Kyocera Finecam S3L Review

The Finecam S3L is equipped with an all-glass (7 elements in 6 groups) 3x optical zoom lens, f=7.3 mm - 21.9 mm (35mm equivalent 35mm - 105mm), F2.8-4.8. The focusing range in normal mode is about 19.7in to infinity and in Macro mode from about 4.7 - 23.6in.

As you can see from the pictures, no lens cap is required as the lens retracts back into the body when powered down and is protected by a built in shield. The lens extends a good ways out from the camera during operation. It takes about five seconds to be ready when powered up, most of that time is for the lens movement.

To help you get the best possible battery life the S3L has both an optical real image viewfinder as well as the color LCD. Two LEDs indicate flash and focus status. There is no dioptric adjustment.

The popup flash opens and closes automatically and has a recycle time of about 6 seconds (on full battery charge), and a working range from about 2 to 8 ft(W). User selectable modes are auto flash, red-eye reduction, forced flash, no flash and night portrait.

The 1.6-inch "Day Fine" TFT color LCD can be used for preview, review and setting menu options. It's designed to provide better visibility and contrast in bright outdoor conditions. The Mode Dial lets you switch between Movie Record, Still Record and Playback as well as Setup mode. Next to that is the zoom control that also functions on the enlarged playback control. Below that is the builtin speaker. The 4-way selector is used to navigate menus and select images for playback. The center button accepts selections. Push it "Up" to toggle flash modes and "Down" to select Macro or Landscape focus mode. Below is the DISPLAY button to turn the LCD on or off and the MENU button to call up the menu screens.

On the side are the IO ports. USB 1.1 for image downloading. Audio / Video Out with user selectable NTSC or PAL format. The battery charger / AC power supply plugs into the DC IN port.

Images and movies are stored on tiny MMC (MultiMedia) cards or SD (Secure Digital) cards. These cards are barely larger than a postage stamp!  Kyocera supplies a 16MB card with the camera.

The camera is powered by 3.6V 1000mAh rechargeable lithium battery pack that runs the entire length of the body of the camera. The battery is charged in-camera. The battery life is approx. 180 minutes of continuous playback. Capture up to 160 still images on a full charge, using the flash 50% of the time.