Fujifilm FinePix 6800 Zoom Review



Features & Controls
![]() The FinePix 6800 Zoom has a fast f/2.8 3x optical Super EBC Fujinon aspherical zoom lens with a focal length equivalent of a 36-108 mm zoom on a 35mm camera. The normal range for the autofocus is from two feet to infinity with a dedicated macro that covers from 7.8 inches to two feet. There's also a Digital Zoom option that further magnifies the frame by 1.4x to 4.4x depending on the selected image size.
When the camera is powered down or goes into sleep mode the lens retracts back into
the body and is protected by a builtin metal cover.
![]() ![]() The pop-up flash provides five modes: automatic, red-eye reduction, flash-on-demand, flash cancel and slow synch flash for motion effects. The working range at ISO 100 is 8 in - 11.5 ft (Wide) and 8 in - 6.6 ft (Tele)
The flash is manually actuated by pressing the OPEN button on the back.
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The optical viewfinder is useable but disappointing, its viewing angle is extremely
narrow and there's no dioptric adjustment. There are marks on the viewfinder to
indicate the autofocus target and closeup parallax correction. The optical viewfinder
is essential as using the color LCD rapidly depletes the battery. The LED indicates
autofocus and flash status as well as card activity with different colors.
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The large 2-inch color LCD is excellent with a resolution of 130,000 pixels and it has a
fairly fast refresh rate. The downside is that it puts a heavy drain on the rather
anemic battery and it's not covered by a glare reduction screen.
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All of the user controls are on the back of the camera. The most-used control will
probably be the combination Power button and Record/Playback lever. Press the button
to turn the camera on or off. The lever lets you quickly switch between record and
playback without changing your operating mode. The OPEN button pops up the builtin
flash. The BACK button is used to cancel a menu operation, the MENU / OK button calls
up the onscreen menu system and when the menu is active it lets you accept selections.
The DISP button turns the color LCD on and off and also enables display of overlay
information and the grid display.
![]() Using your thumb it is easy to quickly change the operating mode of the camera thanks to this high-tech knurled Mode Dial. Each position on the dial is heavily detented so it doesn't get accidentally turned.
![]() ![]() The circular data LCD display is backlit by either a red light when in Record mode or a green light when in Play. There's four buttons around the data LCD whose functions change depending on the mode the camera is in. Shown here in Auto Record mode, the Up and Down buttons control the zoom lens, the Left button enables Macro and the Right button selects the Flash mode.
In Playback mode the Right and Left buttons move through the stored images, the Up
button toggles the Zoomed Playback mode and steps you through the different magnification
values and the Down button steps you back out of Zoom mode.
![]() It even greets you when you turn it on and off. ![]()
On the left side is the SmartMedia card slot. It is a push-in and pop-out type
of card ejector which makes removing the thin cards very easy. Fuji supplies a 16MB
card with the camera and any 3.3v card up to 128MB can be used.
![]() Next to the SmartMedia door are the I/O ports. The A/V Out carries the audio and video to a television set via the supplied cables. The video signal format is either NTSC or PAL depending on region where camera is sold. In the middle is the USB data I/O port and on the bottom is a DC IN port for the AC power supply.
When the FinePix 6800 Zoom is placed in the docking cradle the USB and power
connections are made via a port located on the bottom (see next picture).
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The camera is powered by a 3.7v NP-80 lithium rechargeable battery pack.
These batteries are proprietary so my advice is to immediately buy a second one as
you can't put any other type of battery in the camera. And use that color LCD
sparingly or you'll be swapping batteries frequently.
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This is the same battery that the Kodak DC4800 uses. Kodak sells the
battery plus an external 1-hour rapid charger for just $59 ($20 price drop!) on the
Kodak website.
![]() When the camera is placed in its docking cradle the battery is automatically charged and image data can be downloaded to the computer. Using the supplied FinePixViewer software the camera can function as a netcam when in the cradle. |
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