Fujifilm FinePix S2950HD Digital Camera - (14MP, 18x Optical Zoom) 3-inch LCD

"Like me, if you are one of the customers who had dealings with Camerabox (Digital First), you will be extremely cautious when making purchases in the future. As an amateur, I should have been enjoying this camera in May, but unfortunately due to the camera not arriving, the appalling attitude of staff, and the deceptive and criminal practices by Camerabox, I had to fight for a refund, then order my camera through Amazon. Others have not been as lucky, as Camerabox & Digital First went into administration on 2nd June 2011, owing customers money and failing to supply goods to them. However, whilst any company can call in the administrator, remember to buy it from a reputable supplier, and if possible pay by credit card so there is a chance of recompense. Better late than never, thanks to Amazon". "Well, whilst no professional but a keen amateur and still learning, if you are looking for a good camera, look no further than the Fujifilm Finepix S2950. The specifications which are on the Amazon & Fujifilm web sites give the technical stuff, as do the more competent in their reviews. However, stepping up from a Sony compact, I found the camera a nice size, compact light weight, and user friendly. It has enabled me to develop my basic photography skills, producing many great looking stills at 1080p, and most of the time, very clear 720p video. However, I feel a dedicated video camera or higher specification camera is required for serious enthusiasts of video. Whilst still learning about photography, and only had the camera since 7th June, I have found plenty of helpful modes for different light conditions, including situations requiring the flash, which works very well. It has a large 3 - inch user friendly screen to view photos on, and the easy to follow menus. Furthermore, considering the price it has a very impressive 18x optical zoom which generally produced sharp clear detailed images using focus. Nevertheless, whilst many may be happy to use it as a point and shoot, the camera offers the facility to use manual settings, something I have yet to master so cannot comment at this moment in time. However, the more competent have reviewed this feature. To sum up I can recommend the Fujifilm Finepix S2950 as it is a very good camera great value for money, and I don't think you will find a better spec for the price."

I bought this camera to upgrade from a basic Kodak point and shoot compact digital. I did a fair amount of research and chose this model for its great specifications and low price ( It out specs many others that cost much more). I took it on holiday to France immediately, with no product familiarity. It was no problem at all; it is supplied with the "lets get started" basic manual to get you going at once There is also an online more chunky version. For the absolute beginner like me, the auto mode is superb - really. This will make you look like a proper photographer - if my photos are anything to go by. What is truly impressive is the massive 18x digital and 18x manual zoom features. From a distance of several miles, I took a photo of Mont St Michel using this zoom feature and have a picture that could easily grace a guide book cover! The panoramic feature is superb and truly foolproof and gives amazing results. And i'm not experienced, so its the camera that's doing all the work! As for the manual modes - its all here too. This requires some time and practice, so I have enrolled at night school to learn. After my first session yesterday, where we learned and practised night photography - I can honesty say that my piccies were pretty much as good as the Nikon SLRs and other big makes ( the teacher said so). It will never match the full SLRs for all their abilities, but so far I cannot fault this camera. I am really happy with my purchase. As a further point of note - I purchased through Amazon using their guaranteed before 1pm next day service on the August Bank holiday weekend! I purchased at 17.22pm on the Friday, received an email from the dispatch team at 21.01pm. The camera arrived, superbly packaged by courier before 10am on the Saturday morning! This service is exceptional and worth the few extra pounds for peace of mind as to the retailer, and the knowledge you are prioritised. I would rate 5 stars for the camera and 5 stars to Amazon.

Without doubt this is the very best camera that I have owned. It fits easily into the hand, I have LARGE hands, and all the controls are within easy reach. The range of settings, Auto, Auto SR, Video etc, are extensive and work well. I have yet to use the MANUAL setting but am looking forward to doing so. As to the zoom coupled with double stabilisation system , this really makes this camera something special. I have yet to take an un-sharp photo even at 18x across a wide range of lighting conditions. The focusing beam is bright and capable of covering quite a long distance. Certainly 10 metres is within it range. One feature which I really do appreciate is the electronic viewfinder that comes into its own when the sun is too bright to use the large screen. If the system is set to show photo taking info, speed, ISO, aperture, you will find that viewing this in the viewfinder is easy. Face detection is good even with ancient Greek sculpture. Blink detection is likewise excellent. With previous cameras I have had difficulty taking panorama pictures with previous cameras but in the case of the Finepix S2950 it is a dream. The camera comes with four AA alkaline batteries, a lens cap and cables for connecting to a computer to transfer photos, though I prefer to put the SD card into my computer. There is no supplied SD card - it will handle up to 32Gb SDHC- nor is there a camera case, which is a shame for such a fine - no pun intended - camera. It really is hard to fault this camera and I would certainly recommend it to others. Definitely worth five stars. Tony Littlejohn, living in Central France

This is a decent camera for the price providing you take a few precautions. First off, taking the camera straight out the box and snapping a photograph indoors (or in other low light situations) on the fully automatic mode will likely produce an unimpressive result. This will be due mostly to a very noisy image. This camera will reach ISO speeds as high as 6400 but it is not recommended to go above 200 as said noise starts to become very apparent (on the automatic mode the camera sets an ISO of around 800 when indoors or in other low light situations and this is detrimental for picture quality). Increased noise level at ISO's above 100 is one of the consequences of squeezing 14 million pixels onto a small sensor and afflicts virtually all 'compact' camera's (and the S2950 is a compact with bells and whistles) with very high megapixel counts. High resolution DSLR's overcome this with larger sensors that create much less noise for a given ISO. You can greatly improve things with compacts by keeping to low ISO's and using the flash in poor light. I also recommend setting the colour mode on the S2950 from the standard mode to the Fuji chrome mode for more saturated colours. I have dual image stabilisation switched off as this works by raising the ISO speed to increase shutter speed (supposedly to eliminate blur) and I take better quality pictures without it (the camera still has single CCD stabilization). Having a steady hand also helps. The S2950 has nine resolution modes... L - 14 megapixels (4:3) L - 12 megapixels(3:2) L - 10 megapixels (16:9) M - 7 megapixels (4:3) M - 6 megapixels (3:2) M - 5 megapixels (16:9) S - 3 megapixels (4:3) S - also 3 megapixels (3:2) S - 2 megapixels (16:9) ...and two image quality modes: Normal and Fine. Out of the box the camera is set to normal (highest compression). I have it set to fine. This, combined with the highest resolution mode, will produce a JPEG with an average size of between 5MB - 7MB. A 2GB SD card will take approx 280 pictures at this highest quality, an 8GB card 1150 (it would be a good idea to buy an SD card not lower than class 6. There is currently an 8GB class 10 card on Amazon for less than £8). The S2950 has three sharpness settings: Hard, Normal, Soft. I have mine set to hard. If you enhance your images in Photoshop however you want to keep the setting to normal and do your sharpening there. The camera offers various focusing options such as automatic focus, including tracking, or manual selection of a focus point within the frame (good for focusing on off center subjects). The automatic Panorama mode is very easy to use and the first time you shoot one you will be impressed. The downside is that on this camera Panoramas are restricted to a resolution of 3 Megapixels. For full resolution images you will have to take 3 or more normal shots and join them together in Photoshop or similar program. I was disapointed with the first picture I took with this camera straight out the box but after tweaking the quality settings and keeping the ISO to a max of 200 (I personally never go above 100 with compacts) I have found the pictures to be sharp, clean, and quite pleasing (caution, low ISO speeds equal slower shutter speeds and pictures become prone to blur in low light. In low light either use high ISO speeds and accept the increased level of noise or, as I said above, train yourself to hold the camera extremely steady, or learn to use the flash for better indoor pictures). Users who dont read the instruction manual might also need to realise the shutter button first needs to be depressed halfway to allow the camera to set focus and aperture before taking the shot. If most of your photography is outdoors in good light then even the fully automatic mode will produce good quality pictures. Getting to grips with the Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual modes ups the creative potential of the camera enormously and makes your photography a lot more fun than just pointing and shooting (it should be noted however this camera, like many compacts, does not have a true aperture. In addition to its 'fixed' aperture of F/3.1 (5.6 at telephoto) it uses a two stop neutral density filter to simulate an additional F/Stop of 6.4 (11 at telephoto). While cutting down the light, this ND filter does not alter the depth of field. The good news is the 18x optical zoom partially compensates and gives scope for depth of field work between its wide and telephoto setting. While this is of no importance to the casual snapshotter more ambitious photographers might want to consider this restriction on aperture setting when making their buying choice). To get the best from this camera try the following 5 step process: 1. Set to Program Mode 'P'. Program Mode is identicle to 'Auto' but allows you to overide the auto settings if desired. 2. Set the ISO speed to 100 (absolute quality freaks, like myself, will want it at 64) 3. Set resolution to 14 megapixels and image quality to 'fine'. 4. Set sharpness to 'hard' and colour to 'chrome'. If you keep the camera fixed to this 4 step setting you effectively have a point and shoot camera that should provide clean, pleasing, pictures in the majority of situations. As a final tip, if you want to improve the quality of your indoor flash shots cover the flash with a light diffusing material. Light from flash tends to be hard and directional; being unflattering for portraits and uneven in exposure (foreground objects being too bright, background objects being dark). Softening the flash with diffusing material inceases the eveness of the exposure while being more flattering to your subject. For home made diffusers some people use tracing paper or white rip-stop nylon fabric (I've read about one guy who used a tiny segment from his shower curtain). You'll get better results though by visiting your local camera shop and enquiring about diffusing materials. They shouldn't cost much. Anyway, thats the end of my photography class. For a price of £110 the S2950 is good value for money. Its no substitute for a DSLR but it is a big step up from an Iphone 4.

We're all different and have different preferences and needs when it come to cameras. It boils down to what's right for you. The Fuji Finepix S2950 is for someone who wants to feel they are holding a camera and not a credit card. Someone who isn't going to change lenses every 5 minutes, (if you do, it's an SLR you need). Okay, that established we need to look at some more common 'needs'. First on the list is the quality of the shot. Well, 14 MP isn't to be sneezed at. (Though don't sneeze when taking the shots..they come out blurred). A good size viewing screen is a double must, one for taking the shots and the other reviewing. The 3" screen has to be a bonus over smaller sizes and although 'big isn't everything' I found that with the smaller screens, (and my age) I spent mnost of the time looking throught the EVF, (which of course this has, don't most of them?) Okay, you've just taken out a second mortgage and hit Disney World big time. Kids chomping at the bit to get on the nearest ride..Do you want to open up the silver briefcase and start sifting through lenses..of course not. You want to snap away and capture the day. Another need then? This camera wil do it. The point of mentioning that is so will an SLR..Hold on. This camera is simplicity itself. You know that you are going to take away your memories to share on Facebook, (software that comes with it makes this easy thought the conventional way is fine too), or create the family album. Don't get me wrong. Some folk will be quite happy impersonating Walter form Dennis the Menace and donning their bags of tricks.. Fine by me but to have a camera that you can really enjoy without the worry of working out if you're getting a good shot or not is more my style. Lastly, did I hear a sigh of relief, the cost. For what you get..cannot be faulted..

This camera gets excellent reviews in various camera magazines so I purchased one as being a cheaper version to the HS10 which I had tried and liked. This one has a lower zoom range and is motor driven as opposed to the manual on the HS10. The S2950 is a compact little camera that feels quite comfortable and has a lot of control to it - even to be able to set up whether you are using rechargeable cells or not (can anyone actually afford to run these cameras on throw-a-way cells - apart from the environmental issues of 2000-4000 batteries thrown away in the like of one set of 4 rechargeable?). It has a very large, bright screen at the back that would benefit from a protective cover if you like to have the camera around your neck and perhaps rubbing on a cardigan or coat zip. That is as far as I can praise it because I wasn't actually able to use it. The downside was that I had previously tried the HS10 that has a large, bright, viewfinder with adjustable focus. The S2950 has none of those and all I could see was a small, dull, blurry screen with large dark surround and I was totally unable to see enough through it to take a photo. Before anyone point to the large screen at the back - I started taking photos back in the days of roll film and have never been able to adjust to the stupid, modern method of holding the camera at arms length and trying to view through a screen - if the sun lets you. It is so detached from using a viewfinder and only necessary because the camera is too small - or the manufacturers too cheapskate to put a proper viewfinder on. Another disadvantage I found was that the control buttons at the rear are slightly raised and in the very short time I had the camera I found I accidentally operated buttons simply by handling the camera. This was a great annoyance and not one I was used to as my previous camera all had buttons that could not be accidentally pressed. Which brings me to a final point. Memory is so cheap now that it would only cost the manufacturer perhaps £2 or less to put a 8Gb or even 16Gb memory card with the camera - but I can't think of any who do. They will claim it gives you a choice. But it is very annoying to pay a lot of money on a new camera - which you cannot use until you have gone out and spent more money on a memory card! A tip here - all cameras can be set to record pictures at less than their maximum resolution. Unless you are making lots of prints at poster size - it is not worth running the camera at its maximum resolution of 14Mp. 3 Mp is plenty for 7 x 5 prints - even with a bit of trimming and will make your storage space go much further - especially after a few years of storing photos on a computer. So the S2950 has gone back to the supplier for a refund and I have gone back to my 8 year old Olympus - with its proper viewfinder that I can see through.

I purchased this camera in March 2011, to replace my trusty Finepix S7000, which died on me. Initially, I thought that it was a bit lightweight compared with the S7000 - (which you could use for mugging old ladies!!) - and a little on the flimsy side. However, it is the dogs' dangly bits, at least as far as I am concerned. I am not a professional photographer nor am I a professional writer but this little(!) camera does all that I need. The quality of the photos are excellent and the video is very good. As yet, I have not tried the High definition setting for the video - just too busy enjoying the other features for the time being. One thing I do like is the ability to zoom in and out whilst taking video, which I could not do with my S7000. I also love the large LCD screen at the rear. The controls have changed slightly since the S7000, i.e. the On/Off switch on the S7000 is now the zoom control on the S2950 and the S2950 has a separate On/Off switch. Not too keen on the fact that it pushes off the lens cap when you switch it on, though. After all, you should be able to tell whether or not you can see your subject before taking the picture, shouldn't you? Finally, I also purchased the Transcend 16GB SDHC class 10 memory card, which can hold either 30 minutes of video, or over 2000 photos at 14 megapixels/fine setting. All in all, apart from the need to mug old ladies occasionally, this camera fulfills all my requirements and I would recommend it very highly. No, you can't try mine out, go buy your own!!!

So far this camera is great! I ordered it on the 28th of December, estimated delivery was for the 6th of January. It arrived on December 31st! Brilliant service from Amazon as usual. The size of the camera is just perfect, it's not too big, nor is it too small. The picture quality is fantastic and is great at capturing photos when the 18x Optical is at its full. This camera is great at capturing action photos. I take pictures of my pets and I got a fantastic photo of my cat (which was at the other side of the garden so I had the zoom on full)pouncing at something. I got an amazing action shot of the cat in mid air and the quality was amazing! This was only my first day using the camera also and I'm not the greatest at taking Photos. This camera is bloody brilliant if you are like myself and want to get into photography and maybe study it in College/University. The one downside I would have with this camera is that it only accepts Alkaline batteries, there is no charger for the camera. I suppose this can be a good feature too when you're out and about because batteries can be bought just about anywhere. There is also no case for the camera, I would strongly recommend a case as the camera is quite fragile and I don't feel fully safe carrying it about round my neck all of the time. I have nothing overly bad or disappointing to say about this camera. I only got it recently so I'm going to put it to serious use at all my gigs and get some action photos. I would advise all to purchase this camera, you will not regret it.

Very satisfied, got what was describted. Mint condition

Vor dem Kauf habe ich mich in den anderen Rezensionen hier erkundigt welche mir sehr geholfen haben. Ich kann nach 1 Woche folgendes sagen. Das Gerät ist super bedienerfreundlich. Für jemanden der gerade mit dem fotografieren anfängt fängt Sie in unterschiedlichen Automatikstellungen hervorragend die Bilder ein. Der Digital Zoom ist klasse aber die Fotos werden dann auch nicht ganz so scharf als wenn man im Bereich des optischen Zooms fotografiert. Das Austauschen der Batterien an der Unterseite der Kamera wo sich auch die zusätzlich gekaufte Speicherkarte befindet bereitet hingegen dem was ich hier gelesen haben mir kein Problem. Bei öffnen des Schachtes hat man im Regelfall die Kamera ohnehin auf dem Kopf so das weder Batterien noch die Speicherkarte rausfallen können. Fotografieren in Räumen mit Blitz ist kein Problem. Die Bilder werden klasse. Ohne Blitz muss ich mich an die anderen Rezensionen hängen, sollte viel Licht im Raum sein ansonsten wirds in der Auto-Stellung nicht ganz so gut. Mein Ergebnis lautet große Kamera für verhältnismäßig kleines Geld. Kaufen !!! Nachtrag 06/2015 Alles gut, die Kamera macht Ihren Job. Gute Bilder, nichts klappert oder wackelt am Gerät. Bilder in Räumen bedürfen eine zusätzliche Ausleuchtung, ansonsten Outdoor super Bilder. Ich würde sie als Foto-Normalo wieder kaufen.

Avant de l'acheter et vu le prix je n'étais pas chaud pour l'acheter mais maintenant que je l'utilise très souvent surtout pour faire des tutoriels, le prix et la qualité sont au rdv. Un très bon appareil pas cher et belles photos parfois dans des conditions difficiles. Je ne suis pas un pro de la photo mais cet appareil aide les apprentis comme moi. Un seul petit défaut, le cache objectif est mal étudié et ne tient pas correctement en place.

Il mio è un giudizio da utente generico medio, che cercava una fotocamera digitale di buon livello che consentisse facilità d'uso, buon zoom ottico, flash e filmati in HD e, ovviamente, foto di qualità. Beh, con questo modello ritengo do avere soddisfatto in pieno tutte le attese. Nella confezione ci sono i libretti di istruzione in inglese, tedesco e olandese. Nel CD invece si trovano i manuali completi in tutte le lingue, compreso l'Italiano. Anche sulla macchina è possibile selezionare la lingua italiana per i menu sul display. In dotazione inoltre, copriobiettivo, cavo USB e A/V, cinghietta di trasporto e quattro pile alcaline. Durante le riprese dei filmati è possibile utilizzare lo zoom ottico, che però lascia una traccia rumorosa nella registrazione audio. Numerose le modalità di scatto e le funzioni fotografiche, con riconoscimento volti e possibilità di scattare foto panoramiche (unendo in automatico tre fotogrammi consecutivi) e super-macro, per le foto ravvicinate. Buona la qualità dei video. Il prodotto è stato spedito dal Belgio. La consegna è stata effettuata addirittura un giorno prima del previsto (SDA). Impeccabile il servizio offerto da Amazon.

J'ai cet appareil depuis 1 mois, venant d'un compact de bonne réputation mais vieillissant. Dans les tests des pros, ce FinePix S2950 est souvent noté soit très mauvais, soit pas mal. Mais comme souvent, les pros le sont un peu trop et sont tellement habitués à des appareils dit "moyen de gamme" à 400 € qu'ils en perdu la mesure... (un peu comme les tablettes Archos G9, qui sont en fait de super produits pour le prix ^^) Bref, pour 119 €, j'ai un bridge qui marche bien, un zoom très correct(sauf au max, perte de qualité légère mais bon...), une macro d'enfer et des modes bien vus. Pour les photos HDR, par exemple, il faut normalement faire des photos en bracketing (ce que ce bridge fait, logique) en RAW (ce qu'il ne fait pas)... Mais malgré tout, les photos non RAW prises en bracketing permettent de faire de l'HDR de bonne qualité sur ce S2950... Mais dans les tests des pros, ils se sont arrêtés à "pas de RAW, je ne teste pas le HDR" ! :( J'ai fait aussi les tests de la goutte d'eau (prendre un jet d'eau pour ne voir que les gouttes qui le compose, pour résumer) et en mode semi-manuel je n'ai eu aucun problème. Ceci dit ce bridge souffre d'un souci en ISO élevé. Mais jusqu'à 400 ISO il n'y a pas trop de bruit. Au pire, des logiciels comme le très bon Lightroom d'Adobe permettront de corriger tout ça de manière respectable. En Bref, ce bridge est un TRES BON appareil photo numérique au vu de son prix ! NB : J'ai eu un soucis de pixels chauds sur le capteur CCD, cela arrive sur 5% des appareils (allez voir sur les forums ^^). Amazon a procédé au remplacement immédiat de l'appareil. Un seul mot : Chapeau !