Fujifilm FinePix E550 Zoom

Opinion: Purchased when first introduced (nearly 6 years ago) and still going exactly as well as when brand new. Not one single problem from this camera. Prints are fantastic, up to 8x10 (largest that we've ever printed). I originally thought that the flimsy feeling battery/card door would fail in short order, but it's never been a problem.

Opinion: Very impressive Fuji camera with full manual controls, RAW mode, easy adjustments,
useful exposure bracketing function.

It's well built and takes great photos

Opinion: I've had the E550 for over a year, and love it, I have been looking to upgrade to a SLR Type. I see NO better camera to up grade to, other than an DSLR.
2 things I wish it had:
Electronic View finder
Hot Shoe
but paying $3-400 for a new camera just to get those features ain't worth it.
Just compare the E550 with any other 3-$400 camera.
Plust you can buy one now for as low as $90(newegg.com) to $125.
I paid $300.

Opinion: I'm a BIG fan of this camera. I bought a FujiFilm FinePix e550 for my mom in Spring 2006, it was a closeout sale at B&H. I gave it a "test run" at a birthday party and I fell in love with it so I bought one for myself on eBay, as B&H nor any other place had any units left by that time. My other digital camera is a Nikon D100 SLR.

The eBay e550 I bought was a factory refurbished model which came with 4 AA rechargeable batteries, a charger, a case, all the cables, software, plus a Fuji Refurb Warranty. The price was so inexpensive that I figured I'd take my chances with a refurb'ed model. It payed off.

The e550 has the fastest shutter I've used on a point-and -shoot camera. The shutter lag is hardly there, and I've used many other Sony, Pentax, Casio, HP, Nikon, and Canon point-and-shoots.

Prior to buying the e550 on eBay, I purchased from B&H three other digital cameras based on the reported shutter lag times and other features. One by one I returned them all because I was unsatisfied with either the shutter, flash delay between shots, or LCD picture. I found the results reported by Sony and Pentax to be somewhat unrealistic, if not grossly incorrect. If I hadn't actually used the Fuji e550 already, I would have never known how fast the shutter was based on the specs. As a last resort I decided to buy one of the refurbs on eBay which were selling for approximately $120 including the shipping.

The Pros have much more value to me than the Cons. Overall the only Con that actually affects me is that it would have been nice to be able to buy a 1 or a 2 GB card for this camera. I've been using the camera for over 10 months as of New Year's Eve 2006.

PROS:
+The optical viewfinder is both accurate and saves power when the LCD is turned off.
+Very fast autofocus.
+Very little shutter lag.
+Very fast start-up time.
+Lens is f2.8 when wide open, great for low light.
+Flash pops up via separate button - it's a great way to ensure the flash won't go off when you're a natural-light fanatic like me.
+Thumb dial on top is a very fast way to switch modes.
+Manual "M" mode.
+Bright and Crisp LCD.
+Shutter sounds and button sounds can be turned off.
+Sports Mode (oddly, many cameras I looked at did not have a mode to lock the shutter in a high speed, they only had a "shutter priority" mode.)
+Records video.
+Has a B&W mode, which is faster and contrastier than merely converting to bw in photoshop.
+Has a CHROME mode, which makes the colors more intense (like shooting Velvia, well almost).
+Mode Dial rotation is smooth, and won't likely break. (See Cons about this though.)

CONS:
-Only accepts up to a 512MB xD card.
-If you use alkaline batteries, you won't get many shots. Just use the NiMH like everyone else (or even lithiums as a last resort) and you'll be fine.
-Video recording is monoaural.
-Can't zoom while recording video. You set your zoom, then hit record, but if you want to zoom out you have to stop recording, change the zoom, then press record again)
-When shooting at ISO 800 you can't shoot in 6MP mode, it goes to 3MP.
-Due to the optical viewfinder and AA batteries, it is larger/heavier than other cameras without those features.
-Like most cameras, the tripod mount is plastic.
-The battery door is also the xD card door, and if you're not careful you could break it off over time due to the push/slide method required to lock it closed.
-Mode Dial rotation is so smooth that when you pull the camera out of your bag the dial is often not at the same setting you left it. (See Pros about this though.)

Opinion: Zoom Error . . My camera was brand new. After taking approx. 30 pictures, I received a Zoom Error. Though Fuji gave tips on how to correct this, none worked. I had to send camera for repair. It's been over a month, and I'm still waiting for the return of my camera. I have been reading many other reviews of this problem occuring. Would not recommend camera. Not dependable. I also find it not very user friendly.

Opinion: Overall I like this camera but it is mechanically unreliable. See problems

Opinion: I've had this camera for approx a year now. Image quality-wise I've had excellent results. I own a Nikon D-70, a Nikon 7900, a Kyocera/Yashica Lv3 (all excellent digital cameras), but the Fuji E550 is definitely up there with the best of them, and at times exceeds their picture quality, too.
The flash is acceptable; I shoot predominantly with the 6mp (tried the 12mp -- very good, but takes up too much space on my memory card.)
I recently purchased the E900 Fuji, but for some reason had miserable picture quality results. Must've had a bad one -- pix were either soft or blurry. I would bet there was something wrong with the lens or other mechanics of the camera, so I don't blame it on the company.
All in all, I would absolutely recommend this to an aspiring photographer, or an advanced amateur photog. Can't go wrong with this one.

Opinion: This is not a true 12MP camera. The sensor and built-in processing make 12MP equivalent images.

Actual image quality is quite good, except for low-light situations - these are terribly dark and noisy, even at ISO80 and even with a flash. The built-in flash is a bit weak and there's no hotshoe. Brighter locations fare better. But nagging aside, this thing produces some very good images that can be blown up considerably because its built-in compression isn't as overzealous as what other companies set for their models. (6MP sounds nice, but compression will render larger pictures pointless due to artifacting... unless you like squiggles and blobs in your picture for all to see...) The E550 really does a good job with compression. I found its RAW mode to be more or less pointless; 12MP Fine mode seems to be the best quality mode.

The position of the battery/XD card cover makes it awkward to open as your hand will naturally hold down the top of the camers - where the camera mode selector is. I found this to be annoying.

The camera also has a cheap feel to it.

Silliest of all, this model works best - by far- with the XD cards NOT having the 'M' prefix next to the capacity (e.g. "M 512"). M is a newer standard and is known to cause delays in writing times and if you record movies. (the camera itself is also limited to 512MB modules.)

And why XD cards? SD are far more popular and much less costly.

Also, at $300 price tag, I'd have to take and then get developed over 1200 pictures (FIFTY rolls of 24-exposure film) just to make up the cost OF the camera. For your average user, by the time that cost differential is made up, something new and better is out. (a comparable 35mm P&S camera won't devalue nearly as much over the same period of time.) How quickly do you use 50 rolls of film?

Opinion: I've had the camera for 6 months and almost 7000 shots. Taken ~20Gb video too. Took it to Russia for a few weeks with a 20GB battery-powered downloader (try JALDigital.com.au).
Great value, no problems just a few complaints (see below).
Takes really sharp pictures except when struggling for light then it gets speckly.
Fast startup compared to my old Kodak 6440, but even so it could be faster.
I love the option of an 800ASA speed - just wish it really were.
Would I buy another one if this broke? - No, I'd step onward to a better video quality as I use that more and more. But I would look first at Fuji 'cos I like so many of its features.
I wish the dial had a more positive click so that when I get it out of its case it wouldn't shift halfway between settings.