I have owned this Fuji F-480 camera for about three weeks now. The F-480 is small, has a wide angle Fujinon lens (28mm-112mm), a 4.00x optical zoom and provides a higher resolution (8.2 MP) than my Fuji Z-3. This new Fuji f-480 camera seems to be a durable little package that should withstand a few bumps along the way.

Those things and the comparatively low price gave me reason to make the purchase. Admittedly, the differences between this camera and my Z-3 are not large, but significant to me since I use my cameras to take landscape pictures while traveling and I have been looking for another small format camera with a wide angle lens. The wide angle lens on the F-480 is just what I needed for my landscape shots.

They refer to ultra-compact cameras like this one as "entry level" which implies they are somewhat toy-like, but that couldn't be farther from the truth in my opinion. The capacity of these tiny compact cameras is amazing to me having used 35mm film equipment extensively over the years.

I have gone through the entire instruction booklet trying out each attribute found in the F-480 camera. Everything works as it should, but don't expect perfectly exposed pictures when using a number of the AUTO settings. It takes a bit of experimentation to determine how some of them behave.

This is a Japanese camera made in China, but the quality is very good. The price on the camera represents an excellent value for what it provides in photographic choices and performance. I paid about $180 for mine, but fully expect to see that price drop a few Dollars in the near future. The camera is new to the market and represents one of the latest additions to the F-series Fuji FinePix line. It is the next edition of the F-470, but is (in many ways) an entirely different camera.

The menu of settings is extensive yet easily understood and used. The only complaint I have is with the highly touted anti-shake (picture stabilization) setting. It can be set from the mode dial on the back of the camera, but when it is activated many other shooting options are apparently unavailable. I can set my older Fuji Z-3 on `anti-shake' from a dedicated button on the back and the other shooting options remain accessible. Not so with the F-480. I see that as a shortcoming. I shake all of the time (taking pictures at the beach, under fluorescent light or in the snow) and would like my cameras to compensate for my twitching no matter what shooting options I choose.

The F-480 accommodates both x-D and SD memory cards, but not at the same time. I suppose that attribute advances the versatility of the camera. However, the feature is not particularly important to me personally. The large 2.7-inch anti-glare LCD display is clear, crisp and provides a good idea of color balance prior to shooting a picture. There is no eyeball view finder on this camera, but I don't miss it. Not many of these modern mini-digitals have a separate view finder anyhow.

The only real measure of this camera is in the photos it is capable of producing. This is not a big cumbersome high end professional camera with a super fast shutter and a high powered lens, but is just great for family photos or getting that quick shot while traveling. I am satisfied with the passable quality of the pictures I have shot so far and believe the camera will give me the photographic versatility and image quality I require as I begin using it on my next trip abroad.

I dunno if these people are writers for Fuji, but wow, is this camera a piece of junk.

I was excited and eager to purchase after reading a couple great reviews and overall this camera scored a 4.5/5. I've always been a fuji fan, but I may now have to switch to Canon. The ONLY saving grace for this camera is the price. Unfortunately that's it, the picture quality is horrible. I had a samsung a990 camera phone that took similar quality pictures. My mother and my girlfriend both have canon digital cameras and they're far and above the quality of this fuji. There are features such as the image stabilization and 28mm lens that are great, but regardless of what function the camera is on, the pictures come out fuzzy and noisy. I'm very dissapointed in this camera and would not consider it unless you're giving it to a 4yr. old as a birthday gift.

I hear the fuji f40 and f50 series are decent, so you might wanna give those a try. If the original reviewers would like to respond and explain why a camera that takes the lowest quality pictures in the world deserves a 4.5 and a 5 I'd greatly appreciate it. Thx!

I was very happy with my purchase. Exactly what I ordered is what I got. No surprises or problems.

If this camera is evaluated for what it is, a quite inexpensive subcompact (about the size of a deck of cards) no frills camera, it gets high marks. It has an excellent 2.7" LCD monitor, and is extremely easy to use. This ease means there are few user adjustable functions. For example, it does not allow direct user control of aperture or shutter. However, in modest compensation, when the shutter button is half pressed, it does display at the bottom of the LCD both the shutter speed and aperture at which the picture will be taken. Also the user can affect the camera's choices by selecting one of the available mode setting.

Its functions are generally intuitive, I was able to use it directly out of the box (after the battery was fully charged, less than 2 hours), and only needed to refer to the enclosed 130 page instruction book for clarification in a few areas.

The F480's most important features are directly accessible from its minimal set of mounted controls: buttons, rocker, or rotating controls. The zoom control placed around the shutter release button works quickly, and switching from still to movie mode is done easily via the mode dial without need to enter a menu. One of its best features is its atypically wide zoom, starting at 28mm (equivalent).

Its still picture quality is nice, but not exceptional. Fuji clearly did not use their best quality electronics here. The stabilization mode appears to simply apply the equivalent of electronic ISO amplification. Pictures taken in low light display considerable noise. Playback and some other functions are a bit slow, but certainly acceptable. However, arguably, its weakest feature is its minimal 320 x 240 pixels movie mode, which does not seem really acceptable for current technology - but at least a movie mode is available in an emergency.

I found the photo software provided with the camera to be almost useless for me. On my Vista system, the USB connected camera was essentially treated as another attached flash memory and images could be more easily read and stored directly than with the enclosed software. Fortunately, the Fuji software uninstalled without problem.

In spite of some limited and diminished capabilities, the F480's exceptionally low cost, ultracompact size, its excellent wide-angle lens and large 2.7" monitor, and its included feature set earns this unit high marks for what it provides at such a low price.

While cheap, Fuji Finepix F480 has little to do with fine pictures, contrary to what its name seems to suggest. The only good thing about Fuji F480 is its price: I found this Japanese (but made in China) camera at Amazon for $134.06, with free delivery. That seemed great, considering the features: an 8MP digital camera with 4x zoom; a wide angle Fujinon lens (28mm-112mm); numerous settings, including picture stabilization, "Blur Reduction" and party (!) mode; and 12MB of internal memory. The camera is very compact (just a bit larger than a pack of cards) and looks attractive, with a black and chrome body. It has a large 2.7-inch LCD display and accommodates both x-D and SD memory cards.

I got really excited about such a great deal and, having read a couple of decent reviews, decided to buy it on the spot - against my husband's warnings. When my first pictures came out blurred, blue-tinted and fuzzy, I did not want to admit that I had made a mistake - I started studying the manual instead. But no matter how I adjusted the settings, the pictures were still disappointing: not true to life, dark and even grainy (where are those 8 Megapixels, exactly?). The only setting that seems sort of acceptable is the landscape mode - but my previous Canon used to take better pictures on automatic.

And that is my main complaint about this camera: it does a horrible job when set on Auto. Basically, my cell-phone takes better pictures. As soon as you place the camera on the anti-shake stabilization setting (the mode dial is placed to the right of the screen), it refuses to take photographs in an automatic mode, flashing all sort of exclamation marks and basically telling you to take the picture manually. And even then it refuses to give you many shooting options that are available otherwise. But this is supposed to be a no-brainer point-and-shoot contraption! I don't want to be deep in thought every time I want to take a quick picture of a friend waving her hand at me. I am also not happy about the flash: it is capricious (does not work every time you expect it to) and when you use it from several feet away, the picture comes out dark.

The camera's weaknesses became particularly obvious, when we went to a wedding last week and compared pictures with several people who used other brands. While others just were shooting away, we fiddled with the settings, tried this and that - and yet our pictures came out the worst: dark, grainy and fuzzy. We also tried the movie mode, which turned out to be really laughable. All you could make out were sluggishly moving unclear figures, with booming voices in the background. You could not make out the words. Come on, Japan (or China?) - this is not acceptable these days!

On paper this camera has a great combination of features and price, but as you might suspect, Fuji cut corners in ways that only become apparent when you get your hands on it. I'm giving this 2 stars only out of the benefit of the doubt -- maybe if I'd spent enough time fidgeting with the settings and getting it just right, this thing would have taken better pictures. But I used it in auto mode, which should be a no-brainer for a point-and-shoot beginner's camera like this, and the pictures were terrible. The colors were way off -- it looked like everyone was lit by really ugly florescent lights. Exposure was off too in the auto setting -- was very difficult to get a clear, crisp picture either with the flash or room lighting. Speed was also a sore spot, as it was extremely slow to advance to the next shot, and slow to review and delete photos.

I compared this side-by-side with my dad's Canon SD600 and the Canon blew it away in every way imaginable, for not that much greater a price.

In summary, don't get suckered in by the sweet price; the extra $50 it costs to get a more reputable Canon or Olympus is well worth it.

Bought a S700 Fujifilm, about 5 months ago and have taken some fantastic pictures with it, a keeper love it..... I got the F480 for the wife expecting the same type of quality pics....SUPRISE!!! They pretty well suck....most are out of focus and the time delay from shutter release to picture show up....good greif!!! My 3 year old HP 260 is faster. Needless to say the wife was not impressed...Don't know weather to hit it with a hammer or try to auction it off...Price is good but remember, I will "YOU USUALLY GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!"

It was a good purchase. I got exactly what I was expecting. It is a good camera with many functionalities but I am really disappointing with the pictures' quality. I think is not the best quality comparing with other cameras. However, the price is good.

great cam for a 1st time cam owner, got it on time and well packaged. a bit disappointed in a few of the features but overall a great cam.

This is a very simple point and shoot camera. It has very few, easy to use controls and features. Outdoors pictures are fare but indoors are poor because built-in flash is not that good. The camera is in deed small, display is big and has good quality but for the price paid I think it does what was expected. I bought this camera as a second one, small enough to carry anywhere and be ready to take pictures just when they happen. But if this will be your only camera you better spend 100 extra bucks on a batter one to get better shoots.

camera was delivered on time and works as advertised. software is a bit rudimentary.

I was interested in getting a camera with a wide angle lens like this one had, and had favorable experiences with my Fujifilm F20, which was one of a highly-regarded series of Super CCD cameras from 2006, but which doesn't have a wide angle lens. I bought the F480 on sort of an impulse without trying to research it too much. I didn't notice that it wasn't a Super CCD camera, which apparently makes a big difference. I took a number of test photos with both the F20 and this camera using the same subject and settings. Unfortunately for this camera, during the week I owned it the weather was grey and dingy, and that is where the older Fujis, the F20, F30 and F31 really stand out among small cameras. The result was that this camera's photos were far inferior to my F20, which on these overcast days took shots that were bright and clear. So I took the F480 back and bought a second F20, because I knew that they were about to become obsolete, which I believe has happened, as they are only available now at inflated prices from small resellers.
It's too bad because it seemed like a very nice, slim, well-made camera with a very nice LCD display on back. I really liked it's build, but I've gotten a little more serious about cameras and this one just didn't cut it. Probably fine for someone who wants to take shots of their friends at the beach and that sort of thing.

This is the third Fuji camera that I have purchased. The others being the FujiFinepix 7000S and the Fuji A340. These cameras were purchased as back up to my Nikon pro cameras. The reasons for purchasing this camera was its large and bright 2.7 in screen which replaces 1.8in screeen on my other cameras, ease of operation, portability and lastly wide selection of shooting modes along with 8.2 mega pixelimage quality. Dual compatible slot is not too shabby either. Although image stabilization is limited for the price it can't be beat as a no frills backup.

My husband bought this for me for Christmas. I use it primarily to take pictures of our baby daughter. It is one of the worst digital cameras I've ever owned. The battery life is terrible. Fuji even admits in the handbook that the battery will slowly die even when not in use. Well I charge it one day, and the next day it dies. When trying to take pictures, the majority of my pictures are blurred. It's especially difficult getting a decent picture when you're trying to take one of a moving baby. About the only way I can imagine ever getting a decent shot would be to purchase a tripod, but that would be ridiculous in everyday use. I plan on returning this and getting something else. It is not worth the money and the software that comes with it is not that great either.

I bought this camera for my wife for Christmas to replace a larger Olympus Camedia 3.4 mp. I was extremely disappointed with the picture quality. I tried all different modes and the pictures come out very grainy and fuzzy. I am returning it to Amazon for a refund. DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA!!

Camera was everything I expected it to be. It was even a little smaller than I expected. It takes great pictures, especially wide angle shots which is why I got it. It will zoom for normal and closer shots. The flash is very adequate in low light situations. The only thing it doesn't have that I would like is a hot shoe or cradle ability to charge the battery. It requires thinking ahead to make sure that the battery has been taken out and charged. The only way around this would be to buy two batteries and have one constantly charged, but a hot shoe to leave the camera in would solve that problem. But overall, a great camera, especially for the beginner.

This camera is exactly what I expected for the price. Fuji has a very dependable quality, and although this is less expensive than most other cameras, the features, and performance is great.

It takes good day pictures; the wide angle is great.
But the night pictures are very gray. Especially after i compared the pictures taken by other cameras at the same time and place, this camera takes very gray pictures. I'm guessing it's because of the flash.

And i'm pretty sure it's not just my camera - i had it replaced by fuji (i dropped it and the warranty covered it), and the new camera had the same problem.

I bought this camera during 2007 Thanks Giving.For the features available for this camera I got it for a real good price,well that is what I thought until I took the pictures on a bright sunlight day.The pics came very dark and from then on never dared to try taking any more pictures.
Please stay away from buying this camera.