Fujifilm MX-500

Opinion: I know this camera is discontinued, I still own one and am having a hard time deciding to get rid of it or not. The MX-500 was one of the first 1.5 (relative) megapixel cameras to hit the market for under $500, and for the time, it blew the competition away. The features are very basic compared to what's available now, but the striking feature of this camera (still) is it's image quality. ISO is rated at 100, 2x digital zoom (no optical), gerat macro mode, a bit of manual adjustment...on par with a typical point and shoot.

I've always been a fan of Fuji's transparency slide film (E-6), it screams color and contrast. The MX-500 is the only digital camera I've used that seems to reproduce this effect. You're not going to get it in low light or with the flash, but in bright colorful outdoor or landscape shots, this camera still amazes me. Sharpness in 1280x1024 is great if you use a tripod, 640x480 is excellent all around.

I'm wondering if anybody else out there still has one of these too and would like to join in on the opinions?

Opinion: Bought my MX-500 in March of 99 for $399. It came bundled with another 8mg Smartmedia and the floppy adapter. I tried the serial download once, but the floppy adapter is much faster. Certainly not state of the art anymore (and I suspect that it never was), but it has never failed me, takes good outdoor shots, and great macros. I'm in the market for a new camera, but I plan on keeping the MX-500 handy because it's so compact and reliable. Love that retractable lens cover too! I'll be including Fujifilm in the new models consider.

Opinion: Owned this camera for about two years now, and It hasn't let me down once, easy to use, and returns the brightest sharpest pic's I have seen with out adjustment on some other camera's even at more pixels use.
Macro's are fantastic, and landscapes are best, dull lighting needs adjustment.
Love the shutter over lense, something when I was buying was inportant, also th efact it uses normal batteries, when travelling you cannot get to a plug socket sometimes, but batteries can be found even in the depths of India or Peru...