Fujifilm Fine Pix F300

[marquess]

I have been thinking about buying this camera, but when I went to Zeer Rangsit the price was 11900 everywhere, which I think is rather expensive (as I have seen it on the Net for £150=7500), can anyone recommend a competitive and decent camera shop. Thanks!

[BangkokImages]

Try "Big Camera", they have stores in MBK, Siam Paragon, and most big malls. They're a big Fuji retailer.

Also realize, price often reflects the difference between a gray market "international warranty" (which won't be honored in Thailand), and a regular model with a "Thailand warranty." If in doubt, ask to see the warranty card. There should be a warranty card from the manufacturer clearly stating "Thailand Warranty" right across the top of it. Or some words to that effect..

Most 'factory' service centers are privately owned/operated.. and they have an agreement with the manufacturer on what they can service and be paid for under warranty. These are the service centers you want fixing your camera.

There are smaller independent repair centers who will honor "international warranties" and have some type of agreement with the manufacturer, but it often takes them forever to get parts, they might not have the required test equipment a certain model requires, and their tech's might not be trained on that specific model.

The F300 is a nice choice. Good luck with that.

[samuijimmy]

Most 'factory' service centers are privately owned/operated.. and they have an agreement with the manufacturer on what they can service and be paid for under warranty. These are the service centers you want fixing your camera.

Oh interesting to know, but think it may exclude Sony, which has had my camera in to fix under warranty, since the 29th of November.... One excuse after another..... the shop here has been helpful (where I purchased) but.... last I heard it was supposed to be back March 15th..... I am not holding my breathe ..... that added on three weeks from the last promised date.... The last Sony I will ever buy... "we are not amused! "

Just from experience Canon is much better here in Thailand ... back in two weeks....

Sorry to go off topic here.... just needed to get that one off my chest! :jap:

[BangkokImages]

Most 'factory' service centers are privately owned/operated.. and they have an agreement with the manufacturer on what they can service and be paid for under warranty. These are the service centers you want fixing your camera.

Oh interesting to know, but think it may exclude Sony, which has had my camera in to fix under warranty, since the 29th of November.... One excuse after another..... the shop here has been helpful (where I purchased) but.... last I heard it was supposed to be back March 15th..... I am not holding my breathe ..... that added on three weeks from the last promised date.... The last Sony I will ever buy... "we are not amused! "

Just from experience Canon is much better here in Thailand ... back in two weeks....

Sorry to go off topic here.... just needed to get that one off my chest! :jap:

Sure, these are general rules and it pays to know your company. I know for sure Sony as you say 'can' be an exception. They'll usually honor a warranty from other SEA countries, but you sure won't be on top of their priority list. I had to wait 4 weeks for my MP3 player to be fixed once, while a friend with the exact same model and the exact same needed repair, brought his in after mine, and got it back just days later. They won't tell you, but if they use stock parts or order exclusive of stock, which priority, etc.. it's all in their contracts with Sony.

And yes, Canon is really good with service here. I use their service center all the time and have only had minor issues with them. And for sure, they won't take 'under warranty' anything without a Thailand warranty card, but they will do repairs on gear from other countries which is great. Canon USA will not. With Canon, get their free CPS card if you quality, it will save you these types of heartaches.

All I'm trying to say, is there's a reason for the differences in pricing you're experiencing and it usually has to do with warranty coverage as certain importers import gray, others through authorized distributors.. so know what you're buying, ask questions, etc.

Many shops carry both.. and will gladly explain the differences.

[fabianfred]

I got this and wasn't impressed... gave it to my wife.

Wait for the new F550 which will be much better

[BangkokImages]

I got this and wasn't impressed... gave it to my wife.

Wait for the new F550 which will be much better

I'm curious. Why do you say you weren't impressed, and what about the new F550 do you think will be much better?

[fabianfred]

I like Fuji cameras and have owned several. I thought the F300 EXR would be good. But, Fuji and several other camera manufacturers have started to cut costs by installing a ND filter instead of a good range of apertures.

This resulted in the frequent case of the camera on Auto exposure selecting a slow shutter speed in bright sunlight which caused camera shake and blurred images....very annoying.

I do not know if they have improved this fault, but there are several good features on the new EXRF550 which are desirable.

GPS and the new sensor similar to the H-10 but using the EXR technology for great dynamic range and low-light.

[BangkokImages]

I like Fuji cameras and have owned several. I thought the F300 EXR would be good. But, Fuji and several other camera manufacturers have started to cut costs by installing a ND filter instead of a good range of apertures.

This resulted in the frequent case of the camera on Auto exposure selecting a slow shutter speed in bright sunlight which caused camera shake and blurred images....very annoying.

I do not know if they have improved this fault, but there are several good features on the new EXRF550 which are desirable.

GPS and the new sensor similar to the H-10 but using the EXR technology for great dynamic range and low-light.

Lens design is the first thing compromised with wide focal ranges, even on the consumer grade DSLR lenses. On DSLR lenses we call them "variable aperture" and you'll see them advertised something like: 18-55mm F4.5-5.6. At 18 to roughly 30mm the widest (min) aperture would be F4.5, and from 30-55mm F5.6. You'll see this on any lens that "telescopes" as it zooms. It's a design limitation when trying to pack so much focal range in a small package. And why a 300mm F2.8L IS lens is going for about $6000, while a 28-300mm F4.5-6.5 lens only costs $500 and is in a much smaller package.

This new genre of "superzoom" compacts takes this design limitation to new levels. There are going to be often severe compromises when you try to cram 24-650mm focal ranges in small light lenses.. So they use ND Filters to achieve what's necessary for the lens to work, not to keep cost down so much, but to keep them lightweight and compact. The F300exr is a 35mm equiv 24-360mm 15x zoom lens on a small compact camera, so design limitations are a given. It lists 3 apertures 3.5/7.1/10.0 for it's "wide end", and 3 apertures 5.3/11.0/16.0 for it's tele end. All manufacturers in this genre do something which is effectively the same, though they might call it different. They have to.

So.. when you attenuate the available light via smaller apertures for the tradeoff of a longer focal length.. you will of course have less light to work with which will result in longer shutter speeds. You can then compensate for longer shutter speeds with their actual real (not always the case in this genre) optical stabilization (which helps with static subjects) or upping the ISO which of course will show more apparent noise and less detail, which we know is much worse on a small sensor camera like a point and shoot compact.

What you describe, slower shutter speeds and blurred images, sounds like your auto programming is either intentionally limited to certain ISO's (check your menus) or maybe the firmware is limiting how far up it will set the ISO for a given focal length and amount of ambient light.. if this is the case I'd check Fuji's site for a firmware upgrade. If it was a design issue this is the sort of thing they'd fix in a firmware upgrade. Probably the only real thing you can do about it is understand why it's happening, know you need a great deal of ambient light to use the long end of the tele (something they never tell you in their fancy advertising), and perhaps leave the auto modes in such situations and manipulate the ISO's manually.

In any case, the F550exr will have the same limitation since it's the same small/light compact superzoom genre.. using the exact same lens with the exact same apertures for wide/tele using the same ND filter technique. It does have a slightly improved sensor, but nothing that will help the issue you brought up. And it does have some new features which might or might not be useful to the OP. Certainly if he's into Geotagging the F550exr would be better suited, but if not he can get essentially the same camera at discontinued discounted prices vs. the higher new model prices..

Digital compacts have been around in popular form since 1998-1999.. and I have a bunch of the most significant models sitting on my shelves. It's been interesting to note, that in decent light a 1998 first generation digital camera produces 'just about' as good an image as the newest 2011 model. Image quality wise, the gains have been very small. We now have different batteries, smaller sizes, more focal range, and lots and lots of market driven features and 'technologies', but not as much as you'd think to help someone capture a higher quality image.

The issue really boils down to how much sensor we can cram into the smallest package. This has led to an exciting new genre of large sensor cameras like the Panasonic GF1/GF2 using the micro-4/3's system in a pocktable design.. it's sensor is much bigger than a compact point and shoot, so image quality goes up and the ability to shoot in less light goes way up. Sony's new NEX-5 I reviewed here is an interesting compromise using the exact same size sensor as we see in consumer grade DSLR's which can result in much higher image quality. They have several lenses, the longest being an new 18-200mm (36-300mm 35mm equiv), but it's also "variable aperture" despite its increased size.. but better apertures than in a compact superzoon model.

There is no magic bullet.. light is photography, the more light captured (through wider apertures, bigger sensors, longer shutter speeds) results in higher quality images, and everything we need to do this is BIG. When we reduce the size through "new technologies" we must expect compromised image quality and camera performance.. no matter what super high-tech label they hang on the newest model. I wish they'd be more honest and open about it, but marketing is rarely honest and open..

[marquess]

I have found a shop near Don Muang (http://www.bask1.com/index.php?lay=show&ac=cat_showcat&l=2&cid=1719)which is selling it for 8990 though unlike the Computer Centre which is selling it for 9800, the latter includes a 'free' 2GB memory card, whilst the former has no memory card. As I really want at 16 or 32GB card which I think will be cheaper in Europe I will go for the 8990. Both deals seem to beat the standard price of 11990

[fabianfred]

Thank you Bangkok Images for your detailed analysis...and hope you enjoy the camera Marquess.

There was a lot of talk about it on DPReview...as there is about every new model..

[BangkokImages]

Thank you Bangkok Images for your detailed analysis...and hope you enjoy the camera Marquess.

There was a lot of talk about it on DPReview...as there is about every new model..

Thank you for the feedback. I think many are disappointed with their new compact cameras, especially after reading the great marketing technology blurbs and making the purchase thinking technology will help solve their image quality issues. Technology is great, but more limited in effect than the manufacturers would have us believe.