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Fuji FinePix 2800 Zoom Two megapixels, a 6x zoom lens, great pictures, and a bargain price: Another great "value leader" from Fuji! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet FinePix 2800 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on FinePix 2800 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 5:Optics Review First Posted: 02/06/2002

Optics
Built into the FinePix 2800 Zoom is a Fujinon 6x, 6-36mm lens, the equivalent of a 38-228mm zoom lens on a 35mm camera. This is an unusually wide zoom range for an inexpensive digicam, and the range it covers is very useful photographically. Although the lens opening is automatically controlled at all times, the 2800 Zoom's lens provides an aperture range from f/2.8 to f/8.2. Focus is also fully automatic, with a working distance that ranges from 2.6 feet (0.8 meters) to infinity in normal mode. Enabling the Macro mode changes the focal range to 3.9 inches to 2.6 feet (10 to 80 centimeters). Macro performance is better than average, with a minimum coverage area of just 3.8 x 2.8 inches (96 x 72 millimeters). A plastic lens cap protects the 2800 Zoom's lens, and attaches to the camera body so it won't get lost.

In addition to the 2800 Zoom's 6x optical zoom capabilities, the camera also offers up to 2.5x digital zoom. The amount of digital zoom available depends on the current resolution setting. At the 1,280 x 960-pixel size, only 1.25x of digital zoom is available; the full 2.5x digital zoom is only available at the 640 x 480-pixel still image size or in Movie mode. (No digital enlargement is possible at the 1,600 x 1,200-pixel resolution size.) Keep in mind that digital zoom merely enlarges the center portion of the CCD image, and so lowers image quality by decreasing resolution.

The 2800's lens does pretty well for such a long zoom ratio, although the distortion figures are higher than you'd generally find on cameras equipped with 3x zoom lenses. The 2800's lens shows slightly higher than average barrel distortion (0.8%, average is about 0.7%) at wide angle, and more pincushion distortion than average at full telephoto (0.6%, average is about 0.1%). Surprisingly though, chromatic aberration is lower than average, with just a few pixels of fairly weak color appearing around the edges of high-contrast objects in the corners of the frame.