4900 ? why not

Sorry everyone for getting everyones hope up last night, when I went to the Fuji site and saw the 6900 displayed, my eyed would not let me see the "discontinued product" (oops my bad) but I say it this morning. So back to the drawing board for now,I did speak to a nice fellow at a NY camera shop this afternoon, who when asked (will you be getting anymore 6900s?) his reply was I think we will around the 1st of FEB. My question is what about the 4900 Fuji, what have you consumers found out about your 4900s or what is the good and bad of the camera. What have you heard. I'm just trying to make plans for 2nd choice because the 6900 being my 1st choice seem to be a bit far off at best.
Thanks Everyone
Dean

Dean,

I´m in the same situation.

Although there are some really good improvements in the 6900 the 4900 is also a great camera. And the price is especially good these days (around $490 from dbuys.com, ibuydigital.com and buydig.com). With the money you save from buying the 6900 (about $250 considering the "normal" prices) you can get extra batteries, smartmedia cards or even a good telephoto (the 1.8x Raynox is $140 at etronics.com).

So, if nothing changes in this scenery in the next week I think I´ll get the 4900 too.

Claudio

Dean Humphrey said:

Sorry everyone for getting everyones hope up last night, when I
went to the Fuji site and saw the 6900 displayed, my eyed would not
let me see the "discontinued product" (oops my bad) but I say it
this morning. So back to the drawing board for now,I did speak to a
nice fellow at a NY camera shop this afternoon, who when asked
(will you be getting anymore 6900s?) his reply was I think we will
around the 1st of FEB. My question is what about the 4900 Fuji,
what have you consumers found out about your 4900s or what is the
good and bad of the camera. What have you heard. I'm just trying to
make plans for 2nd choice because the 6900 being my 1st choice seem
to be a bit far off at best.
Thanks Everyone
Dean

Click to expand...

--Claudio Ferreiramail: [email protected]: http://www.pbase.com/claudio_fln/rootICQ: 14145545

For my part I bought a 4900 because it was $699 cdn vs $1095 cdn plus it had a $100 Fuji Canada postal rebate on it. It was selling for over $1000 until recently. Since my use is strictly for screen viewing with maybe, once in a very great while an 8 x 10 print made, I don't feel that the resolution difference was worth the price difference... Who knows, I might change my mind eventually, but what the heck ! ;-)

I'm very satisfied with the camera, in spite of my having to get it replaced because of a defective CCD. During that time, about a week, I had a chance to try a 3mp Nikon CP995 and can't say I was blown away with the difference. I still prefer my Fuji.

So, what you buy is really a matter of choice, priorities, etc. It just seems that 6900 users post a hell of a lot more messages on this board. Is it a matter of numbers or just more enthusiasm ? where are all the 4900 owners out there ???
Pixelum

Claudio Luiz Ferreira said:

Dean,

I´m in the same situation.
Although there are some really good improvements in the 6900 the
4900 is also a great camera. And the price is especially good these
days (around $490 from dbuys.com, ibuydigital.com and buydig.com).
With the money you save from buying the 6900 (about $250
considering the "normal" prices) you can get extra batteries,
smartmedia cards or even a good telephoto (the 1.8x Raynox is $140
at etronics.com).
So, if nothing changes in this scenery in the next week I think
I´ll get the 4900 too.

Claudio

Click to expand...

I use a 4900 as well, and am quite satisfied with it. I chose to purchase it because I got really good deal on it ( but I did do some research, and it came down to this or an olympus ). I like it because it's more of an slr type feel to it, the zoom, and the ccd.

I too have noticed the ratio of 4900 to 6900 posters here. Maybe we're just the strong silent types though!
Just 'sounding off'.
take care,
Jerry

http://www.angelfire.com/film/jhazard/index.htm--http://www.pbase.com/jhazard

I bought my 4900 over a year ago. I think it is fantastic. It had what I was ooking for - the zoom range, plus the resolution and flexibility. I thought I would like the manual adjustment options, but it is so good I found 90% of my pictures are taken in AUTO. I like the choice of viewfinder or screen.

Downers? The low-light focus issue, the shutter lag - those you can read all about on this forum; trying to take pictures in marginal light conditions (e.g. inside churches and museums in Italy, no flash). But, at least the flash CAN be turned off for those situations. Also, hauling the laptop on vacation. I ran into an Englishman with a 4900 at Boboli gardens who was apparently trying to make a card last all vacation long! My next big purchase will be something like a Digital Wallet or that Archon thing.

The best feature of digital cameras - you can view and retake right away; and you take way too many pictures. On vacation I would take over 80 a day. A spare card and spare battery are a must!

I had pictures from our last vacation (St. Mark's in Venice, Bay of Naples) blown up to 11x14 by the Futureshop.ca service, and they exceed anything I can do with 35mm.

I love this camera. I may buy whatever comes after the 6900, but I have to wonder where the treadmill stops. At what point will a lens simply not provide any more detail? 10Mpixel? 20Mpixel? Or will the CCD cells be too small for effective exposures in anything except sunlight? Where's it all going?

Dean Humphrey said:

... My question is what about the 4900 Fuji,
what have you consumers found out about your 4900s or what is the
good and bad of the camera. What have you heard. I'm just trying to
make plans for 2nd choice because the 6900 being my 1st choice seem
to be a bit far off at best.
Thanks Everyone
Dean

Click to expand...

Dean Humphrey said:

My question is what about the 4900 Fuji,
what have you consumers found out about your 4900s or what is the
good and bad of the camera. What have you heard. I'm just trying to
make plans for 2nd choice because the 6900 being my 1st choice seem
to be a bit far off at best.
Thanks Everyone
Dean

Click to expand...

I stand up with the 4900's. I got mine months before the 6900 came onto the market. As far as I can ascertain, many 6900 users work in 3mp mode as default rather than 6mp. As I always use my 4900 at full 4.3mp mode I am not sure that I would gain much from a 6900.

So Dear, I'm sure that if you can't find a 6900 and go for a 4900 you won't be disappointed.--SteveZurich, SwitzerlandFuji 4900Z & Fuji MX-2700www.pbase.com/steveh

Good Day,

I too am avery happy 4900 user. This is my first really good digital camera and I am loving it. The pictures I am taking are nothing short of wonderful. Currently I'm taking a lot of family pictures but hope to do more in the outdoors.

Some of the messages I read in te Fuji Forum a month ago or so spoke a lot about the bad placement of the door to the usb/power/video connection and the battery resource problem. Both of these points have been non issues.... Maybe when we get out doors after winter ends it might become an issue. At that poiint maybe I'll need to purchase another battery.

It would be great to share some pictures just to see what others are doing wuth their 4900. Let me know if you are intrested.

Regards,

Joe

Pixelum said:

I'm very satisfied with the camera, in spite of my having to get it
replaced because of a defective CCD. During that time, about a
week, I had a chance to try a 3mp Nikon CP995 and can't say I was
blown away with the difference. I still prefer my Fuji.

So, what you buy is really a matter of choice, priorities, etc. It
just seems that 6900 users post a hell of a lot more messages on
this board. Is it a matter of numbers or just more enthusiasm ?
where are all the 4900 owners out there ???
Pixelum

Claudio Luiz Ferreira said:

Dean,

I´m in the same situation.
Although there are some really good improvements in the 6900 the
4900 is also a great camera. And the price is especially good these
days (around $490 from dbuys.com, ibuydigital.com and buydig.com).
With the money you save from buying the 6900 (about $250
considering the "normal" prices) you can get extra batteries,
smartmedia cards or even a good telephoto (the 1.8x Raynox is $140
at etronics.com).
So, if nothing changes in this scenery in the next week I think
I´ll get the 4900 too.

Claudio

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Exactly my feeling. Like the French proverb says: "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien". That roughly translates to "the better is the ennemy of the good". The 4900 is an excellent camera. Very much SLR like. Very, very good images, actually in many ways better than my Pentax film cameras that I used for 20 some years. I got moon shots with details in them. I never got that out of a 35mm... Anyway, if you can find one and don't mind the price difference, get a 6900. If you can't and do find a 4900, get it. They're both excellent cameras...
Pix

SteveH said:

I stand up with the 4900's. I got mine months before the 6900 came
onto the market. As far as I can ascertain, many 6900 users work in
3mp mode as default rather than 6mp. As I always use my 4900 at
full 4.3mp mode I am not sure that I would gain much from a 6900.
So Dear, I'm sure that if you can't find a 6900 and go for a 4900
you won't be disappointed.
--
Steve
Zurich, Switzerland
Fuji 4900Z & Fuji MX-2700
http://www.pbase.com/steveh

Click to expand...

Joe Rock said:

Good Day,

Click to expand...

(snip for brievity)

Joe Rock said:

Some of the messages I read in te Fuji Forum a month ago or so
spoke a lot about the bad placement of the door to the
usb/power/video connection and the battery resource problem. Both
of these points have been non issues.... Maybe when we get out
doors after winter ends it might become an issue. At that poiint
maybe I'll need to purchase another battery.

It would be great to share some pictures just to see what others
are doing wuth their 4900. Let me know if you are intrested.

Regards,

Click to expand...

Well, I have no problem with the door per see either. As far as the battery goes, I did buy a spare one plus the external charger because it's MUCH faster than charging in camera, about an hour and a half compared to five hours or so. I did get close to 3 hours of work out of my original battery after a short "break-in" period. Now, my camera has been exchanged and am not sure what the new battery is like.

I sure am interested in sharing images and swapping experiences with the 4900, even though most of what is shared by 6900 users also can be applied to the 4900...

Here's a link to my Botanical garden shots, made with my original 4900 camera. The images have been resized to 640 x 480 for modem users and for copyright protection as well. Still, a good indication of what the camera can do.

http://www.pbase.com/pixelum/jardin_botanique_mtl&browse=Y

Pixelum