've used, either digital or conventional in terms of consistent image quality and colour reproduction. The addition of a luthium battery extends the range and usefulness of the camera compared to previous Fujis. The interpolation is so good that the digital image processing does genuinely raise the image quality from 3m to 6m pixels. This is evident if you use the digital zoom post-picture, as there is little or no distortion, within reason. The ability to capture Mpeg video is determined by the size of the smartmedia card you buy. You would need the 128MB which I purchased to take short video and still leave room for pictures. The higher capacity SD format would have been better or dual support even more ideal. The mpeg capture is quite good but not a replacement for a good mini-DV camcorder. Still it's fun for short video snapshots. That would be expected from a camera whose main function is digital stills, and in that area this camera excels.

This is my third digital camera. As an opportunistic photographer I wanted something I could carry in my handbag, whip out and take a great shot quickly. The F601 does that. I also bought the cradle and a spare battery. The cradle makes file transfer easy and also charges the battery. In six months I only needed the spare once. Despite having pre-charged it, it was flat a week later when I need it. I would advise travelling with the cradle in your luggage. I miss being able to use AAAs as I did in my previous camera. The F601 takes great video and sound. However, the .avi format used is not recognised by the big name video editing software (Premier)and I had to find an intermediary program to resave the video before I could import it. I also got caught by the innocent mistake of turning my camera sideways for a portrait view video. On downloading, it was lying on its side and simple rotate does not work on .avi! Another intermediary program had to be found to perform the rotate. So far I've found the optical zoom disappointing. Pictures have a grainy look to them. However, the close up mode is great - once you've worked out your optimal distances. The rocker button on the back which is used for menu selection and moving through images took a lot of getting used to and I still don't like it. Handing the camera over to friends to cycle through images is a nightmare as they invariably bring up the menu by mistake and in one case, erased all the pictures.

Despite the negatives, I do love the camera. Easy to use and great photos in auto mode.

The Fuji Finepix F601Z digital camera is a nice design, but not as 'Porsche-like' as its predecessor the 4800Z. Pretty easy to use and produces excellent picture quality with a good range of options.

Can digital cameras get any smaller?! This is getting a bit small for my liking - and it's slippery! I don't like the smaller preview screen (compared with the 4800Z) and the menu selection rocker switch is again a bit small to use accurately - you get used to it though.

Worst thing in my view is the barrel distortion you get on the wide angle setting. Try taking a picture of a building with nice parallel uprights and it looks like an inflated balloon.

Still, I rate this as a useful camera to keep in your pocket or bag - you hardly know it's there and it produces great pictures.

I have had 3 digital cameras before the Fuji Finepix f601. This is the first one to take the same shots as my SLR and work in the same with manual mode control over shutter and aperture... the days of my SLR are numbered.