Fujifilm FinePix F50fd

Pros: Lightweight, compact, great A/V feature

Cons: noisy photos, can't charge using A/C.

Summary: So my Canon G6 Powershot is starting to die, so I needed a new camera. I knew that I wanted something smaller than the G6 to tote around, and the Fuji Finepix boasted 12 megapixels. I tested the camera at the store and was impressed by what I could see on the LCD display, so I bought it.

I immediately took it on a vacation, but was very disappointed when I downloaded the pictures to my laptop that evening. Almost 100% of them were noisy/grainy. None of them came out clear and crisp. Not even the autoshoot ones with plenty of daylight. I spent $300 on this camera, and it is a piece.

I took it out at night-time using their night mode, which says that you will get beautiful, clear, skyline shots. NOT!!! The images look okay on the lcd, but when I put them on my display at home, they are blurry. Honestly, I have gotten better images from throwaway, one-use cameras you get at a drugstore.

The best features of this camera are the low-weight and portability, and the video feature. The quality of the video is quite good for such a small camera (still somewhat grainy, but more acceptable than other cameras' video features). As you are filming, the camera also tells you how much time you have left to film in those conditions with your video card.

By the way, the thing does NOT come with a memory card. It comes with a TINY internal memory that can hardly hold 10 pictures. You will have to buy an external memory module. The other issue I had is that in order to charge the battery, you can't just plug the camera into an A/C charger or your USB. You have to physically remove the battery and plug it into Fuji's wall charger. This makes it IMPOSSIBLE to recharge this thing on the road or in an on-the-go situation.

Overall, I would not recommend this camera for the money. It's not worth it. For the cost, it should be better than it is.