Description

Fujifilm FinePix S1800 - 12MP, Fujinon 18x Wide Optical Zoom (28 - 504mm), 3.0" LCD + Viewfinder. Other features include: Face Detection w/ Red Eye Removal, Face Recognition, Tracking Auto Focus, Dual Image Stabilization, High Sensitivity 6400 ISO, 6 Scene - SR Auto Automatic Scene Recognition, Panorama Mode, HD Movie 720p w/ Sound, Instant Zoom/Zoom Bracketing, Smile/Blink Detection Mode, 4-AA Batteries.

Customer Reviews

 defective unit - Aug 27, 2010

The camera was defective. Only used it one weekend and it shut off without warning twice, told me to "turn off and back on" once, seemed to freeze up on several occasions and wouldn't let me turn it off or use any of the adjustments for a few second, and the view finder and LCD screen turned green and white once and purple several times. I took well over 200 shots using wide angle, zoom, close up, w/ and w/o flash, video... with full auto and the various programmable modes, all at maximum resolution, and over 3/4th of these were blurred. Of these 40 or so, none came out as sharp as pics from my Fuji S7000 at 6meg or my Pentax Optio 330 at 3 meg. In certain modes the anti-shake was on, didn't seem to make a difference. I really like my S7000, but wanted an upgrade. Not this one!

I liked the size, great zoom, and adjustable parameters on this model. But way too many problems came up. Might just be a defective unit... but it's going back today. One other thing is that the surface of the LCD screen protrudes out by itself and will end up getting scratched very fast. Didn't even want to carry it for fear of scratching against the buttons of my shirt.

Am trying the Pentax DSLR K-x at $499.00. Less lens and a lot more expensive, but I sure hope it lives up to my expectations.

 Very Pleased - Aug 24, 2010

I purchased a GE X5 Power Pro from Sears. The camera was O.K. and easy to use but I had more bad shots than good. I used all of the different setting and adjustments but found the camera was just not up to par. I returned it to Sears. I then purchased the Fuji S1800 for about the same price through Amazon. The Fuji is a much better camera. It is easy to use and the Macro shots are excellent. It's a keeper.

 Gets the job done - Aug 23, 2010

this camera is awesome for anybody that wants to practice being a professional photographer because its very basic. Overall though its fun to use and it's very light weight. I really enjoy the panoramic feature and I really have a lot of fun with the HD video recorder. Down side is your really just paying for the extra zoom and that is it, because you can find some really compact camera that fit in your pocket for the same price and all the same features except the zoom of course. But its not a bad camera I don't regret buying one.

 great semi-pro camera with some limitations. - Aug 19, 2010

beginner user learning photography
ok I know that a potential buyer wants to know why not to buy this camera so ill list the limitations first:
no exterior flash hot shoe. no lens filter threads. mem chip is in the battery storage on bottom of camera. only jpeg format for the stills. I would have like them to go the extra penny on the larger rather than the smaller tiny usb connector or better yet why not just build the camera so you can plug a thumb drive right into the camera.

ok now on to the positive aspects over all this seems to be alot of camera for the price. I want to learn photography possibly up to a semi-professional level but I didn't want/ didn't have the money to commit to a full blown DSLR so when shopping around I encountered the s1800 and its brother the 2550? which has an hdml connector. it had many features I was looking for good pixel size, built in zoom, even some video capability weighing the features and the limitations I decited to buy the S1800....

in the box was the camera (its slightly smaller and lighter than I expected but im old school when it comes to 35mm and its just good enough not to have a "cheap feel") it came with 4xAA batts, an inexpensive strap, a unimpressive lens cap,, and a USB cable,, and like 3 basic manuals in different languages and a CD with some softwear and advanced manual i havent installed yet. the support was a cardboard eggcarton configuration.

I took the camera out and played with it knowing little about digital camera operation but was still able to figure out basic operations without a problem.
my first shot was a dragonfly on a branch from 6feet away in daylight and I have to say the results were a plesant suprise as there were some reports that it was blury at high zoom and I found the camera to be respectably stable (I did have a mini tripod attached for added stability but wasnt ground placed) the shot had the dragon fly in crisp focused detail. (im using one of the lower picture resolutions the 2mb on fine it translates to about a 500k pic.

my next attempt was some star shots and while I was able to shoot the intended star I failed to get anything like a starry night pic but it may have been my failure and I need to be more agressive with the configurations, (on a side note the eyepiece crosshair functioned like a hud scope and by placing my eye a few inches back from the eye piece and looking with both eyes I was able to target a selected star to get it in frame even at full zoom)

my third test was falling water I set this on the sport setting but was unable in a few frames to get frozen falling water I need to do more research as I believe this camera is capable of it.
my final is a sunset (there is a sunset specialty setting) even in my crappy ugly location ,just goofing off I took a photo that has gotten a wow responce several times from friends.

FINAL NONES a 4gb chip will hold like 6000+ of the low resolution pictures (500k) this is a very versitile camera for the money and I think it would find a place as a support or backup camera even if I had the big bucks would like to see RAW format, thumb drive support, filter threads, and exterior hookup ports for flash and mic and shutter.

 Great Camera please read manual before you give negative review. - Aug 14, 2010

I have had this camera for three days and I love the quality of pictures. I would tell anyone to read the manual first to get an idea on how to use the camera. I would not call this camera a simple point and shoot camera. If you are willing to follow the instructions and are willing to play around with camera you will get some great pictures. I have always had great luck with fuji cameras and this camers just made me love them all the more. I would not recommend this camera to someone who is not patient enough to learn how to use the camera, but if you do you will be happy with s1800.

 Fantastic, versatile camera! - Aug 14, 2010

What a great camera! I borrowed a friend's similar Fuji camera last year when I was going on a trip and loved it's ease of use and quality pictures. I just bought this one, and it is exceptional! A great camera at a great price. It arrived the next day, as well. Pretty amazing overall, I have no complaints!

 Awsome, Solid Camera. - Aug 14, 2010

Awsome, Solid Camera. I would recommend this camera to anyone hesitating on purchase of expensive SLR.
You wont be sorry.

 Fuji Camera - Aug 10, 2010

This is the first Fuji camera I have used that I am disappointed in. The picture quality is not what I expected it to be. The camera is not user friendly. The flash is really poor. I had to make a quick decision on which camera to buy and I wish I would have had more time to research other cameras -- Fuji or otherwise.

 Give it a try! - Aug 10, 2010

For those of you who don't need all the bells and whistles on a camera, this might be for you. I am still learning all the settings, but for the most part for a 12 mp , it seems to do just fine. The zoom impressed me the most as it magnification and clarity was a great surprise. I tried out indoor shots as well as outdoor shots. The flash is a bit lame and the pictures turned out a tad dark but I can lighten them with my photo editing software. With outdoor shots I was impressed with the sharpness. The software that comes with it is not very good, so I am just going to use my own. For the price, you should give it a try.

 Great Camera for the PRICE - Aug 08, 2010

I had one o the Fuji Finepix and recommended it to a fried to purchase. Its a better camera then the one I bought and easy or "Dog and Cat" easy as my frind says. Great zoom and good shipping.

 Windows 7 not recognized. - Aug 05, 2010

I was greatly excited to receive the camera. Excited until just after installing the software on my computer and finding that I couldn't upload photos to my computer. To make a long story short, it took me a couple of hours to find out that the software package supplied with the camera was not compatible with Windows 7, and that I would have to download an entirely new package (60+MB). My reading revealed that the software package supplied was written for Windows XP. Fuji, this is not the way to impress a new customer.

That problem aside, I have been quite satisfied with the overall performance of the camera. Knowing what I know now, I would recommend it to friends.

 Great camera at reasonable price - Aug 05, 2010

Received camera in just a few days from time of order. Put in the batteries included and the memory card purchased separately and rushed out to take some pictures. First ones turned out great! Am still learning to use all the features but so far I love it! The 18X magnification makes for some nice photos shot from a distance and the "flowers" setting produced spectacular pictures of cactus flowers in bloom. The "portraits" setting also worked well. Was able to take indoor photos without flash and they still turned out great.

 Outstanding for some kind of users - Aug 05, 2010

This review comes from someone who loves photography, although is totally amateur and still learning the basics.
I bought this camera intending to get some experience before spending, at least, $400 dollars more to buy a good DSLR and lenses...

In my opinion, FUJI S1800 is perfect for those kind of users, once its in somewhere between point-and-shoot and DSLR models. Once you get used to all its features and settings, you'll be able to take very good pictures in low light conditions (with a tripod, of course), landscapes, portraits, flowers: almost everything!

I definitely recommend this camera if your profile is like mine... But my guess is that if all that you want is a camera for automatic point-and-shoot photos, i believe you can search a little more and buy something like a Sony with Carl Zeiss lenses, some Canon models...

I know there are other superzoom cameras with greater quality than this one, but the small difference in performance do not justify the large difference between their price! This is the best camera for the money you can find out...

Check this very nice review to evaluate yourself (there's also a page called "Main Rivals" you may take a look):
[..]

(Sorry for the bad english... I'm from Brazil)

 Great camera, I'll leave the tech talk to the professionals though - Aug 04, 2010

I have always had Canon Point and Shoots. My most recent Canon, the 10mp SD something or other Coach edition - purchased for over $500 4 yrs ago, finally broke (lens error of some sort) and was over $200 to repair. So off I went to find another option.

I stumbled upon this camera by accident, wasnt looking for a Fuji, after all I'm a Canon person, lol. But this model was mentioned on so many different sites I had to check it out.

This little camera is super easy to use. I have 3 kids, an 8yr old and twin (almost) 5 yr olds who are all starting sports this fall. My favorite feature of the camera is the "burst" mode. You have the option of taking 20, 10, or 3 high speed shots with one press of the shutter. I tested it out by asking my daughter to jump and spin in a circle. She did, I used the 20 shot, and I captured liftoff to touch down. Super cool.

The panoramic mode is cool too, it allows you to take 3 pictures in a row (like a mountain range or whatever) and it takes the 3 shots and "stitches" them together right in the camera. Saves you the work of editing later if thats your cup of tea. I cant be bothered with anything more than cropping or whatever, might go crazy and turn one black and white...and oh, this camera does that too.

The zoom was a big draw for me. My old Canon had a zoom that was less than impressive, but this Fuji is pretty powerful. It does take a steady hand to be fully extended and snap a clear shot without a tripod, but after a few test shots I was able to take some pretty crisp images.

I have to be honest and say I am no professional to speak intelligently about aperature or F speed. I took a photo class in high school, but that was more than 15 years ago. You'd be better off asking me how to speak French, since I supposedly learned that too..

Anyway, the price is right, the camera is lightweight and comes with a neck/shoulder strap. Only complaint is that the lens cap falls off mine.

I would recommend this camera, especially to parents looking to get the capabilities (or some of them, at least) of a DSLR but know their kids will just ruin the $700 base model without a lens and decide to hold off for a less expensive model until the kids can distinguish between mommy's camera and the play cell phone they throw across the room. Its great for long distance or high speed shots and the AA batteries are a better option for anyone who has walked around Disney World and had a rechargeable battery die and realize the spare is back in the hotel room, lol.

 new camera - Aug 03, 2010

I find that Fuji cameras in general are well made and are user friendly but also produce very high quality photo work.

 Great Camera. Honest review. - Aug 02, 2010

This camera really combines all the best in one package. I bought it for my Wife who is extremely smart, but sometimes technically challenged. We have had quite a few point & click models, but it always seems to be the cheap ones are, well, cheap. and the expensive ones are way to complicated. We have taken about 8 gig with of pictures (hundreds of shots) and have had only a handful of blurry or dark shots & I attribute them to our own inexperience.

Our last camera (Olympus) use to blow through batteries. usually less than 20 pics with alkaline batteries. in the 8 gig we have taken we are on our second set.

The 18X zoom is awesome! It puts you right on top of things. The face recognition software is also cool. The blink detection is OK but seems like the lighting has a lot to do with it. It will sometimes record a blink when the light levels are low.

This camera is defiantly a keeper. the only issue and it hardly requires mentioning is the lens cap. I saw a few blurbs on other reviews about this and really it's not a big deal. The cover they give you doesn't grip the case as well as it should so it will pop off on occasion.

 Kodak devotee for a reason - Jul 28, 2010

I just bought the FINEPIX S1800 at a Fred Meyers. I am glad they have a decent return policy. I will be returning it as soon as I get back from my family vacation. I have owned a Kodak easy share z740 for the last 5 years. It is a 5 MP camera and it was amazing. I lost it and did not want to be without a camera for the trip. I am investing in a Nikon D5000, however, sadly,the order will not be here untill I get back. So I needed a camera quickly. I wanted a large camera as I am hard on the small ones and they are easily lost. Because I just lost my Kodak, and it was a decent sized camera, I wanted to take no chances with a small one. I assuemd the Fujifilm, since it was large, bulky, and looked hardy, would take great pics. Ha! Size is NOT everything! There are a number of things wrong with it.
1) The LCD screen is grainy, a blue, hazy, moving grainy, that is very annoying. My Kodac, even after years of abuse and use, never had a grainy screen.
2) when I tried to delete pics the camera would freeze up and not complete the delete comand. It would also freeze up after I zoomed in or out. This is not winning it any admiration from me. The only way to unfreeze it was to dislodge the battery compartment and remove the batteries as the on/off switch was also froze up.
3) Low light is terrible and since I will be taking a lotof indoor pics, I will treat this like a cheap disposable camera as that is what it seems to amount to.
I fully intend on returning this camera when I get back and hopefully my Kodak will show up, if not, I am buying a Kodak easy share so I will have a decent back up to my Nikon. Fuji film made okay film back in the day but I am not so sure about their digital world.

 Fujifilm S1800 digital camera - Jul 28, 2010

I purchased the Fujifilm S1800 digital camera from Amazon.com. I love it. It takes great photos and is easy to use. I am very happy that I made this purchase.

 great camera, bad downloading program - Jul 27, 2010

I like this camera alot. The zoom is great and the features are easy to use. I realize that people complain of fuzzy pictures, but they just don't understand the partial click down. I happen to like this feature. It gives you the ability to frame the subject. I also like the video quality along with decent sound quality. My only complaint in the download program. It's terrible. Sometimes the program links to the camera and sometimes it doesn't, there is no rhyme or reason behind it. And there aren't alot of editing features. The manual gives you little to no guidance on how to troubleshoot the downloading.

 Disappointed! Really wanted to love this camera, but..... - Jul 26, 2010

Let me first say, I'm a nontechnical mom who just wants an affordable and reliable camera to take pictures of family activities in any setting with the click of a button. Despite my current digital camera being 9 years old, I'm having a difficult time finding a better camera. Here is what I found after two weeks of testing this model:

**Tons of features that I love BUT manual is only on the disc and needs to be read. The camera has lots of prompts, BUT it slows down photo taking.
**Digital viewfinder for those bright days plus large LCD screen BUT both are very grainy.
**Takes beautiful outdoor photos BUT indoor/low light photos are off color, yellow hinted, or blurred edges. Flash had to be turned on manually to improve low light photos with each shot.
**It took a while between shooting and viewing a photo on the screen.

I will say that the camera has a nice feel. Although it is not a purse/pocket-size camera, it is lightweight with a nice grip. The AA batteries were nice since many times recharging built-in batteries can be overlooked. The batteries I used had plenty of power remaining after my numerous video and photo testings. I really wanted to love this camera for it's multitude of features, increased MP, and price, but it will be returning to the store in search of another reliable one.

 Better than a "point and shoot",almost a DSLR - Jul 25, 2010

The price of the camera is great for all that you get with it. I have just return from a trip to the Grand Canyon, and the pictures are awesome!! The panorama mode is terrific but it takes some learning to use. The 18X optical zoom works smooth, stable and quick, was able to take great shots of a condor over the canyon. I was able to frame my shots in bright sunlight with the in-camera view finder and not with the 3" LCD A great advantage over my old "point and shoot" You have control of the manual settings as well as a auto mode. This is a great camera if you want to step up from a "point and shoot" but can not afford the DSLR. It will not fit in your pocket and the manual is skimpy on instruction.

 Balanced Bargain - Jul 25, 2010

A model which bridges the gap, so to speak. Combining form and function of a d-slr w/ the ease of use of a point and shoot model for a very fair price. Probably not for a picky photographer, but perfect for beginners likes me, and likely to be handy for the more knowledgeable shutterbug as a back-up, or even recreational model. It loses a star on account of the finepix software that comes with it being something of a pain. Other than that, a recommended purchase.

 S1800 - Jul 21, 2010

It has a whole bunch of upgrades over my Fuji 5000 that I've had and liked for several years. Nice addition to my Pentax K10 with a Tamron 18-250 lens.

 Intellig flash is a pai - Jul 20, 2010

The camera is as good as I expected, but to use the flash you must open it. And the batteries that came with it died within the first six shots

 Was jsut what we needed - Jul 19, 2010

Just needed a camera for some demo shots. This works just fine for that. It was shipped promptly and arrived with everything.